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Department of Engineering Excellence in Undergraduate Engineering Education  |
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Mission and Objectives Application for Admission Course Information Faculty Information Advising Student Organizations Laboratories FAQ |
What Engineering programs does ECU offer? What is different about the ECU Engineering program? What is special about the ECU engineering curriculum? What Topics do the core (ICEE) courses cover? How does the BS in Engineering differ from traditional engineering disciplines? What is the Systems Engineering Concentration? What is the Engineering Management Concentration? What is the Bioprocess Engineering Concentration? What is the ABET accreditation status of the program? What kind of careers opportunities are there for ECU Engineers? What is ECU Engineering, Inc.? Where is the Engineering Program at ECU located? What are the admissions requirements? Do I need a computer? What are the Program Growth Plans? Are transfer students admitted? How many General Engineering programs are there in the US? What Engineering programs does ECU offer? ECU offers a BS in Engineering with four unique and innovative concentrations: Biomedical Engineering, Systems Engineering, Engineering Management, and Bioprocess engineering. The curriculum is composed of a common core of courses that provides a foundation in general engineering. The concentrations contain course work that builds expertise in the specific discipline area. What is different about the ECU Engineering program? At ECU, every engineering faculty member is dedicated to the excellence of our program and the success of our students. Together with our advisory board, we have identified these critical factors which distinguish us from the standard engineering programs:
What is special about the ECU engineering curriculum? The ECU engineering curriculum consists of a common core that supports the concentrations by developing fundamental engineering skills. This core is centered in a program identified as the Integrated Collaborative Engineering Education Environment, or ICE3 (pronounced "ice cube" for short). The ICE3 program was developed from research by the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Education Coalition (EEC) Program. This initiative sought to fundamentally change engineering education both in what was taught and how it was taught. EEC research found that to increase student success in engineering programs, students must establish more connections—to each other, to faculty, to industry, to academic material, and to their chosen careers. To achieve these goals, ICE3 features cohorts of students and teachers working in a structured environment with formal industry participation. Courses in the core are designated "ICEE" and span the entire four years of the program. ICE3 emphasizes engaging students in engineering from the first day of classes; making the study of engineering more attractive, exciting, and fulfilling; developing students as emerging professional leaders; and increasing the diversity of academic backgrounds and the number of women and underrepresented minorities. What Topics do the core (ICEE) courses cover? Our faculty and our industrial advisory board carefully selected the courses and topics in the ECU Engineering core since they represent the essential undergraduate topics for a 21st century engineer. This spectrum of courses also closely reflects the content included by the National Council of Engineering Examiners (www.ncees.org) in the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) General Engineering Exam. The FE exam is the first step to obtaining a Professional Engineer (PE) license. As the table below shows, the ECU Engineering core provides an interdisciplinary mixture of topics which reflect key topics in a number of traditional engineering disciplines such as mechanical, electrical, civil, chemical, biological, and industrial engineering. Consequently, we believe this group of courses provides the most critical BS level content for 21st century engineering.
Based on the core course content, ECU Engineers are able to apply the engineering knowledge from multiple disciplines such as mechanical, electrical, and materials to solve a variety of problems. The general practitioner in medicine is a close parallel to the ECU general engineer. General practitioners in medicine are trained to analyze and solve a range of medical problems. They also know when the skills of specialists are needed. Similarly, ECU engineers can analyze and solve a wide range of engineering problems. Equally important, they have the expertise to identify the problem and the solution needed when specialized technical knowledge is required. How does the BS in Engineering differ from traditional engineering disciplines? Traditional engineering disciplines, such as mechanical and electrical engineering, produce engineers who focus on a specific technology area or limited part of a system. General engineers possess a broader engineering perspective compared to the specific disciplines and focus more on understanding how to apply this knowledge to solve problems and to improve entire technology system as opposed to individual components or elements. For example, a mechanical engineer may focus on design or operation of a component of a vehicle transmission. A general engineer has the engineering background to understand the component’s technology but focuses on how that component impacts the operational life cycle of the vehicle and address areas such as Operations, Performance, Test, Manufacturing, Cost & Schedule, Training & Support, and Disposal. What is the Systems Engineering Concentration? In the last several years, it has become clear that complex technology requires a specialized engineer with unique skills to study and analyze the intricate relationships of "systems." Systems Engineering is the interdisciplinary field that develops, operates, and improves technology systems. Students in this concentration focus on the broad tools of system engineering including defining component interrelationships, customer needs, and required system capabilities as an integrated problem. Systems Engineering integrates all the disciplines and specialty groups into a team effort forming a structured development process that proceeds from concept to production to operation. Systems Engineering considers both the business and the technical needs of all customers with the goal of providing a quality product that meets the user needs. What is the Engineering Management Concentration? The Engineering Management concentration blends the technical engineering core with a focus on design, improvement and management of technology based operations. These include project management systems, quality systems, logistic systems, and production planning and control systems both in the service and industrial sectors. Students in the Engineering Management concentration address problems which require integration of higher level issues including business, finance, marketing and strategic management. They assure integration of engineering, technology, and operations. What is the Bioprocess Engineering Concentration? One of the fastest growing areas of regional and national manufacturing involves the processing and production of biological materials. Areas related to this include environmental remediation, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and food production. Students in the Bio Engineering concentration are equipped with the technical background to design, operate and improve these biologically oriented production and operational systems. What is the ABET accreditation status of the program? ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology) is the national accrediting agency for engineering degrees and programs cannot be accredited until they have produced graduates. Since our first class will graduate in May 2008, ECU plans to have ABET conduct an accreditation visit as soon as it is possible in fall 2008. ABET accreditation is retroactive for 12 months so we anticipate all of our graduates will have an ABET accredited engineering degree. What kind of careers opportunities are there for ECU Engineers? The technical knowledge acquired and the analytical thought processes developed in the engineering curriculum supports a wide variety of career options. ECU engineers will be employed in positions ranging from engineering project managers to project designers, design engineers, and technical supervisors or group leaders in consulting, research, or production. Since the program also emphasizes people and business skills, graduates fill positions as project managers, sales engineers, technical service engineers, and in a range of leadership positions requiring both technical knowledge and the ability to deal effectively with teams of people and complex projects. Entrepreneurial career paths are also possible including consulting engineering firms and new product or service start ups. The ECU engineering program also provides a foundation for advanced graduate degrees in a range of engineering fields, the practice of law, particularly patent law, biomedical engineering, or medical school. What is ECU Engineering, Inc.? ECU Engineering, Inc is an essential part of the ICEE curriculum This program allows ECU engineering students to solicit, design, and manage projects from businesses and organizations. This initiative brings students together to engage in and work on real world projects for real clients every semester through graduation. It provides a solid opportunity to grow in experience and confidence in engineering and business practices. Students move up through the ECU Engineering, Inc., organization as they progress through their academic program. The final stage in this progress is a capstone senior project as a final experience, where students will propose and manage their project through ECU Engineering, staffed with a student project team. Continuous involvement in ECU Engineering, Inc. is required every semester and will be incorporated into ICE3 courses and learning communities. Where is the Engineering Program at ECU located? The ECU engineering faculty and department offices are in the Slay building and labs are in the 270,000 square foot Science and Technology Complex. Included in the new building are over 30 laboratories for instruction and research. Specifically, the following new laboratories in the Science and Technology Building will support the BS Engineering program:
What are the admissions requirements? In general, our students have SAT scores of approximately 1100, are in the upper 25% of their graduating class, and have an unweighted high school grade point average above 3.0. Our program is inclusive and has a mission element to serve North Carolina students and employers. A number of provisional admissions are available to students who demonstrate potential to succeed in engineering but may be lacking in meeting these admissions benchmarks. Students with a commitment to an engineering career and a willingness to work and succeed are encouraged to apply. Do I need a computer? Yes, students are required to have a laptop computer capable of running the engineering analysis software that will be integrated into the program courses. Specific details will be provided to you upon program admission and are located on the ECU Academic Computing Environment (ACE) web site. What are the Program Growth Plans? The program started in Fall 2004. We plan to manage growth so that the program is able to provide individual support to our students in starting their engineering careers. We anticipate the program will top out with a total of 400-500 students. Are transfer students admitted? Yes, it is important to contact the Department of Engineering academic advisor for transfer details on particular cases. In general, we have agreements with many North Carolina community colleges involving a range of "pre-engineering" approaches. How many General Engineering programs are there in the US? ABET, the engineering program accrediting organization, lists 35 accredited general engineering programs. This group of universities comprises a distinguished and diverse list of innovative and dynamic institutions including:
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