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Home > Featured Stories > International Connections > November 2008 > Politically ExchangedPolitically Exchanged
For me as a journalism student, I think that it's mandatory that I know what's happening outside of my bubble. This is a very historical moment... not just for America, but for the world.
Gabriele Jimenez, GTI participant from Sao Paulo, Brazil
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Brazilian students participating in the U.S. Elections Program toured a local polling place during their election-week visit to NC State.
By Mick Kulikowski, News Services
and Dave Pond, Web Communication
During the height of U.S. political-campaign season, 20 Brazilian university students descended on NC State's campus in hopes of experiencing U.S. democracy and culture, as well as the elections process on the local, state, and national levels.
As part of a unique program hosted by the Global Training Initiative (GTI) at NC State University, the students took in a number of undergraduate classes, rubbed elbows with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Dole, participated in a downtown Raleigh rally for Barack Obama and even saw the sights and sounds of the N.C. State Fair before they heading off to Washington, D.C., for the rest of their stateside visit.
"The GTI is unlike any other program at any other American university," said Michael Bustle, director of the Office ofInternational Services at NC State University. "The State Department chose NC State as a terrific place tohost this program in part because of our exceptional faculty in theSchool of Public and International Affairs, who are nationally knownelection experts."
Through its specifically designed curriculum, the GTI helps facilitate short-term exchanges, certificate programs, internship and training programs for overseas nationals who would like to come to North Carolina and learn from the faculty and research programs available to them at NC State. Bustle hopes that American students take increasing advantage of the opportunity to travel abroad as part of the unique exchange program, which would help better prepare them for the increasingly global community we live in.
The GTI provides a flexible framework for third- or fourth-year international undergraduates or international graduate students to choose from a number of options, including taking a full load of classes for one semester; delving into a research topic of their choosing alongside an NC State faculty member for two to six months; or selecting a combination of class work and a cooperative internship experience for up to one year.
International students can also earn a certificate in U.S. Culture and Education, making them more valuable in the global marketplace, says Vice Provost for International Affairs Bailian Li.
Li adds that the GTI also provides services for international training in education, English, business, executive training or other specific academic disciplines.
This semester, a pair of Portuguese students, Guilhermina Torrão, a Ph.D. candidate in environmental science and transportation engineering at the University of Aveiro, and Dr. Margarida Coelho, last semester's GTI student and an invited assistant professor and post-doctoral fellow at the University of Aveiro, are working with Dr. Nagui Rouphail, professor of civil engineering and director of the Institute for Transportation Research and Education (ITRE).
An expert in traffic flow theory and control, Rouphail has a long history of collaboration with Portuguese researchers. Earlier this year, the collaborators formed a Luso-American Transportation Impacts Study Group to study how land-use policies and planning affect traffic and emissions, both of which affect air quality.
Torrão is focusing her research in environmental management that includes vehicle size and how it impacts health and safety factors. Coelho is examining car-to-car communications that might be used to alert drivers of accidents or traffic, allowing alternate routes to be taken.
The Portuguese researchers are working alongside Alixandra Demers, an NC State post doctoral researcher who is interested in routing vehicles onto lowest emissions paths through the use of in-vehicle technologies and algorithms such as real-time routing through GPS navigation devices.
As previously mentioned, the GTI also allows the flow of students to be reversed, as Demers is planning to study in Portugal in the coming months.
