From global learning to local action, University of Houston mechanical engineering junior Joshua “Josh” Brown is exploring how lessons from around the world can inspire more resilient communities at home. His approach to engineering goes beyond solving technical problems. For Josh, it is about creating sustainable solutions that make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Josh’s global mindset has inspired him to also seek opportunities locally on campus that allow him to make meaningful impacts.
Josh Brown shares lessons from the Oosterscheldekering in The Hague with Houston City
Council, exploring how the Delta Works project can inform coastal resilience in Houston.
The collaborative Learning Abroad course Connecting Coastal Resilience: From the Greater Houston Area to The Netherlands, offered through the UH Cullen College of Engineering and the UH Honors College, gives students both local and global perspectives on pressing environmental challenges.
As future engineers, UH students are learning to address resilience challenges like the flooding that affects the greater Houston and Galveston regions. Through hands-on experiences, they develop the knowledge and skills to design, fund, build, and restore infrastructure that help communities adapt to and recover from these complex environmental challenges. UH faculty leaders like Professors Alex Landon and Andres Acosta bring these students to Amsterdam and The Hague to learn abroad as well as to immerse themselves in the culture.
“Learning how engineers in The Netherlands tackle coastal resilience by living with water and not against it is a mindset approach.” Josh said. He further explained that the engineers in The Netherlands have developed approaches to flood control that is non-reactive with 60 years of advancement in the field, and intentional for communities living at sea level for the foreseeable future.
Sustainable Solutions through Environmental Engineering
The lessons Josh learned overseas won't stay overseas. Because Josh is a student worker in the Institute for Global Engagement at UH, as well as a Global Guide, and familiar with plugging into international opportunities, he encourages others to do so as well.
Adrian Carruthers, Senior Learning Abroad Advisor, explains, “Learning abroad isn't meant to be something ‘extra’ that only a few can access. It's meant to work seamlessly with a student's UH degree.”
Carruthers adds, "For international credit transfer, students work with our office to identify programs that align with their degree requirements, and courses taken abroad are approved in advance in order to make sure students stay on track to graduate."
Instead of wondering what opportunities you have to go global and connect local, contact the Institute for Global Engagement at learningabroad@uh.edu or uhglobal@uh.edu
Find out more about Faculty-Led Learning Abroad programs here.