Monday, April 26, 2004
Futures in engineering
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Megan Mahrenholz of Evansville, Indiana, and Melanie Lagenour of Solsberry, Indiana, are freshmen engineering students at USI. They met last fall while playing foosball during the university’s orientation program. They opted to become roommates and have developed a friendship during this first year of college. They have similar class schedules, and they have provided motivation to each other through this challenging year. The engineering program requires a solid foundation in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and communications. The academic work is important to both women. They are attending USI on Pott Scholarships and departmental scholarships Melanie said passing physics was her greatest achievement in the fall semester, while Megan said the calculus II class was a challenge. Megan said, “I never failed a test in my life before my first test in calculus II. I’m stubborn and I don’t like to fail, so I decided I would study more and I was not going to fail again.” They both posted a 3.5 or better grade point average to qualify for the fall dean’s list. As engineering majors, Megan and Melanie also are active in engineering activities outside the classroom. They both served on the crew constructing USI’s entry in the concrete canoe competition in which teams of students from schools in the Midwest work within specific criteria to design, test, construct, and race a canoe made of concrete. The event challenges the knowledge, creativity, and stamina of students. The canoe that Megan helped row came in second in the co-ed sprint, and the team placed fourth in overall competition. Feelings of doubt about succeeding in engineering were fleeting for these women. In the second semester of the Introduction to Design class, the women had to examine an appliance to determine how it worked. They decided to inspect a VCR found at Goodwill. They took it apart and put it back together several times and felt like kids in a candy story. Megan said, “While working on the assignment, I was thinking I could do this forever.” Their advice to new freshmen considering engineering is to stick out the first year. Melanie emphasized it takes a year to get to the “good stuff” or the core engineering classes. USI plans to seek accreditation for its engineering program from the Engineering Accreditation Commission of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). Under ABET rules, new engineering degree programs cannot be evaluated for accreditation until one class has fulfilled all of its degree requirements, so for USI that will be in the fall 2006 semester. Both women have weighed the program’s accreditation status. Since they’ve enrolled in the program they’ve seen the rigorous schedule firsthand, and they anticipate the accreditation will be received. They plan to stay in engineering at USI. Similar in many areas, the two women came to USI for distinct reasons. Megan chose USI because it was close to home and she liked the smaller class sizes. Melanie considered the affordability of USI and the faculty’s focus on teaching students rather than on research. She said, “We interact with the faculty on a daily basis.” When fall classes start on August 30, they will enroll in calculus III, statics, thermodynamics, and other engineering core courses they call “real engineering” classes. They describe the fall semester as critical in their college career. During the summer Megan will be a counselor for a local day camp, and Melanie will work at Crane Naval Center near her hometown. |
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