Engineering Outreach

Overview

The dynamic and competitive nature of engineering demands that today's engineering professionals invest in keeping skills current or developing completely new engineering and business competencies. Various states have instituted professional development hour requirements for renewal of the professional engineer license as well. The Engineering Outreach Program at the University of Delaware offers a variety of resources to make such technical renewal convenient and accessible.

Scheduling of graduate engineering courses at "professionally convenient" times on the Newark campus and/or on videotape, CD-ROM, or the web is an important feature of Engineering Outreach. When appropriate, arrangements are also made to deliver courses to company worksites. Students can choose courses in five different engineering disciplines: chemical, civil, electrical, and mechanical engineering as well as materials science. Within the chosen discipline, a program is designed to fit the student's area of interest; for example, environmental engineering is a popular concentration in both the civil and chemical engineering disciplines. Taught by the College's renowned engineering faculty, the courses attract practicing engineers from leading corporations, as well as full-time graduate students, thus providing a dynamic classroom environment for the exchange of ideas and information. Some specialized courses are developed and taught by area engineers who are recognized leaders in their respective fields.

A high priority of the Outreach staff is providing the necessary advisement for part-time students to reach their educational goals in the most effective and efficient way. Eligibility to enroll in individual courses is determined by the course instructor based on the individual's background and academic record. Students do not need to be formally admitted to a graduate engineering degree program prior to benefiting from such advisement and enrolling in courses. They may take individual courses or apply them toward a traditional or non-thesis engineering graduate program, available in each of the engineering disciplines listed above.

Outreach staff work with leaders of the engineering community to develop non-credit short courses to address specific needs as well as leading-edge technology conferences.