Engineering Instructor Heads South of the Border

Brian Galli, Ph.D., an adjunct faculty member in NYIT School of Engineering and Computing Sciences (SoECS), taught a short course at an NYIT partner institution in Mexico this summer. In doing so, he made new professional contacts and began pursuing a continuing interest in international education.

Teaching a popular industrial engineering technique known as Lean Six Sigma to a group of 24 students at the Mexico City campus of Universidad Panamericana (UP), Galli met several UP engineering faculty members with overlapping professional interests--including the six faculty members who took his workshop. "Faculty members in my class introduced me to several other people, and the dean of engineering also made sure I met people in my field." Galli and his UP associates are now discussing potential research collaborations.

Teaching in a foreign country was only slightly different from Galli’s normal student-centered teaching. "My overall approach stayed the same," Galli said, "but I leaned more on students. I gave them a chance to teach me about how local Mexican companies operate. They know stuff I don't know."

Overall, Galli said he felt very satisfied with his experience teaching abroad. “I always wanted to try something different when I was studying, but engineering is very rigorous, and I would have fallen a semester behind. This experience inspired me to apply for the Fulbright Specialist Program, where you can go do specialized projects on a short-term basis.” Galli and his new associates at UP are also planning to offer his Lean Six Sigma workshop again in January. “I already asked my wife if she would like to go with me,” he said.

For information about teaching abroad, contact Julie Fratrik in the office of Global Academic Programs.