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Howard Receives German Exchange Scholarship

Emmaline HowardEmmaline Howard (MSE, ’24) has received a scholarship to participate in the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange (CBYX), a dynamic and immersive exchange program jointly offered by the United States and German governments.

CBYX annually provides 75 American and 75 German young professionals the opportunity to spend one year in each other’s countries, studying, interning, and living with hosts on a cultural immersion program. American participants of the program act as “young ambassadors” of the United States in Germany and represent the diversity of the US.

“Receiving the scholarship is a great honor, and I owe it to my mentors, Dr. David Harper and Dr. Meredith Malburne-Wade, who helped me achieve this once in a lifetime opportunity,” Howard said. “I wanted to take part in CBYX because it provided me the opportunity to not only explore Germany but to also engross myself in the language and culture through shared housing.”

While at UT, Howard performed undergraduate research with UT-ORNL Governor’s Chair Professor Rigoberto Advincula and Professor David Harper. She was the 2024 recipient of the Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher award from the Materials Science and Engineering Department. She has co-authored one paper and presented her work and research at several conferences.

The CBYX program provides a network of support through reputable international exchange organizations, field staff, trained volunteers, and carefully screened host families to ensure the safety and success of the participant’s exchange experience. The program is designed to strengthen ties between the US and German youth, improve their career skills through formal study and work experience, and expand their perspectives and awareness of each other’s culture, society, history, and politics.

Howard will arrive in Washington DC on July 24 to receive onboarding information and meet the other members of the 41st cohort. The group will depart for Berlin on July 26, when they will receive their visas. The 75 participants will spend two months in language intensive training in partnership with the Carl Duisberg Language Center. After that, they will take on semester of classes in their academic or career field at a university, technical school, or a professional school. During the semester, each participant must find an internship to serve between February and March of 2025.

“Since I have a year, I am hoping to explore every aspect of Germany I can. This will be my first time leaving the United States, and I hope to use this opportunity to explore the history and development of engineering in Europe,” Howard said. “With this experience, I want to better understand the sustainable culture of Germany and bring it back into my own research here in East Tennessee.”

Contact

Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, [email protected])