Welcome!

elcome to the University of Connecticut and welcome to
the EUROTECH program!

We are happy that you have decided to come to the University of Connecticut and explore all the special aspects of our academic offerings. As an engineering student, you are probably planning on a career in American industry, but the business activities of American industry are becoming more and more global. In order to prepare you for a career in the United States with a multinational company, the University of Connecticut's School of Engineering and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences developed a program in international engineering called EUROTECH.

When students first come to college, they are frequently overwhelmed with all the new tasks and assignments. It certainly is a challenge to adjust to a completely new environment, take five courses, learn how to study properly, and make it through the first year successfully. Quite often students concentrate so much on their short_range goals that they completely forget about the larger picture and do not see how a carefully planned course of study is a necessary prerequisite for a fulfilling and exciting career.

We want you to see the larger picture. We want you to stop for a moment and see why knowing a foreign language will give you more than a competitive edge when you graduate.

Of course, there is the fun of learning more about another culture, taking trips to foreign countries, being able to speak another language and therefore make new friends. But most importantly, integrating a foreign language into your professional training will allow you to explore how engineering is done overseas which will make you more valuable to your workplace in the US. International engineering programs like this one with its work abroad component allow you to become fluent in the foreign language, acquire critical job training and become familiar with problem_solving strategies foreign companies have devised for the workplace.

As a EUROTECH graduate, you bring qualifications to your future employer that few can rival: high motivation and perseverance because you kept your eyes on the goal of preparing for the future; flexibility, as attested by your stay abroad; cross_cultural awareness and communicative competence that you developed through your studies and your international training; self_reliance and creativity that evolved as you faced the challenge of practicing engineering far away from home. And furthermore, you are now able to apply your foreign language skills in correspondence, phone calls, and business negotiations and enjoy being sent on a mission overseas. In today's business, an overseas assignment is often the first step towards moving up in your company.

So, as you start thinking about your future, keep in mind that a foreign language will open many, many doors for you!

This handbook outlines what you have to do in order to complete the program in five years. We also point out alternatives for those of you who start the program in their second or third year and those who need ways to catch up with the German part of the program.

Keep in touch with us and let us know about any problems or suggestions you might have for improving the program.

Your Program Directors,

Patricia Bergman

Friedemann Weidauer

Program Founders:

Richard Long

Maria-Regina Knecht

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