What is the factors to be considered in choosing either chemical or mechanical engineering?
Dr. Barry J. Farbrother, Dean,
Tagliatela College of Engineering, University of New Haven,
CT.
Congratulations on your decision to continue your studies beyond
high school level.
College will be an exciting and challenging experience. It is a
place where you will meet new
friends - some of whom will be fellow students and some of them
will be professors. I hope that you
decide to become part of the University of New Haven community.
I can assure you that you will find
the faculty at this university to be among the most dedicated,
hardworking and amiable people in higher
education today. Unlike their counterparts at any large
university, as a student you will be able to meet
with them either personally or in small groups. I am sure, if
you do chose to attend the University of
New Haven that you will come to regard them as your friends and
find that above all else, they want you
to succeed.
You may have already decided upon a college. Others will have
narrowed the choice to maybe
two or three possibilities. And a few will have not the
slightest idea!!! Because this is a very important
decision, there are people here to help you to make that choice.
I hope that I am correct in believing that
you have already decided to attend college somewhere, and to
obtain that all-important Bachelor's
Degree. It is probably the most important decision affecting
your career that you will have to make. It
determines that you are going to become a "professional" person
- one who possesses knowledge, skills
and special training. It demonstrates your commitment to
becoming a skilled contributor to society.
But what are the factors that need to be considered when
choosing a college? I have worked in
several countries, at both large universities and small
institutions, and I would like to share with you some
of my thoughts and experiences. The quality of the education you
are going to receive is determined by
several factors - faculty to student ratio, laboratory
facilities, faculty qualifications, computer facilities,
campus environment, management philosophy, accreditation status,
etc. At the University of New Haven
undergraduate education is at the core of our programming. We
also offer graduate programs in certain
fields but only at the Master's level. The graduate programs
provide opportunities for students to study
beyond the bachelor's level and for professors to maintain their
professional expertise.
We want to let you know that we are very different from other
institutions of higher learning, -
and we certainly are not a major research university. The focus
of our educational activity is the
Bachelor's Degree. I strongly encourage you to visit any school
you are considering and hope you will
AN OPEN LETTER TO PROSPECTIVE FRESHMEN
2
take a good look at us by visiting our campus in West Haven.
After all, you are going to be spending four
years obtaining your bachelor's degree, and hopefully you will
choose an environment in which you are
going to be happy.
As you embark upon the journey to find the right school for you,
you need to build a frame of
reference that will enable you to make an informed decision.
Make sure that you do not make the mistake
of being dazzled by facilities and equipment you will see on
some campuses - to which you (as an
undergraduate student) will never have access. Ask questions
about class size, who teaches class, and
which laboratories and equipment you will be able to use. Take a
look at the educational facilities - the
computer center and the library, and the campus itself. Ask
yourself if it is the sort of environment in
which you could work and be productive. Be curious!
Classes are UNH are kept to a size that supports
professor-student interaction, - no larger than 30
students. The class will be taught by an experienced professor,
not a graduate student. All of the
Tagliatela College's engineering professors at UNH have earned
the Ph.D. (doctoral) degree. Your
professor will be available to meet with you either in a small
group setting outside of the classroom (or
laboratory), or one-on-one if necessary. Our professors run
laboratory classes. Some of our graduate
students do assist professors in the laboratory, providing
additional access to help when you require it.
Because college is not all work, take a look at all of the
campus. It is very important that you
understand that earning an engineering, computer
science,information technology or chemistry degree is
not the only thing you will be doing while you are here. There
is a broader aspect of the four-year
university experience. A university education is a preparation
for life! One of the outstanding features of
UNH is that it is a comprehensive university comprising The
College of Arts & Sciences, The College of
Business, The Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and
Forensic Sciences, and The Tagliatela
College of Engineering. This variety brings diversity to the
campus and so you will have the opportunity
to meet other undergraduates who are studying communications
arts, performance, mathematics, the
sciences, criminal justice and many other subjects. You will
have the opportunity to explore your nontechnical
side! Perhaps you have an aptitude for radio, or perhaps you
play a musical instrument or are an
aspiring actor or actress. If you are service minded there will
be ample opportunity for you to participate
in food drives or service learning.
Look at the recreational facilities. Ask to speak with the
Athletics staff about the facilities and
activities that are available. Although we do not offer sports
scholarships, we do recognize the benefits of
extra-curricular activities, and we have some anecdotal data
revealing that students who participate in
them do better (on average) than those who don't. A major new
project is the new recreation center that is
planned for completion in December 2007 .
At the University of New Haven the first responsibility of the
faculty is education, not research.
The university is not dependent upon funding from research
contracts in order to maintain faculty
positions. Faculty advancement is determined by several factors,
the professor's work in the classroom
and laboratory being the most important. All full-time faculty
members in the Tagliatela College of
Engineering at the University of New Haven have doctoral
degrees, and many have professional
qualifications, and/or industrial experience. Several are
consultants to industry, and this work is usually
undertaken outside of school hours or during the summer. It is
important to us that the faculty retain and
enhance it's professional skills as we enter an era where we are
attempting to "parallel the workplace" in
our degree programs. If you wish to learn more about our degree
programs then I suggest that you read
the UNH Catalog or look at our web page at
http://www.newhaven.edu On the engineering web site you
will find a message from the dean where you will be able to
access some links that will hopefully help you
with your decision making process. We recognize that some
students have considerable difficulty in
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choosing a career and so we do what we can to accommodate the
decision making process even through
the end of the freshman year and beyond.
The reason we are able to accommodate this indecision is because
our degree programs have a
unique characteristic. The freshmen year is common to most of
our engineering bachelor's degrees. This
means that when you are admitted to the Tagliatela College of
Engineering, you will have at least another
year in which to decide which particular engineering discipline
you wish to study. This is because we have
developed a unique curriculum known as the Multidisciplinary
Engineering Foundation Spiral Curriculum. The
National Science Foundation decided that the concept of this new
curriculum was so innovative that they
chose to support its development with a grant of $100,000! We
taught the freshman curriculum in pilot
form and then implemented it in 2004. A major feature of the
freshman curriculum is that it provides an
opportunity to experience engineering in your very first year at
UNH. Yes - you will design, build and test
an engineering artifact before you are a sophomore! In 2005, we
taught the sophomore courses for the first
time, and in May 2008, the first "spiral curriculum" students
will graduate.
But let me return to the topic of careers in engineering,
computer science and chemistry. The
workplace has changed! What I mean by this is that two
developments have occurred, which have caused
major changes in the way the professions of engineering,
computer science and chemistry are practiced.
The first development relates to technology - the advent of the
computer and specialized software tools
that have increased productivity. The second is the shear
complexity of engineering and science projects.
Engineers and scientists now have to work in teams in order to
bring new products to market, or to solve
the problems facing mankind and his environment. As technology
forges ahead at an ever-increasing
pace, these professionals have to be career-long learners,
adaptable, capable of assimilating new
techniques and able to communicate new ideas and concepts to
others, and to lay people. I am going to
overview some of the opportunities open to holders of
engineering and/or applied science degrees.
Chemistry: Chemists find employment throughout industry - not
solely in the pharmaceutical industry,
which is probably the first one that comes to mind. Computer
software now helps chemists design new
compounds that are necessary for products found in virtually
every other industry from packaging to
construction.
Chemical Engineering: Chemical Engineers take the discoveries of
the chemist and design processes that
make it possible to efficiently manufacture these products. They
are also responsible for operating and
managing the complex plants that produce these products from raw
materials.
Civil Engineering: Civil Engineers are responsible for the
elements of our surroundings - buildings,
highways, and bridges. However, increasingly a new branch of the
discipline involves them in wetlands,
and other aspects of our environment, namely the discipline of
environmental engineering.
Computer Scientists: The practice of computer science relates
predominantly to the software components
of computing systems. Software design is becoming increasingly
complex and the number of languages
is increasing. Computer scientists also find employment managing
computer systems and networks.
Computer Engineering: Computers are ubiquitous! Basically, where
there are computers, there also will
you find computer engineers. They have expertise in both
hardware and software components and also
find excellent opportunities in the design of systems utilizing
computing elements and in the
administration of computer systems and networks.
Electrical Engineering: Electrical Engineering is a really broad
subject area that spans everything from
transistors and integrated circuits to huge power generators and
power distribution systems. It also covers
control systems and communications - a booming industry.
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Mechanical Engineering: The discipline of Mechanical Engineering
is based upon energy conversion.
Machines take energy in one form and covert it to our use - a
lathe, and an automatic transmission are
two examples. But mechanical engineers also design structures -
aircraft, automobiles, railroads and a
huge variety of consumer products.
Multidisciplinary Engineering Systems: This Division's mission
is to provide a multidisciplinary
engineering foundation for a variety of programs, to administer
engineering programs that cross
traditional engineering boundaries, and to promote scholarship
and excellence in engineering education.
The program includes the First Year Engineering Program, and the
Multidisciplinary Engineering
Foundation Spiral Curriculum, which is a four-semester sequence
of engineering courses (EAS) matched
closely with the development of students' mathematical
sophistication and analytical capabilities and
integrated with coursework in the sciences.
System Engineering: System engineering, as a formal engineering
discipline, is one of the most flexible
and broad-based disciplines in engineering and is poised to
provide balanced solutions to diverse and
complex problems primarily related to product development and
commercialization processes. Our
program combines strong theoretical foundations in science,
mathematics, and the UNH spiral
engineering science curriculum with system engineering-related
topics, integrated with computer
applications.
This has been a very brief introduction to these professions. I
hope that I have given you one or
two things to think about - but more importantly - that you will
follow-up in your own time. You will find
more information in the packet we have provided you and I have
also given phone numbers and email
addresses at the end of this letter so that you can contact me.
Please use the resources at your disposal to
find out more about the profession of engineering. It is your
responsibility to take ownership of this
process!
I would like to use the remaining space to whet your appetite
with regard to the degree programs
that are offered at UNH. You need to know that our bachelor's
degree programs in Chemical Engineering,
Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science,
Electrical Engineering and Mechanical
Engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation
Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation
Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) - that is, they have
the stamp of approval from the
national accrediting body. Presently, we are not accepting
applications for enrollment in the program in
industrial engineering as the program is being phased out to
make way for new programs in the future.
Each of our degree programs has been carefully designed to
produce graduates who are able to
immediately contribute to the profession. In fact our faculty is
continually looking for ways to improve
our degree offerings. This is all part of a continuous
improvement methodology to provide the very best
experience for students. You may wonder why we continue to
change our degree programs. After all, if
the "old" programs were accredited, why should it be necessary
to alter them? Well, the truthful answer
is that, from the viewpoint of accreditation status, it was not
necessary! However, we have made
significant changes because of the changes that have occurred in
the workplace, and in order that our
graduates will be prepared for the challenges of the
twenty-first century. The changes in the workplace
have been of such a magnitude that you may hear them referred to
as a paradigm shift. History is littered
with such events - events that have a dramatic effect on our
lives. Examples of three such events are the
invention of the steam engine, which facilitated the industrial
revolution, the transistor that virtually
ended the thermionic tube era, and later the microprocessor,
which changed the nature of digital systems
design and led to the era of distributed computing.
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Because the way the engineers and computer scientists work has
changed, so must the way in
which these professionals are trained. Indeed there has been a
call from the National Academy of
Engineering and from ABET (the Accreditation Board for
Engineering and Technology) for a new era in
engineering education. This is why several of our professors
decided to design the Multidisciplinary
Engineering Foundation Spiral Curriculum. Our degree programs,
we believe, are designed to produce a
new breed of professional - the Engineer or Scientist of the
21st. Century - Renaissance professionals.
All of our computers are networked to permit access to
university computing resources, and provide
access to the Internet. Buckman Hall, home of the Tagliatela
College of Engineering, is a wireless facility.
Our programs still produce the technically competent graduates
sought by industry, but they also utilize
technology and enable you to develop what we refer to as
"professional skills". We will also broaden
your experience by making you aware of your social,
environmental and ethical responsibilities. We
believe our new degree programs will provide you with an
exceptional preparation for life in the 21st
century.
Our degree programs require you to have a thorough understanding
of mathematics and science,
which you gain in your freshman year. As you enhance your
mathematical skills you will be increasing
your knowledge in the areas of engineering and science - in a
coordinated manner, and learning how to
work effectively as a member of a team. To solve complex
problems you must understand team dynamics
and what it takes to be an effective team member. You will learn
about the engineering method and
project management so that you are better able to manage your
time. In the Sophomore year, you will
begin to "learn how the world works" by studying a core of
Engineering Science topics including
electrical, fluid, mechanical and thermal systems and relate
them to more advanced mathematical topics
including statistics and differential equations. We also begin
to expose you to some of the wider issues
you will need to understand as a practicing engineer - Total
Quality Management (TQM), Professional
Ethics, Economics, Project Management and Team Dynamics.
Our computer science program provides a solid foundation in
mathematics and an exposure to
several high- and low-level programming languages. It also
provides good breadth in computer topics
including compilers, computer architecture, data structures,
digital electronics, networking, operating
systems, and software engineering. Students broaden their
education through electives in fine arts, life
skills, philosophy, science, and social science and have
additional flexibility to tailor their program
through free electives.
All programs require students to develop good written and oral
presentation skills. We require
you to demonstrate these professional skills throughout the
curriculum thereby allowing you to hone them
here on campus so that you enter the workforce with a head start
over your peers. When you enter the
junior year you have all the tools you need to begin to
specialize in your chosen major. The junior year is
a "breadth" year enabling you to gain a good understanding of
all the essential areas of your chosen
major. Unlike the truly great artists (masters), who were born
and not trained; now it is possible to learn
the art of design as a process. This will provide you with the
tools to enable you to embark upon your
senior year. This allows you to tailor course work, so that you
may specialize in a particular area, or
retain breadth if preferred. An essential component of
engineering work is the ability to perform design.
Engineers are people who work to improve the environment in
which we all live.
We are working to increase the number of opportunities for
student engineers to work on realworld
projects and to undertake internship placements with some of the
top companies located within the
region and elsewhere. We are particularly keen to place students
with entrepreneurial (start-up)
organizations in addition to the large multi-national
corporations, which have traditionally been the
training ground for newly graduated engineers and scientists. We
are finding that the business and
corporate community in the New Haven region is keen to partner
with the University of New Haven by
providing internship opportunities for our students. They are
also partnering with us in new ways by providing corporate
scholarships for our students. Please stay tuned to the media for
more news in this
regard!
I hope that I have been able to help you in your decision making
process with regard to your
career and choice of college. I encourage you to give it careful
and considered thought because these are
very important choices. Please accept my best wishes for your
future. I hope that you will choose
University of New Haven as your "first choice" and decide to
study Chemistry, Chemical Engineering,
Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science,
Electrical Engineering, Information
Technology, Mechanical Engineering, and System Engineering. But,
even if you do not, I wish you every
success in your chosen profession.
For helpful links about career options check out:
http://www.newhaven.edu/engineering
Please contact me if you have questions about engineering
careers, or our programs. I can be
reached by telephone at: 203 932-7167 (Office Voice) 203
932-7394 (Office Fax)
or by E-mail at: bfarbrother@newhaven.edu
HOPE THIS HELPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!