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What do MP3 players, E-ZPass highway tolls, 3-D digital mapping, nanotechnology, alternative fuels, video game systems, hybrid cars, super roller coasters, artificial hips, and wireless Internet have in common? Engineers played a key role in conceiving, designing, and turning these brilliant ideas into reality.
A Focus on Undergraduates
Lafayette’s engineering programs are different. For approximately 500 students, we provide an engineering education that features close interaction between students and faculty including many opportunities to conduct research with faculty, do hands-on design projects, or undertake a senior honors thesis. All classes are taught by faculty members, and all students are advised by faculty members; most students have the same faculty adviser for all 4 years.
Lafayette’s 90,000-square-foot engineering complex, known as Acopian Engineering Center, is devoted exclusively to undergraduate students. It includes laboratories designed specifically for collaborative student-faculty research, high-tech classrooms equipped with instructional technology, and student learning centers for group projects.
Ask students about engineering at Lafayette and they talk about the knowledgeable, caring faculty. Ask faculty about the curriculum and they tell you about the superb facilities and unique learning opportunities. Ask alumni about their Lafayette experience and they testify that their education prepared them well for the real world. The first steps toward that success begin at Lafayette.
A Well-Rounded Education
“Lafayette’s exclusively undergraduate population creates tight bonds between professors and students and opens the door for research opportunities. The small size does not prevent students from enjoying Division I sports, a nationally recognized engineering program, and great resources and facilities.”—The Princeton Review, The Best 361 Colleges
Studying engineering at Lafayette gives you an added dimension of excellence—strong programs in the liberal arts to help you understand the social, political, ethical, economic, and environmental consequences of technology.
At Lafayette, you will study the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences in classes with your friends who are majoring in other subjects. Over a third of our engineering students study abroad for a semester. Many more study abroad for an interim, or conduct research or service-learning in other countries. About one-fifth of your courses will be outside of engineering.
In addition to the four ABET-accredited B. S. engineering discipline-specific majors, students may choose to obtain a B.A. in engineering—a distinctive program at Lafayette—or consider the two-degree program in international studies and engineering. Engineering students may also add a minor to their curriculum. Popular minors for engineering majors include biotechnology-bioengineering, architectural studies, and environmental science.
Engineering students participate in a full range of campus activities including the NCAA Division I athletic program, musical groups, theater, artistic endeavors, student clubs, service organizations, and social living groups.
“Demands are increasing for a holistic breed of scientists and engineers – graduates with the skill to work across intellectual, social, and cultural boundaries. This integrative capability is key to successful performance in an increasingly diverse and complex international work environment.” – Education in the 21st Century – Joseph Bordogna, Former Deputy Director, National Science Foundation
Our Graduates
As a graduate, you will become part of an established tradition of success. About one-quarter of seniors go straight to graduate school, and about three-quarters accept full-time employment upon graduation. Lafayette alumni occupy leadership positions in many of the nation’s top technological companies. They are also doctors, lawyers, and college professors. One alumnus, William C. Lowe, led the 150-member team that created the IBM PC in 1986; another alumnus, John W. Olivo, invented the V-chip television program blocking device.
In 2009, 91% of Lafayette’s candidates passed the Fundamentals of Engineering Examination, the first step in obtaining a professional license. That compares to the national rate of 73% to 84% for various engineering disciplines.
The engineering education that you receive from Lafayette will provide you with the intellectual maturity, self-discipline, and inspiration needed to be a life-long learner, to stir your imagination, and to lead you to find ways to make this a better world through engineering innovation.
