Two-year Engineering Program

Career Preparation

Here are seven reasons a student should consider studying pre-engineering:

• Engineering is a profession that encourages and rewards creativity.
• An engineering career provides opportunities for making worthwhile contributions to society by meeting many of the pressing needs of mankind (energy, pollution control, food supplies, transportation, etc.)
• An engineering education provides a marketable skill leading to job flexibility and security.
• The starting salary for new graduates is excellent.
• Chances for advancement in the profession are excellent.
• A wide variety of kinds of work within the profession are available (design, production, testing, research, marketing, and administration).
• For the student undecided about future career preferences, undergraduate engineering provides an excellent "springboard" for entrance into other professions (medicine, business, law, government, education, military).

A student in this field must have an inquiring mind, an active imagination, and an understanding of mathematics as it is applied to nature.

Academic Program

To prepare for a career in engineering, the high school curriculum should include algebra I and II, geometry, trigonometry, chemistry and physics. Physics is not an absolute prerequisite but progress toward completion of the program may be delayed without it.

A Pre-Engineering major at Missouri State has two options:

• Pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Physics (all 4 years at Missouri State) with a specialization in computers or electronics. An adviser may assist in designing a specialization in preparation for a particular industrial job, a graduate degree in engineering physics, or a health-related discipline.
• Choose the transfer option by spending two years at Missouri State, then transferring for the remaining two years to any university having an accredited engineering program.

The beginning course requirements are so similar for both options that through careful selection with a pre-engineering advisor a student may pursue either path. This will require appropriate choices in general education courses, as well as in mathematics and the sciences. If correct choices are made, all Missouri State hours should transfer to any university with an Engineering program. Different Engineering specialties have some variance in basic requirements, so the student must work with a pre-engineering advisor.

Courses

The first two years of the Pre-Engineering program provide the student with fundamental courses in physics, chemistry, and mathematics which form the basis for learning at the advanced level of the final two years. At the end of the first two years the student will decide whether to remain at Missouri State or transfer to another university having an engineering program.

Students choosing to remain at Missouri State for the final two years who elect to major in Engineering Physics will take additional coursework in physics, mathematics, and computer science. Courses in electric and magnetic field theory, advanced mechanics, quantum mechanics, solid state physics, digital signal processing, statistical mechanics, optics, and radiation physics are available. Topics such as digital electronics, solid state physics, and the interfacing of computers with other devices are available, as well as assembler programming and numerical analysis techniques.

Faculty

Servicing the two engineering options, the Departments of Mathematics and Physics have experienced professionals with research interests in both theoretical and applied physics and mathematics. Faculty actively conducts scholarly research; participate in professional organizations and sponsor students projects and activities. Pre-Engineering and Engineering Physics classes are small, having less that 30 students, and are taught by caring faculty.

Facilities

Upon entering Missouri State, a student has easy access to the use of Missouri State computers and Internet. There are several computer laboratories to enhance learning in classes, and computer terminals are available across campus and in the residence halls.

Specialized equipment includes multi-channel analyzers, coincidence counters, vacuum systems and low pressure accessories, storage oscilloscopes, laser and optical components. Other general purpose laboratory equipment is readily available.

In addition to the general purpose equipment listed above, students also have access to three outstanding experimental facilities. The first is a one-million-plus-dollar ion implantation laboratory where solid state surface modifications are studied. The second is the Baker Observatory. This facility is the best-equipped astronomical observatory in the state, based on its location and construction, the availability of a 16-in research-grade reflector telescope, it uses a very sophisticated CCD detection system. The third is a two million dollar molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) laboratory where thin films of materials are grown, one molecular layer at a time.

Special Opportunities and Services

Computer Services available to the faculty and students of this department, as well as the other science departments on campus, include a well-equipped machine shop and full-time machinist, as well as electronics repair facilities with a full-time technician. The Physics, Mathematics, and Computer Science Departments sponsor a variety of pre-professional student organizations, including chapters of the national Society of Physics Students (SPS), the national physics honor society (Sigma Pi Sigma), the national mathematics society (Kappa Mu Epsilon), a student chapter of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). These groups organize and participate in a number of departmental activities that include University Day, physics and mathematics competitions for high school students, tutorial assistance, seminars by guest speakers, and tours of engineering or scientific interest. Students often find part-time employment in the department and may participate in the University's Cooperative Education program through our university or the transfer university.