The Department of Computer Science at Texas A&M University is hosting 16 of 50 CANIETI students from Mexico to be a part of the Research for Undergraduates (REU) Program. CANIETI is the Mexican National Chamber of Electronics, Telecommunication, and Information Technology and has been in place for more than 70 years. It is the entity representative of the three sectors, promoting their development in a global environment with high quality services. The primary purpose for CANIETI is to achieve the competitive development of the national industry with legal sense and social responsibility. Because of this, CANIETI has implemented the summer program in partnership with the Dwight Look College of Engineering at Texas A&M University and the English Language Institute (ELI).
“CANIETI chose Texas A&M as the partner for this pilot program,” said Maria Alves, Engineering International Programs director. The program was developed with the intent of preparing Mexican students to apply to grad school in the United States, and more specifically at Texas A&M.
During the 10 weeks that the students are at Texas A&M participating with the CSE Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program, the CANIETI students will study English, which includes a Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) preparation class. The students will also attend a GRE prep class at which they conduct research with faculty members that could potentially be their graduate advisor.
The ultimate goal of the CANIETI program is to improve the Electronics, Telecommunication and Information Technology industry through human capital development.
“This program also benefits our domestic students as we integrated the Mexican students in the lab with our current students,” Alves said. “They are working on projects together, learning from each other’s culture, seeing things from a different perspective and learning how to work in a global job market, which they will face when they graduate.”