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Experiential Learning - International Opportunities

Calvin Students have many opportunities to travel abroad during their time at Calvin. Pictured here is a class in China during interim with Prof. April Si and Prof. Leonard Van Drunen.

International Designation

Students may receive an international designation to their concentration (e.g., "BSE International Mechanical Concentration") by completing any two of the following four items:

  1. An international engineering interim course.
  2. An international internship and demonstrating some ability to speak the language of their internship country.
  3. An international engineering summer or semester program.
  4. An international engineering semester program. (Semester in The Netherlands)

Other procedures and activities may qualify for the international designation. For additional details, please contact the department chair or the department internship coordinator.

Studies in The Netherlands – a new off-campus semester

Calvin College hopes to offer a new off-campus semester program in the Netherlands starting in the spring semester of 2010. This program is specifically designed to accommodate the special needs of many science and engineering students. Final approval of this program is expected at the May Faculty Senate meeting.

The program will be offered at the Free University of Amsterdam. Students will take a new Calvin taught course called Toward Environmental Sustainability in the Netherlands: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Practices. Students will also take science and humanities courses taught in English at the Free University. For engineering students, the program is designed to be taken in the second year.

For more information, visit the program's web site or dowload a broshure.

January Term (Interim) Abroad

There are many opportunities for students to travel overseas during interims while at Calvin. These opportunities are cost effective as well, because there are scholarships available to students wishing to participate in these trips. Each year there are about 2-4 off campus classes led by engineering professors. In addition, many classes led by non-engineering professors take students off campus.

The five engineering off campus interims are:

  1. Business and Engineering for the International Market, which takes the students to many countries in Europe. This class is led by Prof. Ned Nielsen and Prof. Wayne Wentzheimer.
  2. Dutch Landscapes, which takes students to the Netherlands. This class is led by Prof. Robert Hoeksema. Class Page.
  3. Transforming Cambodia, which takes students to Thailand and Cambodia. This class is led by Prof. Leonard De Rooy.
  4. The South African Miracle, which takes students to South Africa. This class is led by Prof. Matt Heun.
  5. Business and Engineering in China, which takes students to China. This class is led by Prof. April Si from the Engineering Department and Prof. Leonard Van Drunen from the Business Department.

Each of these interim classes introduces students to the global market for business and engineering in addition to teaching them about other cultures. Students also deepen their appreciation of the world God has created.

Here are some web logs from this year's interim classes abroad:

Here are some links to weblogs of previous versions of the Netherlands, South Africa, and Cambodia classes:

Summer Program in Germany

Calvin's Engineering Department has a summer program in Germany in which engineering students have the opportunity to take the Engr. 202 - Statics and Dynamics course at the University of Bremen. This fits into a student's schedule as they take German 101 at Calvin instead of Engr. 202, typically in the spring semester of their sophomore year. Then, during the summer following their sophomore year, a Calvin engineering professor accompanies the students to Bremen, Germany, where the Calvin professor teaches Engr. 202 using the facilities of the University of Bremen. The students also take a course entitled German Language and Culture from a University of Bremen professor. These classes are taught only four days a week, providing opportunities for three-day weekends to visit companies and travel in Europe. This gives the students a great experience to gain credit for a required course while being exposed to another culture and another part of our world. Thirteen students participated in this program during the summer of 2008. To learn more about this opportunity, visit the website about the course or download a brochure on the program.

Summer International Internships

Calvin's Engineering Program also has an international internship program in which we place students in international settings. In the past, students have interned in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Puerto Rico, and Spain. Student placements are made via relationships between the engineering department and executives of foreign companies. These reciprocal relationships bring foreign students for internships in West Michigan as well. Foreign internships can be life changing experiences, and they provide very valuable work experience for both Calvin's students and foreign students.

Check out the blog by current Engineering student, Katrina Denny. She spent the summer of 2009 in Germany.

Read more about internships.

Scholarships

The Engineering Department offers scholarships to aid students in their desired international opportunities. The scholarships can be used to help with the summer program in Germany or for an interim class. These scholarships include the Bosscher Family Interim Scholarship and the Charles and Kay Spoelhof Engineering Scholarship. View a complete list of scholarships for details.

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