The College of Engineering is working to create a new Computer Engineering program, while collaborating with the College of Education, allowing students to one day major concurrently to obtain a Secondary Education degree.
While the Electrical and Computer Engineering program for undergraduates is similar to the proposed degree program, there are differences as well. An accredited engineering degree has a requirement of 32 hours of general math and science courses, and 48 hours of engineering topics. A technology degree does not have the same math and science requirements and the required math credit hours are significantly less than an engineering degree. The engineering degree focuses more on the theoretical elements, while the technology degree is more about applied skills.
“One degree is not better than the other,” Associate Dean of the College of Engineering Steve Barrett said. “Typically, on any big engineering project, you’ll have engineers and technologists involved.”
Computer technology is advancing in today’s society, making a computer technology and computer engineering degree useful when students graduate and enter the work force. Whether it is for computer engineering or any computer technology job, students who are in the prospective Computer Engineering Technology degree program will have many opportunities in the future.
“There’s a place called the Global Mackenzie Group and they try to predict what’s going to happen in the future when it comes to technology,” Dr. John McInroy, head of the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, said. “We’re still in the process of having the world changed by all of the electronics around us and all of the computers around us. They [The Global Mackenzie Group] show massive growth in all of these areas.”
Teaching future generations about computer technology is another possible route that students may be able to take with the proposed degree program. It is the first time that the College of Education and the College of Engineering have collaborated on a degree program. If the program is approved, it will be available as a concurrent major in which students can get their degree in Secondary Education while also getting another degree from the Computer Engineering Technology program.
“There’s been a lot of concern in the state of Wyoming about the amount of computer science instruction that’s available to students in K-12 settings,” Leslie Rush, Associate Dean of the College of Education, said. “Depending on the enrollment and the graduation we get out of this program, there’s potential that we could be assisting with the needs of the state, because we don’t have enough computer science teachers.”
The process for creating this degree program involved many people and representatives. The College of Engineering, the College of Education, the University of Wyoming’s Casper Campus, Casper College, the Ellbogen Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of Academic Affairs have all played a role in developing the program.
“One thing I really, really want to emphasize is that it has been a very collaborative effort,” Barrett said.
The program is still in its early stages and has yet to be approved.
