Programs - Engineering Physics

   The Department of Physics and Optical Engineering has provided both science and engineering foundation at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology through its physics and optics engineering programs. Physics is the foundation subject to all engineering and through the study in engineering physics we aim at blending a strong physics component with relevant engineering backgrounds that are usually necessary to work in areas such as semiconductor, optical technologies, biomedical applications, mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering, and polymer and biochemistry. The students will get their traditional undergraduate engineering education that has a broad foundation in mathematics, engineering sciences and technology. This program emphasizes problem solving skills and an understanding of engineering design to address the needs and challenges of the technology age and allow students to take a broad range of engineering careers.

   Engineering Physics at Rose-Hulman will provide students with a unique opportunity to learn the foundation concepts of physics and make a concentrated study in micro and nano technology. Engineering physicist will be able to apply both scientific and engineering approaches to a wide variety of problems which otherwise is not possible with any traditional engineering or science degree. Rose-Hulman’s engineering physics graduates will be trained to take up challenging jobs in engineering and development of new technologies or to pursue further studies in engineering or physics.

Mission: To provide a coherent foundation of physics for all majors and a strong foundation of physics, engineering physics and optical engineering for our majors so that all students can acquire education appropriate to their majors. The engineering disciplines of optical engineering and engineering physics enable students to practice in their dynamic and progressive engineering professional careers with responsibility to society.

Vision: To cultivate in the students responsibility, independence, and knowledge that allows them to be fully engaged in all disciplines, to continuously improve the curriculum, and  to be engaged in professional development.

Engineering Physics Program Educational Objectives and Outcomes:

In concurrence with the mission statement of the department the objective of the engineering physics program will produce graduate who will, 5 years after graduation, exhibit the following characteristic traits as a practicing engineer.

All engineering physics students will be prepared for initial employment, graduate school, or volunteer service and will meet the following objectives.

They will:

1. Exhibit strong skills in problem solving, leadership, teamwork, and communication.

2. Use these skills to contribute to their community and globally.

3. Make thoughtful, well-informed choice in their projects and career.

4. Demonstrate commitment to continuous education of themselves and of others.

5. Be effective multi-disciplinary engineers/researchers (in their area of concentration) and problem solvers and be life long learner.

6. Be educated in the principles of sciences and engineering necessary to understand systems in their concentration.

7. Be able to use engineering tools that will allow them to design, analyze, and test systems.

8. Be able to communicate effectively in oral, written, and graphical communications as needed in a multidisciplinary team..

9. Be aware of the impact of their work in local and global environment.

By the time students graduate with an engineering physics degree from Rose-Hulman, we expect them to possess the following:

• Knowledge of the Fundamentals: An understanding of the fundamentals of science and engineering

• Interpreting Data: Ability to interpret graphical, numerical, and textual data.

• System Level Modeling: Ability to model components and optical system engineering problems.

• Experimentation: Ability to design and conduct experiments to understand the relationships between variables in a problem which may or may not have been mathematically modeled before.

• Design: Ability to design a product or process to satisfy client's needs subject to constraints

• Team work and Deliverables: Ability to work in multi-disciplinary teams and understand the effective team dynamics and be able to deliver a product.

• Problem Solving: Ability to apply relevant scientific and engineering principles to solve real world optical engineering problems.

• Professional Practice and Ethics: A sound understanding what an optics professional is and have an awareness and understanding of professional ethics.

• Communication: Ability to communicate effectively in oral, written and visual forms.

• Contemporary issues, non-technical issues, global awareness: An awareness of contemporary and non-technical issues in engineering profession and the role of professionals in an interdependent global society.

• Life Long Learning: A facility for independent learning and continued professional development.

ENGINEERING PHYSICS (Micro - Nano)

*If students miss OE 172 in the freshmen or sophomore year, this requirement must be replaced with a 300 or 400-level OE course of at least 2 credits.

**Students need to take either EM 103 Introduction to Design or ECE 361 Engineering Practice.

EP 415, EP 416, and EP 417 are courses the student can take from any engineering department where the student has an area of concentration. The projects will have industrial clients that emphasize both physics and engineering and it may be jointly administered with the respective departments.

EP course descriptions are listed under the Physics and Optical Engineering Department.

Recommended Engineering Electives: Requires the approval of the advisor.
The EP advisory committee can modify this list and add more courses over time.