Newcastle Exchange Program Opens Doors, Eyes for Engineer Date: June 9, 2000 By: Chris Curran Phone: (513) 556-1806 Archive: Campus News Chad Lockard had never traveled farther than Atlanta before he earned the opportunity to be UC's first engineering exchange student with the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in Great Britain. "I wanted to see something different," said Lockard who admitted that "it was a little scary to go that far" after growing up in the rural town of Pemberville outside Bowling Green, Ohio. It might not seem so frightening to many people considering that Lockard didn't have to face a language barrier in the UK; however, Lockard quickly realized he was definitely far from home. "There weren't any pickup trucks or sports cars. All the cars are very fuel-efficient. People mainly use public transportation, and they walk a lot." He found himself watching cricket matches, rugby and soccer instead of American football and basketball. He was even in the crowd for a huge English Premier League upset when Newcastle United defeated soccer rivals Manchester United 3-0. "The tension was incredible. They had to bring in the Manchester United fans by police," said Lockard. After making the adjustments to a culture that views Budweiser as a hot, imported beer and kidney beans for breakfast as normal, Lockard had to admit he didn't want to leave when it was time to return to UC. He was an active member of the International Society, the Guiness Society, and even an important member of the Newcastle basketball team which opened up even more travel opportunities for him. "I'm a lot more open culturally now. I was able to see the way different people are around the world." That's because the University of Newcastle upon Tyne has a long history of attracting students from other countries and cultures. One in ten students are from other countries, and there are active exchange programs and international agreements with Asia and Norway. Perhaps the biggest shock to hit Lockard was the unusual grading scale at Newcastle. He earned a 66 on his first assignment and panicked. It turned out that the university uses a 70-60-50-40 scale, so he actually had one of the best grades in the class, not a "D" as he first believed. While at the university, he spent three months in class and three months working on research which is likely to improve safety for British school children. There are no school buses, because public transportation is so widespread. Unfortunately, that raises the risks for young children trying to get to school while thousands of commuters are trying to get to work. After analyzing school transportation systems in five different countries, Lockard recommended that the British adopt a school bus system as well. Lockard's personal plans for the future definitely include foreign travel. He's hoping to travel abroad for graduate school or study international business. That kind of impact is exactly what Brian H. Rowe expected when he established an endowment to support the exchange program in 1998. Rowe is a London native, chairman emeritus of GE Aircraft Engines and alumnus from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne.