The Department of Engineering now has an official school of its own, making it the ninth school at Quinnipiac university. This recent addition was implemented by the university administration in consultation with faculty and deans during the summer on July 1.
The School of Engineering was in the process of being developed for several years, according to the Dean of the School of Engineering Justin Kile.
“[The programs] originally were housed in the School of Business and Engineering to give them time to grow and develop before becoming a standalone school,” Kile said. “Over the last few years, our labs and other faculties have been built and are located in Tator Hall and the Center for Communications and Engineering.”
The school has already received positive reactions among students such as freshman physical therapy major, Madison Root.
“With the new classrooms, there’s more space and the new engineering school will open up more students to the university as well,” she said.
Sophomore mechanical engineering major Robert Kmetz appreciates how the university expanded the curriculum in order to invite more students.
“It’s nice to know that we are now a big enough portion of the student body to be called our own school,” he said. “The opening of the new school will almost certainly open up new opportunities such as more classes that cater to our specific branches of engineering.”
Kile states that the institute has 18 faculty members and will incorporate five degree-granting programs. These include civil, industrial, mechanical and software engineering, as well as computer science. Currently, there is a total of 307 students attending this school, and there are 21 lab and classroom spaces.
In addition to the core curriculum, the School of Engineering will also have six active student groups including QUESO (Quinnipiac University Engineering Student Organization), the American Society of Civil Engineers, Computing Club, the Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers, Mechanical Engineering Club and SLATE (Service Learning Applications for Technology and Engineering). A seventh group, a chapter of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), is currently in the process of being established on campus.
Sophomore mechanical engineering major Mirana Jaundoo commends the university for strengthening the department into a separate school for prospective engineering students.
“I was talking to one of the professors around May, and he was saying that the engineering program in itself is only 4 years old,” Jaundoo said. “So you see that it’s very young and it’s like a start-up program, but now it’s grown so much to the point where it’s got its own school.”
Jaundoo also thinks that this school will encourage students to pursue the field now with a more extensive space with work with.
“I think it will open up a lot of students now that we have that there, people could put that into consideration, for people like double majors or people who are thinking of adding in a minor, you can’t go wrong with engineering,” she said.
Kile said that the university is excited for the new school to be a part of Quinnipiac’s academic history and help enrich students’ learning experience.
“The faculty and staff of the new School of Engineering are very excited to be part of the vibrant Quinnipiac community and appreciate all of the support from the students, faculty, staff and administration,” Kile said.
