Project Information

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the many people that have helped us along the way with this bootstrap project. In particular, we would like to thank Peter Johnson and his family for their help and hospitality. Without them, this project would have been much more difficult. Also, special thanks to Professors Ward and Barnett for their guidance. And lastly but not least, we would like to thank Tony Rizzo, our realtor, for his efforts in finding us housing. Without his help, we would probably be homeless.

Abstract

This bootstrap project sought to determine the viability of establishing a WPI project center - a program that allows students to complete IQPs abroad - in Melbourne, Australia. Companies, agencies, and organizations, both in the public and private sectors, have been solicited for IQP sponsorship. Our research on location in Australia involved examining housing accommodations, access to resources necessary for conducting everyday business, health care and legal issues, and also the discovery of cultural factors that could confront WPI students.

Executive Summary

The Melbourne Bootstrap Interactive Qualifying Project was conducted in C term of 1998 with the goal of ascertaining the viability of a Melbourne Project Center. With this in mind, we conducted a survey into what was necessary for the establishment of a project center and into the obstacles which WPI students would encounter living in Melbourne. Issues that fell into these categories range from simple matters such as the easiest way to buy food to larger problems such as which institutions and organizations would be most amenable to IQP sponsorship.

The first major issue that must be tackled is getting to Australia. Tickets can be arranged through any number of ticket agents. However, after a wide search, we found Council Travel offered the cheapest rates to Australia via Pacific Air. Another factor which one should be aware of while traveling is the possibility of a search by customs officials of that country. When traveling, be sure you are familiar with the laws that govern entry and exit of that country.

Next, we examined the intricacies of both living and operating within the city of Melbourne. We attempted to compile a thorough guide to life in this part of Australia while at the same time leaving much of the culture and flavor of this society undiscovered. Although very similar to the United States in many ways, there are many special points that we have identified in this section, which are very important to know before arriving in Melbourne.

We also examined how issues such as legal considerations, housing, and health care are handled in Victoria. Both health care and the legal process are very similar in Australia to the United States, and present no major obstacle for WPI. Housing can also be resolved easily, by using either one of two solutions. The first and most obvious solution is to arrange with a local university to provide housing on a campus within Melbourne or in the surrounding suburbs. The second option, which we believe to be the best, is to find housing through a local real estate broker. We believe that arrangements can be made for the rental of either houses or apartments within the city or surrounding suburbs, and that this would be a much cheaper option then campus housing.

Detailed records of our solicitation for potential IQP sponsors are also provided herein. We sought out potential candidates both by approaching contacts we gained through our advisors and also by attempting to contact organizations which we believed were well suited to the IQP program. We then contacted the people he suggested, and approached organizations that we hoped might be interested in our program. This section details our conversations with the various representatives of each company and our presentation of the IQP program to them.

Finally, we present the conclusions that we have drawn after from our experience in Melbourne. We believe that a project center in Melbourne has the potential to be one of the most successful in the WPI Global Perspectives Program. The city of Melbourne is renowned as the "Most livable city in the world," and we have found this very true in our time here. We hope that the new project center will be founded next year, and will grow and flourish in the future.

Authorship

Every member of the team performed the following tasks:

1. Meetings with potential sponsors
2. Calls made to potential sponsors
3. Proofreading and editing of entire report
4. Contributed to personal experience appendix

Shawn Hooley completed the following tasks:

1. Background information on Melbourne, Australia
2. Wrote Introduction of report
3. Wrote Executive Summary
4. Wrote Informational Letter
5. Wrote Introduction and Methodology of section on background information on Melbourne, Australia
6. Wrote some of Transcript of Meeting with Prof. Zeugner
7. Wrote Transcript of Meeting with Prof. Hakim

James Konz completed the following tasks:

1. Creation and updating of website
2. Wrote Meeting Transcripts of potential sponsors
3. Creation and updating of daily journal
4. Wrote Introduction and Methodology of section on IQP Sponsors and Student Travel Guide
5. Wrote Abstract
6. Wrote IQP Sponsor Form and Informational Handout
7. Wrote summary of bootstrap report on Beijing
8. Wrote Transcripts of Meetings with Prof. Klein and Dr. Balistrieri
9. Wrote summary for PQP

Elias Koutikas completed the following tasks:

1. Wrote section on Places of Interest in Student Travel Guide
2. Wrote some of the sections on Getting to and Staying in Australia in Student Travel Guide
3. Wrote section on Health and Legal Issues
4. Wrote Conclusions
5. Wrote summary of bootstrap report on Korea
6. Wrote listing of important phone numbers
7. Wrote some of the Meeting Transcript of Prof. Zeugner
8. Wrote Authorship Page

Eric Shea completed the following tasks:

1. Wrote some of the sections on Getting to and Staying in Australia in Student Travel Guide
2. Wrote section on Housing
3. Wrote about library access
4. Wrote expenditure report
5. Wrote company descriptions