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Engineering
students have the opportunity to make a difference in the world in many
ways. Students who accept this challenge tend to be bright, well-rounded,
dedicated, and attracted to a field that offers future employment opportunities
with high salaries, prestige, and respect. An engineering degree provides a competitive advantage in the working world.
Why
Study Engineering at Iowa?
Students choose to study engineering at Iowa because the academic excellence, small-college environment, individual attention, camaraderie, and tremendous opportunities appeal to them. In the College of Engineering, you will find an environment focused on student success and teamwork. You can be involved in significant research projects with professors or do honors research yourself. The College of Engineering also is part of a Big Ten research institution with outstanding opportunities and facilities, including a world-renowned teaching hospital.
U.S. News & World Report ranks Iowa’s undergraduate engineering program in the top 20 percent of engineering programs nationwide. The graduate-level engineering specialty of environmental health is ranked 17th in the nation.
The University of Iowa admits incoming first-year students directly into engineering and does not have the pre-engineering year or “weed-out” philosophy typical of many other programs. About 300 first-year and 100 transfer students are enrolled each year.
Iowa admits students who have math and science talent and great potential to become engineers; then, as students work to achieve their goals, the college’s faculty and staff work alongside them, providing resources and encouragement.
Many engineering students also choose to earn a second degree in liberal arts or business. The Certificate in Technological Entrepreneurship attracts engineering students who want to start a businesses or patent their inventions. Iowa was the first university in the country to offer this certificate.
Student support services include Free Tutoring for the first two years of math, science, and engineering courses, as well as the Engineering Connection mentoring program, which pairs upper-level students with new students and sponsors fun activities throughout the year.
Additional features of Iowa’s College of Engineering include:
- Encouragement to get involved in activities outside engineering. Engineering students at Iowa include varsity athletes, musicians, student leaders, and
Homecoming royalty.
- A comprehensive Student Development Center, with admissions, scholarships, advising, career placement, professional development, student records, mentoring, and tutoring services.
- Honors, Men in Engineering, and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Living-Learning Communities in the residence halls.
- Engineering Student Organizations, fraternities and sororities, and national honorary societies, offering many opportunities to develop your leadership abilities.
- A higher percentage of female engineering students (22 percent) than most U.S. engineering colleges.
- A location in downtown Iowa City, right next to the heart of campus.
Students
Iowa’s engineering students tend to be multitalented and are encouraged to get involved in a range of activities that help make them well-rounded individuals and very marketable to potential employers. Engineering students participate in many campus activities,
including Hawkeye Marching Band, athletics, theatre arts, student government, and Dance Marathon. Students also are encouraged to pursue learning opportunities to gain experience in their degree field, such as co-ops, internships, research with professors, group leadership, and study abroad.
About 22 percent of engineering students at Iowa are women; the national average is 17 percent.
Faculty
Iowa’s nationally and internationally renowned faculty members—including physicians and practicing engineers—teach all of the engineering classes, including those for first-year students. Faculty members place a high priority on teaching and encourage undergraduates to work in their research labs. No engineering classes are taught by teaching assistants.
Facilities
The Seamans Center for the Engineering Arts and Sciences houses all engineering departments and most faculty offices. You’ll be able to study in the unique Engineering Student Commons next to the Engineering Library. The commons features a two-story atrium and is designed to replicate a real-world engineering work center, with team-study areas for students working together on projects. Four large computer labs offer state-of-the-art computer equipment 24 hours a day, and the building features wireless technology. Classrooms also feature the latest technology. All you need to succeed is under one roof, which adds to the sense of community in the engineering college.
Another research advantage: the federal government chose The University of Iowa as the location for the world’s most technologically advanced driving simulator in the world—the Department of Transportation’s National Advanced Driving Simulator.
Admission
You are guaranteed admission into the College of Engineering if you:
- Successfully complete the High School Course Requirements for admission to the College of Engineering, including demonstrated success (A or B grades) in math and science courses.
- Present ACT math and composite scores of 25 or above (or an SAT math score of 630 or higher and combined SAT Critical Reading and Math scores of 1130 or above) and present a Regent Admission Index score of 265 or higher.
An individual review process is designed for applicants who do not meet the admission standards. A personal statement and two letters of recommendation from math or science teachers are required.
Degree
Programs
The College of Engineering has six majors that all include an “elective focus area,” allowing students to specialize within their major or pursue a minor in liberal arts and sciences or business as part of the engineering degree. In addition, students may work with their advisors to design an elective focus area tailored to their individual interests.
Biomedical
Engineering
Biomedical engineering links biology, medicine, and engineering to improve human health. Biomedical engineers may work closely with physicians to design and evaluate prosthetic devices such as heart valves or spinal and hip implants, work with computer analysis of medical images, work with new materials for implants and tissue-generated implants, and use computers to analyze genetic structures and functions. This major often is used as preparation for medical school.
Iowa’s long-established biomedical engineering major has been in existence for more than 30 years and is one of about 50 accredited undergraduate programs in the United States.
As a biomedical engineering student, you may choose from these elective focus areas:
- Biomaterials
- Bioinformatics/computational biology
- Biosystems/bioimaging
- Cardiovascular biomechanics
- Entrepreneurship
- Musculoskeletal biomechanics
- Pre-medicine
- Tissue engineering
Chemical
and Biochemical Engineering
Chemical engineering involves the industrial application of chemicals for new inventions or to improve the world. Chemical engineers use microbes to produce pharmaceuticals and chemicals, develop new sources of energy, create artificial organs, and design the next generation of polymers. They construct synthetic fibers to make clothes more comfortable, develop methods to mass-produce drugs to make them more affordable, and create safer and more efficient methods of refining petroleum products to make energy more productive and cost effective.
The department is small enough for daily interaction with faculty members and other students. You’ll know about your professors’ research and you’ll be encouraged to participate.
The department also conducts interdisciplinary research with the Center for Biocatalysis and Bioprocessing, the Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, and the University’s College of
Pharmacy and Carver College of Medicine.
Focus area options include:
- Biochemical engineering
- Business
- Chemical process engineering
- Energy and environment
- Entrepreneurship
- Pharmacy
- Polymers
- Pre-medicine
Civil
and Environmental Engineering
Civil engineers work with technology, people, and nature in designing and managing essential elements of society’s infrastructure such as highways, bridges, buildings, tunnels, dams, and water-supply systems. Environmental engineers devise environmentally friendly ways to manage and process society’s waste, destroy toxic substances, remove pollutants from the water or air, and ensure the sustainable well-being of the manufactured and natural environments.
As a civil and environmental engineer, you may choose one of these focus areas:
- Civil engineering practice
- Entrepreneurial career path
- Environmental health
- Environmental remediation and control
- Project management
- Structures, mechanics, and materials
- Sustainability engineering
- Transportation engineering
- Urban and regional planning
- Water resources engineering
Electrical
and Computer Engineering
Since most new products in today’s modern world depend on electronics and software, electrical and computer engineers are vital parts of production teams working on products for virtually all areas of manufacturing and development. Electrical engineers think in terms of systems, looking at product development as an overall process rather than just developing one or two parts.
Electrical and computer engineering is focused on electrical devices and systems; the use of electricity; and the design, construction, and operation of computer systems. Electrical and computer engineers may work in medical imaging, design a new computer chip, develop a control system for an advanced robot, or create the next generation of wireless communication devices.
As an electrical and computer engineering student, you will choose a subtrack in electrical engineering, computer engineering, or information engineering, and choose an elective focus area such as:
- Applied physics
- Control systems
- Electronics
- Medical imaging
- Robotics
Industrial
Engineering
Industrial engineers improve the quality of our lives by making systems and processes better, faster, cheaper, and safer. They excel at exploring business challenges and finding innovative solutions to make industries, hospitals, education, and government more effective. They know how to work with others—understanding, analyzing, and designing solutions that help people work more effectively. Where many engineering disciplines apply their skills to specific, well-bounded problem areas, industrial engineers are trained to solve large, unstructured, open-ended problems. This makes industrial engineers natural explorers, innovators, and leaders.
Industrial engineers organize the efforts of workers, business owners, managers, salespeople, and other engineers by applying their arsenal of management, problem-solving, simulation, and analysis skills. After nurturing the problem-solving process, industrial engineers are typically also responsible for the delicate and complex process of implementing system change.
As an industrial engineering major, you may direct your course work into one of these focus areas:
- Computer and information systems
- Entrepreneurship
- Human factors and ergonomics
- Management
- Medical systems
Mechanical
Engineering
Mechanical engineers analyze a need and design products and systems to fill it, including complex human/machine systems. Design is the key to bringing truly effective solutions to bear on mechanical problems.
Mechanical engineering uses energy principles and mechanics to design machines such as engines and motors. Mechanical engineers work in the areas of automotive, robotics, and manufacturing, and in the design of machines. They may develop robots for space exploration, use a computer to simulate freezing of human cells, or improve devices to use alternative energy sources such as fuel cells, wind turbines, and solar energy converters.
Students can choose one of the following elective focus areas:
- Design
- Energy and environment
- Manufacturing and materials processing
Living-Learning Communities
The College of Engineering encourages new students to live in the Men in Engineering, Women in Science and Engineering (WISE), or Honors House living-learning communities in the residence halls.
Honors
Engineering students are the second largest collegiate group in the University of Iowa Honors Program. Students are encouraged to join the honors program, which provides many benefits, such as a living-learning community in the residence halls, honors courses, scholarship workshops, and free tickets to cultural events. Engineering students can choose to graduate with honors by completing a research project with a faculty member.
Internships
Internships and co-ops are a critical part of an engineer’s education. The college hosts two engineering career fairs each year.
The Engineering Professional Development office helps students with all aspects of a job search: researching job opportunities, developing résumés, practicing interviewing skills, connecting with companies using the online recruiting system, and evaluating job offers.
Careers
Engineering is a well-respected degree that is used as a foundation for a wide variety of careers in industry, medicine, law, and consulting.
Of the top 10 bachelor’s degrees in demand by employers, three are engineering related, according to Job Outlook 2008.
Many Iowa engineering graduates make great salaries. The median starting salary for Iowa’s engineering graduates was about $60,000 a year in 2007.
Scholarships
Apply early for admission and for scholarships. The college offers Engineering Excellence and Engineering Opportunities scholarships, as well as many scholarship opportunities for sophomore, junior, and senior students.
Engineering students receive many University merit scholarships, too, including the Presidential Scholarship, Old Gold Scholarship, Iowa National Scholars Award, and National Merit Awards. Refer to the Office of Student Financial Aid for additional information.
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