Niner Engineers prepare for global industry through international internship and study abroad
Academic partnerships around the globe expand opportunities for students and researchers
June 8, 2025
Through a growing number of international partnerships with other top universities, William States Lee College of Engineering offers students and researchers unique learning experiences. Many of these partnerships are anchored in Germany, highly regarded as a world leader in engineering with a strong reputation for innovation, accuracy and technology.
Among these opportunities is a curated education/internship experience with a top university and industry leader in Germany.
Hochschule Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences and Bürkert Fluid Controls Systems
Hochschule Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, or HKA – known for its industry partnerships which produce internships and job opportunities. The W.S. Lee College of Engineering exchange program with HKA includes an internship program with German-based Bürkert Fluid Controls Systems, a world leader in regulation, measurement and control technology.
The exchange students, primarily from Charlotte’s electrical and computer engineering department, study and work for seven months. The first two months are spent full time at the internship, with the remaining weeks used for part-time work and coordinated HKA classes.
Cricket Bonnetaud, director of international student exchange programs for the engineering college, visits her students abroad and observes them working in the HKA labs alongside their German student-partners. “Our students get to learn in HKA labs directly from those faculty, expanding our curriculum in ways not available anywhere else. Combined with the hands-on application at Bürkert, this distinctive experiential learning is something I’ve not seen elsewhere.”
Bürkert’s employees are highly skilled with deep experience, allowing students direct access to incredibly valuable industry insight. “Once students design, develop and test their projects, the professional engineers take time to evaluate and use those projects and share feedback with the student cohorts. It’s a similar model to internships and senior design projects back home, but with the added layer of an international perspective from one of the top fluid control companies in the world.”
With nearly 240 German companies operating in the Charlotte region, significant job opportunities await students who choose to gain additional experience through international partnership programs in Germany.
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, or KIT
KIT is one of only a handful of German Universities of Excellence. KIT emphasizes faculty expertise and active research investigating novel energy storage systems of increased performance. With students from both KIT and UNC Charlotte focused on energy research, the partnership serves as a strategic collaboration for both universities.
Hochschule Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences
This is one of the largest and most efficient universities of applied sciences in Germany. Hochschule Niederrhein excels in advanced manufacturing engineering primarily through its industry-aligned approach and specialized capabilities in textile technology, which leverages modern manufacturing processes, materials and digital tools. The partnership is designed to enhance academic knowledge and research expertise in the key growth areas of advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and transformational energy.
Metrology Focused Program
Multiple government and academic laboratories across Germany, the nation that sets the pace in industrial metrology. Germany invests over 3% of its GDP in research and development, with a strong focus on measurement science. Due to this strength, W.S. Lee College of Engineering offers a faculty-led metrology focused program, leading students to visit scientists and engineers working in metrology labs across Germany, and to learn about the industrial application of metrology equipment.
Meanwhile, Charlotte continues to expand its engineering collaborations across the globe with more leading higher education institutions. One of the most recent partnerships to be formalized is in Spain.
Universitat Politècnica de València, or UPV – Spain’s leading technological university. UPV-Alcoi campus has partnered with UNC Charlotte’s Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science department to offer students a new educational experience between the two highly ranked institutions. Faculty at both campuses are working together to develop a curriculum that leverages the respective strengths of each college and afford students access to specialized courses and research facilities not available at their home campus.
Over the past six years, W.S. Lee College of Engineering has strengthened its international academic collaborations to more deeply foster students’ comprehensive understanding of the discipline and experience professional practice of varying cultures. By learning through a global lens, Niner Engineers gain an added perspective of intercultural competence that is increasingly valued in multinational engineering firms. The international engineering partnerships also strengthen Charlotte faculty research networks by sharing specialized equipment, unique datasets, different research methodologies and more.
Charlotte is unlocking new opportunities and helping students forge the increasingly global future of industry.
For more information about the College’s international partnerships, contact Dr. Cricket Bonnetaud, who manages the College’s international exchange programs.
