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This innovative new program offers students in the College of Business & Economics,  or the College of Arts & Sciences,  the opportunity to earn a minor in engineering.   The overall goal of the new program is to provide insight into what engineers do, how they think, and an understanding of the tools and techniques they use. Participants in the engineering minor program will not become engineers, but they will dramatically increase their ability to integrate their skills and communicate effectively with engineering professionals.

Some may use this ability in creating innovative new product concepts, while others will find the insights important in crafting marketing campaigns, financial strategies, or in managing or being managed by engineers. The goal for the new engineering minor program is to increase the serendipity factor that occurs when professionals who understand each other communicate and collaborate on opportunities for wealth creation in innovative ways.

The new engineering minor program minor will be offered for the first time in the fall of 2004. All students who participate in the minor take two required courses, and choose three electives so that the participants may tailor their learning experience in the minor to their specific career goals.

Please note: the Minor in Engineering program is not available to students enrolled as majors in the College of Engineering & Applied Science. 



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Recommended Framework For Minor In Engineering

Prerequisites: Minimum of Math 51 and Physics 5 or 10

All students would be required to take the two courses listed below and choose three courses from those that follow with a minimum of one course from each of the two groupings.  We have recommended a series of Engineer Minor Courses as listed below and will for convenience use the abbreviation EMC.

Required courses of all Students

EMC1: Macro and micro view of engineering: A course designed to be exciting and stimulate a student’s further interest in the engineering minor. This course would     include an introduction to and hands on experience with engineering problem solving, modeling, simulation, and analysis tools. It would also include some aspects of the STS 12 course “engineering and society” to provide the participants with an understanding of the macro view of what engineering is and what engineers do.  The class would be exposed to practicing engineers, and make one or two visits to local companies

EMC2: Engineering Practicum:  An introduction to the techniques and processes used in the creation of engineered products.  An exposure to engineering tasks and processes will be done as a hands-on laboratory, including mechanical and electronic manufacturing and fabrication techniques. The process of product design and function will be examined through the disassembly and reassembly of common engineered products to assess how they work and are manufactured. The course will culminate in a hands-on reverse engineering project, which will require the proposal/implementation of design improvements to an engineered product.

Electives:
Participants must take three electives with a minimum of one from each of (A) and (B)

(A) Engineering fundamentals
* EMC3: Computer Engineering
* EMC4: Engineering Structures and Motion
* EMC5 Energy Engineering
* EMC6 Engineering Materials and Electronics
* EMC 7: Systems Engineering

(B) Integrated engineering
* EMC8: Information and Knowledge engineering
* EMC9: Enterprise engineering
* EMC10: Computer aided engineering and control systems
* EMC11: Network & Communication Engineering
* EMC12: Software Engineering & Collaborative Environments

(A) Engineering fundamentals

EMC3: Computer Engineering:  Computer engineering is the discipline essential to the design and construction of modern automobiles, high performance aircraft, intelligent buildings and bridges, cell phones, HDTV's, computer and microchip controlled machine and power tools, etc.  This course will provide the bases for understanding the range of technologies involved and will discus the principles which underlie the design and development of structures and devices which integrate traditional engineering disciplines with today's sensor, communication, and computer technologies.

EMC4: Engineering Structures and Motion: This course will put particular emphasis on the practical limits imposed on stationary or moving structures, and why exceeding these limits can lead to failure.  Students will explore the basic principles governing both stationary structures, such as buildings and bridges, and things that move, such as cars and satellites, and learn how these principles apply in engineering practice.   How a stationary structure effectively supports both its own weight and the weight of its users, and why a structure will undergo deflections and deformations during use will be examined. Additionally, how forces and energy are associated with a moving structure, and how these affect the motion of the structure, will be assessed. 

EMC5 Energy Engineering: The amount of energy used by a modern society is quite staggering, and a clear understanding of energy processes and constraints is essential knowledge for every citizen. This course will delve into the basics of energy, its measurement, principles governing its use and conversion, methods of production, and the associated consequences on the environment.  Concepts related to fossil, as well as nuclear and renewable, energy sources will be considered. The basic concepts governing energy utilization will be developed in a simple form, and employed to examine the use of energy in large and small engineering systems and products, from power plants to air conditioners.

EMC6: Engineering Materials and Electronics:   "Materials" are the "stuff" from which we build TV's, cell phones, cars, skyscrapers, and other necessities of modern life.  Materials affect design, performance, costs and environmental impacts.  Students will use case studies, demonstrations, and hands-on experiments to see how electronics, communications and structures depend on advances in materials engineering: understanding of materials behavior, modeling and simulation of materials properties and performance, methods and databases for materials selection, and engineering processes to control material composition and structure.

EMC 7: Systems Engineering:  This is an application-oriented course that emphasizes the systems approach to problem solving in fields such as environmental planning, large-scale infrastructure systems, manufacturing, telecommunication, and delivery of services. Students will develop an understanding of systems analysis concepts and their relation to the determination of preferred plans and designs of complex, frequently large-scale engineering systems. This course will show students how to incorporate performance and cost into project engineering decisions that achieve a balance of resource investments across the major stages of life of an engineering system.  Particular emphasis will be given to the development of functional requirements and satisfactory designs. 

(B) Integrated engineering

EMC 8 Information and Knowledge Engineering: This course explores how computers manage information for making decisions automatically, and or advising decision makers.  Characterization of database systems, of web technologies, of multimedia, and of the relationships among them.  Various representations of knowledge and the use of artificial techniques, including rule-based systems, for manipulating these representations.  Example systems, such as automatic help-desk systems and computer generation of project plans.

EMC9: Enterprise engineering: This is an application-oriented course that provides an understanding of the key elements of modeling and engineering the corporation. This course provides an overview of the concepts and techniques involved in enterprise engineering. Emphasis will be placed on decision analysis, application of quantitative methods to facilities planning, engineering economy, production planning and control, forecasting, material requirements planning, and agile business practices.

EMC10: Computer aided engineering and control systems: Learn about the use of computer-based technologies to design and manufacture products. Techniques and technologies used in the design cycle to create product concepts, analyze various aspects of product design. Develop specifications including data used to control manufacturing processes. Understand how control systems are used in creating agile manufacturing environments including discrete and analog signals, analog to digital conversion, and application case studies. Includes hands-on application(s) and sample exercises from real world examples. 

EMC11: Network & Communication Engineering: A course designed to introduce students to basic components and methodologies that comprise a modern communication network.  This course will discuss important network and communication technologies, architectures, protocols, design considerations, and implementations.  Students will learn about the design and performance of various types of voice and data networks on both the wired and wireless communication media.  Additionally, the course will discuss the broader impact of communication systems on society and familiarize students with trends in communication networks, e.g., emerging standards and architectures. 

EMC12: Software Engineering & Collaborative Environments: A course designed to introduce students to software engineering, with its distinct and integrated approach to development, testing, and ongoing (24-7) modification. Discover why building large software systems is very different from using large databases, or designing products such as automobiles with CAD, etc. Experience these concepts in the design and implementation of a large team project involving complex data management in a collaborative environment. Learn why and how collaborative environments are becoming essential to modern engineering projects and require the tools and techniques of software engineering to succeed.