February 05, 2001

Project-Based Learning Focus Of WKU Engineering Program

Bowling Green, Ky. - As Western Kentucky University enters joint programs to offer bachelor's degrees in engineering, the focus on hands-on experience for students won't change.

"Project-based learning is the heart and soul of what we do," said Dr. John Russell, head of Western's Engineering Department.

Beginning this fall Western will work with the University of Kentucky to offer joint degrees in civil and mechanical engineering and with the University of Louisville to offer a joint degree in electrical engineering. The Council on Postsecondary Education approved the degrees Monday.

The WKU Department of Engineering's mission is to produce graduates who are competent engineering practitioners with a foundation of basic science, math and engineering knowledge combined with practical experience.

"This engineering program is different from most other engineering programs," said Matthew Dettman, associate professor of civil engineering. "We're undergraduate only and focus on teaching the practice of engineering."

The department emphasizes "practice what you preach," Dettman said.

"Our approach is to have practicing engineers teaching students the art and science of engineering," he said.

That approach and the changes in the engineering program have extensive support from business and industry leaders in Bowling Green and southcentral Kentucky.

"Logan Aluminum is very much in support of bringing a full-fledged engineering program to Western," said Mike Harris, president and CEO of the company that employs more than 900.

The program will benefit area employees, businesses and communities by providing accessible engineering education, expanding the talent pool of engineers and supporting economic development, Harris said.

"Western has a vital role to play in the future economic development of our region," Bud Layne, president of Span Tech Corp. in Glasgow, said in a letter supporting the proposal for program. "Our most essential capital for our future is the young people we are responsible for. It is our duty to see to it that their preparation and development is all it can be."

The Strategy for Statewide Engineering in Kentucky, approved last year by CPE, addressed two primary areas: the need for more baccalaureate engineers and the need for greater access to engineering education programs.

By expanding the engineering degrees to Western and other comprehensive universities and lifting restrictions on professional certification, Kentucky will reduce its shortage of engineering practitioners, will keep engineering students in the state and will improve its economic development opportunities.

"The Statewide Strategy for Engineering formally acknowledges that if this state is going to develop economically, it must have engineering programs accessible to more people," Dr. Russell said.

With 30 years of experience in engineering technology programs, Western has accumulated the experience and resources to support the modification to a baccalaureate engineering degree, Dr. Russell said.

"We are very proud of our engineering technology students and graduates over the past 30 years," he said. "They have given us the credibility to do this."

In recent years, for example, Western students have excelled in regional and national engineering competitions.

Last year, civil engineering students won a regional steel bridge construction contest and finished 38th in the national competition sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Western students finished 10th in the 2000 National Concrete Canoe Competition, their highest finish ever, after winning a fifth straight regional title.

Western mechanical engineering students won a second straight national title in a robotics contest to design a Mars land rover, sponsored by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Electrical engineering students also compete annually in robotics contests sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

"These competitions are the kinds of things that become important engineering projects as students prepare for the workforce," Dr. Russell said.

Project-based learning, which is an integral part of Western's program of distinction in Applied Research and Technology Program, isn't limited to competitions.

Western students in civil, electrical and mechanical engineering are involved in numerous projects for area industries.

Through the Scott Center for Construction and Engineering, students have provided quality control engineering for the Warren County Justice Center, the Great Escape theater complex, Western's central chilled water plant and Western's residence hall renovation project.

On most of the work, Dettman serves as a project engineer while students complete the actual construction inspections and quality tests. For example, in a project with Alliance Corp., "the Warren County Justice Center was a three-year living laboratory for students at Western," he said.

In the classroom and in community projects, "students can see their professors as practicing engineers and students are involved in the practice of engineering," Dettman said.

Stacy Wilson, assistant professor of electrical engineering, agreed that the project-based emphasis benefits the students and the community.

"Students earning a degree will be a great asset to local industry," she said. "We have chosen our senior level areas of emphasis to correspond with the activities in the industries in southcentral Kentucky. Our students will be very prepared to contribute to the growth of companies in this area."

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