Paths to Engineering

You’re good at science? You’re good at math? Then someone’s probably told you you’d be good at engineering. Creative, challenging, exciting—that’s engineering. Maybe you’re sure that engineering’s for you. Maybe you’re not. Either way, we’re here to tell you that there are more options than engineering school. And all of them can be found at Drew.

What Do Engineers Do, Anyway?

Let’s answer that question first. Think of it this way: If you’ve driven it, played it, downloaded it, purchased it, or operated it, then someone’s engineered it. Engineers are the link between scientific research and commercial application, transforming the things scientists discover into the things people use. Engineers turn problems into solutions and ideas into products. Engineers figure out better, faster, cheaper ways to do things. Engineers keep society progressing and technology advancing.

With more than 25 recognized specialties within the field, engineering offers a niche for almost anyone with a scientific bent. Maybe you see yourself as an:

Electrical engineer, designing ever-more powerful communications devices
Aeronautical engineer, developing the next generation of spacecraft
Biomedical engineer, bringing new hope to the sick and injured
Chemical engineer, discovering new energy sources and cleaner ways to use them
Civil engineer, building everything from football stadiums to suspension bridges
Industrial engineer, devising ways to boost productivity of products and services
Audio engineer, creating the soundtracks of modern life

Engineering is an exciting, ever-changing field. As technology advances, so do the challenges and opportunities available to the engineer. Students studying engineering can look forward to a strong employment marketplace and high levels of personal satisfaction. Designing, creating, and implementing ways for people to live better lives requires both intellect and imagination—a fulfilling career for the inquisitive mind. And the starting salaries of engineers are among the highest of all college graduates.

Can I Study Engineering at Drew?

Absolutely. But first, full disclosure: we don’t have an engineering major. What Drew does have is multiple pathways to an engineering career—you choose the one that’s right for you. After all, not every aspiring engineer has the same level of commitment, but every student at Drew has the same opportunity to explore across the liberal arts and sciences, sampling among 50 majors and minors and discovering an array of career possibilities.

This means that Drew is the right place for:

Students who are dead-certain about an engineering career. You get your engineering prerequisites plus a strong liberal arts background. With skill sets drawn from both the sciences and the humanities, you’re better prepared to transition into an engineering degree program.

Students who are not-so-certain about an engineering career. You get to try on engineering through hands-on experiences in a variety of sciences. While you’re building this foundation, you’re also learning whether engineering—or an entirely different field you discover at Drew—is the career for you.

Here’s another thought: Interests and ambitions change, especially when you’re in college. Engineering schools don’t leave much room to maneuver. But Drew gives you the flexibility to pursue a new passion if you do realize that engineering’s not right for you.

And the Engineering Pathways at Drew Are . . . ?

The way we count it, you can choose from among five pathways to engineering at Drew. Let’s run them down for you:

Engineering in Action

Active learning—the chance to do science, not just observe it—is a hallmark of a Drew education. When you pursue engineering through the Drew sciences, you access many opportunities to hone your technical skills and experience the life of an engineer, in the lab and in the field.

Here are a few ways to put engineering into action at Drew:

Research With Faculty

Mentoring undergraduates on their research projects comes naturally to Drew’s teacher-scholars. Drew professors welcome students into their labs, where they have helped to design computer software programs, fabricate organic holographic film for storing and retrieving images, and understand the potential impact of pollutants and airborne particles on climate change—and that’s just for starters.

Drew Research Institutes

The opportunity to engage in intense laboratory research—with respected scientists at your side—draws ambitious students to Drew’s research institutes. The Drew Summer Science Institutepairs students, one on one, with a faculty member for eight to 10 weeks of full-time, on-campus research. And the Research Institute for Scientists Emeriti provides a yearlong partnership with eminent retired industry scientists conducting research as fellows-in-residence at Drew. Anxious to get in the lab right away? Soon-to-be Drew students can conduct research the summer before their freshman year through the Summer Research Associate Program.

Summer Research Internships

We’re proud to report that most Drew students who have applied for a nationally competitive summer research position over the past five years have landed one. That puts Drew students on the research frontlines, contributing to the work of government labs (NASA, NIH, and NIST), large university research labs (Cornell, Penn State, SUNY–Stony Brook), and private industry (Lucent Bell Technologies, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Johnson & Johnson) while making connections in the field and mastering sophisticated technical skills.

1. Pursue engineering through the Drew–Columbia dual-degree program

Spend three years at Drew—accumulating all the advantages of a top-flight liberal arts education—then move into an engineering program at Columbia University. Our cooperative dual-degree engineering program lets students work toward a B.A. from Drew plus a B.S. or B.Eng. from Columbia—while keeping your options open if you change your mind. Added bonus: this five-year program is a great foundation for a master’s degree.

2. Start out in the dual-degree program; stay at Drew

Just because you start out in the dual-degree engineering program doesn’t obligate you to finish it. Lots of students who enter the program wind up staying at Drew and getting their degree in physics, biology, chemistry—or theatre arts, for that matter. The beauty of a liberal arts education is in the many wonderful ways one can get sidetracked.

3. Major in a science at Drew and pursue engineering in graduate school

The sciences at Drew are hands-on, action-oriented, and problem-based. Throw in the close mentorship of faculty and the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research, and you’ve got the perfect background for pursuing a graduate degree in engineering. It worked for recent Drew graduates who’ve gone on to Penn State, Cornell, Lehigh, NJIT, Stevens Institute of Technology, and more.

4. Major in a science at Drew and pursue engineering within that field

Engineers work in every science you can name, creating new products and devising new methods to get the job done. So a great option is to major in a science with the goal of pursuing engineering or applied work within that field. Check out these science majors and the engineering fields they can lead to for Drew grads:

Physics: electrical engineering, nuclear engineering, mechanical engineering, aerospace/aeronautical engineering, optical engineering
Chemistry: chemical engineering, environmental engineering, biomedical engineering, materials science/engineering
Mathematics or computer science: systems engineering, computer engineering, operations research, financial engineering
Biology: biomedical engineering, environmental engineering, neuroengineering, biomaterials and tissue engineering

5. Explore engineering as only one career path among many

By now, you get it: Come to Drew, and options beyond engineering stay open to you. So if you’re the kind of person who’s as intrigued by economics as by engineering—as fascinated by philosophy as by physics, as mystified by music as by mathematics—then Drew is the place for you. Come to Drew with the intention of exploring everything that interests you—and engineer your own feels-right career path along the way.