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2018-2019 Undergraduate & Graduate Catalog

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School of Engineering

Undergraduate Engineering Degree Programs

The School of Engineering offers a four-year program leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.S.E.) with majors in computer, electrical, interdisciplinary, mechanical, and product design and manufacturing engineering. During the first two years students take courses fundamental to engineering in preparation for admission to their major and cooperative education experience in industry. Integrated cooperative engineering education allows students the opportunity to gain industrial experience before graduation. During the last two years of the program students alternate periods of cooperative education in industry with academic study. The interdisciplinary engineering program allows students to tailor their engineering education in preparation for careers in emerging fields. All engineering majors are capped by a multidisciplinary two-semester senior design project requiring initiative, planning, and design.

B.S.E. Degree Goal and Objectives

The goal of the B.S.E. degree program is to prepare students to assume engineering positions in industry with the potential to advance to leadership positions. In pursuing this goal, students may major in one or more traditional engineering disciplines: computer, electrical, product design and manufacturing or mechanical engineering; or they may pursue an interdisciplinary engineering major tailored to their specific educational needs.

The program educational objectives are that a student within a few years of graduation from one of the B.S.E. program majors will be able to: demonstrate technical competency in their careers; function effectively in an industrial or academic environment; engage in professional development; and, shape their professions and societies.

Engineering Design

Design is central to the practice of engineering. The curriculum has been developed to integrate design education throughout all four years of the program. The student's experience begins in the freshman year with instruction and practice in computer-aided design and product realization, the design of computer software, and engineering problem-solving using current computer software and hardware tools. Design instruction continues in the sophomore year through the use of activities such as design projects, materials selection exercises, and quality assurance methods. Building upon the engineering science and design developed in the first two years and the experience gained in the integrated cooperative education program, substantially more mature design experiences begin in the junior year. The cooperative education program, which continues through the junior and senior years, also contributes substantially to student preparation for the two-semester capstone senior design experience. The majority of the senior design projects each year are performed for companies in west Michigan. Exercises that address environmentally responsible design are integrated throughout the curriculum.

Industry Involvement

Grand Valley's B.S.E. degree program has wide community and industrial support. Individuals and industries in Michigan and beyond have supported the program financially as well as by providing opportunities for cooperative engineering education. Students have participated in cooperative education experiences in nationwide locations, as well as overseas. The program is served by an Industrial Advisory board composed of engineering leaders and others in the field. Additionally, Grand Valley's Career Center also provides liaison between the engineering program and industry.

Student Preparation and Guidance

The B.S.E. degree program is highly structured. Careful planning by students, in consultation with their academic advisor, is essential. Pre secondary admission engineering majors are assigned an advisor in the Padnos College of Engineering and Computing (PCEC) Student Services Center. As a part of the secondary admission process, students are assigned a faculty member within the School of Engineering as an advisor. Students considering an engineering career are invited to consult with an engineering advisor at the earliest possible opportunity. A consultation meeting with an advisor can be arranged by contacting the PCEC Student Services.

High school students considering an engineering career are urged to take a college preparatory program consisting of at least three years of laboratory science, including one year of physics and one year of chemistry; four years of mathematics, including two years of algebra, one year of geometry, and one half year of trigonometry; one half year of computer programming; four years of English, including composition; two years of a single foreign language; and three years of social studies.

Properly prepared students can complete the B.S.E. program in four calendar years. Students who are not prepared to begin the B.S.E. program with Mathematics 201 (Calculus and Analytic Geometry I), or who prefer to not carry the average course load of 16 credit hours per semester, will need a longer period of study to complete their engineering degree. Students who wish to pursue the B.S.E. degree after transferring from a two-year school should normally enroll in a pre engineering program before transferring to Grand Valley.

Admission

Students can declare an engineering major upon admittance as a first-year student to GVSU. The engineering foundations course sequence spans the freshman and sophomore years and develops the fundamental knowledge on which an engineering major is built.

The School of Engineering admits students directly to major standing as freshmen. This honor is reserved for students who have both a 29 or higher composite score and a 32 or higher mathematics score on the ACT and a 3.6 or higher high school GPA. In order to continue direct-admit status, students must maintain an overall GPA of 2.7 and earn at least a C (2.0) in each course. Students whose GPA falls below 2.7 will need to apply to the School of Engineering via the normal admission process.

Students who intend to pursue the B.S.E. degree are urged to declare engineering as their major as soon as possible, preferably before they first register for courses at Grand Valley. Students must formally declare engineering as their major before the end of the drop-add period of the fall semester of the academic year in which they are seeking admission to major standing.

Admission to major standing in the B.S.E. program requires a secondary application. Applicants must meet at least the following: (1) a GPA of 2.7 or above in the engineering foundations course sequence, (2) completion of each course in the engineering foundations course sequence with a grade of C (2.0) or above, and (3) completion of EGR 289 in preparation for placement in cooperative engineering education. Transfer students must also complete at least eight semester hours of engineering courses at Grand Valley before they can be admitted to major standing.

Admission is based upon no more than one repeat per required course in the engineering foundations course sequence. Once admitted to major standing in the B.S.E. program, students are expected to devote sufficient time to complete the work assigned in each course. Students are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards at all times. Students may be dismissed from the program for violations of ethical standards or unsatisfactory academic progress.

Students must apply directly to the School of Engineering before the last day of classes of the semester in which they are seeking admission to major standing. The application is available on the School of Engineering website. Students are notified no later than the second week of the semester following the semester in which the application was submitted.

Vision, Mission and Values Statements

Vision: GVSU's School of Engineering aspires to be a premier education-oriented engineering school focused on applied engineering practice that is informed by research and scholarship.

Mission: Our mission is to prepare students to meet the challenges of the modern world as engineering professionals who have the potential to become innovative leaders.

We fulfill our mission with a curriculum that is firmly based in the theoretical foundation of science and mathematics in application to real-world problems. The curriculum also provides for experiences in engineering design, analysis, and professional practice. Students develop technical competency through course and laboratory work, project work, and the co-operative education experience in industry or in research.

Our mission is realized by a shared commitment to continual improvement, scholarship and research, and refinement through critical review. Such review requires both close contact with current engineering practice and a commitment to liberal education that enhances the practice of engineering in global societies through a deep understanding of the human condition and the relationship of engineering practice to the natural environment.

Values: Our values reflect our educational mission. We are an academic community in a nation for which the intrinsic value of each individual is taken as fundamental. Thus we strive to provide an environment in which each member of our academic community-student, staff member, and faculty-can reach his or her fullest potential.

Just as we value each individual in our community, we value the environment in which we live. The engineering community strongly influences the environment through the practice of its profession. For that reason we strive to build into our curriculum an awareness of, and sensitivity to, those areas in which engineering practice affects the environment. Such awareness extends beyond technical knowledge to include ethical responsibility in the practice of our profession.

Website: www.gvsu.edu/engineering

Accreditation

The B.S.E. programs in computer engineering, electrical engineering, interdisciplinary engineering, mechanical engineering, and product design and manufacturing engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, www.abet.org.

The Engineering Profession and Career Opportunities

Engineers apply science, mathematics, and professional judgment to solve technical problems in industry and society. They design and develop products, processes, services and systems. Engineers test, produce, operate, maintain, sell, install and manage products and systems. Many work in public health, transportation and environmental protection.

In today's world, engineers are expected to contribute more than technical competence. As professionals, engineers are concerned with the impact of their work on society and the changing values and priorities of society. The current emphasis on science and technology has increased public interest in engineering education as a general preparation for living as well as earning a living. To deal effectively with rapid changes in technology, engineers must have a broad undergraduate education firmly based upon the basic sciences and embedded within a supportive liberal education program. Engineers must have the ability to visualize a problem in its total context.

The need for broadly educated engineering graduates is very high and is expected to grow rapidly during the next decade. Demand varies depending on location, type of industry, and the economy. West Michigan is one of the largest technical, manufacturing, and industrial regions of the state.

Graduate School Opportunities

The Bachelor of Science in Engineering program prepares students for engineering practice as well as graduate studies. Many of our graduates continue their education on a part time basis while holding full time employment. Some of our graduating seniors enroll in full time graduate programs and have enjoyed success at universities such as Purdue University and Notre Dame.

Participating Programs

Cooperative Education
Cooperative engineering education in industry typically begins during the spring/summer semester following admission to major standing in the B.S.E. program. Students then alternate periods of cooperative education with periods of academic study for the next 20 months. The cooperative education cycle provides the student with 1,500 to 2,000 hours of work experience. A typical schedule of cooperative education and academic study is shown below in the sample curriculum for the B.S.E. degree.

Assistance with obtaining a cooperative education position is made through the Career Services Center. Students must enroll in EGR 289 during the fall semester in order to begin a co-op position in the following spring/summer semester. Grand Valley will make a strong effort to offer every student admitted to major standing a number of invitations for interviews for cooperative education positions with various potential employers. Students who are not acceptable for employment through the prescribed cooperative education placement process, do not obtain positive evaluations during their cooperative educational experiences, or do not maintain satisfactory progress toward the B.S.E. degree cannot meet the graduation requirements of the program and must withdraw from the B.S.E. program. Such students do have numerous other options to complete a bachelor's degree in one of Grand Valley's other programs.

Student Organizations

American Society of Mechanical Engineering (ASME)
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc (IEEE)
National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE)
Society of Automotive Engineer (SAE) Formula and Mini Baja Teams
Society Manufacturing Engineering (SME)
Society of Women in Engineering (SWE)

Honors Organization

Grand Valley State University hosts the Michigan Lambda Chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the National Engineering Honors Society.

Program Requirements

The following programs are available:


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