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College of Engineering Overview
Wichita State
University
The Wichita State University
College of Engineering shares in the University's
commitment to provide comprehensive educational opportunities in
an urban setting and its commitment to the highest ideals of teaching,
scholarship, and public service. In order to contribute to the
University’s dedication to excellence, the College has a vision of
attaining national recognition as a metropolitan-based college of
engineering with strong undergraduate and graduate degree programs,
major collaborative efforts with industry, and a respected research
program.
This vision
is brought into focus by the College’s commitments to education, faculty
development, and the local community. Our accredited engineering
curriculum, enhanced by our metropolitan setting, fully prepares
graduates for engineering practice and advanced education. Our
award-winning faculty enjoys the support and resources necessary to
create and apply cutting-edge knowledge and to impart such understanding
and expertise to their students. Enriching the college experiences of
students and faculty alike is the College’s engagement with the Wichita
community through our participation in and support of business,
professional, cultural, and social programs and activities.
Modern technological developments in engineering have
brought about considerable change in the College of Engineering's
curriculum at Wichita State University. The curriculum provides a
vigorous, challenging experience through a broad spectrum of fundamental
technical knowledge as well as courses in humanities, social sciences,
communications, mathematics and physical sciences. This balance in the
curriculum prepares students for professional positions in the
scientific-industrial community after the bachelor's degree or allows
them to continue in graduate studies for a more active participation in
research and advanced study. The College of Engineering is organized
into four degree-granting departments: aerospace, electrical and
computer, industrial and manufacturing, and mechanical. The programs in
engineering are offered in daytime and evening classes, and the courses
are the same whether they are taught in the day or at night.
The Bachelor of Science degree programs in aerospace,
computer, electrical, industrial, manufacturing, and mechanical
engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission
of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). A
Master of Science (MS) is offered in aerospace, electrical, industrial,
and mechanical engineering. A Master of Engineering Management program
is offered in the industrial and manufacturing engineering department. A
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) also is offered by each of the four
departments of engineering. Typical fields of specialization include
aerodynamics, fluid mechanics, propulsion, structures, solid mechanics,
composites, dynamics, and control; communication theory, signal
processing, control theory, digital systems, energy, and power systems;
thermodynamics, heat transfer, engineering materials, engineering
design, kinematics; and operations research, management science,
manufacturing processes, and human factors.
Aerospace
engineers are involved in research, development, design, and manufacture
of such products as airplanes, helicopters, missiles, satellites, and
spacecraft. Aerospace engineers are not only proficient in a highly
specialized field, but possess the necessary background for directing
and managing large engineering projects in the aerospace industry. In
addition, an education in engineering, and especially aerospace
engineering, provides knowledge in a specialized field and develops a
way of thinking that is valuable for the continuing education required
in today’s rapidly advancing technology.
The aerospace
engineering department at Wichita State offers programs leading to
bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. The aerospace engineering
curriculum at Wichita State offers students the opportunity to develop
strong fundamental knowledge of mathematics, physics, and engineering
sciences and to acquire competence in such professional fields as
aerodynamics, flight mechanics, propulsion, control systems, structures,
and simulation techniques. The curriculum emphasizes fundamental
principles involved in aerospace engineering so that graduates are
prepared to contribute to a rapidly changing and expanding field or to
adapt their skills to related fields that use many advanced concepts
similar to those developed in the aerospace field, including engines and
propulsion, light-weight structures, and fluid mechanics. The
undergraduate program requires the completion of 135 semester hours for
graduation.
 Computer
Engineering
Our graduates
from the computer engineering program have had a curriculum which is
oriented toward computer architecture and computer networks and the
design of digital hardware to implement computers and networks.
Additionally, our graduates are required to take sufficient courses in
computer programming and are proficient as computer programmers. The
curriculum is oriented to the study and application of computer
languages, data structures, operating systems, and algorithmic
processes. A graduate from our computer engineering program is ready to
play an important role in our nation’s computer industries.
Electrical
Engineering
When an
individual graduates with a degree in electrical engineering from
Wichita State, they are prepared to work in a wide spectrum of
activities covering many fields, including avionics, process control
systems, information processing, instrumentation and measurement
systems, digital systems, and power systems.
Our
undergraduate program in electrical engineering is flexible enough to
have allowed our graduates to concentrate their electives in
communications and signal processing, control systems, digital systems,
electric power systems, and electronics.
The graduates
from this program have had access to fully equipped electrical,
electronic, optical, and computer laboratories. A master of science and
a doctor of philosophy are also offered.
Industrial
Engineering
This degree
provides our graduates with a set of comprehensive engineering skills to
solve problems in manufacturing and service industries, businesses, and
institutions, with the objective of productivity improvement through
better use of human resources, financial resources, natural resources
and man-made structures and equipment.
Our graduates
are prepared to contribute to jobs related to design, implementation and
improvement of systems in manufacturing and service sectors; including
jobs in quality engineering, facilities management, man-machine systems,
simulation, project planning, inventory management, ergonomics, and
optimization.
A master of
science, a master of engineering management, and a doctor of philosophy
are also offered.
Manufacturing
Engineering
The curriculum
for this program has been developed to provide our graduates with a set
of broad and comprehensive manufacturing engineering skills applicable
in a wide spectrum of industries.
The strength
of our manufacturing engineering program is its emphasis on the
following three manufacturing engineering areas: materials and
processes, product engineering and assembly, and manufacturing quality
and productivity.
The
curriculum, designed with input from practicing engineers, assures that
our graduates have opportunities for hands-on experiences in solving
real-world problems through class projects performed in local
industries.
Mechanical
Engineering
The Mechanical
Engineering Department at Wichita State University is dedicated to
excellence in education and research. The curriculum has been developed
to provide our graduates with a strong foundation in mathematics and the
physical sciences of chemistry and physics, followed by in-depth
education in the four principal engineering areas: materials/mechanics,
mechanical design, dynamics/controls, thermal-fluid science.
Our mechanical
engineering program is committed to providing our graduates with an
invigorating environment for education and innovation. Master of science
and doctor of philosophy degrees are also offered.
Cooperative
Education
WSU’s Cooperative Education and Work-based Learning
Program, the largest program of its kind in Kansas and among the top 10
percent nationally, allows students to complement their classroom
experience with employment related to their academic area of interest.
Through the co-op program, engineering students receive extensive
hands-on experience in their fields while earning competitive wages and
college credit. Employers include NASA, Boeing, LSI Logic, Lockheed
Martin Space Operations, Raytheon, and EXCEL Manufacturing.
National
Institute for Aviation Research
Wichita
State’s reputation is enhanced by its National Institute for Aviation
Research, a national research center housing several centers of special
interest to students in aerospace engineering, including the Center for
Aviation Safety, where faculty investigate how to improve aviation
safety through research into human factors as contributors to aircraft
accidents; the Center for Basic and Applied Research, where faculty
pursue methods of expanding a broad range of technological research to
include aviation application; and the Center for Productivity
Enhancement, where faculty explore the transfer of technology, primarily
through CAD/CAM and the study and applications of advanced composite
materials, robotics and artificial intelligence. Designed to serve the
needs of the aerospace industry as well as those of a faculty requiring
state-of-the-art research capabilities, the institute also provides
students many opportunities for research and application of classroom
theory.
The
Wichita State Campus
Wichita State
University is as proud of its campus as it is of its academic programs
and facilities. The University’s beautiful 330-acre campus is a dynamic
synthesis of traditional and modern buildings, flower-bordered lawns,
and a striking variety of shrubs and trees. The campus also boasts some
56 outdoor sculptures by renowned artists, one of the largest university
outdoor sculpture collections nationwide.
Student Organizations
There
are more than 150 student organizations at WSU, including fraternities
and sororities, honorary groups, professional organizations, religious
associations, and special interest organizations, such as the Chess
Club, the International Students’ Association, the T’ai Chi Club, the
Student Alumni Association, and Model United Nations. Students in
aerospace engineering are encouraged to join the student branch of the
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and the
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), whose activities include tours,
technical seminars, a technical paper conference, film presentations,
and picnics. The Engineering Student Council, which represents the
engineering student body, is probably the best organized and most active
student organization on campus. Weekly meetings are used for planning
such activities as the Engineering Open House and the Engineering Career
Workshop. Other College of Engineering student organizations include the
Society of Women Engineers, the National Society of Professional
Engineers, and five honorary societies.
The
City of Wichita
Wichita State
offers a Metropolitan Advantage: the City of Wichita itself. The greater
Wichita area has a population of 500,000, large enough to support an
abundance of diversions, including the Wichita Symphony Orchestra, Music
Theatre of Wichita, the Wichita Art Museum, the Exploration Place, the
Lake Afton Public Observatory, more than 70 public parks, the Sedgwick
County Zoo, and FantaSea Water Park. In addition, Wichita boasts the
Wichita Wings, a professional MISL soccer team, and the Wichita
Wranglers, a Double-A baseball team. Wichita has the Mid-America
All-Indian Center; Botanica, the Wichita Gardens, a ten-acre arboretum;
Wichita Community Theatre, the First National Black Historical Society
of Kansas; and the Wichita River Festival, Wichita's nationally
acclaimed week-long summer party. Employment opportunities for
cooperative education positions and part- or full-time work are
abundant. All this, and much more, contributes significantly to the
quality of life WSU students can enjoy while pursuing their educational
goals. Wichita State and the City of Wichita offer a unique experience
for students’ education, employment, and entertainment! |
