UC engineering on par with national trends

By Hunter Tickel | The News Record

A recent study by the Computing Research Association found an 8 percent increase nationwide in students enrolling in engineering majors nationwide.

The University of Cincinnati is seeing a similar trend with a 4 percent increase in enrollment in the engineering programs this year. Mechanical engineering and the freshmen engineer program are at capacity.

The freshmen engineering program consists of approximately 50 percent “undecided” students and 50 percent of those who did not meet the requirements needed for the college.

“There are 120 freshmen exploring engineering, which gives them a year to decide on a major,”said Prem Khosla, associate department head of aerospace engineering.

UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS) is ranked as one of the top-five colleges in the country for cooperative education by the U.S. News and World Report.

Not only is technical knowledge gained after participating in co-op but more importantly poise and confidence, said Kathy Johnson, director of undergraduate student enrollment for CEAS.

Such a large incoming freshman class prompted administrators to create additional sections of physics and chemistry. The mechanical engineering department added one additional adviser.

The reason for this growth is more stable jobs being offered upon graduation, according to the engineering department.

“Aerospace technology brings in a lot of money through trade and it creates a competitively stable profession,” Khosla said.

Johnson taught one student who participated in a co-op, or six-quarter period, with NASA and now is employed by them.

The overall quality of freshman in the CEAS continues to improve, Johnson said. Many students are in the top-10 percent of their class and have higher ACT scores.

“In the past 15 years, middle and high schools have put more emphasis on proficiency in math, science and technology,” said Gian Rassati, assistant professor in the civil engineering department.

With more students equipped for engineering out of high school, these numbers will remain steady, Rassati said.

Engineering is becoming more popular because students are able to gain perspective and experience about what its like to be an engineer before graduation. This makes it much easier for students to begin practicing their profession immediately after graduating, Johnson said.

As CEAS is the second-highest research college at the university, UC is starting to take the college more seriously, Khosla said.

Last year, the aerospace department received $27.5 million from Ohio to focus on research.

“[CEAS] is on the move,” Khosla said. “Enrollment is up, but resources are still limited.”