Dr. Maria Drakaki, Professor of Humanitarian Engineering, Dean of the School of Science and Technology, University Center of International Programmes of Studies of the International Hellenic University (IHU) and Director of the IHU Institute for the Management of Refugee Flows and Crises, and Dr. Janet Ellzey, Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Humanitarian Engineering Program at the Cockrell School of Engineering, University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) have developed a partnership for the implementation of a UT-Austin Maymester program in Humanitarian Engineering in Thessaloniki. The collaboration continues for a third year in a row.

The collaboration extended this year as well, to become a collaboration between the Institute for the Management of Refugee Flows and Crises of IHU, the Humanitarian Engineering Program of the Cockrell School of Engineering of UT-Austin, and the Ministry of Migration and Asylum, aiming to build a small outdoor gym in the Drama refugee camp.

15 UT-Austin students, staff and faculty members, namely 13 students, a Graduate Teaching Assistant and led by the Director of the Humanitarian Engineering Program at the Cockrell School of Engineering, Dr. Ellzey, participated in Maymester 2025. The program included attendance of a 5-day IHU Course on Refugee Logistics and Management to introduce UT-Austin students to refugee logistics and management in Greece and EU, and visits to the Drama refugee camp, where the student team conducted focus groups.

The UT-Austin team of students, staff and faculty members, attended the 5-day Course on Refugee Logistics and Management, led by Prof. Drakaki, at the IHU University Center of International Programmes of Studies. The Course on Refugee Logistics and Management is an activity of the IHU Institute for the Management of Refugee Flows and Crises. The Course modules were delivered by IHU faculty members, namely Prof. Drakaki and IHU Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs and Quality Assurance, Prof. Tzionas; representatives of UNHCR Greece (Field Office in Thessaloniki), namely, General Director Mr. Eleftherios Konstantopoulos, Senior Protection Assistant, Mr. Georgios Repanas and Senior Protection Assistant, Mrs. Dorothea Kokozidou; and representatives of IOM Greece (Field Office in Thessaloniki), namely, Project Engineer (Architect), Dr. Romana Mandeganja.

Since May 2023, when the evolving partnership between IHU and UT-Austin started, around 60 UT-Austin students, faculty and staff have participated in the Maymester program in Humanitarian Engineering.

The collaboration between IHU and UT-Austin is aiming to strengthen IHU’s internationalization potential and deepen the understanding of humanitarian engineering as an academic discipline by applying it in a real-life project. Humanitarian engineering is a new and evolving discipline focused on engineering solutions in low-resourced settings. The ultimate goal of Maymester program 2025 is to build a small outdoor gym in the Drama refugee camp in 2026.