Top 5 reasons to study Engineering at Lipscomb University

10 Oct 2016

Choosing where to spend four years of your life preparing for a career is a big decision. When you’re considering engineering as a career path, your university choice may be even bigger because of the intensive nature of the course load. Engineering is not a profession that can be mastered from a local coffee shop for the most part. There is a great deal of time collaborating with your team and engaging in hands-on learning through lab and project experiences.

In the middle of the rolling hills of Tennessee, you’ll find Lipscomb University. Located on 65 acres in the heart of Nashville, Lipscomb offers a small-town community feel as well as quick access to everything “Music City” has to offer. As you develop a strong foundation of academic knowledge and professional know-how, you’ll also develop a deeper connection to your faith, your community, and your world. You bring the commitment and curiosity; we’ll prepare you to put them to good use.

So why study engineering at Lipscomb University? There are several important attributes of engineering that set Lipscomb apart from other universities you may be considering. Here are a few:

Strong engineering education

Lipscomb University offers degree programs accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET (the world standard in engineering) in the three most popular engineering fields: mechanical, electrical and computer, and civil engineering. This solid foundation will position you to secure a great engineering position in industry immediately upon graduation or acceptance into one of the top graduate schools in the United States to further specialize.

Quality student-faculty access and interaction

Not only are these three popular engineering degrees accredited, but students are taught by highly qualified professionals possessing both excellent academic knowledge and real-world experience in industry. A strong engineering education comes down to student-faculty interaction where faculty members are personally interested in and invested in students. Lipscomb Engineering encourages small class sizes (typically 24 students or less) to promote that student-faculty interaction.

Additionally, engineering professors at Lipscomb University see teaching as their primary responsibility. Research and publishing, while encouraged, are not the priority. This is important since it improves undergraduate student access to professors and equally important when graduates need references for graduate school or employment. Professors who personally know students, their skills, and their capabilities will produce much stronger and enthusiastic recommendations.

But even off-campus, there’s another great reason to consider studying at Lipscomb –

It’s in Nashville!

Nashville, the “Music City” or the “it” City in the United States, was recently named National Leader in Advanced Industry Growth for 2016 by The Brookings Institution Report. There’s plenty going on in the city to get excited about.

CMA Music Festival is annual four-day celebration which sees hundreds of artists playing live concerts on multiple stages downtown including personal appearances at “meet and greet” events in front of over 88,000 fans daily. Local residents and visitors enjoy plenty of free music throughout downtown Nashville. In 2016, attendees came from all 50 states in the U.S. and from 25 countries.
There is plenty to enjoy including two professional sports teams – Nashville Predators (hockey) and Tennessee Titans (American football), many cultural and artistic venues, and extensive park systems and waterways. Nashville offers something for everyone.
With one of the most diverse economies in the United States, Nashville continues to attract industries in all business sectors. Domestic and international visitors from many diverse backgrounds are moving to Nashville faster than they can be counted. As the Capitol City of the State, Nashville is a friendly southern city with mild climate and lots of engineering companies.

Excellent Placement of Graduates

While a variety of factors affects job placement rates, 92% of graduates of Lipscomb University’s College of Engineering are employed within six months of graduation (the standard university measure). Lipscomb Engineering offers many networking opportunities for students during their undergraduate study which can impact their future including: inviting industry speakers to campus, hosting engineering-specific career fairs, coordinating industry field trips, encouraging attendance at state professional society events, and sponsoring mock employer interview nights for students to enhance their interviewing skills.

Students are encouraged to explore summer internship opportunities as well as participate in international engineering mission trips to add to their experience – a big asset to their employment prospects. Top companies in Nashville and throughout the United States are hiring engineers from Lipscomb. You may have heard of a few: SpaceX, Nissan, Disney, Bridgestone, HDR ICA, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Jacobs Engineering, Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon, Schneider Electric, NASA, Rolls-Royce, Trane, Tennessee Valley Authority, and FedEx Express.

While job placement is the goal of most students immediately after completing their undergraduate degrees, many engineering graduates (typically close to 30%) decide to pursue advanced education to specialize in a particular area within their discipline. The class of 2016 included graduates who were accepted at Vanderbilt University, University of California-Berkeley, Boston University, Florida Institute of Technology, and University of Tennessee-Knoxville. Other alums have chosen to study at UCLA, Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Colorado State University, Purdue University, Texas A&M, and Virginia Polytechnic Institute.

But success isn’t all that Lipscomb offers…

Engineering is doing

Finally, what makes Lipscomb a great place to study engineering is having opportunities to learn by doing. Engineering students are encouraged to take part in national competitions throughout the year, whether designing robotics or designing and racing an SAE Baja car or a concrete canoe. Lipscomb’s new Fields Engineering Center also provides 26,800 sq ft of space for theoretical knowledge to be applied in lab facilities, machine shop, innovation lab, and collaborative student learning space. Additionally, the new facility provides hands-on learning through utilization of operational performance data for the building itself such as energy efficiency.

Additionally, an important component of the Lipscomb Engineering educational experience comes through international hands-on learning experiences that reach out to developing communities to meet their needs. The Peugeot Center for Engineering Service in Developing Communities, a part of Lipscomb’s College of Engineering, identifies needs and organizes trips for students to gain real world experience as well as broadening their cultural perspectives.

Students have the opportunity to utilize engineering skills to make a difference in places like Guatemala, Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and undertake projects from building water towers to constructing bridges to installing solar power systems and others. In each case, students use their skills, as well as their willingness to give back to those in need in order to touch and ultimately improve the lives of families thousands of miles from Nashville and Lipscomb life.

So, back to the question – why Lipscomb Engineering?

Because quality instruction and collaboration, abundant hands-on learning opportunities, and connections to employers are important to your engineering success. Being in an amazing city is just a bonus. What more could you want?!

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