Engineering program named top in Tennessee, No. 6 in nation among Christian universities
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
The Lipscomb University Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering has been named the best in Tennessee and No. 6 best in the nation by Christian Universities Online.
Lipscomb University was the only institution in Tennessee included on the list of the nation’s top ten engineering degree programs at Christian colleges and universities. Lipscomb was ranked along with Calvin College, Wheaton College, Taylor University and California Baptist University among others.
“This kind of recognition is a validation of the way the engineering program at Lipscomb is growing, is developing skilled engineers who are learning to use their talents to serve others and is placing our graduates in some of the best engineering jobs in the country,” said Justin Myrick, dean of the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering.
“At its very core, an engineer is in the business of making people’s lives better. By understanding need. Solving problems. Offering better solutions or new solutions. Protecting safety, wellbeing, and more,” he said. “This intimate relationship between the profession and people is why we believe Lipscomb offers an unusual, and unusually advantageous, engineering education – students here not only get a superior background in the academics of engineering, but they are taught in a faith-based environment where sensitivity to people and their needs is paramount.”
Lipscomb University’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering provides students the opportunity to prepare for an engineering career in an educational environment that also encourages Christian character. The college offers ABET-accredited undergraduate degrees in civil engineering, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical engineering.
According to Christian Universities Online, “traditional best schools” are no longer best options.
“While the traditional technical schools maintain strong programs, the discipline of Engineering has changed and expanded greatly over the past 25-30 years,” according to a Christian Universities Online release. “This has allowed for other schools to enter the field and produce excellent programs. While structural, mechanical and civil engineering disciplines haven’t changed much over time, other areas have been impacted by improvements in support categories, like materials and applications, which has changed how the field looks today.”
In January the college opened its new 26,800-square-foot Fields Engineering Center. The building houses collaborative learning spaces, flexible teaching areas and labs among other features. The building is also a learning tool in itself with its exposed and color coded MPE ducting, piping and conduit in lab and learning spaces; central monitoring of mechanical systems and rooftop access for solar experimentation.
In 2015, the National Science Foundation awarded Lipscomb University a $611,517 grant to encourage the study of engineering. These funds provided Nashville-area community college students with Lipscomb scholarships thus creating a pathway from community college to a four-year engineering degree.
The NSF S-STEM grant was awarded to the university based on a proposal submitted by the Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering. The funds, to be disbursed over five years, are funding enrichment programs and engineering scholarships in collaboration with Nashville State Community College, Columbia State Community College and Volunteer State Community College. Lipscomb’s proposal was designed in collaboration with the Tennessee Promise, a scholarship providing two years of tuition-free attendance at a community or technical college in Tennessee. The funds from the NSF grant will be used for scholarships to encourage students at these community colleges to pursue a four-year degree in engineering at Lipscomb University following their completion of a two-year degree at a partnering community college.
A major focus of Lipscomb’s engineering program is challenging its students and alumni to use their engineering education to help others and for the betterment of society. Since 2004, the engineering college has sponsored 25 volunteer mission teams providing 200 spots for students to carry out ministry support, disaster relief and community development in Honduras, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. As an example, in summer 2015, engineering faculty and students completed a 104-foot-long pedestrian bridge in San Esteban, Honduras, to connect two schools separated by a very busy highway that elementary and middle school students must cross daily. Lipscomb students first constructed the bridge on the Lipscomb campus in Nashville.
For more information about Lipscomb University’s Raymond B. Jones College of Engineering, visit engineering.lipscomb.edu or email Laurie Winton at laurie.winton [at] lipscomb.edu.