The University College of Engineering is helping to shape the growing industrial section of Louisiana’s economy.
According to NerdScholar, a website committed to higher education issues, engineering jobs rank as some of the most highly sought after in the nation. Baton Rouge was ranked as the sixth-best metro area with ample employment opportunities for engineers.
The reasons for the capital city’s listing were attributed to its “strong industrial, medical, oil and research industries.” Facilities in Baton Rouge like ExxonMobil, the second-largest oil refinery in the nation, aid in the job availability.
But, also noted, was the impact the University College of Engineering has on producing engineering graduates.
According to Mimi LaValle, director of communications for the College of Engineering, the college “is the state’s largest degree granting engineering program, accounting for more than 50 percent of engineering and construction management graduates in the state.”
Those graduates often go on to fill the numerous job openings in the state, which, according to LaValle, total 730 engineering or construction management jobs openings in the state annually. Of those openings, 31.5 percent represent new positions in the industry, which is expected to grow by ten percent in the next decade, she said.
East Baton Rouge Parish is home to more than 5,000 College of Engineering alumni, the most in a single parish, which serve as “a snapshot of the college’s impact on economic development,” LaValle said.
More than 600 graduates from the college in the 2012 to 2013 academic year is an increase from 543 in the 2009 to 2010 academic year, and the rise has been consistent since 1998.
The NerdScholar list also took into account the ability of the College of Engineering to raise awareness of engineering to a younger audience through sponsoring the Louisiana Science and Engineering Fair and holding programs like PREP, a conglomeration of outreach programs and summer experiences for pre-college students.
Judea Goins-Andrews, College of Engineering assistant director of pre-college programs within the office of diversity programs, said PREP programs are a valuable asset to show elementary, middle and high school students that engineering at the University is something they can do.
“It’s to be able to introduce students, K-12, to engineering,” she said. “Students are from various backgrounds, ethnicities, various genders. Part of what PREP aims to do is make sure we’re recruiting students into engineering.”
Recruitment into Engineering High Ability Multicultural Students, one of the PREP programs, is designed for high school juniors and seniors. Participants visit campus for a week during the summer and are introduced to the different engineering fields and are able to interact with faculty and staff, Goins-Andrews said.
Exploration Camp for Inspiring Tomorrow’s Engineers is also a summer program, but it is tailored to female freshman and sophomore high school students, Goins-Andrews said.
“We see, typically, around middle school is where girls lose interest in math and science, and it’s perceived it is for boys,” she said. “So, we wanted to get a program to talk to girls during that time to show them that there are females in engineering, and they are successful in the field and shaping the world.”
In addition to the summer programs, a student organization comprised of engineering students called Diversity Ambassadors, visit schools around the region to tutor, volunteer and bring engineering into the classroom for students, Goins-Andrews said.
The engineering college is one of several sponsors of the Louisiana Science and Engineering Fair, where middle and high school students around the state design projects to compete at school fairs with the chance to advance to regional, state and international fairs.
“The participation has started to grow the last several years,” said Louisiana State Science Fair Director Lisa Graves, “especially in the area of engineering.”