A total of eight Georgia Tech students will study in Italy and Germany this fall as part of the ATLANTIS dual master's programs in either Electrical and Computer Engineering or Computer Science with three top European universities: the Politecnico di Torino, the University of Trento and the Technical University of Munich.

Conversely, eleven European counterparts from these universities will be at Georgia Tech working toward their dual M.S. degrees.

"We've chosen to work with top-ranked universities in both Italy and Germany, so that there would be no diminution in quality of the programs or students," said Professor Anthony Yezzi, who directs the program within the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) together with Assistant Dean Mike McCracken within the College of Computing (CoC). "With the world becoming more international and globalized, a lot of students are thinking about careers in Europe. Degrees issued from these three European universities are officially recognized throughout the European Union."

This is the second year of the ATLANTIS program, a joint initiative between the U.S. Department of Education and the European Commission. The program provides $12,000 in grant money to master's students in electrical and computer engineering and computer science pursuing dual degrees at four separate universities in the United States, Italy and Germany. ECE students study at Torino and Munich while CoC students study at Trento and Munich.

Five ECE students will begin their first semester of studies towards an M.S. degree this fall at the Politecnico di Torino. Additionally, two ECE students will pursue a master's degree at the Technical University of Munich. Nine European students, three from Torino, three from Trento and three from Munich, have recently arrived at Georgia Tech to begin their M.S. studies in the United States.

Last year, the first Georgia Tech student to participate in the ATLANTIS program from the College of Computing began pursuing his M.S. at the Technical University of Munich. He is currently spending a final semester at the University of Trento in Italy. Two European students from the University of Trento will complete the M.S. program at Georgia Tech this semester.

The opportunity to hone global credentials and experience is attracting students who see this opportunity as invaluable as the international economy continues to grow and evolve.

"Georgia Tech is one of the few universities in the U.S. with a program like this that is vital for U.S. engineers to be competitive in a global economy," said student Christopher Valenta, who is working toward his second ECE master's degree in Torino. "This program is one of the major reasons that I got my summer internship in Europe."

Upon completion of the program, the students will receive a non-thesis M.S. degree from Georgia Tech and a thesis M.S. degree from their primary European university.

Students interested in participating in the ATLANTIS program must submit their applications for the fall 2010 semester by Dec. 15, 2009. Additional information on program details and requirements can be found at http://www.ms-atlantis.gatech.edu/index.html.