CAAS houses new engineering program

USU launched a new hands-on engineering technology program for students in Fall 2024. This degree is a part of the College of Agriculture and Applied Science College.

“This program is a very practical hands-on type of program for teaching engineering technologists, who apply engineering concepts in a practical approach to solving technical problems,” Andrew Deceuster, Associate Department Head and Professional Practice Professor, wrote in an email, “This practical approach means that students will find themselves having labs associated with most of their classes that will take them into labs such as machining, welding, composites, electronics, automation, 3-D printing, CAD, and materials.”

This degree is unique in the fact that students will often be working with their hands. This practical approach is good for students who prefer a tactical learning style and enjoy the process of creation.

“Students will work on a variety of projects depending on the class,” wrote Deceuster, “They will be building electronic circuits, machining aluminum match stick holders, designing sheet metal parts in CAD, 3-D Printing fixtures to CNC machine custom logos, laying up composites, programming 6 axis robot arms, and they will have a yearlong capstone project where they will design, build, and documents a product or solution to a problem with a company.”

According to the USU engineering technology webpage, this degree will be offered at 13 different statewide campuses along with the Logan campus. This means that students from all over Utah can participate in this proactive program.

Engineering technology is not entirely new to USU, however. This program was simply reintroduced in 2024 due to high industry demand.

“Engineering technology was originally a part of USU but was cut back in 2003, so it is not a new idea but the push from industry has brought it back,” wrote Deceuster.

According to the USU engineering technology site, career prospects for this degree include configuration technologist, controls engineer technologist, customer engineering technologist, product technologist, etc.

This website estimates a yearly salary of $68,861 with a 3.8% projected employment growth for the years 2024-2028.

“This is the first semester that the program has been live so we are still evaluating everything, but it is going well so far, and have had lots of students change their major over to this program,” Deceuster wrote.“I have students who love the hands-on in the labs and it was what they thought Engineering was but have found a better fit with Engineering Technology.” 

 This program has just begun but is expected to see growth in the future. 

 “In respect to programs that we’ve seen launched in the past, I definitely believe it will grow,” said Dantzel Miner, CAAS senator. “I think these applicable career-securing programs are going to grow far above these ADBS programs that are awesome, but these have a real-world demand.” 

 The degree has many prospects that will likely be seen in upcoming years. Although new, USU has lots in store for the engineering technology program. 

 “The program will continue to grow, and we have been working with our industry partners to secure internship opportunities for students, scholarships, and potential senior capstone projects,” Deceuster wrote. “We will be offering several certificates that can be earned as concentrations in the program and should have them approved for next year.  A few of those are Advanced and Additive Manufacturing Processes, Quality and Reliability, Product Development, and Manufacturing and Design Technology.  We hope to keep expanding these in the future as we are able to expand.”