Engineering Disciplines

Mechanical/Aerospace Engineering:
Mechanical and aerospace engineering plays a dominant role in enhancing economic vitality, safety and overall quality of life. Mechanical engineers are concerned with the principles of force, energy and motion. They are professionals with expert knowledge of the design and manufacture of mechanical systems, thermal devices and processes. Products and processes developed by mechanical engineers include engines and control systems for automobiles and aircraft, electric power generation plants, lifesaving medical devices and consumer products ranging from air conditioners to personal computers and athletic equipment. They also design the machines that mass-produce these products. Virtually every aspect of life is touched by mechanical engineering. If something moves or uses energy, a mechanical engineer was probably involved in its design or production. A curriculum in mechanical and aerospace engineering trains students in a technically sound, challenging, and professional manner, laying the foundation for a productive career in industry or further graduate study and research.

Civil Engineering:
Civil engineering is one of the broadest of the engineering disciplines, extending across many technical specialties. Civil engineers plan, design, and supervise the construction of facilities essential to modern life. These facilities vary widely in nature, size, and scope and include space satellites and launching facilities, offshore structures, bridges, buildings, tunnels, highways, transit systems, dams, airports, harbors, water supply and wastewater treatment plants. Civil engineers work in diversified areas such as structural engineering, geotechnical engineering, water resources and environmental engineering, transportation engineering, ocean and coastal engineering, and construction engineering. A curriculum in civil engineering permits students to have an area of concentration in structures, geotechnical engineering, construction engineering, or water resources/environmental engineering.

Electrical/Computer Engineering:
Electrical and computer engineering is a diverse field ranging from microelectronics and integrated circuits to information and communication systems and computer engineering. Over the past two decades, increasing numbers of electrical and computer engineering graduates have been engaged in the development and application of semiconductor devices, higher capacity and more diversified computers, and data processing systems, including a mass transmittal of information, better known as the "information superhighway". Graduates also pursue careers in computer hardware and software engineering. A curriculum in electrical/computer engineering permits students to have an area of concentration in the fields of aerospace, biochemical, biomedical, environmental, and packaging engineering, engineering physics, and solid-state electronics.

Industrial Engineering:
Industrial engineering applies fundamentals from the mathematical, physical, and management sciences to efficiently design and analyze large systems that serve industry and government both in manufacturing and service. Specializations are offered in sophisticated mathematical modeling, quality control techniques, computer-aided design, simulation, manufacturing, engineering economics, and production planning and control.

Chemical/Biomedical Engineering:
In Chemical Engineering, students apply principles of physics, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, environmental engineering, and health and safety sciences to the analysis, development, design, and automatic control of processes in which matter is physically or chemically transformed, separated, and/or transported. A biochemical engineering option is available which focuses on biological processes that require the integration of biochemistry, microbiology, and applied immunotechnology with other basic sciences. Chemical and biochemical engineers also produce products such as chemicals, polymers and pharmaceuticals for society at large.