Texas Tech's Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering is teaming with National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan and the Technical University of Munich, Germany, to offer two new dual degree master's programs this fall.
Kwong Chao, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Tech, said these programs will provide students with the opportunity to receive a master's degree in electrical engineering from two different universities.
"Students take half of the course here and half of the course there," he said. "They'll do a joint thesis at the end and will get two degrees - one from Texas Tech, the other one from the Taiwan Cheng Kung University or the Technical University of Munich."
Both two-year programs also will give students the chance to study overseas, Chao said. Students will spend one year studying at Tech and the other in either Germany or Taiwan.
The curriculum will be very similar to Tech's normal master's program, he said. But in order to get their degrees, students will need to satisfy the requirements of both universities.
Two companies are providing the students with research and internship opportunities, Chao said. Texas Instruments is sponsoring the program in Germany, while Diodes Inc. is sponsoring the program in Taiwan.
Both Texas Instruments and Diodes Inc. have facilities in Texas and overseas, he said, and students will be able to fulfill their internship requirements whether they are studying in Germany, Taiwan or the United States.
Chao said students who are interning for Texas Instruments in Germany will be focusing mostly on the circuit design aspect of engineering.
Donald Lie, Keh-Shew Lu Regents Chairman and associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Tech, said only a handful of students will be participating in these programs.
"Two students or less for each school to begin with," he said. "I don't think it's going to be more than two."
These programs, Lie said, will be very beneficial for Tech in several different ways.
These programs will help both Tech and its students on a more global level, he said, and it is important to look at where the market is going to be in the future, and how research will better the world.
"A lot of this future research will be taking place in a global way," Lie said. "We should have this global vision or mindset."
He said he believes Keng Chung University in Taiwan is one of the best in that country because of its large size and facilities. They currently have a lot of international exchange programs with top universities around the world.
"They have a lot of international dual degree or exchange programs right now," Lie said, "such as with Cornell University, the University of Tokyo and several other universities."
Vittal Rao, AT&T distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said he hopes these programs will attract more students to the graduate level.
"We have an interest for developing more international relationships to help recruit more quality graduate students," he said.
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