The University of Wyoming, over the past two years, has cooperated with the University of Cardiff in Wales on a variety of research projects. The partnership, which is the brainchild of President Seidel, is a first for the University of Cardiff, having the University of Wyoming as their only international partnership to have taken place. The University of Wyoming has many such partnerships, but the relationship with Cardiff is somewhat special due to the similarities between the two areas of their respective countries.
One of the primary reasons touted for this partnership is Wales’ transition from a primarily resource-based economy into a service one, more focused on technological innovations and less reliant on physical resources. While some may disagree on the benefits of this, or if there are any, Wyoming is looking to diversify from being an exclusive resource-backed economy and has been eyeing ways to implement more revenue streams into the economy. VP of Research and Economic Development Parag Chitnis, when asked about the partnership, stated the following: “This is a great way for our faculty and students to get international exposure, which is important for their careers in the future. (Cardiff University) is also a university in a state which had economies similar to ours . . . they were very dependent on coal as well as agriculture. We still are, and how they transformed their economy to be more knowledge and business-based can also help us in the diversification of our own economy.”
One of the primary research projects that most recently bore fruit was an initiative to create an AR (Augmented Reality) app to assist those with ADHD. This project was headed by several professors from both universities, including Meredith Minear, Kyle Summerfield, Richard Morey, Dominic Guitard, and Katy Burgess. What initially began as an app for assisting students in STEM fields became an international collaborative project after Dr. Katy Burgess from the University of Cardiff was introduced to it and took an interest in applying the AR app to her topic of specialization: ADHD. Director of the Center for Global Studies Caroline McCracken-Flesher said on the topic of collaborative research, “I think this is a really good example of how faculty often do individual research internationally and have substantial international reputations, but then there’s an opportunity to share those connections and opportunities.”
The partnership between the University of Wyoming and Cardiff University shows how working together internationally can lead to multiple new ideas and shared progress. By learning from each other, both schools are improving their research and helping their communities grow in new ways. The collaboration will hopefully continue to bear fruit over the coming years, and both universities will likely gain a plentitude of new knowledge they’d be otherwise unable to attain individually.
