[CCoE Notice] Collaboration with University of Sao Paulo Faculty - Travel Support for Second Pan American Conference

[Knudsen, Rachel W]

Dear Cullen College of Engineering faculty,

As part of our efforts to increase international graduate student enrollment in the College we have recently signed a Ph.D./M.S. Dual degree program with the University of Sao Paulo (USP), School of Engineering. This agreement provides an opportunity to not only increase our overall Ph.D. graduation rate, but also provides access to a large pool of highly qualified and diverse international students from one of the top Engineering Schools in Latin America. An added advantage is that faculty members who enroll students through this program benefit in terms of their research program in that the resources normally required to support one graduate student at UH can now be leveraged to support two Ph.D. students, one from UH and the other from USP.

Dr. Debora Rodrigues organized a NSF-sponsored conference in Sao Paulo last year. UH faculty who attended the conference also spent a portion of the trip visiting the USP campus to explore opportunities for collaboration including student exchange. Dr. Rodrigues is helping to organize a second conference (Pannano II) in Sao Paulo next spring. With that in mind, we would like to take that opportunity to again organize a group of faculty to visit USP in order to specifically explore student exchange under the auspices of our new Ph.D./M.S. Dual degree program.

Faculty members interested in discussing student exchange opportunities with their University of Sao Paulo colleagues are asked to consider attending the Pannano II conference, but more importantly to arrive one day early to so that they can meet with specific faculty members from the USP. Prior to going to Brazil, we will jointly identify specific USP faculty/partners for each UH faculty member to meet with while in Brazil.

Because this activity is focused on expanding UH’s global engagement efforts, travel to USP and attendance at the Pannano II conference is eligible for travel support through the Office of the Provost’s Global Faculty Development Fund (GFDF) program. The maximum amount of travel support available is $1500. In order to receive travel support through UH Global, you will need to identify a specific USP faculty member in San Paulo who you will meet with to discuss potential collaborations and student exchanges. This information will need to be included in the application for the GFDF award. Information on the GFDF can be accessed at the following link (http://www.uh.edu/provost/university/global/_documents/GFDF%20Guidelines.pdf).

If you are interested in this initiative, please submit your Pannano II abstract by Dec. 15th through the link:  http://www.pannano.org<http://news2.metallum.com.br/registra_clique.php?id=H|1003210|268228|34330&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pannano.org>. Your GFDF application can be submitted to UH Global after your abstract is submitted but before your travel to Brazil. Also, on a side note, a visa is longer required to visit Brazil if you are a U.S. citizen.

Please consider this exciting opportunity to participate with the researchers in one of the world-class universities.

Sincerely,

Suresh Khator
________________________________________________________
Suresh K. Khator, Ph.D., P.E.                           Phone: 713-743-4205
Associate Dean, College of Engineering        Fax: 713-743-4214
Professor of Industrial Engineering                Email: skhator at uh.edu<mailto:skhator at uh.edu>
E421 Engineering Building 2                             www.ie.uh.edu/faculty/khator<http://www.ie.uh.edu/faculty/khator>
Houston, TX 77204-4008

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