Professor Noori, head of the ME Department, gave a few remarks at the signing, stating: "This is a great historical moment for both institutions" and that he was "glad to see that this is taking place." He went on to note that the excitement had apparently gotten the best of Parrish as well as Dr. Stuart Ramos, Chancellor of UPRM and representative of the President of UPR Dr. Norman Maldonado and Dr. Manuel Gomez, Director of the Center for Resources for Science and Engineering, who had begun signing before he had the chance to speak.
Dr. Ramos commented: "I am happy to be here as the representative of the president of the University of Puerto Rico. I am sure that the agreement will be fulfilled and that this is the beginning of a long relationship with WPI. I hope to see it expand into other areas, such as the arts and sciences. I am proud to be here and would like to thank you for your kindness during our stay. We will come back again, but it will be in the summer."
President Parrish stated that he was: "delighted to have you here and I hope to visit you in Mayaguez. . .There is a lot that we can do together and I hope that you do come back."
The signing was the culmination of over a year and a half's work on the part of WPI Mechanical Engineering Department head Mohammad Noori and UPRM Associate Professors Ali Saffar and Hamid Davoodi (both of whom are WPI alumni), along with others.
Doctor Davoodi claims that he was "a catalyst to the process. . .I know how things work here and how they work there. This was mostly professor Noori's idea. . .it will be a good opportunity for everyone involved." Davoodi had a very good experience at WPI, graduating in 1989, he has only good things to say about the faculty here. "I learned to SCUBA dive from professor Sacco. . .and one reason why I am a professor is because of my professors here, like professors Noori, Boyd, Hagland, Grandin, Christopher and others."
Doctor Noori's version has the WPI alumni giving the initial spark for the partnership, but either way a lot of work was done on their part.
Noori was invited to go down and visit UPR last year and as a representative of WPI, he talked with many members of the UPR faculty about WPI in general. There was a lot of interest in the globalization program here, as well as the project-based curriculum. During his May 1994 visit, Noori was able to meet many department heads, deans and chancellors of UPR and the two WPI alumni on the UPR staff proposed on-site representation for WPI at UPR.
The Third International Stochasitc Structural Dynamics Conference, held in January of this year, was organized by UPR, WPI and Rice University and sponsored by the National Science Foundation, Xerox, the International Science Foundation, Exxon and numerous other industries. This conference was attended by representatives from 47 countries and represented a good cooperative effort between the schools.
When some of the sponsorship money was left over (they had been very generously funded), the agencies were approached with the possibility of using it to fund the new center. The UPR administration was successful in convincing them to do so.
Another cooperative effort that has already taken place, besides MQP's and student exchanges, are three proposals which have been submitted to NSF, the Office of Naval Research and the Department of Energy. The center will allow more of this type of work to be done as well as promote minority recruitment to WPI's graduate programs. This has been identified by NSF as being highly important in the years to come.
The representatives from UPR were interested in this "bridge" Ph.D. program, which is a new concept in education. UPR has not been able to create graduate programs in all of its areas of study because the faculty literally does not have time to research. This is due in part to the fact that they often teach up to six or seven courses at a time and also the fact that the courses there are project-oriented, like here. The faculty members are also much closer to their students than here, which professor Davoodi feels is mostly a cultural difference.
UPR has been highly successful in projects like the SAE solar car, where they consistently place among the top five schools in the country. It is possible that WPI could work with UPR on such projects in the future, using the combined resources of both institutions. This is only one of a number of possibilities the future of this agreement holds.
Professor Noori mentioned that Dr. Maldonado, the UPR President, may come to WPI next spring to explore some of terms of the agreement. Dr. Maldonado is also a member of the WPI ME Department advisory board.
"Our collaboration with the University of Puerto Rico has the potential to strengthen our globalization activities," says Hossein Hakim, director of global programs and chair of interdisciplinary and global studies. "In addition to aligning WPI with a highly regarded Latin American university, this association will broaden opportunities for WPI students and faculty in Central and South America."
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