Transform ideas into innovations with Dartmouth College

16 Mar 2018

The Dartmouth Difference

Located in the heart of New England, Dartmouth College’s 269-acre campus is bursting with community spirit and surrounded by serene nature spots. Dartmouth’s distinguished Thayer School of Engineering is just a short walk from the Connecticut River and surrounding rural environments. In just a matter of minutes, you can take a study break from the project lab and stroll through the institution’s lush green landscapes.

But what makes Dartmouth’s engineering school truly unique is that you won’t find separate departments or academic silos here. Joining a welcoming and highly collaborative community of engineers, you’ll be free to work with faculty and students across Dartmouth’s engineering spectrum and the entire university. You’ll benefit from the fresh ideas and creative environment of Thayer’s collaborative culture.

Thayer School’s faculty are dedicated to making a real-world difference and helping you have a life-improving impact. One in three engineering professors have translated their research findings into start-up companies and are eager to share their academic and entrepreneurial expertise with every interested student.

To support the ‘Dartmouth Difference’, the engineering school encourages learners to step foot outside the classroom, putting skills and knowledge to real-world use through Engineering in Action. In the Dartmouth Humanitarian Engineering group, for example, students have built and designed micro-hydropower and clean water systems in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Dartmouth also promotes a Women in Science Project (WISP) that helps undergraduate females thrive in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Postgraduate students can help mentor WISP students to encourage more women into engineering.

PhD Innovation Program

To reach the next level of innovation, the Thayer School PhD Innovation Program is the first in the US to give doctoral students the training they need to transform research discoveries into entrepreneurial ideas.

Directed by the serial entrepreneur and Queen Elizabeth Prize Laureate, Professor Eric Fossum, the program is led by one of the world’s leading experts in solid-state image sensors. As the Professor explains, “The purpose of the PhD Innovation program is not only to train world-class engineering students, but also to give those PhD students the skills and the training necessary for them to create a viable enterprise. In my opinion, you still need to have a basic understanding of the principles and the methods of business. That’s why I wish I had this Dartmouth PhD program in place when I first started out!”

Here, you’ll complete core PhD as well as specialized entrepreneurial requirements. Your first two years as a graduate research assistant will be supported by your research advisor. If your performance is satisfactory and you wish to venture further into the world of innovation, you’ll receive up to three years of unrestricted program funding to allow you to build your own enterprise.

This innovation program also includes a specialized Surgical Innovation Training track. Directed by a first-class expert in medical imaging technologies, Professor Keith Paulsen, it offers unparalleled access to a state-of-the-art operating room suite and imaging facilities at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center so you can collaborate with clinicians to develop next-generation medical devices and technologies tailored to medical needs.

Career prospects after Dartmouth

From undergraduate courses through to postgraduate offerings, the Thayer School of Engineering guides students from the very start of their professional journey, helping them build the foundations of academic and entrepreneurial success.

As PhD Innovation Program student, Michael Balch explains, “The main reason that I came to Thayer was for business. There are so many new start-ups that have come out of this school and I really wanted to get involved with that. The engineering school has a lot of connections within the industry which means I gain exclusive access to those contacts too. The PhD innovation program has really helped to shape my own project and I’m really happy I went with Thayer!”

After your engineering studies at Dartmouth, the whole world awaits. With opportunities to become a business leader, a company founder, a research scientist and more, it’s clear that with a Dartmouth engineering degree, your career options know no bounds.

As a Dartmouth engineer, you’ll end gain an extensive array of skills to publish on your professional portfolio. From day one, the school helps you take charge of your own educational goals, and employers are going to be impressed by your determination and drive to innovate. It’s time to make those ideas a reality and steer them towards the future in line with Dartmouth’s entrepreneurial ethos.

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