August 22, 2008

Purdue's undergrad engineering program among top 10 nationally

The College of Engineering ranked ninth among doctoral degree-granting schools, tied with Carnegie Mellon University. Last year Purdue's undergraduate engineering program also ranked ninth, tied with both Carnegie Mellon and the University of Texas.

Several of the College of Engineering's schools ranked among the top 24 in their specialties:

* Industrial engineering, third.

* Aeronautics and astronautics, fourth.

* Agricultural and biological engineering, fifth, tied with the University of California-Davis.

* Mechanical engineering, seventh.

* Civil engineering, seventh, tied with the University of Michigan.

* Electrical engineering, ninth.

* Computer engineering, 11th.

* Chemical engineering, 13th.

* Materials engineering, 13th, tied with Ohio State University.

* Environmental engineering, 15th.

Nuclear engineering programs were not ranked.

"Purdue's College of Engineering continues to rank among the top institutions in the country thanks to the dedication of the faculty, staff, alumni and corporate partners," said Leah Jamieson, the John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering. "The top 10 ranking of our undergraduate program reflects Purdue Engineering's longstanding commitment to undergraduate education."

In addition to the schools the College of Engineering also includes the divisions of engineering professional education, construction engineering and management, and environmental and ecological engineering. Also housed in the college are such programs as Engineering Projects in Community Service, the Minority Engineering Program, the Women in Engineering Program, Global Engineering Program, and the Indiana Space Grant Consortium.

Last year the college had a faculty of 343 members and enrolled more than 6,300 undergraduate students and more than 2,200 graduate students. Enrollment numbers for this fall aren't yet available.

The College of Engineering is in the midst of an aggressive growth campaign. Last fall, it opened the $53 million, 126,000-square-foot Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering. Also planned are the 41,000-square-foot Seng-Liang Wang Hall, a third building for the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; the 42,000-square-foot Roger B. Gatewood Mechanical Engineering Wing; and a new Ray W. Herrick Laboratories.

The rankings of engineering colleges and specific engineering disciplines are based on ratings by deans and heads in those disciplines at peer institutions. The schools receiving the most votes are listed.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology had the top-ranked doctoral-granting engineering program. The engineering program at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute was ranked as the best among non-doctoral public institutions.

Purdue's previous rankings are available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/ranking.html

Writer: Judith Barra Austin, (765) 494-2432, jbaustin@purdue.edu

Source: Leah Jamieson, (765) 494-5346, lhj@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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