College of Engineering

Russell Barnes was a senior majoring in Electrical and Computer Engineering through the College of Engineering when he studied abroad in an OSU exchange program in Copenhagen, Denmark. This program allowed him to take classes at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) for a whole semester. Read on to learn about the challenges and benefits of being abroad in Denmark!

It wouldn’t be a proper blog post about studying in Denmark if I didn’t mention the part about actually living here! Taking trips earlier in the semester worked perfectly because I was able to wind them down in the second half and spend more time in Copenhagen as the weather slowly improved. I didn’t understand how seasonal affective disorder could exist until coming to Denmark in January when, even during the daytime, the sky still didn’t quite reach full brightness. It’s funny looking at the photos from earlier in the semester when it was dark, cold and snowing because our daylight hours now surpass Portland by about two hours, and they’re growing longer each day.

Something that I won’t miss about Denmark is shopping for food. Grocery stores are small and with a limited selection, and, like most businesses here, their hours are shorter than what I’m used to. Some stores call themselves 24 hours, but what they mean is that they’re open til midnight. The packages of food are also smaller, so I wound up going grocery shopping with two to three times the frequency that I would back home. A good effect of this is that it’s easier to keep stocked with more fresh food when you’re going more often. Also, I think it’s funny how bewildered people are when they see me eating potato chips with lunch. They see chips like how we might see popcorn or Mike and Ikes: something that you only eat during movies or parties.

It has been awesome being surrounded by people from all over the world, and I have learned so much about different cultures and countries. Some groups of students tended to band together with peers from their own countries, U.S. students included, but I tried to avoid doing that because the whole point of the exchange program is to be around people of other cultures. In fact, I’ve barely seen the other OSU exchange student here, and I think that we’re both perfectly okay with that. Even with that in mind, it’s still cool meeting other Americans here because everyone else is from the East Coast or Midwest. Seeing how multilingual young Europeans are makes me wish that we had better language education, but I think that there is a lot more motivation for Europeans to learn other languages than there is for us because of their high language diversity and the utility of English skills in the working world.

To learn more about international opportunities offered by Oregon State University, click here!

Graham DiNicola is a International Ambassador in the Office of Global Opportunities and a civil engineering major through the College of Engineering. Last winter and spring term, he studied abroad in Florence, Italy through API. In this entry, he shares some of his favorite memories from being abroad. Read on to learn more about the authentic Italian experience!

“There are some days when no matter what I say it feels like I’m far away in another country and whoever is doing the translating has had too much to drink.” – Brian Andreas

Nearly everyone has those days dreaming about being far away from reality, but how many actually experience this dream where translating is necessary? Let me start by saying that based on firsthand experience, even if whoever is doing the translating is as sober as Sister Maria, there is nothing more that will stress you out than being yelled at by Italians. As you quickly learn, it is not the path you take that gets you yelled at, but the adventure (even if you do get lost) – and this journey is certainly one that will not be easily forgotten.

Embarking on a new scene in life is intimidating – looking at two bags, traveling to a new country with no familiar faces – now that is…. Let’s just say an experience that not many get. Traveling was nothing new to me, but accepting a new home in Florence, Italy – that was something I could never fathom, only dream about and it turned into reality.

People may say that study abroad opens up your eyes, and it certainly does; but living and studying in a new place does more than this. You become a new person, picking up on cultural aspects that many are often too blind to admire or take for granted. These realizations often come about from the people that surround you on this abroad experience.

Ian Bickerton was an older Australian Professor who wore two different socks that he claimed represented the Democratic and Republican parties and did this to demonstrate the contradiction that he is. Mix this in with his dry sense of humor, a colorful ascot, and his liberal view of the world; I was bound to learn more than just Globalization from Professor Bickerton.

Professor Bickerton was a man full of life lessons, many applicable to Florence. The first, flights are scheduled to be missed. Because of this, seeing Eisbach (the wave people surf in Munich, Germany), and enjoying a meal in Marienplatz in the shadow of Neues Rathaus became realities – did I miss my plane? No, but I was the last to board it.

The second, I should wake up every morning and go to a bar (Italian – coffee shop) and read. If by the third morning the barista does not have my order memorized, I should find a new bar. This lead to the biggest realization that the Italian culture is focused on quality – their attire, food, wine, city (the list could be an entire blog itself). It purely is the Florentine way of life.

This quality was something that I was longing to return to even when visiting other cities and countries such as Venice, Rome, Cinque Terre, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, France, and Ireland – it was the glow of the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (The Duomo) that greeted me home. The Duomo is something so ornate and colossal that started construction over 600 years ago – and is still being completed to this day.

That is one thing about Italians; they love the slow pace of life – even if it takes 600+ years to complete a task. Getting your day started at 8am, working at your own leisure, afternoon naps, two-hour dinners, and gathering in the plazas scattered about the city – this lifestyle is centered around enjoyment and happiness, something I got very used to. When the nights engulfed the streets of Florence, families would emerge, children would play in the plaza while the parents enjoyed a bottle of wine and the company of others – this gateway to darkness was so beautiful, it can never be put into words.

Our nights would often start with live music, a glass of wine, and a view of the entire city of Florence at the Plaza De Michelangelo. These sunsets were so perfect that pictures could never embrace the full beauty. It was a reminder of the untouched beauty such a place and culture hold – for it was here that I felt humbled and the happiest in my life. This was quality at its finest – from structures to sunsets, it was this slow pace, fineness of quality, and recognition of the importance of happiness in that solidified the Italian culture.

This finesse in the Italian culture carried over to the best dinners I have ever experienced. Sitting down with the actual owner of Trattoria La Burrasca – where the menu was hand written every day based on what was available fresh from the Mercato Centrale – was an experience in itself. The meal over fresh caprese salad, gnocchi, and Florentine steak is something that one cannot simply arrange. It was an adventure that we stumbled upon – and from it gained a weekly dinner with an even better friend.

It was these types of experience that made me realize that study abroad was not just traveling and studying, but finding a new home – for when the tourist season arose, I was just as fed up with the amount of people that had flooded the city as an actual Italian. For over the course of a semester, I had learned more than I ever could have imagined – about myself, about academics, and about the world we live in – with one aspect shining through – the most important things in life can only be experienced firsthand, not taught or read about – only experienced.

To learn more about the international opportunities at Oregon State University, click here!

While at Oregon State University, Jordan Machtelinckx majored in Civil Engineering and International Studies, and spent a semester in Cape Town, South Africa in the Spring of 2012. Since his graduation, he has embarked on a journey to explore Eastern Europe and Asia. In this blog entry he articulates how his perceptions of various cultures have changed. Read on to learn about an Oregonian’s experience across the world!

In travelling to entirely unfamiliar places, I have been happily overwhelmed by the complexity and relationships of cultures. Currently on a journey to experience the spectrum of culture and landscapes across Central Asia, I am constantly surprised by the way seemingly different cultures are actually hugely related. I’ve come to realize that geographically neighboring cultures which have always seemed, in my inexperience, to be similar have been, in actuality, historically unrelated until relatively recently. The bottom line is that cultural and political borders are not the same.

I must admit that I have little background knowledge on the subject compared to those who may have studied it academically so my revelations may come without surprise to many, but jumping into the trip with no preparation was a conscious decision on my part. I have been lucky enough to travel by numerous methods for various objectives, but this trip was fueled by little more than curiosity for what I might learn along the way.

For example, hitch hiking across Turkey illustrated the difference between the European-style west side and the Central Asian east side with its significant Middle Eastern influence. Meeting the inhabitants of various backgrounds along the way piqued my interest about the cultural history of the area and motivated me to dive into some articles on regional history that provided headaches of confusion rivalling those of my time as an undergrad in engineering. Trying to research more about the boundaries of Kurdistan led me through articles that felt like condensed political science courses and clarified why so many residents of Turkey identified themselves to me a bit differently than others. Some were proud of Turkish heritage, some of Kurdish heritage, and some of each group embraced Arabic language to varying degrees. I was fascinated to see the associations of these cultural distinctions with my geographical eastward progress.

Language itself is a cultural attribute I have always taken interest in. It was news to me that before Ataturk (modern Turkey’s first president) circa 1928, the Turkish language used an Ottoman script which was closely related in appearance to the modern Arabic script. Crossing from Georgia to Armenia brought me through a small Georgian region where most residents are Muslim Azerbaijanis. Despite the Azerbaijanis being separated from Turkey by Georgia and Armenia, which both use vastly different languages and alphabets, they are in fact historically most related to the Turkish culture (not to be confused with the country of Turkey… that’s the confusing part). In researching the next leg of my journey I discovered that the Kazakh language was originally written using an Arabic-derived script as well, and is actually also a Turkic language. Simply because Kazakhstan now uses Cyrillic, I had always associated both the language and the culture with those of Russia instead.

Coming across these kinds of discoveries as I move eastward was exactly what I was hoping for when I (didn’t) plan this journey. With my lack of previous knowledge I find it hard to retain all the details of this region’s cultural, political and linguistic history I learn along the way, but I am pleased with myself at the knowledge I have managed to retain. I consider myself well-educated in various domains, but the culture and history of this part of the world was not one of them. Wandering across it with no itinerary has proved to be an efficient method of satisfying my curiosity and exposing me to culture and history at which I am – all pride aside – a complete novice.

To learn more about study abroad opportunities at Oregon State University, click here!

Robert Plascencia is a junior in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University, studying Electrical and Computer Engineering and minoring in Business and Entrepreneurship. In order to gain cross-cultural experience, and heighten his German language skills, Robert studied abroad in Berlin, Germany through AHA at the Freie Universität Berlin during Summer 2013.

I’ve wanted to travel the world ever since high school, but I never really got the chance. I also wanted to become an engineer, but I didn’t know if those two things could be merged.

During my sophomore year of college, I realized that engineers sometimes travel as a part of their jobs if they already have experience living abroad: employers look for individuals that are familiar with cultural assimilation. Even though my mind was set on wanting to go learn about the world, I still had to face the problem of funding. While I had a little bit of money saved up, I applied for some scholarships to cover the rest of my costs. Right when it seemed like I wouldn’t be able to go, I was awarded the Gilman Scholarship at the last possible moment — which was more dramatic than I’d have liked. I would get the chance to learn how cultures vary and what it was like to be a part of the minority.

I traveled to Berlin for a month and lived with a homestay family. Having never traveled so far before, I needed to find a balance between my desire to acquire an intercultural perspective and my first-time exposure to living in another country. I found that a short-term summer program was a good compromise: I learned without overwhelming myself. I had a great host family that had been to the United States several times and had hosted American students before, but was still eager to learn about life in the States and was more than happy to share about Germany. Interestingly, they were hosting an exchange student from Italy at the same time, so I learned about Italy and the larger European Union as well.

In addition to learning through my interactions with my host family, I took German courses at the Freie Universität Berlin (The Free University of Berlin, lovingly called FUBiS) and was in a classroom with mostly other American students who had never been to Germany before. Being around so many other Americans let me see how other people handle the change, the culture shock, and how they grow to become self-reliant. Seeing this, combined with my own personal growth, I learned that different people can be the same as us.

While I didn’t study engineering in Germany and instead focused on German language, this time abroad still applies to my greater career aspirations. I was afraid to study engineering because I felt my German wasn’t nearly good enough to appreciate the concepts I would’ve been learning. I became more fluent with German. Of course, I still have much to learn – I have a clear American accent, my vocabulary is poor, I speak slowly, and I need to think carefully about how to say every sentence. Nonetheless, through the language, I learned about the German way of life, and gained that experience employers look for when considering whom to send abroad: they know I won’t succumb to culture shock, that I have dealt with the challenges of being away before, and that I am open to change. My next step in this journey is to apply this experience to an internship or to an actual career.

Even though most people set out to experience a different culture or to get away from home, careful planning allows travel to help with career aspirations as well. With new challenges always come new opportunities, and engineering is a field always looking for those driven to learn.

Jordan Machtelinckx is an International Ambassador for the office of International Degree and Education Abroad. He is a student at Oregon State University, majoring in Civil Engineering. Jordan studied abroad in Cape Town, South Africa, through CIEE. Below, he provides a reflection of what he learned from his experience abroad.

Every day while I was studying at the University of Cape Town in South Africa and living with my host family, I was observing and learning. A foreign environment made my senses acute to absorb as much information as possible. Learning is inevitable in that context, but understanding the dynamics I was observing took time.

Throughout my life and over the course of my travels, I’ve learned that at least half of the lessons I learn come about after my return home. After cultural immersion in South Africa, I didn’t realize how much I had learned until I got back into a familiar environment that, for the most part, remained constant during my absence. My home culture in Oregon acted as a control to help me understand what I had learned in my absence and measure how I had changed.

The most obvious way I saw that South Africa had changed me was in the form of patience. Not just temporal patience, but particularly situational and interpersonal patience. After having my outlook and personality stretched and reshaped during my immersion in so many cultures over the course of six months, I noticed that I couldn’t really find anything in my daily life back in Oregon that bothered me anymore; personalities, attitudes and actions that I didn’t understand before and that I used to find irritating now seemed to float by me without effect and usually resulted in only a smile on my face whose source I couldn’t identify.

Stunned at first that just about nothing managed to annoy me, it stimulated me to figure out why. Where did this patience come from? What had happened in the last six months to make me reach some sort of peace that I could see only indirectly? Even as I write this, months after my return and having pondered the thought constantly, I can turn up only a basic, indefinite answer – one that provokes additional questions more than it provides an answer to the original one. That answer is simply that I have become closer with myself, better friends with myself, even.

Throwing myself into an experience in which I had to provide all of my own strength and motivation has resulted in better self-understanding and acceptance of who I am. That’s logical enough. And I could have guessed that would happen before I left. But I didn’t expect it to result in a fundamental change in my daily outlook upon my return to Oregon. I still have a lot of understanding to reach with my experience in Cape Town, and a lot more travel in the future to stimulate more of this personal philosophy. As usual, the disparity between the plethora of questions and the handful of poorly articulated answers will serve as motivation to continue to explore physically, metaphysically and philosophically. But for now, I am quite content with this newly found peace, this traveler’s Zen.

Curtis Barnard bade Oregon goodbye for a semester at Aoyama Gakuin University. His first episode in his video log included this helpful time-lapse packing video…check it out!

Curtis Barnard is a student in Mechanical Engineering.

I’m Ashley Payne, the International Programs Student Advisor for the College of Engineering. It’s my job to help all the Engineers at Oregon State hear about how they can go abroad! In my life as a student I am a fifth year senior in Civil Engineering, and I am living proof that if you are an engineering major you CAN study abroad! During my sophomore year I studied for the full academic year at the University of Sussex in Brighton, England (almost directly south of London on the English Channel). While I was there I continued to study civil engineering, completing many of my prerequisites for my professional program like statics, dynamics and my physics series. I absolutely loved studying abroad, so when I arrived back it seemed natural for me to help other Beavers to go abroad!

The most popular programs available to students in the College of Engineering are Danish Technical University, and University of Nottingham.

Students at DTU, photo courtesy of Keely Heintz

Danish Technical University (DTU) is located just outside of Copenhagen in Lyngby. Despite being in Denmark the primary language of instruction is English. The modern architecture and research labs on campus may make you feel like you stepped into the future, but Copenhagen may have you feeling like you stepped into history. From winding cobbled streets to cutting edge modern architecture Copenhagen is a diverse mix of the old and the new. DTU is the premier technical university in Scandinavia with research in nearly every field of engineering. Anyone in the College of Engineering can attend DTU (yes, even you, nukes).

University of Nottingham is located in Nottingham, England. Yes, as in Sherwood Forrest, Robin Hood and the Sherriff of Nottingham. While it may have taken Robin Hood days to get to London, it now only takes about two hours by train. But if you feel like staying in Nottingham there is no shortage of things to do in this city of 270,000 people. From the best shopping outside of London, to world class sports facilities, and contemporary arts you are sure to find entertainment in Nottingham. Located on a park campus Nottingham University is one of the best engineering universities in the UK. The following engineering disciplines are available at Nottingham University: Biological, Chemical, Civil, Electrical and Computer, Environmental, Industrial, Manufacturing, Mechanical Engineering and Construction Engineering Management, Engineering Physics. Also, as of the 2009/2010 academic year any OSU student may participate in this program.

There are many other programs available to engineering majors including the University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain, and the Tecnologico de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico, both of which are Spanish Language programs. There are also programs available in German and French.

Employers have expressed to the College of Engineering that while OSU produces very competent engineers with strong communication skills we are often lacking in intercultural communication skills and international experience. Having that international experience is a great way to set yourself apart from other graduates when applying for a job or a graduate program.

Whether you want to differentiate your resume or just live in another country, studying abroad is not only possible it is the experience of a lifetime!

If you are an engineer interested in studying abroad contact Ashley at coe.study-abroad@oregonstate.edu.

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