needed for conditions found in developing countries. 

 Rather, most students from these nations learn 

 techniques best suited for the industrial environment 

 of the United States and their interest in their own 

 countries' problems is not quickened. Partly for these 

 reasons, engineering graduates often seek employment in 

 the United states or in other industrialized nations, 

 adding to the "brain drain" from developing countries. 

 Moreover, those who do return may find themselves 

 poorly equipped to help solve national problems. 



U.S. engineering schools do not in general offer 

 curricula specifically oriented to developing nations 

 for a number of reasons. Although the absolute number 

 of developing nation students in U.S. engineering 

 schools is large, the proportion of students interested 

 in such coursework at any one campus is usually small. 

 Naturally, constrained by resources, engineering 

 schools seek curricula that best meet the educational 

 requirements of the majority of students, who are U.S. 

 citizens. Moreover, resources to support curriculum 

 development and finance student research often come 

 from high priority federal programs such as those of 

 NASA and the Department of Energy. Even if an 

 engineering school sets out to create a "developing 

 country curriculum," it may not have the knowledge 

 base. Most engineers, including those who teach, are 

 relatively uninformed about conditions characteristic 

 of developing nations. 



Notwithstanding these constraints, a few U.S. 

 engineering schools have developed courses and research 

 programs oriented toward developing nations, and more 

 of this work should be encouraged. A summary of 

 present and future opportunities is presented in Table 

 3. Such programs might be undertaken unilaterally or 

 in conjunction with other engineering schools, 

 particularly schools located in developing nations. 

 Discussions of "appropriate technology" in such courses 

 might help sensitize future practitioners to these 

 issues. 



Desirable research activities would include 

 projects for modifying existing technologies or 

 developing new technologies better suited to conditions 

 found in developing nations and projects for solving 

 specific problems brought to the engineering school by 

 developing nation governments or firms. This kind of 

 research, if successful, might eventually be sponsored 

 financially by developing country governments or firms, 

 particularly "post-AID" nations or those already having 

 viable industrial sectors. 



Sponsored research could bring teams of engineering 

 school faculty into developing countries to perform 

 research and to act in advisory roles. Such research, 

 although primarily conducted to solve real and 



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