The US$2.5 million higher engineering education alliance programme will be implemented by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Arizona State University in the US, and chip giant Intel Corporation.

They signed a memorandum of understanding yesterday for the purpose.

The five universities are the HCM City University of Technology, HCM City University of Technical Education, Da Nang University of Technology, Can Tho University, and Ha Noi University of Technology.

The programme will focus on developing and advancing inter-disciplinary and applied engineering curriculums.

A first batch of lecturers from universities have already attended a six-week summer training course in both hard and soft skills with a focus on applied learning, team work, and student engagement at Arizona State, one of the finest engineering universities in the US.

This will continue for the next years while other lecturers will receive training on-line.

Intel will provide grants for an instructional improvement project that will include new and sustainable instructional approaches and applied laboratory experiments.

It will also provide funds to improve engineering laboratories and lead a private sector initiative to provide industry inputs to Vietnamese academics and government higher education officials.

"The programme will result in a more highly educated and motivated faculty," US ambassador to Viet Nam, Michael W.Michalak, said.

Deputy Minister of Education and Training Bui Van Ga hailed the programme, saying it dovetails with the country's education development plans and will help train quality human resources

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