NATO Partnership Creates Opportunities for Students, Faculty
While interning at NATO’s Modelling and Simulation Centre of Excellence earlier this year, Engineering Physics student Olivia Fowler had the opportunity to experience Italian culture and work with science and technology experts from around the world.
“The internship gave me the opportunity to meet lawyers, UAV experts and other disciplinarians from all over the world,” said Fowler, who spent her spring semester internship helping develop online courses on technical standards and city models for strategizing intergovernmental military operations.
The internship is one example of the opportunities available to Embry-Riddle students and faculty members through a technical agreement with NATO’s Modelling and Simulation Centre of Excellence in Rome, Italy. The Centre’s mission is to provide support, education and training for international military personnel on the use of simulations and models, which support training, operations, and decision making. Embry-Riddle is the only U.S. university to have an agreement with NATO’s M&S COE.
“This partnership provides students the opportunity to gain experience working in a multinational environment and allows for faculty and students to work in a collaborative setting to exchange their research,” said Sue Macchiarella, director of ERAU’s Office of Global Engagement in Daytona Beach.
The partnership has also fostered relationships between Embry-Riddle faculty and NATO members. In 2015, Computer Engineering Professor Dr. Richard Stansbury was invited to speak as the keynote speaker for the Modeling and Simulation for Autonomous Systems workshop in Prague. In June, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Ph.D. student Justin Yapp along with professors Dr. Remzi Seker and Dr. Radu Babiceanu won the best paper award at the 2016 workshop.
Former M&S COE Deputy Director, Col. John Ferrell, an ERAU alumnus and former ROTC professor, played an instrumental role in procuring the agreement.
“This agreement is primarily for exchanging information, exploring opportunities to collaborate on research and development and lay the foundations for internships and sabbaticals,” Ferrell said. “This agreement has led to several opportunities for Embry-Riddle and also helps the COE establish closer ties to academia.”
Macchiarella said that the partnership is just one example of how Embry-Riddle alumni give back to the university.
Plans for creating additional internship opportunities are currently underway. Internships at the COE are primarily offered to students majoring in engineering, mathematics, business or computer science.
For Fowler, the internship furthered her goal of working in an international environment.
“This is a great opportunity,” she said. “I got to meet a lot of people from all over the world and made friends from other countries. It really opened my eyes to the career opportunities that are out there.”
For more information on interning at the COE, contact the Office Global Engagement Director Sue Macchiarella at macchis1@erau.edu.