Twenty-five students from Texas A&M University at Qatar, a Qatar Foundation partner university, and eight students from the main campus in College Station participated in the Texas Summer Research Experience program.
In this exchange program, students from the Doha campus were matched with research teams on the College Station campus and given an opportunity to work on projects with other undergraduate students, graduate students, post-doctoral researchers, and Texas A&M faculty. At the same time, students from College Station were matched with research projects for the summer in Qatar and worked in labs at the Texas A&M at Qatar Engineering Building in Education City.
Nathan Joseph Braganza, a Texas A&M at Qatar mechanical engineering student, was involved in desalination research at the main campus.
He said, “I went to College Station to study abroad in Fall 2021 and I loved it so much I wanted to come back during the summer. This program provides us students an incredible opportunity to work with exceptional faculty in state-of-the-art facilities in one of the top-ranked engineering colleges in the world. The Aggie spirit in College Station is incredible and wholesome. It has been a great experience.”
Apart from the research education at the respective universities, students also got to experience different cultures and perspectives during their summer abroad.
Ian Poynter, who is studying electrical and computer engineering at College Station, participated in the program at the Doha campus and said it was a unique opportunity to experience a different culture.
“I am always looking for ways to push out of my comfort zone while having memorable experiences, and this opportunity offered both,” Poynter said. “One of the biggest things I have learned since coming here is that despite the significant differences in culture and daily life, most people here are not so different from those you would meet back home in the U.S. I look forward to taking the lessons I have learned about appreciating each other’s differences.”
Dr. Ryan McLawhon ’03, Executive Director of Student Affairs and Academic Services at Texas A&M University at Qatar, said, “The Texas Summer Research Experience provides students a unique opportunity to combine undergraduate research and global competence. Through these experiences, students gain real-world problem-solving, research, and inquiry experience while immersed in another culture. These are the kinds of experiences graduate programs and employers are looking for in today’s engineering graduates.”
Source: Texas A&M University at Qatar