FIND YOUR FIT
EXPLORING MAJORS IN
ENGINEERING
96%
Engineering Students Employed or in Graduate School Within Six Months of Graduation in the Last Academic Year
21.8%
Of Our First Year Engineering Students are Undecided on a Major
1,000+ Internship Sponsor Sites
MORE THAN A MAJOR.
MAJOR OPPORTUNITIES. So, you are interested in engineering. Maybe you like to tinker and take things apart to see what makes them tick. Perhaps you’ve got a great idea to launch your own tech startup. Or maybe you want to improve the quality of people’s health as a biomedical engineer. Whatever your end goal, there is a unique path for you in the College of Engineering at Western New England University. Part of that journey is choosing a major. In this guide, you’ll find practical tips on that important process as well as valuable information about our exciting ABET-accredited programs and life-changing learning opportunities. It’s a great time to be an engineer. Are you ready to explore?
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CREATE YOUR CAREER. There’s more to becoming an engineering student than simply choosing a major. At Western New England University, it’s a journey of exploration and discovery to find the right path of engineering that will lead to a fulfilling career. Maybe you already know you want to be a computer engineer and create the brains inside tomorrow’s smart products, so you have a major in mind. If not—no pressure—you don’t have to formally choose a major until sophomore year. Your first year will focus on the exploration of all the engineering disciplines. Once a major is declared, you will take programspecific courses supported by internships, honors coursework, or real-world projects. You’ll graduate with an outstanding education and be ready to make a major impact on the world.
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“
T he support that I received from my professors was tremendous. My education at Western New England prepared me to dive into the research environment, and my advisors helped me to find out what I wanted to pursue and achieve my goals.
”
KWASI AMOFA Major: Biomedical Engineering Fulbright and Whitaker Scholar MERLN Institute for Technology—Inspired Regenerative Medicine National Science Foundation REU Fellow, MIT Bioengineering PhD student, University of California, Berkeley Hometown: Glastonbury, CT
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What is a good fit for my personality?
What am I passionate about?
Will I pursue graduate study?
What is important to me in a job?
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GOOD QUESTIONS.
KEEP THEM COMING. WE’LL HELP YOU FIND ANSWERS. Whether you’ve been sure about your career choice since the first grade or you’re still exploring, everyone goes through at least some introspection when choosing a major. It’s important to assess your interests, talents, core values, and goals. When you pursue what you are passionate about it will show in your grades—and ultimately in job interviews. Fortunately, you won’t be going it alone. Your academic advisor, professors, professional advisor, and the counselors at the Career Development Center can provide the guidance and self-assessment tools to help you find answers.
How can I distinguish myself?
What are my strengths?
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IT’S A MAJOR DECISION, BUT
YOU’VE GOT THIS.
Think of the process of choosing a major as just that—a process. Studies suggest that up to 80% of college students change their declared major at least once. Our academic decision-making process gives you the freedom to consider all of your options and that’s a smart way to maximize your investment.
SO RELAX, ENJOY THE JOURNEY, AND KEEP THE END IN MIND. BREATHE. We’ve got it all figured out. “Design, innovation, and entrepreneurial thinking from day one" is our philosophy at the College of Engineering and we mean it. We’ll encourage you to dive in to the world of engineering to find what inspires you most. EXPLORE. The Engineering Fundamentals program will expose you to all of our engineering disciplines through teambased projects—a fully-autonomous multitasking robot prototype to compete in our December Bot Battle and a working smart product to showcase in our spring Emerging Engineers Expo. PLAN. Through your online student portal, Connect2U, you can work with your academic advisor to plot out your courses each semester and identify electives you will need to apply toward travel or pursuing a combined degree. FOCUS. Once you have narrowed your focus, you can map out experiential opportunities to support your academics—from campus leadership positions to study abroad, internships, and networking. SUCCEED. We have designed the engineering curriculum to enable you to earn your Bachelor of Science degree in four years of fulltime study and be well prepared to launch a rewarding career.
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DO THE HONORS. Honors programs are the cherry on top to an impressive academic transcript.
STAND OUT IN THE ENGINEERING HONORS PROGRAM. In the Engineering Honors program, you will be challenged to lead and excel in an environment that sets the standard for academic excellence. These advanced and specialized courses will add both breadth and depth to your studies.
CONNECT THE DOTS—BECOME A GLOBAL SCHOLAR. Engineering is the one field that impacts health, technology, industry, agriculture, energy, communications, the environment, safety, education, infrastructure, transportation, space, and even war and peace. Engineering Global Scholars study abroad through summer trips to China or Guatemala as well as Solar Decathlon competitions.
TODAY’S GRAND CHALLENGES NEED GREAT SCHOLARS. The Grand Challenge Scholars program encourages students to tackle today’s biggest problems. As a Grand Challenge scholar, you’ll be among a select group of students nationally who will conduct research in an area of major significance to humanity.
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READY TO
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EXPLORE? The College of Engineering offers you 6 majors and opportunities to pursue combined bachelor/master’s or law degrees that save time and tuition. Concentrations provide opportunities to gain further specialization within your major and focus your research and scholarship toward a career interest. Taking specialized courses in concentrated areas of study can set your résumé apart.
ENGINEERING MAJORS AND PROGRAMS Biomedical Engineering Civil Engineering • Civil • Environmental • Reservoir • Railway Computer Engineering Electrical Engineering Industrial Engineering Mechanical Engineering • Mechanical • Mechatronics
Save Time and Tuition With
5-YEAR
Combined Bachelor’s/Master’s Degrees
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Academic Majors
Five-year Bachelor/Master of Science in Civil Engineering* Five-year Bachelor/Master of Science in Electrical Engineering* Five-year Bachelor/Master of Science in Engineering Management*
6
Concentrations
Five-year Bachelor/Master of Science in Industrial Engineering* Five-year Bachelor/Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering* Six-year Engineering/Law* *Combined Degree program
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ACADEMIC MAJORS BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
CIVIL ENGINEERING
At the forefront of improving the quality of patient’s lives, biomedical engineers combine engineering and design concepts with medical science to create the protocols, devices, computer systems, and software the healthcare industry relies on to treat its patients. Biomedical majors conduct research or internships at medical centers as well as organizations that provide healthcare technology to the developing world, including through our annual summer seminar in Guatemala. Biomedical engineers work in clinical research, in the medical device or pharmaceutical industries, for government agencies such as the FDA, and often pursue advanced degrees in biomedical engineering, medicine, management, or law as patent attorneys.
Concentrations: Civil, Environmental, Reservoir, Railway Civil Engineers keep our society running— from roads and bridges, to airports and dams. In our Civil Engineering program, you’ll gain expertise in the major areas of civil engineering: structural, transportation, geotechnical, water resources, and environmental engineering. Participating in various international Solar Decathlons and other competitions, our students develop a broad background in the concepts, theories, and methodologies needed to plan, design, analyze, and manage these projects. The major also embraces the College of Engineering’s commitment to entrepreneurship, interdisciplinary learning, and green engineering.
COMPUTER ENGINEERING Do you like to build, create, and collaborate? Computer engineering is the force that connects people and technologies. Our Computer Engineering major provides you with an in-depth understanding of computer hardware, how to design it, and how it integrates with today’s computers and smart devices. You’ll have a broad foundation in analog and digital hardware, embedded systems solutions, and software. Our graduates have the ability to apply their knowledge and skills in a variety of professional engineering positions dealing with research, design, manufacturing, and operation of small or large scale computer hardware, software, and embedded systems. They also pursue advanced graduate studies.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
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Electrical engineers have created advances in their field that have had a significant effect on our modern lifestyle, from energy conservation to information transmission. Our program prepares you to successfully analyze, design, and test electrical systems. Through research, a project-based curriculum, real-world
experience, and fun collaborations like Hackerspace, our students will innovate their own industry advances, often before they graduate. Our graduates have the ability to apply their knowledge and skills in a variety of professional electrical engineering positions dealing with research, design, manufacturing, and operation of equipment and services including power, control, communication, computer, optical and electro-optical systems, consumer electronics, smart appliances, and electrical and electronic devices and materials. They also pursue advanced graduate studies.
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING What do industrial engineers do? The answer is—EVERYTHING. The Industrial Engineering major will give you expertise in productivity and quality improvement, making you an invaluable resource to employers in many fields. You’ll be able to determine how any organization can eliminate waste of time, money, materials, and energy in order to function more efficiently. The industrial engineering field is a broad one, and allows for flexibility in a variety of work settings, including hospitals, financial markets, manufacturing facilities, and technology industries.
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Concentrations: Mechanical, Mechatronics Mechanical engineering involves the application of science and technology essential to industry, government, the environment, and society. Anything that moves, from machinery to the human body, is impacted by mechanical engineering. As a Mechanical Engineering major, you’ll learn about materials, solid and fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, kinematics and control, vibrations, and product development and innovation. You’ll be at the forefront of developing technologies for a diverse array of industries including aerospace, transportation, energy, healthcare, construction, and robotics. 11
LIKE A
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CHALLENGE? Your educational experience at Western New England University will be a nonstop journey of design, innovation, and entrepreneurial challenges from Day One to Graduation Day. Are you ready?
SMART THINKING DRIVES FIRST-YEAR CURRICULUM.
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In the Engineering Fundamentals program, you’ll dive into design in your first semester when you and your team are challenged to design and build a multitasking robot. The semester culminates in an action-packed “Bot
First Year Projects Presented at Emerging Engineers Expo
Battle.” In the spring semester, your team will design a working smart product prototype to showcase at our Emerging Engineers Expo.
TEAM UP FOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION. You’ll partner with Business majors to design, build, and promote an original product in the Product Development and Innovation course. Student projects have even been granted provisional patents.
96
Senior Design Projects on Display at the Emerging Engineers Expo
What innovation will your team create?
SHOW WHAT YOU KNOW IN YOUR SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT. After three years of increasingly sophisticated coursework and design experience, you will be ready to integrate your knowledge into an independent, innovative investigation under the direct mentorship of your professor. Many local and national companies sponsor Senior Design Projects. Numerous students have landed jobs with the companies that sponsored their projects.
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GET CAREER READY WITH
REAL WORLD TOOLS. $12.8 MILLION Expansion and Renovation of Engineering’s Sleith Hall
OUR LABS ARE OPEN TO YOU FROM DAY ONE. From the start of your first semester, you will be in our labs working on modern equipment. All of our laboratory spaces are designed for undergraduate use. Here you will be an active learner, applying the theories you learned in the classroom yesterday to lab projects today.
WE’VE RE-ENGINEERED OUR LEARNING SPACES.
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Laboratories Open to Undergrads
The $12.8 million expansion and renovation of Sleith Hall, home to the College of Engineering, has created an inspiring environment that fosters innovation and entrepreneurship. Modern labs, classrooms, and opportunities to expand green technology both for systems operations and research are part of the forward-leaning design. The additions include Civil Engineering labs, a green engineering lab, and the Biomedical Hospital Suite, which simulates a medical environment.
TOMORROW’S BREAKTHROUGHS START WITH NEW CENTERS FOR INNOVATIVE RESEARCH. Through the new Center for Global Health Engineering, faculty are collaborating to lower barriers to healthcare at the frontiers of global health. The Advanced Manufacturing and Materials Processing Lab is leading cutting edge research on challenges in manufacturing.
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“
I started as an engineer because I wanted to help people. That hasn’t changed. I fell in love with the idea of ethics and patents. I want medical devices to go to patients as fast as possible, but also with the proper approval. Western New England has given me both the engineering knowledge and the legal foundation to help medical products remain ethical. Emily Dubuc Majors: Biomedical Engineering/MS in Engineering Management/ Six-year Engineering/Law Program Device Development Engineer Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Hometown: Albany, NY
”
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MORE THAN REAL POTENTIAL. YOUR RÉSUMÉ WILL SHOW REAL EXPERIENCE. One of the best proving grounds to test your expanding knowledge of engineering is through an internship where suddenly all those notes and exam questions will get real. But thanks to your excellent academic foundation and hands-on experience, you’ll be ready to impress.
12:1
Student-to-faculty Ratio
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Patents in the Past 5 years
• Tishman Construction
• NASA
• Disney World
• Texas Instruments
• UTC Aerospace Systems
• Baystate Medical Center
• ITT Exelis–Power Systems
• Sikorsky Aircraft
• General Dynamics
• MEDTRONIC
• Otis Elevator
• BAE Systems
SUCCESS ISN’T AN ABSTRACT GOAL. FOR US, IT’S PERSONAL. You won’t be just another face in the crowd at the College of Engineering—your professors will get to know you and your goals quickly. Office hours give you another opportunity to connect with our faculty members one-on-one. Whether you have questions about classwork, seek assistance securing an internship, want graduate school or career advice, or just need a friendly ear, you can always count on your professors to be there for you.
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“
I t’s important to me to prepare my students for the rigors of the work environment, but it’s equally important to prepare them for life. We, as professors, can make a difference in the lives of our students. It is truly a privilege to be their teacher and a mentor.
”
Dr. Steven Northrop Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Teaching Excellence Award Recipient 17
GOLDEN BEARS CRAVE Our Solar Decathlon Latin America and Caribbean Team
WON
FIRST PLACE
In the Energy Efficiency Contest
COMPETITION. GET READY TO SHINE IN SOLAR HOUSE DECATHLONS. Our students have teamed up with international Universities to compete in numerous solar decathlon competitions in China, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the U.S., where teams design and build energyefficient solar houses. Our students and faculty spent eight weeks this summer in China collaborating with counterparts from Xi’an Jiaotong
Our Solar Decathlon China Team
WON
FIRST PLACE
In the Commuting Contest
University of China and Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy. Our team took first place in the Commuting competition and 14th place overall. In the U.S. competition, we worked with students from the Universidad Tecnólogica de Panamá and Universidad Tecnólogica Centroamericana. The team won first place in the Affordability Contest and won second in the Energy Balance Contest. Teamed with the Universidad Tecnólogica de Panamá, they took another win in Energy Efficiency and third place in Energy Balance in the Latin American and Caribbean competition. Most recently, our students reunited with their Panama teammates for the Design Challenge Weekend in Colorado.
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TAKE YOUR DESIGNS OFF ROAD. The Baja Society for Automotive Engineers (SAE) Collegiate Design Series Competition is an ideal experience for engineering students to work on and compete with a mini-Baja vehicle. Mini-Baja racing is a form of off-road “dune buggy” style racing on dirt or sand courses, and proved to be incredibly popular with our students. Western New England’s Golden Bear Racing Team has been highly successful in this competition, taking 15th place out of 100 teams in 2018.
The Golden Bear Racing Team
PLACED
15TH
Out of 100 Teams in 2018
MAKING THE FUTURE HAPPEN WITH AI. Electrical and Computer Engineering is making the future happen with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Micromouse Competition is designed to integrate electronic sensors, computer hardware, and software to create and embedded system that solves a maze in the
Our team took
SECOND PLACE
At the 2017 IEEE Region 1 Student Conference
shortest possible time. In the process of creating a solution, student teams explore various aspects of AI and embedded systems that power IoT, autonomous vehicles, and other ‘smart’ systems. Our team has been competing for the past several years, winning second place at the 2017 Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Region 1 Student Conference held in Buffalo, NY.
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T he systems engineering approach used to create that first Baja car directly translated into the technical and teamwork skills needed to take on the Deep Orange 7 project car during my master’s program in automotive engineering at Clemson University. Cofounding the Baja team at Western New England gave me the confidence and mindset to keep pursuing greater and greater challenges. ROBERT KNIZEK Major: Mechanical Engineering Project Manager Stanley Black & Decker, Inc. Hometown: Rexford, NY
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NEW
$1,000
First Robotics Scholarship for High School Particiapants
HERE’S AN EASY DECISION: CHOOSE A TOP RANKED “BEST VALUE” UNIVERSITY. A new report from Zippia finds Western New England University #5 in the nation and #1 in Massachusetts when it comes to preparing graduates for the job market! The analysis by the career-focused site utilized data from the federal government’s College Scorecard, looking at employment rates 10 years after students graduated. WNE’s employment rate is 95.56%, placing it ahead of all but four institutions in the country—including both public and
RANKED AMONG
TOP 3%
Public and Private Institutions
The Economist
private colleges and universities. We have also been ranked in the Top 3% as a best value by The Economist magazine, as a U.S. News and World Report’s 2019 Best Value and Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs, and we are now classified among Doctoral/Professional Universities by Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
RENEWABLE MERIT AID FOR HIGH SCHOOL PERFORMANCE
$10-22K In Merit Aid Annually
If you maintain our GPA standards each year, you will receive from $40,000 to $88,000 in Merit Scholarships over the course of four years.
LEARN MORE WNE.EDU/ACADEMICS/UNDERGRADUATE Learn more about creating your career with an engineering degree at Western New England University by exploring our majors, career paths, and internships. 20
IT’S NOT JUST WHAT YOU STUDY.
IT’S WHERE.
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Western New England University is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in education and employment. The University does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, creed, national origin, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, veteran status, genetics, or disability in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs and activities. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies: Assistant Vice President and Director of Human Resources, Western New England University, 1215 Wilbraham Road, Springfield, MA 01119 – 2684. Inquiries concerning the application of nondiscrimination policies may also be referred to the Regional Director, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, J.W. McCormack P.O.C.H., Room 222, Boston, MA 02109-4557.
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