Planning a Career in Engineering
In the 21st century our world faces many challenges. How do we preserve and maintain a productive earth for our children and ourselves? How can we produce and conserve energy more efficiently, and provide a cleaner environment? How can we meet the needs of an increasing elderly population? What new technologies and products, and improved present technologies, will enrich our lives? Though the list is endless, the key people who will provide the answers are engineers.
Creative Problem Solvers
Fundamentally engineers are creative problems solvers who develop ways to use the materials and laws of nature to create products and services. They work in industries involving aerospace, biomedical, chemical, textile, electrical, industrial, environmental, nuclear, civil, and mechanical engineering. The engineering job market maintains high entry level salaries for graduating engineers. Just as important, engineering is a creative, challenging and exciting career with the professional reward of doing work that helps make the world a better place.
Career Planning
To become a professional engineer it is necessary to complete pre-engineering curriculum, plus two years of engineering courses at an accredited college of engineering. Georgia College & State University offers an excellent way for students to begin their engineering curriculum, and earn a B.S. Degree in Physics. The required pre-engineering courses are offered in small class sections and are taught by dedicated faculty, helping to insure success in the pre-engineering curriculum. Successful completion of the pre- engineering program allows you to enter engineering programs for their specialized engineering major courses. Georgia College has an agreement with Georgia Institute of Technology’s (Georgia Tech) Dual Degree Program that allows us to confer a B.S. Degree in Physics to students graduating with a B.S. Degree in any area of engineering from Georgia Tech.
Since many of the required pre-engineering courses must be taken in sequence, good planning and constant effort are extremely important. The pre-engineering adviser should be consulted regularly. Most critical in this respect are the calculus sequence and the calculus-based physics courses. If their high school math background permits, freshmen, pre-engineering students are strongly advised to begin with calculus their first semester at Georgia College and to take mathematics every semester during their pre-engineering program.
High School Preparation
Engineers use the laws of nature to create useful products and solve problems. Thus it is crucial that engineers know mathematics, the language of nature, and the sciences of chemistry and physics. In order to complete an engineering curriculum in a timely manner the entering freshman should begin calculus as soon as possible, preferably in the first term. College grades in the calculus sequence are excellent predictors of later success in the engineering curriculum.
Dual Degree Program
Through an agreement between Georgia College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, students may begin their college education in this exciting, challenging, creative, and student-centered environment. The Dual Degree Program comprises three years of study at Georgia College and two years of study at Georgia Tech. The three program requirements can be found at the following location.
DUAL DEGREE
In addition to the Georgia Tech pre-engineering requirements the Georgia College Dual degree requirements offer typical engineering requirements such as Statics and Dynamics. Interwoven throughout this curriculum are exercises that will incorporate MATLAB. Students’ first exposure will be in the first semester class PHYS1012, and continue through the next three years of Physics classes. MATLAB has become a necessary tool for all engineers, and Georgia College’s Dual Degree program ensures that transferring student will have the skills they need to be successful in engineering school.