Campus Feature
Engineering Success at SHU
New Academic Program Features a Unique Partnership Between Siena Heights and North Dakota
By Doug Goodnough
One program . Two degrees . Five years . That ’ s the concept behind the new engineering program unveiled last fall at Siena Heights University .
Through a partnership with the University of North Dakota , Siena Heights students have the opportunity to earn both a Bachelor of Engineering Science degree from UND and a bachelor ’ s degree of the student ’ s choice from SHU .
“ The big thing is they are going to graduate with two degrees , one from North Dakota , and one from Siena ,” said SHU ’ s new Director of Engineering Ryan Hamilton ( left ). “ Most engineers get extra responsibilities . If you ’ re an engineer and you want to start your own company , take some business . If you want to build computer hardware , you need to know how the software is going to interact with it . So doing a computer information systems degree with it gives you that flexibility . Even education goes well with it , because there ’ s a lot of presenting in engineering . It ’ s really super-flexible , and the student can really do whatever they want with it .”
Hamilton , who arrived at SHU in July after teaching for the past three years in the engineering department at Wright State ( Ohio ) University , said SHU offers engineering degrees in chemical , civil , electrical and mechanical through North Dakota . While residing on the Adrian campus full-time , students will take engineering courses online from UND while completing their bachelor ’ s degree at Siena . Students will also travel to North Dakota two separate times during the summer months to complete lab work .
“ Engineering just by itself is interdisciplinary , so you ’ re going to need to know more than just engineering to be competitive on the job ,” Hamilton said .
Hamilton said building a new program “ from scratch ” was the main draw of why came to Siena Heights .
“ You ’ re getting the individual attention , and particularly in the beginning , the students are going to have a great deal of input on how the program evolves ,” said Hamilton , who has a PhD in engineering and a master ’ s degree in physics .
“ You get the benefits of the large research universities , but you get the personal attention of Siena .”
Hamilton said he wants to build a “ hands-on ” program at Siena Heights .
“ We will get in the lab from day one and build stuff ,” said Hamilton , who is also teaching physics classes at SHU . “ I want to focus on the engineering design . Most engineering programs are hard-core tech . But technology changes . If you focus on the design and the thought process of it , that last forever .”
He is already working on internship partnerships with several local businesses .
“ They are excited about the possibility of getting student internships with Siena ,” Hamilton said .
He also hopes to work the Lenawee Intermediate School District in setting up partnerships with the local schools to help them implement engineering programs . SHU also hosted a regional robotics competition in April .
North Dakota , which was the first college or university to offer an online engineering degree , is considered a Carnegie 1 designated university , meaning it has high research output . UND is also the only Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology ( ABET ) accredited online program in mechanical and chemical engineering , Hamilton said .
“ Students will be using all the equipment that , as a small school , we wouldn ’ t be able to really afford ,” Hamilton said of the UND partnership . “ And they get to go there and use the lab equipment .”
Currently SHU has approximately 30 students enrolled in the program .
“ A lot of people want to be at a smaller school ,” Hamilton said . u
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