TCNJ School of Engineering

The School of Engineering is one of seven schools at The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College), consisting of roughly 340 students centered in Armstrong Hall. It offers several undergraduate programs in various engineering disciplines including the traditional mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering fields, but also extending to newer fields such as computer and biomedical engineering.

The current dean of the program is Dr. Steven Schreiner, who received the post in 2008.

The mechanical engineering department is chaired by Professor Bijan Sepahpour. The electrical and computer engineering departments are chaired by Dr. Alexander Czeto. Within the department of engineering science, the civil engineering specialization is coordinated by Dr. Nabil Al-Omaishi, and the biomedical engineering specialization is coordinated by Dr. Martha H. Stella.

Programs and Academics

TCNJ's School of Engineering offers the following programs and degrees.
*Department of Engineering
**Bachelor's of science (BS) in mechanical engineering
**Bachelor's of science (BS) in electrical engineering
**Bachelor's of science (BS) in computer engineering
**Bachelor's of science (BS) in civil engineering
*Department of Engineering Science
**Bachelor's of science (BS) in engineering science, biomedical engineering specialization, with a mechanical or electrical engineering preference
**Bachelor's of arts (BA) in biomedical engineering, with a mechanical or electrical engineering preference
**Bachelor's of science (BS) in engineering science, engineering management specialization, with a mechanical or electrical engineering preference
*Department of Technological Studies
**Bachelor's of arts (BA) in technology education
**Bachelor's of arts (BA) in math, science, and technology, with a specialization in early childhood, elementary, or deaf and hard of hearing education

Engineering versus Engineering Science Programs

The difference between the engineering and engineering science programs is mainly one of course load - engineering science programs require slightly fewer in-department courses for graduation. Students from both departments enroll in courses together and collaborate on projects. Engineering science programs are technically headed by a different department than the engineering programs, but the School of Engineering at The College of New Jersey is close-knit enough that very few differences are observed.

Biomedical Engineering

The biomedical engineering program at The College of New Jersey is relatively young, having its first graduating class in 2007. Students enrolling in the program have two main decisions - whether to pursue a BS or BA degree, and whether to express a preference in electrical or mechanical engineering. The BS/BA distinction is important - students pursuing a BA have fewer courses to take than those pursuing a BS, and need not perform a senior project. Most students in the BA track are interested in entering medical school or graduate school, and feel that in the long run the exact nature of their undergraduate degree will not be crucial.

Biomedical engineering students take a substantial number of courses in the biology department, and thus graduate with roughly the same number of credits as the traditional engineering programs, despite being in the engineering science department.

tudents

Like most of the nation's engineering schools, the School of Engineering at TCNJ is predominantly male, but at approximately 25% female has nonetheless one of the highest percentages of women in the nation. As if to encourage this trend, Armstrong Hall contains a single men's bathroom and two women's bathrooms - a situation that gives rise to many jokes about the mathematical abilities of TCNJ engineers. In addition to the 25% figure, 12% of TCNJ engineers are minorities.

Student-run organizations within the School of Engineering include the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Biomedical Engineering Society, the National Society of Black Engineers, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and the Society of Women Engineers, among others.

Courses and facilities

Like many engineering schools, the courseload can be very heavy, with most students requiring exemptions from college credit limits to fulfill a four-year graduation plan. The traditional mechanical and electrical engineering departments focus almost entirely on courses within the engineering department - typically only the minimum number of non-engineering courses required for graduation can be taken without deviating from a four-year plan. Other programs, such as the computer and biomedical engineering and engineering management fields include courses from other departments (computer science, biology, and business, respectively).

Armstrong Hall contains two general purpose computer labs, two electrical/computer engineering labs with radio-frequency, optics, imaging, control systems, and other specialized sub-rooms, a robotics lab, a woodshop, two machine shops, a thermofluids lab, a materials (and separate biomaterials) lab, a windtunnel, and number of other facilities.

enior Capstone Project

All graduating seniors in programs intended to procure a BS degree are required to do a senior capstone project. Projects can be performed in a group or individually. The project is divided into two courses, "Senior project I" and "Senior project II", and includes a formal presentation at the end of each course. Many graduating students consider the senior capstone project to be the most intensive coursework in the engineering department at TCNJ - stories of students being evicted from the engineering building at odds hours of the night and early morning by campus police while working on their senior projects are popular.

The nature of the senior project is left to the discretion of the student, although each project must have an advisor to help guide the students in their research. A passing grade in the senior project is required for graduation.

Many students choose to work on projects that may be entered in national or international competitions, most of which occur before the end of the school year. Some popular examples of these are listed below.
*Baja SAE
*Solar Splash
*SAE Aero Design
*NASA Great Moonbuggy Race
*IEEE High Efficiency Power Amplifier Design Competition
*New Jersey Autonomous Vehicle (NJAV) for Competition in the IGVC
*Micromouse

Many senior projects are multi-disciplinary, requiring one or more students from both the mechanical and electrical/computer engineering departments. Projects are displayed for the community during "Student Achievement Day" at the end of the spring semester of each year.

Post-graduation

TCNJ Engineering students who pursue post-graduation employment enjoy a near 100% placement rate within 6 months of graduation. Many students choose to remain within New Jersey, where major employers of TCNJ graduates include Boeing, Johnson & Johnson, Lockheed Martin, Merck, PSE&G, York International, and the U.S. Army CECOM (Communications and Electronics Command). Many students choose to pursue a graduate degree as well, with Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, Drexel University, and others being popular.

External links

* [http://www.tcnj.edu/~engsci/ TCNJ School of Engineering ]
* [http://www.tcnj.edu/~minibaja/ TCNJ Racing]
* [http://www.tcnj.edu/~rcplane/ TCNJ Aero Design]
* [http://www.tcnj.edu/~njav/ TCNJ NJAV Project]