The stories of successful relationships between faculty and students are plentiful at The Ohio State University. But relationships that start in the classroom, develop into a research assistantship, become a collaboration between colleagues, and flourish into an agreement between two universities are exceptional. The exchange program between Ohio State and the Universidad Autonóma de Nuevo León (UANL) is an example of such a relationship.
“The opportunity to experience cultural diversity and to meet and work together with students from other parts of the world makes this experience unforgettable,” said Lupita Villarreal and Miguel Angel Urbano, Systems Engineering students from UANL and participants in the exchange program with Ohio State. These two students are the most recent of seven Mexican graduate students who have come to our campus as visiting scholars for one quarter in the polymer processing and composites manufacturing group led by José Castro, professor in the Department of Industrial, Welding and Systems Engineering (IWSE).
Villarreal and Urbano applied optimization methods to injection molding processes and composites manufacturing using Castro’s laboratory equipment, aimed to optimize variables, such as cycle times and product quality. “Being able to perform experiments in an industry setting provides students with tools that industries in underdeveloped countries could use to help their economy and generate employment,” according to Urbano. Two Ohio State students had a different experience, benefiting from the opportunity provided by this program while studying in Monterrey, Mexico, for 10 weeks. Those students gained an understanding of another culture, a different business environment, and different professional and cultural dynamics.
This mutually-beneficial relationship began when Mauricio Cabrera-Ríos, now a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at UANL, was completing his doctorate program at Ohio State, with José Castro as his adviser. For three years, the two worked together in research on polymer processing optimization, and Castro’s support of Cabrera Ríos’ area of interest continued beyond his postdoctoral year and into his application process to faculty positions in Mexico. “José’s research on polymers and composites manufacturing was fascinating and complex but soon we realized the large gaps existing between our areas of study, so our conversations began focusing on ways to bridge those gaps,” Cabrera-Ríos explained.
“José’s commitment to continue collaborating with my area of study along with my experience at Ohio State made my application very appealing to many Mexican universities.”
Both faculty members planned to establish a relationship between their two institutions to provide opportunities to students from both universities by matching Ohio State’s strengths to the needs of the Mexican programs and vice versa. Not long after Cabrera-Ríos started working at UANL, the relationship took another important step when José Castro was appointed as an affiliate professor by UANL. Soon after, the presidents of both universities signed an inter-institutional agreement. An official relationship was now forged between the two universities.
“Establishing a long-lasting collaboration between two institutions in different countries was not easy,” Cabrera-Ríos explained. “It takes a lot of commitment and communication.” While Cabrera-Ríos’ group focuses on optimization, Castro’s group is centered on developing computer-aided engineering (CAE) tools for polymer and composite manufacturing. According to Castro, “the fit between both groups comes naturally.”
Despite the challenges, for Cabrera-Ríos and Castro, the program is achieving its goal: complementing the technical side of the students’ instruction with more benefits on the side of social interaction. Theses are getting done, papers are being published, co-advising of students is happening; while the social benefit of the program provides first generation Mexican students an opportunity for educational development. Five out of the seven students who came from Mexico are not only the first individuals from their families to obtain a master’s degree, but they are the first members of the family to attend college. Ohio State students benefit from the opportunity abroad by emerging from their experiences better prepared to interact in diverse working environments in an increasingly global economy.
For both professors, the next goal of the collaboration is to offer a “sandwich program” similar to what Ohio State already does with other universities in which, according to Cabrera Ríos, “a doctoral student will study for two years in the United States and will have the option to complete one year of their program in Mexico.”
