Dr. Lee Sawyer, director of chemistry, nanosystems engineering and physics at Louisiana Tech University, has developed a graduate-level course which he has taught at the National University of Rio Cuarto (UNRC) in Rio Cuarto, Argentina. The course, “Formulation to Solutions to Engineering Problems,” is part of a joint partnership between Louisiana Tech and UNRC, which aims to promote the exchange of faculty, students and ideas between the two universities, and to provide students from both universities with international perspectives and experiences. Sawyer’s course is the first to be offered by a Louisiana Tech faculty member at UNRC and has a mixture of graduate students and university instructors as enrollees. In 2015, UNRC Department of Mechanics Professor Dr. Ronald O’Brien, visited Louisiana Tech to foster research collaborations between the two universities in mechanical engineering. O’Brien helped coordinate the 2016 course, along with Louisiana Tech alumnus and UNRC Professor Dr. Juan Fontana. “Dr. Lee Sawyer’s visit has helped to continue strengthening the partnership between Louisiana Tech and UNRC,” Fontana said. “It has had a significant impact on the academic community, as it represented the starting point of the integrated teaching-scientific exchange of undergraduate and graduate students to take courses and participate in research projects.” Sawyer says the experience has highlighted Louisiana Tech’s opportunities for international collaboration. “I have really enjoyed the month I have spent in Rio Cuarto, getting to know the faculty and students,” said Sawyer.  “There are common interests between the engineering faculty here and the College of Engineering and Science. I hope that this exchange of faculty and students continues. It is one more example of Louisiana Tech’s global presence.” Written by Brandy McKnight – mcknight@latech.edu