Stevens signs cooperative pact with Ecuadorian university
Stevens Institute of Technology has concluded an Inter-Institutional Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral (ESPOL), a prestigious technical university based in Guayaquil, Ecuador. The MOU was signed during an official ceremony held at Stevens July 7, 2003.
The signatories were Stevens' President, Dr. Harold J. Raveche (pictured right in photo), and Dr. Moisés Tacle, the current rector of the ESPOL university and a Stevens alumnus ('71, M.Eng. '72). > View Photo <
According to the memorandum, Stevens and ESPOL have agreed to "promote and expand international understanding, development and friendship by stimulating and supporting educational, professional and inter-cultural activities and projects among students, academic staff, and professional, technical and administrative staff of ESPOL and Stevens." The activities will include student, cultural, or staff exchange programs, visiting scholar programs, conjoint and double degree programs, as well as many other possibilities.
Stevens' Center for Improved Engineering and Science Education (CIESE), directed by Dr. Edward A. Friedman, has collaborated over the past several years with ESPOL on the implementation of the Ciber@prendiz (Cyberlearner) Project: Internet Applications to Improve Education, a curriculum and technology-based teacher professional development pilot program funded by the Inter-American Development Bank.
Launched in March 2002 and funded until October 2003, Ciber@prendiz focuses on training educators and administrators from Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Perú in the use of unique and compelling applications of the Internet in their classrooms and the integration of these resources into their existing local curricula.
These Internet-based applications and corresponding pedagogical methodologies that form the foundation of the project are based on the experience and materials developed by CIESE and presented in collaboration with faculty from Miami Dade Community College. In each of the participating countries, strategic partnerships were established with the universities and institutions; and in Ecuador, ESPOL coordinated and supported the implementation of the project on a national level. Similarly, strategic partnerships were established in Costa Rica and Perú with the Fundación Omar Dengo and the Universidad San Pablo, respectively; and Schools Online, a Silicon Valley philanthropic group, provided the schools with computers, wiring and other materials.
In addition to Dr. Raveche and Dr. Tacle, the following Stevens and ESPOL faculty attended the ceremony:
From Stevens:
Dean Jerry MacArthur Hultin, Wesley J. Howe School of Technology Management
Dr. Stuart Tewksbury, Director, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Dr. Stephen Bloom, Director, Computer Science
Dr. Edward Friedman, Director, CIESE
Joshua Koen, CIESE
From ESPOL:
Dr. Enrique Peláez, Director, CTI
For more information about ESPOL, please visit www.espol.edu.ec.
For more information about CIESE, please visit ciese.org.
For more information about the Ciber@prendiz (Cyberlearner) Project: Internet Applications to Improve Education, please visit http://www.k12science.org/ciberaprendiz.
About Stevens Institute of Technology
Founded in 1870, Stevens Institute of Technology is one of the leading technological universities in the world dedicated to learning and research. Through its broad-based curricula, nurturing of creative inventiveness, and cross disciplinary research, the Institute is at the forefront of global challenges in engineering, science, and technology management. Partnerships and collaboration between, and among, business, industry, government and other universities contribute to the enriched environment of the Institute. A new model for technology commercialization in academe, known as Technogenesis®, involves external partners in launching business enterprises to create broad opportunities and shared value.
Stevens offers baccalaureates, master’s and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science and management, in addition to a baccalaureate degree in the humanities and liberal arts, and in business and technology. The university has a total enrollment of 2,150 undergraduate and 3,500 graduate students, with about 250 full-time faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America. Additional information may be obtained from its web page at www.stevens.edu.
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