Dr. Maria Drakaki, Professor of Humanitarian Engineering, Dean of the School of Science and Technology of the University Center of International Programmes of Studies at the International Hellenic University (IHU) and Director of the IHU Institute for the Management of Refugee Flows and Crises, and Dr. Janet Ellzey, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Humanitarian Engineering Program at the Cockrell School of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) have developed a partnership for the implementation of a UT-Austin Maymester program in Humanitarian Engineering in Thessaloniki. The collaboration continues for a second year in a row.

The collaboration this year extended, to become a collaboration between the Institute for the Management of Refugee Flows and Crises of IHU, the Humanitarian Engineering Program of the Cockrell School of Engineering of UT-Austin, and the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, aiming to build a playground in Vagiochori refugee Camp.

20 UT-Austin students, staff and faculty members, namely 18 students, a Graduate Teaching Assistant and led by the Director of the Humanitarian Engineering Program at the Cockrell School of Engineering, Dr. Ellzey, participated in Maymester 2024. The program included attendance of a 5-day IHU Course on Refugee Logistics and Management to introduce UT-Austin students to refugee logistics and management in Greece and EU, and visits to the Vagiochori camp, where the student team conducted focus groups in the context of the implementation of the playground.

The UT-Austin team attended the 5-day Course on Refugee Logistics and Management, led by Prof. Drakaki, at the IHU University Center of International Programmes of Studies. The Course on Refugee Logistics and Management is an activity of the IHU Institute for the Management of Refugee Flows and Crises. The Course modules were delivered by IHU faculty members, namely Prof. Drakaki and IHU Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs and Quality Assurance, Prof. Tzionas; representatives of UNHCR Greece (Field Office in Thessaloniki), namely General Director Mr. Eleftherios Konstantopoulos, Senior Protection Assistant, Mr. Georgios Repanas and Senior Protection Assistant, Mrs. Dorothea Kokozidou; and representatives of IOM Greece (Field Office in Thessaloniki), namely Senior Technical Coordinator, Dr. Romana Mandeganja.

Students of the Interinstitutional MSc in Humanitarian Logistics and Crisis Management attended part of the Course.

Since May 2023, when the evolving partnership between IHU and UT-Austin started, around 40 UT-Austin students, faculty and staff have participated in the Maymester program in Humanitarian Engineering in Thessaloniki.

The collaboration between IHU and UT-Austin is aiming to strengthen IHU’s internationalization potential and deepen the understanding of humanitarian engineering as an academic discipline by applying it in the implementation of a real-life project. UT-Austin is a world’s top 100 university. Humanitarian engineering is a new and evolving discipline focused on engineering solutions in low-resourced settings. The goal of Maymester program 2024 is to build a playground in Vagiochori camp in 2025.