Engineering Exchange Programs Connect Classwork with Hands-on Experiences

Princeton’s engineering curriculum is renowned for its rigor, equipping students with the technical foundation to pursue cutting-edge research in areas such as artificial intelligence and infrastructure development. For engineering students who are looking to broaden their horizons and explore international opportunities, Princeton offers six engineering exchange programs that allow them to connect classroom theory with practical applications — all while gaining global perspective and collaborative skills that prepare the next generation of engineers. These programs are structured to align with Princeton’s engineering curriculum,
enabling students to stay on track with their degree while providing the opportunity to study at some of the world’s leading
technical institutions. 

At the University of Cantabria, Sacasari made concrete columns to test and studied samples to explore material behavior. Photo by Jackeline Sacasari

Civil and environmental engineering major Jackeline Sacasari ’26 was motivated by stories from fellow students and
encouragement from professors to study abroad, she said. After working with her academic and study abroad advisers, Sacasari spent the spring semester of her junior year at the University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain. “It took some organization and early planning, but it was worth it,” she said.

Unlike traditional study abroad programs, exchange programs offer two-way mobility— allowing Princeton students to study abroad and international exchange students to study at Princeton. “This reciprocity is unique to the exchange program experience and deepens the connections between Princeton and our partner institutions,” said Jordan Zilla, assistant director of study abroad. 

María Tesán Martínez, an exchange student from the University of Cantabria, studied at Princeton during the 2024-2025 academic year to broaden her civil engineering knowledge. She was particularly drawn to Princeton’s structural engineering track,
which she saw as a complement to her home institution’s focus on materials research. “The exchange felt like a great opportunity to combine the strengths of both programs,” she said. Studying abroad also enables students to engage in specialized courses that often include a strong emphasis on practical, project-based applications. At the University of Cantabria, Sacasari explored construction-focused topics such as machinery, labor division and project management from planning to execution. “I made and tested concrete in the lab, cleaned contaminated water to make it drinkable and learned about local infrastructure,” she said.

Computer science major Yagiz Devre ’26 studied at ETH Zurich last spring. A highlight of his academic experience was a 3D-vision course where he conducted hands-on research with a robot. “Princeton taught me how to think theoretically,” he said. “At ETH, I took that theoretical understanding into the practical.” Devre acknowledged ETH’s rigorous project-based structure and how it greatly sharpened his time-management skills: “One of the things I learned — and it became an advantage — was how to keep track of the [tasks] I was doing and how to optimize my time and efficiency,” he said.

For fellow computer science major Arnold Jiang ’26, who spent the fall 2024 semester at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), the most impactful part of his experience was adapting to a new academic environment. “At [HKU], there's a heavy emphasis on independent learning,” he said. “It taught me a lot about taking my own kind of stride, finding my own path and how I wanted to learn.” 

Back at Princeton, Tesán Martínez said that taking “Design of Large-Scale Structures: Buildings,” was a highlight of her academic experience. “Professor [Richard] Garlock guided us through designing a 60-floor building as a team project,” she said. “Working with different standards and approaches showed me that engineering isn’t just about formulas — it’s about understanding context, thinking creatively and finding the best solution for each situation.” The experience left her feeling better prepared to work anywhere in the world and inspired her to consider using some U.S. approaches in her own projects, she said.

According to Andrew Houck, dean of Princeton’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, engineering exchange programs underscore the increasingly global nature of the field as “countries around the world have adopted different approaches to push
science and technology forward. This diversification in strategies leaves us all better off, and seeing these different approaches
firsthand can have a profound and lifelong impact on how students approach problems in their own careers,” he said.
“I think it’s valuable to step outside the ‘orange bubble,’” said Sacasari. “Being exposed to different teaching styles with different ways of thinking really expanded my mindset and made me open to new approaches.”

Princeton’s engineering exchange programs are in partnership with six prestigious international institutions

Each year, an average of 10 Princeton engineering students study abroad through exchange programs, while a similar number of engineering exchange students come to Princeton. Depending on the program, students can study abroad either for a semester or a full academic year.

The partner schools are:
• École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL)
(Switzerland)
• Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich
(ETH Zurich) (Switzerland)
• Tsinghua University (China)
• University of Cantabria (Spain)
• University of Hong Kong (China)
• University of Oxford (United Kingdom)