Effort to boost Vietnam's engineering education gains major partner
Program works to bolster global high-tech industry
Arizona State University’s effort to modernize engineering education in Vietnam has gained another major industry partner.
National Instruments will team with ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering to provide research and teaching tools to engineering programs at eight Vietnam universities and vocational education institutions.
The company’s contribution will also include training and certification courses in the use of the computer software, hardware and other technologies it will provide. In all, the company’s investment is valued at about $7 million.
The collaboration will make National Instruments part of the industry alliance supporting the Higher Engineering Education Alliance Program (HEEAP) in the Fulton Schools of Engineering office of Global Outreach and Extended Education.
HEEAP administers the Vietnam project in partnership with the country’s government, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Intel Corporation and other industry partners, including Siemens, Cadence and Danaher Corporation.
The project aims to accelerate economic development by providing a more highly trained workforce in Vietnam to meet the growing needs of global high-tech industries throughout Southeast Asia. Reaching that goal is expected to strengthen business and global market ties between the region and the United States.
Established in 2010, HEEAP has trained hundreds of faculty members at Vietnam universities and vocational schools in advanced engineering education methods and is establishing a Distance Learning Network to enable students across the country to take online courses simultaneously.
HEEAP is also improving instruction in English for Vietnamese engineering students and promoting the involvement of more women in engineering and technical fields.
The alliance is working to bring Vietnamese engineering education programs into compliance with leading higher education accrediting organizations. HEEAP’s higher education leadership institute is training leaders at Vietnamese colleges and universities how to effectively administer and manage advanced engineering education programs.
National Instruments, with headquarters in Austin, Texas, is a multinational provider of research and education tools for engineers and scientists. Southeast Asia is among the company’s key markets. It opened an office in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam in 2011.
For more details, see the National Instruments press release announcing its HEEAP partnership.