Pre-Engineering Degree

The Kaskaskia College
Pre-Engineering curriculum
provides a two-year, pre-professional
curriculum which is preliminary to
four year degrees in agricultural, aeronautical, chemical, civil, construction science, electrical, geological, industrial, mechanical, manufacturing, computer science, and material processing engineering

The Kaskaskia College Pre-Engineering curriculum provides a two-year, pre-professional curriculum which is preliminary to four year degrees in agricultural, aeronautical, chemical, civil, electrical, geological, industrial, mechanical, computer, and material processing engineering.

Possible program incentives under consideration for the 2009-2010 Academic school year:

1. A course tuition waiver of the second Pre-Engineering course Dynamics (course # PSCI204), pending successful completion of Statics (course # PSCI203) at KC.

2. A spring banquet towards the end of the fourth semester of the Pre-Engineering program.  Parents, a favorite high school teacher or counselor, KC board of trustees, and participating local engineers would be invited.

3. A job shadowing experience for half a day with an engineer from a local company.

4.  The summer internship program with an area engineering firm at the end of the sophomore year or prior to transfer to a university engineering program.

5. Assistance in transferring to an Engineering program at the University of choice.

6. The formation of a cohort of Pre-Engineering students will occur when students enter their freshman year. A weekly to bi-weekly meeting among the cohort will be established to form a mentoring/tutoring group. This group will work among themselves as well as provide tutoring for any Calculus I or Calculus II students. A mathematics full-time faculty member will be available for assistance if possible.

The following courses are recommended prior to transfer to University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, Missouri University of Science and Technology, or Southern Illinois University- Edwardsville for a BS degree in Engineering. Other universities may have similar requirements. Consult a counselor or academic advisor before registering. Four-year requirements vary from college to college and from time to time. The student is advised to carefully check the current requirements

NOTE:  The above curriculum is typically needed the first two years in a University Engineering Program.  To earn an
            Associate in Science Degree at Kaskaskia College, you will need to take 16 additional hours (4hrs of life science,
            3hrs of social and behavior science, 3hrs of fine arts, 5hrs of health and personal development, and 1hr of core values).

WHAT IS ENGINEERING?

Engineering applies the knowledge that the pure sciences provide. Engineers can be found in research, product development, manufacturing, marketing, management, consulting, and teaching.

Two kinds of four-year programs lead to a Bachelor’s degree related to engineering; you should think carefully about which is more suitable to you.

• Engineering programs prepare graduates to do research and to design and develop new technologies and devices. Their students are given a comprehensive understanding of higher mathematics, physics, and chemistry.
   
• Engineering Technology programs prepare graduates for practical application of existing technologies and sub-systems. Mathematics and the sciences are important in these programs, but are not treated in as much depth as in engineering programs.

  Engineering programs are available at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, SIU- Edwardsville, and Missouri University of Science and Technology. A student majoring in engineering spends the first two years in a pre-engineering program. Pre-engineering programs are available at many community colleges. Many private colleges also offer pre-engineering programs.

  Engineering Technology programs leading to a Bachelor’s degree are available at various universities.

  Computer Science usually (but not exclusively) refers to software, the programming of computers. Computer Engineering refers to the design of hardware. Nearly every four-year institution in the state offers a degree in Computer Science, sometimes as a liberal arts or a business degree.

 

DESCRIPTION OF ENGINEERING FIELDS

Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics

The aerospace industry is not restricted to the design and development of aircraft and spacecraft, but also embraces such areas as the development of vehicles suitable for high speed ground transportation, hydrofoil ships, and deep-diving vessels for oceanographic research. Sub-specialties include aeronautics and astronautics, control system design, computer-aided design, oceanography, environmental engineering, transportation systems, and noise engineering.

Agricultural Engineering

Agricultural engineering applies engineering principles and technology to agriculture and the biological sciences in five areas of specialization: power and machinery, structures and environment, soil and water, electric power and processing, and food engineering. Agricultural engineers are involved in every phase of agriculture from production of plants and animals to the final processing of food.

Chemical Engineering

Chemical engineers work on a wide variety of projects: basic and applied research, development, design and modification of processes and equipment, and plant operation. Chemical engineering deals with unit operations such as materials handling, mixing, fluid flow and metering, extrusion and coating, heat exchange, filtration, drying, evaporation, distillation, absorption, extraction, ion exchange, combustion, catalysts and processing in chemical and biochemical reactors. A chemist uses these operations in the laboratory; to apply them on an industrial scale the chemical engineer must have a thorough understanding of the engineering principles as well as the scientific principles on which these operations rest.

Civil Engineering

In the exciting field of civil engineering, you not only create and maintain the infrastructure of modern industrialized society but you conceive, design, and construct magnificent structures; such as bridges, highways, power plants, drinking-water plants, airports, rail-transit systems, transmission towers, high-rise buildings, stadiums, oil and natural-gas pipelines, harbor facilities, locks and dams, storm water run-off systems, and many more! These structures help us live and work safely and productively. Civil engineers are employed in technical and managerial positions in environmental, geotechnical, structural, and transportation engineering by consulting firms, government agencies, and manufacturing companies. They usually specialize in one of the sub-fields within civil engineering such as structures, transportation, hydrology (management of water from rainfall), geo-technology (the study of soil for supporting levees along rivers and buildings), and environmental engineering. They also play a key role in helping us keep the environment in benign form. Because so much of civil engineering work is concerned with the health and safety of the public, many civil engineers work for the government – city, county, state, or federal – or for companies that are hired by the government.  

Computer Engineering

Computer engineers specialize in systems that use electricity or optics to perform computing tasks. In addition to studying the art of programming the writing software, they also learn the inner workings of hardware and how to design microprocessors and interfaces from the lowest possible levels on up to the complete architecture of a computer. They also specialize in the design and use of small single-chip computers such as those in handheld devices. If it computes, it is in the realm of a computer engineer.

Computer Science

Designing and developing software systems and applications is very important in today’s highly technical society. From developing understandable graphical user interfaces to managing vast data warehouses, computer scientists provide the fundamental means by which every person can access information in a straightforward manner. By implementing sophisticated operating systems like Linux and Windows and designing complex data communications networks, computer scientists enable rapid calculations and transmission of data. Through designing sophisticated computer animations, special effects, and programming intelligent robots, computer scientists explore the application of developing technologies to solve new and exciting problems. Unlike the stereotype “computer nerd,” a career in computer science usually requires extensive interaction with software development teams, as well as close collaboration with computer users. As computers continue to become an integral part of larger, everyday systems, such as cars and household appliances, computer scientists have become and integral part of multidisciplinary teams designing and building complex systems. Whether your interests are in business, research, medicine, engineering, entertainment, or some other field, there is a career opportunity for you as a computer scientist. 

Construction Management

Construction professionals are an important part of the team that is responsible for constructing the “ built environment” of our world-your home, and every school, hospital, stadium, or shopping center that you visit, the roads and bridges you drive to get there, and the power, water, and waste disposal systems that supply the buildings.  While the work of construction is done by the men and women of the skilled trades, construction managers are needed to do the complex planning, scheduling, estimation and controlling costs, and managing the people, machines and materials needed to construct the project. In construction, time really IS money – big money – and construction managers are educated to make the most efficient use of both. Our degree combines engineering, business, and construction management principles to create well-rounded professionals ready to assume responsible management positions in any sector of the construction industry.

Electrical Engineering

Electrical engineers are skilled in the art of manipulating electricity from the extremely small, such as the signals received on an antenna, to the very large, such as the systems that generate and transport electricity to your home. In addition, they are on the cutting edge of new technologies and their applications such as electric cars and robotics. The systems that power the world as well as those that move information around are the domain of the electrical engineer.  

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Mobile phones, video game consoles, microwave ovens, MP3 players, Wi-Fi networks, high definition video, laptop computers, and the internet hardware: These are just a few of the common things designed by electrical and computer engineers, some of which you probably use every day. Take a moment to consider all of the things that either plug into an outlet or run on batteries. These items are far to numerous to list, yet every single one was designed with the help of an electrical or computer engineer. Both majors have a significant common core of classes and their skills often complement each other.

Extractive Metallurgical Engineering

Extractive metallurgical engineering may do research or technical management in mineral processing and extractive metallurgy, metals production, or metal fabrication. They may develop and manage processes to separate one mineral from another, extract metals from minerals, produce ultrapure metals, or cast, shape, or heat-treat metals.

Geo-Engineering

Geo-engineers carry out their professional work in many branches of the construction industry (dams, foundations, highways, irrigation, tunnels); the mineral industry (mining, petroleum); or government (environmental studies, geothermal energy, water resources, underground transit systems).

Industrial Engineering

Industrial engineers determine the most effective and efficient ways to produce products or services using people, machines, materials, information, and energy. For example, an automobile has about 8,000 components and parts. It is the industrial engineer’s responsibility to bring all these parts to the right workstations at the right time, at the right quantity, at the right quality, and at the right price, the goal is to design and operate the most efficient assembly plant possible. Similarly, an international next-day delivery shipping company handles over 2.5 million items daily. Designing and operating a collection, distribution, and delivery system to ensure that the packages are delivered to the right addresses, at the right time and price is also and industrial engineering job. To solve the related problems efficiently, industrial engineers must determine resource requirements, use mathematical and statistical methods to optimize those requirements, and design and implement the necessary systems and facilities.

Manufacturing Engineering

Manufacturing engineers make things. Over 3 million parts, components and sub-assemblies are used to make an aircraft. Manufacturing engineers must know which materials, machines, processes, robots, computer-based controls and analysis tools, information networks, and people are needed to make each one of those parts. Everything that manufacturing engineers do is ultimately tied to the production of goods that we use everywhere-machinery, electronics, medical devices, automobile parts, household products, toys, textiles, can d and bottles, etc. They make decisions about technology, machinery, people and money. If it wasn’t for the ingenuity of manufacturing engineers in finding more efficient ways to make things, most people could not afford products such as cars and computers. Manufacturing engineers work in partnership with design and application engineers in teams for launching production of new product. The manufacturing engineer is the final like in making any product – where the real hands-on action is.

Materials Processing Engineering

Materials processing engineering focuses on processing natural resources, including forest products, minerals, and peat. It has strong ties to chemical, materials, and mineral engineering, but is distinguished by its emphasis on designing beneficiation processes (processes that prepare raw materials for refinement). The materials processing engineer is trained to create industrial and manufacturing methods that will fully utilize and develop natural raw materials, and to process hazardous waste.

Materials Science Engineering

Materials science engineers select and develop metals and alloys, ceramics, and plastics to meet diverse engineering needs. Products made from these materials range from extremely small microelectronic devices to large turbine rotors. Materials engineers also develop and test new products in the metals and polymer producing industries.

Mechanical Engineering

Mechanical engineers play a critical role in advancing the technologies that we all have come to rely on. For example, a mechanical engineer might be part of a team that designs a medical device to treat disease or monitor health conditions, finds or develops an alternative energy source, designs an airplane or outer –space vehicle, improves the efficiency of a heating and air-conditioning system, designs a more fuel-efficient automobile, or designs an automated robotic system. Mechanical engineering is a broad and exciting discipline that includes studies in automation, energy, mechanical, nanotech and thermal sciences. Mechanical engineers apply principles of mathematics and physics in designing, testing, manufacturing, and maintaining mechanical systems. Graduates find employment in companies that are involved in aerospace, automotive, bio-engineering, manufacturing, mining, agriculture, power generation and distribution, textiles, and transportation.

 

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