UW Student Exchange Program with Hanoi University of Science and Technology Completes Second Successful Year

This summer, the University of Wyoming College of Engineering and Physical Sciences hosted seven upper-division undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students from Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Vietnam for internships in laboratories across the college.

Following a well-received pilot year in 2025, the four-week internship program was offered again from July 19-Aug. 15. Each student from HUST was embedded in a laboratory within the college to learn about and assist with a particular research project related to their academic interests and under the supervision of a mentor from the lab group.

Participating labs included those of UW faculty members Alex Petrovic, TeYu Chien and Yu-Tsung "Rem" Tsai in physics; Liane Moreau and Jing Zhou in chemistry; Duong Nguyen in computer science; and Nga Nguyen in electrical engineering. Students worked on projects as diverse as synthesizing two-dimensional materials to applications for artificial intelligence in power systems management.

The exchange program is an initiative spearheaded by Danny Dale, interim dean of the college.

Dale created the program using Carrell Family Deanship funding to "promote productive relationships and research exchanges between Vietnam and Wyoming, as well as to increase the quality and number of future UW graduate applications from international students."

Both faculty members and HUST students report that the program is working as intended.

Tsai, an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, was impressed with "Alice" Hoang Thi Dieu Thoa, the intern who assisted in his lab.

"Her strong quantitative foundation and proactive work ethic made her an invaluable collaborator, while her enthusiastic approach to solving lab challenges enriched our entire team's summer productivity," he says.

"The students are sincere in learning, and the experience here could inspire them for their career development," adds Chien, a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. "At the same time, I believe they helped spread the word about UW back to their home institution."

Satisfaction with the program goes both ways, as students report being excited to take advantage of hands-on research opportunities, including access to state-of-the-art equipment not available to them at their home institution.

"I loved being able to touch a system and get hands-on using the equipment," Thoa says of working in Tsai's lab. "In Vietnam, I could only do this virtually. Here, I could do the things I was imagining and put them into practice."

"This was the biggest opportunity in my life," says fourth-year undergraduate Nguyen Duc Canh, who worked in Chien's lab. "I would 100 percent absolutely come back."

Across the board, the students from HUST report feeling welcome and were appreciative of the friendliness and patience of their lab mates.

In addition to the rigorous, hands-on research experience HUST students gained from their internships, the program afforded opportunities to enjoy Wyoming's cultural and natural landscapes.

Annette Camp, an administrative associate in the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, organized several day trips for the group, including to the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo and the Snowy Range mountains of the Medicine Bow National Forest.

None of the students had ever seen snow, which they were able to find in patches still in the Snowy Range. Camp says they learned, first-hand, the importance of dressing in layers in Wyoming's changeable climate.

When asked if they would recommend the program to others at HUST in the future, all of the students reported that they would enthusiastically encourage their classmates to apply.

"It's a great school. High quality and the professors here help you a lot. Everyone's really friendly," says Phi Van Dat, a third-year computer science student who worked in Duong Nguyen's lab and is now looking at pursuing his Ph.D. in the United States.