Dear Colleague,
On behalf of the Steering and Programme Committees, I would like to invite you to participate in the INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ENGINEERING EDUCATION (ICEE'99), to be held in Ostrava and Prague, Czech Republic, during 10-14 August 1999.
Following the highly successful and well attended ICEE'97 in Chicago and ICEE'98 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, ICEE'99 will be held on the beautiful campuses of the VSB-Technical University of Ostrava (August 10-12, 1999) and the Czech Technical University of Prague (August 13-14, 1999) . The theme of ICEE'99 is PROGRESS THROUGH PARTNERSHIP. The organisers are dedicated to making the Conference a forum for further strengthening alliances among higher education institutions involved in teaching technical disciplines and training engineers both from the West and Central/Eastern European Countries, and between these countries and educators around the world. We address and aim to promote the reform of engineering education by means of international co-operation. Of concern are graduate education and research, undergraduate studies, and new forms of government-industry-university collaboration in engineering education.
In addition to an in-depth discussion of issues of common interest, attendees of ICEE'99 will be able to explore, through a special workshop to be convened in Prague on August 13-14, 1999, the development of future collaborative activities. In addition, we are also developing informative cultural and shopping tours for accompanying persons. One of the main industrial cities of the Czech Republic, Ostrava is in close proximity to numerous medieval castles and other sites of historical significance. Prague is well known as one of the cultural centres of Europe that is also a favourite tourist destination; the city is within easy driving distances to the spa city of Karlovy Vary and medieval town of Krumlov, a UNESCO-preserved cultural site.
To get to Ostrava is easy. Train and air links through Vienna and Prague are fairly comfortable and pretty frequent. The cost of a return air-ticket to Ostrava from US may be less expensive than flying between some cities in the States themselves. For train schedules, you can click on the WEB Page of the Czech train services, http://www.cdrail.cz/, for your free choice and advantage. To get a thorough view of our Institution and its potential, consult our Web Page: http://www.vsb.cz/.
We welcome your contribution in the form of an abstract. Please consult our Web Page, http://www.fs.vsb.cz/akce/1999/icee99/welcome.htm, for more details on abstract submission. Preference is given to such oral or verbal contributions which concern recent development and trends in academia, and the interface between academia and industry. Reports on examples of new curricula and schemes for technology transfer in the defined field are of particular interest. Abstracts of about 300 to 500 words should include sufficient detail for Programme Committee review and would you kindly use the online registration form for the purpose which you can find on the Web Address specified above. Deadline for abstracts, originally due by 15 December 1999, have been extended to 10 January 1999.
If you prefer, you may also submit your abstract by replying to this e-mail. Simply include the title, names, affiliations, and addresses of authors, and the telephone and fax number and e-mail address of the corresponding author. This should be followed by a summary (abstract) of your presentation.
As an author, if you are affiliated with an education institution in the United States, you may be eligible to receive travel support through a group travel award from the U.S. National Science Foundation. The proposal for this support is still under development and more details will be available at a later date.
I hope to meet you at the ICEE'99 and am more than willing to be of assistance. If need be, please, do not hesitate to contact me on my e-mail address: borek.sousedik@vs.cz.
With best regards,
Your sincerely,
Borek Sousedik, Programme Committee, Communication