The formation of an engineer in this new millennium is being greatly influenced by the globalization effect. Almost all major corporations now operate globally, and engineers are expected to design and develop new products that will impact a worldwide market. Due to this, the academic institutions are facing the challenge of educating the future engineers with competencies which are indispensable to compete in the global market. One of the most efficient ways to provide the required international formation is to expose the students to international experiences in their curriculum so that they can develop the necessary skills for their success in the global market. This work describes the international collaboration among LACCEI (Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions) institutions through multi-national global design projects. The students, freshman and sophomore primarily, at different institutions are required to work in global design teams with students from other countries. In the first year, more than fifty students, from eight different institutions from five different countries have participated in this initiative. Students have been challenged to solve a design problem and to use effectively the available technology for communication. This multi-national project provides students the opportunity to work in a global distributed team, learn the value of different ideas from different cultures, gain knowledge of design opportunities in other countries and become skilled at how to use collaborative tools effectively. The global design project is used to foster cultural awareness and to stress the importance of diverse teams in the solution of real engineering problems. The engineering work field also benefits from international projects since the students that have worked on these projects have the necessary knowledge to excel in the global economy once they graduate.