Source: Ron Madl, 785-532-7022, rmadl@k-state.edu

Monday, June 7, 2010

FOUR K-STATE STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN STUDY ABROAD EXCHANGE PROGRAM IN RENEWABLE RESOURCES

MANHATTAN -- Four Kansas State University students are participating in a student exchange program with European universities through a consortium sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education -- or FIPSE -- program, which continues through 2012.

K-State is one of the three U.S. partners.

The Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education program provides opportunities for outstanding seniors and graduate students to study at one of the European Union-partner institutions by completing course work and/or research that broadens their field of study from food to non-food agricultural materials and applications.

Three K-State students have spent the spring 2010 semester at one of three European partner institutions sponsored by the program. Students studying at Ghent University in Ghent, Belgium, were Nolan Rothe, graduate student in plant pathology, Bison, and Douglas Ingersol, senior in mechanical engineering, Topeka. Spencer Kepley, senior in biological and agricultural engineering, Chanute, studied at National Polytechnic Institute of Toulouse, Toulouse, France.

K-State's Lauren Brewer, graduate student in grain science and industry, Cayce, S.C., is spending the summer at Karl Franzens University in Graz, Austria.

The K-State FIPSE program is part of the K-State Center for Sustainable Energy, which seeks to provide sustainable, renewable energy while maintaining the environment and providing an adequate food supply. More than 30 faculty members from across campus, including the colleges of Agriculture, Arts and Sciences, and Engineering, are involved in center activities.

Applications to participate in the spring 2011 FIPSE student exchange program are due Oct. 1. Participating students must be U.S. citizens. The U.S. consortium may send up to nine students to participate in the FIPSE academic exchange program.

Ron Madl, research professor and director of the K-State's Bioprocessing and Industrial Value-Added Program in the department of grain science and industry, is the K-State FIPSE program director. More information about the exchange program is available by contacting Madl at 785-532-7022 or rmadl@k-state.edu, or Karli Stukenberg with K-State study abroad at 532-5990 or karlis@k-state.edu.