Paulo Camargo, the Consul General of Brazil in Chicago and Marianne Martins Guimaraes, the Deputy Consul visited the IIT Summer IPRO Day on July 24, 2014 to see presentations from students involved in the Brazilian Scientific Mobility Project (BSMP). This is an initiative of the Brazilian government that provides scholarships for its citizens to study engineering at an American university and to complete special projects as part of their curriculum while in the United States.
The School of Applied Technology accepted 30 BSMP students this summer to participate in classes in Industrial Technology and Management and Professional Learning Programs. The students spent 12 weeks designing projects that addressed their interests in renewable energy, sustainability, and project management.
By special arrangement with IIT’s IPRO Office, the BSMP students displayed their work as part of IPRO Day, and received evaluations from six volunteer judges. During a reception for the BSMP students, Consul Camargo spoke to the group, and presented each student with certificates of achievement. He acknowledged his great pride in this future workforce from Brazil, and their determination and dedication to their education.
The judges gave top awards to two students from INTM 497-01 Special Projects in Renewable Energy. Havner Scherrer-Cruz won for his working model of a riding rototiller using a small engine in a body made completely of scrap metal and discarded machine parts. A team of four students, Sidnei Barbosa Consolaro Junior, Barbara Ferreira Coelho, Lidiane Honorio, and Rodrigo Reviglio Weishaupt, were also winners for their working model of a portable solar electricity system for public events.