All courses, both lecture and lab, are taught by faculty, most of whom have significant applied industrial experience in the areas in which they teach.  Undergraduate class sizes of 30 students or less in most cases, as well as masters class sizes of 20 students or less, allow faculty and students to work closely together both in and out of class time.  

Often, faculty offer students the opportunity for one-on-one collaboration through research projects or through independent study on topics of mutual interest.

The majority of our courses include a significant laboratory experience.  Theory is learned in the classroom and immediately applied in the laboratory.  Our main laboratory facilities are located in the 30,000-sq. ft. Fred M. Keller Engineering Laboratories & our new 55,000-sq. ft. John C. Kennedy Hall of Engineering building on the Pew Campus in Grand Rapids.  The buildings are available to engineering students 24 hours a day.  Additional laboratory facilities are located in the Allendale in the Padnos Hall of Science.

Students use the laboratories for a variety of projects, including the industrially based capstone senior design project and the capstone masters degree project.  View sample projects here.

Engineering students have access to numerous computers and a wide variety of commercial engineering software products.  Our wireless internet infrastructure supports students who want to bring their own portable computers to class, laboratory, and study areas and still be connected.  In addition to this laptop support, we currently provide over 100 computers for use by our approximately 600 students.

Student chapters of a number of professional engineering societies operate within the School of Engineering.  Learn about them here. 

The School of Engineering is a good citizen of downtown Grand Rapids.  Community service projects are constantly ongoing.  Learn about them here.