Syracuse University is currently accepting applications for a two-week engineering program in Bulgaria this August.

The program is open to sophomores and juniors majoring in civil engineering, environmental engineering, construction management or architecture, said Svetoslava Todorova, a professor in SU’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, in an email. Todorova will be leading the program.

A former consulting engineer in Bulgaria, Todorova has experience in high-rise buildings, water infrastructure and construction management.

Todorova said that students in the program will learn about the evolution of construction in Bulgaria and other countries in Eastern Europe from the 17th century to the present.

“The class will focus on understanding the design, logistics, safety, temporary structures, and construction practices in the eastern part of the European Union, as well as the application and availability of building construction materials, quality labeling, and construction certifications,” she said.

Students will also have an opportunity to meet and interact with engineering students from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy in Sofia, Bulgaria, Todorova said.

Bulgaria was selected for the program because it “offers an interesting view” of engineering in both ancient and modern times, she said, “from the Thracian tribes who lived as early as 17 B.C. through the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman Empires to the present construction activities associated with the expansion of the European Union.”

Within a 300-mile radius, Todorova said, students can experience the engineering and construction practices that span about 38 centuries and compare these practices to the present ones used in the United States.

Todorova said the program is only two weeks long because it allows students who have summer internships to fit an abroad program into their schedules and it’s more affordable than a long-term program.

Samuel Clemence, a professor in SU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science and interim dean of Hendricks Chapel, said these types of programs can be “life-altering moments for students.”

“It makes students realize that there are people studying the same things as them, but have completely different attitudes, religions and upbringings,” he said. “It wakes the students up and I wish that every engineering student had the opportunity to go abroad.”

He added that going abroad is particularly important for engineering students.

Clemence said: “For engineering students, it is very helpful to get opportunities to get real life experience because it helps them to make their classes at Syracuse more realistic.”

Published on February 7, 2016 at 10:16 pm

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