By Melanie Bush

Cornell Engineering's 2-2-1 program lets a student earn three degrees, at home and abroad.

This spring, Ramin Farhangi will be the first to graduate with three degrees through a unique College of Engineering program.

A collaboration with École Centrale Paris, the 2-2-1 Program awards co-terminal Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees from Cornell, as well as the prestigious Diplôme d’Ingénieur from France’s premier technological school. Farhangi spent his freshman and sophomore years at Cornell, the following two years at Centrale, then returned to Cornell in 2007 for his M.Eng. studies.

"I did it because I wanted a challenge," Farhangi explains over hot chocolate at Olin Library, as a late-winter snow falls on the Arts Quad. "And I knew about the prestige of Centrale. It’s one of the top schools in Europe. They have a saying there: ‘After Centrale you can do anything,’ and it’s true."

Ramin Farhangi works on his M.Eng. studies in Duffield Hall on Cornell’s Ithaca campus. University Photo

Cornell was the natural choice: Farhangi’s father graduated from Cornell in operations research in 1974, as did his brother in 2006. "I felt at home here from the minute I unpacked my bags," he continues. "I was really impressed by the university, it exceeded my highest expectations. And I really liked the campus experience, something I couldn’t have gotten in France."

Farhangi says he never felt any discomfort due to differences during his immersion in Ithaca. "I feel the U.S. has a culture that includes all cultures—it’s easy to fit in here because it’s already so diverse. In France or Iran it’s different; they’re just not as used to variety."

Studying at Cornell allowed Farhangi to experience another kind of variety—the multitude of teams, clubs, and projects in which Farhangi could participate. "I joined the piano club right away, as I’ve played classical piano for 10 years," he says. "Sports are also very big for me: I discovered squash here."

In his freshman and sophomore years Farhangi joined civil engineering teams that contend in the American Society of Civil Engineers Concrete Canoe Competition and the American Concrete Institute’s international Egg Protection Device Competition, in which an egg is protected by a concrete arch. "I also discovered concrete," he says.

Making such discoveries is even more important for American students, says Louge. "Globalization means there is no guarantee that an engineer trained in one country will ever work in that country. For the first time, American students, as good as they are, cannot be assured they will have jobs here. Customers will not necessarily be in U.S. markets, and an engineer’s first job is to understand what the customer wants. So, what are we doing, with no foreign language, no experience with other cultures?" asks Louge, a Centrale alumnus. "This is the ‘English curse,’ as English has been the dominant language of engineering. But English is no longer hegemonic."

His concern for students entering an increasingly global job market led Louge to plant the seed that grew into the 2-2-1 program. "Back in 2004, I recommended that Dean Fuchs appoint the international committee, in order to evaluate Cornell’s relationship with foreign universities. I thought immediately about Centrale because I graduated from there in 1978—and because it’s the top school in the country, " he says. "Ramin is definitely an exceptional student. He has a very strong work ethic, and can also have fun on the ride. But we see students of Ramin’s quality at the top of our classes here at Cornell—those are the students who are suited for Centrale.

"I think the typical U.S. student is afraid, culturally, to go abroad," Louge continues, "even to earn a prestigious foreign degree, unless they understand the quality of the program. ÉCP is a peer institution to Cornell in every way. In fact, the recruitment of its students is even more selective. Centrale is a school for leaders; this is where modern CEOs are trained."

The two schools produce top quality graduates, but they do so in different ways. Farhangi describes the difference between the two educational systems as one of breadth versus depth. "Centrale gives you an unparalleled general education in engineering; it’s focused on how to learn, on methods to build bridges between all different fields. It teaches you how to interact with specialists from any discipline, whereas at Cornell, you choose a major in your third year and focus intensely on that," he says.

Final exams at Centrale are staggered over the year-end period, not as tightly bunched as they are in the U.S. Also, students have no homework. Instead, they meet in the evening to go over what was covered in class. "The pace at Centrale is really fast. You are covering material at an astronomical pace, " says Farhangi. "But the grading structure is also very different. You only need to achieve a grade of 6 out of 20 to pass any given course, so it’s understood you may get a 6 in one class and an 18 in another. I lacked motivation for some courses, but I was 29th out of 450.

"ÉCP is a really rare degree to have—companies compete for Centrale students," says Farhangi. "Boston Consulting Group [Farhangi’s employer beginning this spring], for example, often recruits from Centrale. They’re looking for people with powerful analytical minds. They’re looking for people who can work that hard."

A shared focus on excellence is at the heart of the relationship between ÉCP and Cornell, according to Deborah Cox, assistant dean for Strategic Planning, Assessment, and New Initiatives. "The 2-2-1 is interesting because it results in three separate degrees—it’s unique in that sense. Most study-abroad programs run for either one semester or one year, so this is a longer immersion in the culture," says Cox, who coordinates 2-2-1. "The purpose of any study abroad is to expand perspective and experience, and today especially, when engineers will be facing global careers, students need that international exposure."

Cox’s counterparts from Paris agree complètement. "Any type of exchange program has an academic aspect, a social aspect, and a personal aspect," says Florence Mayo-Quenette, professor of English and head of ÉCP/USA Relations. "These are an individual’s prime years for personal change and development, at around age twenty. Before then, it’s too early; after that, it’s too late."

Mayo-Quenette visited Ithaca in February, accompanied by ÉCP professors Christophe Laux and Julie LeCardinale. The French delegation had a long discussion over lunch at Cornell’s Statler Hotel with Cox, Louge, and operations research and information engineering Professor Les Trotter. Laux, a professor and researcher at the Molecular and Macroscopic Energy and Combustion Laboratory at Centrale, has a long perspective on U.S.–French educational relations, having spent fifteen years at Stanford.

"For an American student," says Laux, "coming to Centrale is a way to meet the leaders of European science and industry. The networks that come out of this, both personally and professionally, are unparalleled—and they last a lifetime. Today, if someone asks me to find them an internship, I can find one on any of five continents. At Centrale, we have students from all over Europe, China, India, Russia, South America. Actually, the United States is our most underrepresented country."

Mayo-Quenette jumps in to explain why. "There’s a reticence on the part of American students because until recently they just didn’t think it was a necessity. From the 1970s to the 1990s it was possible to remain focused on one institution, one country, but today students graduating from top institutions will be leaders globally. They can no longer have that outlook."

Cox explains that the two schools are also working on new exchange programs modeled on the one Cornell presently has with the University of Cantabria in Santander, Spain, in which a group of American and Spanish students spend a year apiece at each other’s school. "This has two advantages for us. First, it neutralizes the impact on Cornell’s budget; second, it creates a cohort of students who are together for two years in a row, which offsets social concerns," she says. "Cantabria has already agreed to teach the Cornell required civil engineering and electrical engineering classes in English. So, it’s a discipline-focused program like Cornell’s and has no language requirement."

Farhangi and friends from École Centrale in Paris. Provided

The Knight Scholarship, given to roughly 10 Cornell students each year, was created by Lester B. Knight Jr., BME ’29, to encourage engineers who are interested in business. "Cornell’s program is fairly unusual," explains Jeffrey Newman, director of the office of Research and Graduate Studies. "Both schools realize the synergy of the programs and have enabled the student to get both degrees in a relatively short time."

Farhangi’s M.Eng. project is neatly balanced between engineering and business. A team from the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering is acting as a technical consulting team to Canadian National Railway, studying the way it allocates crews to road and yard jobs and trying to optimize the way jobs are assigned. "This," Farhangi says, "is where I get to apply the concepts I’ve learned."

The project has nothing to do with concrete because the Centrale experience prompted Farhangi to change his major when he returned to Cornell. "I might never have discovered how much information technology interested me had I not encountered it there," he says. "Without exposure to all the options, how can you make the best choices?

"I think the 2-2-1 program at École Centrale can help American students learn many things: how to work in teams with people from very different backgrounds in a non-native language, and how to be autonomous in a complex learning environment," concludes Farhangi. "And you have an enlightening experience through getting to know yourself better in terms of your goals in your education, your career, and your life."