Dr. Raghu Echempati, professor of Mechanical Engineering, recently won a Fulbright Scholar Award sponsored by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars based in Washington, D.C. (www.cies.org).

The award provides scholars travel and allowances for recipients to spend four months at select institutions of higher education conducting researching and teaching students. Echempati is spending January to April 2008 at The Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) in New Delhi, one of the top academic institutions in India. He will teach an advanced machine design course and participate in research endeavors with IIT faculty. Additionally, he expects to look into study abroad opportunities between Kettering and IIT Delhi.

Echempati is one of approximately 800U.S.faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright Scholar Program. Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the purpose of the program is to build mutual understanding between the people of the U.S. and the rest of the world.

The Fulbright Program, which many consider to be America’s flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the United States Dept. of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Since its inception, the Fulbright Program has exchanged approximately 273,500 people—102,900 Americans who have studied, taught or researched abroad and 170,600 students, scholars and teachers from other countries who have engaged in similar activities in the U.S. The Program operates in more than 150 countries worldwide.

Recipients of Fulbright awards receive selection on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields. Some of the most notable and prominent Fulbright alumni include Craig Barrett, chairman of the board of Intel Corp.; Mohamed Benaissa, minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco; Robert Shaye, co-chairman and co-CEO of New Line Cinema; and Ruth Simmons, president of Brown University.

“The Fulbright award provides an interesting and a very exciting experience for me to interact with some of the premier educational institutions in India,” Echempati said. “After arriving, I quickly realized that Kettering University’s academic standards and the quality of our students are really comparable to the overall standards of these premier institutions in India. I hope to keep contact with the people I meet and collaborate with to develop joint international student exchange programs in future. I highly recommend the faculty and students at Kettering consider spending one academic term in India,” he added.

Fulbright recipients are among more than 30,000 individual participating in U.S. Dept. of State exchange programs each year. For more than 40 years, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs has supported programs that seek to promote mutual understanding and respect between the people of the U.S. and the people of other countries. The Fulbright Program is administered by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.

For more information about the Fulbright Program or the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, visit http://eca.state.gov/fulbright or contact Heidi Manley, Office of Academic Exchange Programs, at (202) 453-8534, or via email at academic@state.gov.

Written by Gary J. Erwin
810-762-9538
gerwin@kettering.edu