In my previous role as the Director of Academic Innovation, Programs, at the UCI Samueli School of Engineering, I led the effort to develop and implement international programs to strategically enhance the global reputation of our engineering school, recruit prospective global talents, and seek external resources. I have also gained extensive experiences in efficiently creating innovative academic programs and workshops from initiation to execution and evaluation. Currently, I serve as the school liaison with numerous institutions overseas, as the Faculty Director of International Programs.
Please see below for several major programs that I have implemented. For information about all of the international outreach program, please visit our website: https://engineering.uci.edu/outreach/international
UCI-DUT Joint Program in Mechanical Engineering
2019 – Present
The UCI-DUT Joint Program is an undergraduate education program to implement the UCI Mechanical Engineering curriculum at the Dalian University of Technology (DUT). All courses are taught in English with qualified students transferred to UCI during their senior year to obtain a UCI B.S. degree. The Joint Program currently matriculated close to 240 students at Dalian, China. For more information about the UCI-DUT Joint Program, please visit, https://jp.eng.uci.edu/
3+2 Program
2015 – Present
Partnered with the Division of Continuing Education, the 3+2 program allows students to study at UCI during their fourth year to obtain a B.S. degree from their home institution and a M.S./Ph.D. degree from UCI upon qualification. Since the program’s inception in 2015, we have hosted 210 students in the program with multiple partners in Asia. For more information about the 3+2 program, please visit, https://sites.uci.edu/engr32/
UCInspire Summer Program
2013 – Present
UCInspire is a 10-week summer undergraduate research program to provide a comprehensive experience to international students and to recruit prospective international graduate students. During the pandemic, we implemented an additional 15-week remote research program for the spring term from 2021 to 2023. To date, 293 students participated in the program. For more information about UCInspire, visit our website here: https://sites.uci.edu/ucinspire/
Summer Enrichment Program for KAUST Gifted Student Program
2016-2022
The KGSP Summer Enrichment Program is a 5-week to 6-week comprehensive program providing an experiential learning experience or a research experience to lower division undergraduate students funded by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Saudi Arabia. 135 students participated in the program.
One-quarter Academic Exchange Program
2018 – Present
An ad hoc one-quarter exchange program was developed to host international students for coursework enrolled through the Division of Continuing Education at UCI. We have hosted students from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia and American University of Cairo, Egypt (Funded by USAID), and plan to expand the program to more universities overseas.
Israeli Scholar Exchange Program
2012 – Present
Partnering with Tel Aviv University (TAU) under the Israeli Scholar Exchange Program, we organized seven joint conferences between UCI and TAU on various cutting-edge engineering research topics from 2012 to 2022. As a result, bilateral faculty and student short-term visits were made possible. I also initiated and facilitated the UCI-TAU Seed Grant by working with colleagues at TAU on drafting the Call for Proposals, recruiting faculty reviewers, providing rubrics, and selecting the awardees.
Erasmus+ Student/Staff/Faculty Mobility Program
2017 – Present
UCI Samueli School of Engineering is an Erasmus+ partner with Politecnico di Torino (PoliTO), Italy, and University of Stuttgart, Germany, funded by European Union. Under the Erasmus+ program, M.S. and Ph.D. students from European partner institutions were exchanged at UCI for three to five months to participate in research or to complete a capstone design project. Funding was also provided for short-term faculty and staff exchange. In addition, UCI faculty and staff participated in International Staff Training Week held at PoliTO to share best practices on international programs, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, etc. with universities overseas.
Boeing Student Leadership Conference
2014 and 2016
In collaboration with Boeing Research & Technology and Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, we hosted two Boeing Student Leadership Conferences and led UCI undergraduate student teams to join discussions with 9 other aviation clubs in China to understand engineering in a global context. For more details, please visit, https://sites.uci.edu/boeing2016/. The 2014 conference video can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/mI7LK8ofSiE?si=A696v0DlIZNHrNVE
Facilitator/ Liaison, Foreign Government Sponsored Graduate Fellowship Programs
As the facilitator for a few foreign government-sponsored Ph.D. or M.S. fellowship programs such as with the Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), India, and with the China Scholarship Council (CSC), I led the effort to negotiate the agreements and liaised between UCI and the partners oversea. in charge of coordinating, I collaborated with multiple departments at UCI to promote and facilitate the fellowship process.