United States Participation in the European Project Semester: An Exceptionally Successful Endeavor

Introduction

European Project Semester, or EPS, is an international exchange program specifically designed to address the design component of engineering students during their junior year. The program is highly successful and involves nineteen Higher Education Institutions in twelve countries throughout Europe.

EPS was conceptualized by Dr. Arvid Andersen, who found a need to expose his engineering students in Denmark to engineering students from other countries. He observed that his engineering students were lacking in international exposure with continental Europe. He then devised a scheme where engineering students from continental Europe would visit his university and work together with Danish students on cultural broadening and engineering design for a semester. Dr. Andersen presented EPS at numerous conferences and publications from the late 1990s through 2012 (Andersen, 2000a; Andersen, 2000b; Andersen, 2001; Andersen & Hansen, 2002; Andersen, 2003; Andersen, 2004a; Andersen, 2004b; Andersen 2009; Andersen 2010; Andersen 2011; Andersen, 2012).

Moreover, Dr. Andersen invited this author to teach the subject of Environmental Awareness to EPS students in Copenhagen and later in Oslo, as part of the EPS program. This biannual (spring and autumn) participation lasted for over fifteen years. The intensive two-day presentation covered various aspects in environmental subjects and involved international travel between Copenhagen, Oslo, and the United States. The invitation resulted from this author’s engagement in the American Society for Engineering Education, which he served as president for a period, and his knowledge of the subject matter. This experience led to the presentation of the EPS concept at an annual conference of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) (Abata et al., 2013), where it was well received. Additional information regarding knowledge and information of the EPS program in the United States was presented by others also involved in the EPS program (Fuentes-Dura et al., 2015; Shenyang et al., 2020). The concept did not transfer to the American scene for many reasons, some of which are discussed in the following text. However, many students from the United States (U.S.) did participate at numerous EPS sites through an international exchange (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

The adventure of living in other countries broadens the vision of EPS students and contributes to their outlook and professionalism throughout their careers

This chapter includes four additional sections. They address the EPS program background, general reflection on the participation of students from the United States in EPS, the challenges of adopting the EPS model in the United States, and the conclusion.

Background

The EPS program was started in autumn 1995 with six visiting students at Elsinore Engineering College, in Danish “Helsingør Ingeniørhøjskole”, formerly “Helsingør Teknikum”. Shortly thereafter, Dr. Andersen moved to Ingeniørhøjskolen i København (IHK) / The Engineering College of Copenhagen located in Ballerup, Denmark, where EPS was restarted autumn 1997 with funding from the Danish government¹. EPS continued to grow in Denmark, eventually reaching one hundred students each year.