Session S1D 0-7803-9077-6/05/$20.00 © 2005 IEEE October 19 – 22, 2005, Indianapolis, IN 35 th ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference S1D-1 A Collaborative Project In West Africa: Student Research Experience In Development Stephen E. Silliman 1 , Moussa Boukari 2 , and Pamela Crane 31 1 Stephen E. Silliman, Dept. of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 silliman.1@nd.edu 2 Moussa Boukari, Dept. des Sciences de la Terre, University d’Abomey-Calavi, Cotonou, Bénin, Africa mboukari@bj.refer.org 3 Pamela Crane, Dept. of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556 pcrane@nd.edu Abstract - Undergraduate and graduate students from the University of Notre Dame and the Universite d’Abomey- Calavi, Bénin, West Africa, have been involved in an international research experience. Established in 1998, this project includes regional sampling of groundwater quality, water-quality monitoring / education in a village in south-central Bénin, a well drilling program, and a geostatistics course taught in Bénin. In addition to student experience, these efforts have led to significant collaboration and time commitment among the faculty involved. In reviewing these efforts, two significant differences are noted between this research experience and other service experiences in developing countries. First, collaborative research requires long-term commitment between colleagues in the U.S. and in the partner country. Hence, it is concluded, short-term trips without long-term follow-up are unlikely to provide an optimal environment for international research collaboration. Second, research experiences are optimized when they include collaboration not only among faculty and students, but also among professionals, NGOs, and local populations in the partner country. Index Terms – Research Experience, International Collaboration, Undergraduates and Graduate Students. INTRODUCTION A number of new educational, research, and service opportunities have been established and designed to provide undergraduate and graduate students with experiences of science/engineering in developing countries. Examples include Engineers Without Borders (www.ewb- international.org), Engineers For A Sustainable World (www.esustainableworld.org), the SAIWI graduate student organization at the University of Nevada, Reno (www.unr.nevada.edu/~saiwi), Engineering World Health (www.ewh.org), IAESTE (www.iaeste.org), and the recent REU program on Water Resources in Developing Countries centered at the University of Notre Dame (www.nd.edu/~reuwater). These efforts are related closely to the recognition that there is an increasing need to expose undergraduate and graduate engineering students to the social, political and cultural components of engineering practice. This need is reflected, for example, in NSF’s recent call for establishing international collaborations on research and education (e.g., NSF05533) and US AID’s “Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development” (http://www.aascu.org/alo). A number of papers have also discussed the need for international exposure and collaboration within engineering curricula [1] – [3]. The Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame (UND), in collaboration with the Universite d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC) in Bénin, has relatively extensive experience with various forms of student participation in education and research experiences in developing countries. These range from classroom instruction, to a service program in Haiti, to research and education programs in Bénin, West Africa (e.g., Silliman, 2003). As noted in Silliman (2003), the format of the international program can have dramatic impact on the resulting experience of the student. The present paper discusses our experiences with research programs (versus service programs) in Bénin with emphasis on the impact on the U.S. and Bénin student, as well as impact on the faculty members directing the project. It is noted that much of this discussion is based on the observations of the faculty (Drs. Silliman and Boukari) and students (including Ms. Crane) involved in these projects. Although formal assessment is being conducted on these projects and initial results are presented, the number of students involved to date is too small to provide statistically significant (formal) assessment results. Hence, the goal of this paper is to initiate discussion of the different needs and impacts of programs designed to provide a research experience in a developing country (as compared to a service or educational experience). BACKGROUND AND FORMAT OF RESEARCH EXPERIENCES The University of Notre Dame (UND) has been collaborating with the Universite d’Abomey-Calavi (UAC) since 1998. Initial interactions involved drilling of groundwater wells and discussion of possible educational interaction and exchange. Starting in 2000, the collaboration moved to a more structured format through the establishment of a long-term project on characterization of groundwater quality and a refocus on research experiences for the students involved. Initial field results led to the development of a formal research program (through NSF INT–0138238) and the establishment of a