Agriculture Student Exchange Scheduled for Summer as Brazilian Educators Visit OSUIT

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Front row, left to right: Prof. Saulo Guerra, Alberto Issamu Honda, Prof. Cláudia Cristina Mendonça, Prof. Leonardo Büll. Back row, left to right: Roy Achemire, Carlos Augusto, Olga Elizarova, Dr. Thomas Kipkurgat, Dr. Bob Klabenes, Anita Gordy-Watkins, Rodolfo Mota (a Brazilian exchange student from Stillwater) and Joaquim Mendonça, Jr.
(Okmulgee) – Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT) received a visiting delegation from Brazil recently for meetings to further a current educational collaboration. In 2006, OSUIT received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Post Secondary Funding to establish relations with partner universities in Brazil. Additional U.S. grant partners included OSU Stillwater, the University of Arkansas and Oklahoma’s CareerTech.

“The primary objectives of the project are to increase the number of student and faculty exchanges and encourage joint program and curriculum efforts between the U.S. and Brazil partners,” explained Dr. Thomas Kipkurgat, OSUIT’s Principle Investigator for the project.

“I am excited to be sending three of my students to study in Brazil for the summer,” said Carlos Augusto, OSUIT Precision Agriculture faculty member. In turn, three Brazilian students will be coming to OSUIT to study in the fall semester. Augusto himself is a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The delegation included Brazilian partner representatives Prof. Saulo Guerra and Former Dean Leonardo Büll from São Paulo State University School of Agronomic Sciences, who have been very instrumental in the successes of the project. “Key to the project is locating the right Brazilian students who have the ability and commitment to benefit from the student exchange program, and to stay in communication with them,” says Prof. Guerra. “I am proud to see what our students are accomplishing in their studies and the research assistance they are providing to their professors while they are in the U.S. – this is great experience for them.” The primary purpose of the trip was for the visiting delegates to learn more about OSUIT’s Precision Agriculture program. Participating in the visit were Mr. Alberto Issamu Honda, Manager Director of the Jacto Group’s Fundação Shunji Nishimura de Tecnologia; Prof. Cláudia Cristina Mendonça, Dean of Centro Paula Souza’s FATECS, a technology college; and Mr. Joaquim Mendonça, Jr., an agronomist.

Through a partnership with the Jacto Group, FATECS recently implemented a new Precision Agriculture program in January under the leadership of Dean Cláudia Mendonça utilizing OSUIT’s program model, with assistance from Prof. Saulo Guerra. “The Jacto Group’s Foundation focuses a great deal of attention on social responsibility,” said Mr. Honda. “We are excited to be involved with educational organizations that offer affordable public technical education that is accessible to people who can really use it to improve their lives.”

The delegation had an opportunity to meet to discuss OSUIT’s program and curriculum, as well as to tour the various facilities and observe equipment and software demonstrations. Graduates from the program are prepared for applying a higher level of agricultural data utilizing skills in GIS, GPS, remote sensing, variable rate technology, and yield monitoring systems, in addition to using the familiar disciplines of agronomy, plant science, and agri-business. “Programs such as these would not be possible without support and guidance from our industry partners,” said Roy Achemire, OSUIT’s Department Chair for the Diesel and Heavy Equipment Department.

“OSUIT faculty member Carlos Augusto’s Brazilian agricultural expertise has been a tremendous asset for OSUIT’s program.”

Anita Gordy-Watkins, OSUIT’s Vice President for University and External Relations, said “Dean Cláudia Mendonça’s leadership in implementing a Precision Agriculture Program with 80 new students so quickly is amazing. This is an excellent example of sharing and leveraging these partnership connections for the benefit of students.”

The delegation had the opportunity to tour various areas of the campus, as well as to experience some of the local culture through a tour of the Muscogee Creek Nation Tribal College and Tribal Complex, hosted by Angela Bunner, Academic Dean of the Muscogee Creek Nation Tribal College. Later in the week, the group had an opportunity to travel to Stillwater to visit Meridian Technology Center and the OSU College of Agriculture to learn more about Oklahoma educational program models.