updated April 8, 2008

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's dedication to providing students individual attention and great classroom experiences has been highlighted in the March issue of Design News magazine regarding the crisis in engineering education.

See Design News' coverage of 'Crisis in Engineering Education': http://www.designnews.com/article/CA6538021.html http://www.designnews.com/article/CA6538327.html

The national magazine highlights Rose-Hulman for being "a small, elite" college that offers a "successful alternative to the big university model."  Editor John Dodge points out that Rose-Hulman is focused on "turning out a well-rounded individual instead of someone maxed out in math and science in their respective field or students victimized by more bad instructors than good."

Rose-Hulman President Gerald Jakubowski and Mechanical Engineering Professor Richard Stamper were interviewed for the article, "Small Schools, Big Results," written by Senior Technical Editor/Electronics Charles J. Murray that highlights three small colleges with excellent engineering programs.  It is "an education model that works: Small is beautiful and so are teachers and students," cites Design News.

The article includes several photos of Rose-Hulman students working on hands-on projects, along with a school profile.  Other colleges featured were Harvey Mudd College (Calif.) and the Olin College of Engineering (Mass.).

The magazine stated, "Harvey Mudd, Rose-Hulman and Olin have succeeded not just because they are small, but because they are good schools that attract strong students."

Hands On Education: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's hands-on, project-based focus on engineering education engages students, particularly in their first and second year.

Later, the article cites that "experts contend there's a need for more American-born kids to find engagement in engineering and the model used by Harvey Mudd, Olin and Rose-Hulman is one that seems to work."

Design News points out that the small colleges try harder to engage students, particularly in their first and second year, when many lose interest in an engineering degree. 

"At places like Olin, Harvey Mudd and Rose-Hulman, the faculties have a deep desire to challenge and work with the students," stated Jakubowski.

Rose-Hulman professors take students on field trips, where they get to see the social significance of engineering work.  In a class on engineering failures, for example, Stamper has taken students to meet product liability attorneys who school them on the effects of bad design.

"We show them that if they injure someone, there's a building full of smart people who will come after them," Stamper told Design News. 

Stamper has also taken students to meet with an orthopedic surgeon for a discussion on failure of spinal implants to fatigue.  Recently, he also arranged a field trip to General Electric to discuss failures in rotary compressors.

"It would be hard to take a class of 60 students on a trip like this," says Stamper, a former recipient of the Rose-Hulman Dean's Outstanding Teaching Award.  "But with our smaller classes, I can do it."

Committed Faculty: Richard Stamper, associate professor of mechanical engineering, is among Rose-Hulman faculty that have a deep desire to challenge and work with students.

Design News also pointed out that smaller colleges with engineering programs have higher graduation rates than larger institutions.  Rose-Hulman graduated 85 percent of its Class of 2007 -- much higher than the national average of 40 to 45 percent for all American engineering schools. 

"Small schools often attribute the difference (in graduation rates) to a sense of community," the national magazine stated.  Rose-Hulman has funded a special sophomore residence hall as a way of reducing attrition in the sophomore year, which historically has had the highest washout rate in American engineering schools.

Another advantage of small colleges is preparing students for the increasing interdisciplinary aspects of engineering.  Design News' Mechatronics Zone section recently highlighted Rose-Hulman's new Model-Based Systems Design Laboratory, which provides students with a real-world environment, linking classroom learning with hands-on industry experience.  It re-engineers the traditional development process to one that utilizes an executable model that is the repository for all information about the concept, design and implementation of a product.  The laboratory was developed by Marc Herniter, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Zachariah Chambers, associate professor of mechanical engineering.

“We were struck by the creativity and vision of these two professors, who actively integrated Model-Based Design into their engineering teaching,” says Liz Callanan, corporate relations manager for The MathWorks, one of four international and regional companies that contributed to the project.  "We wanted to be part of this lab project because it features both an engaging curriculum and hands-on software to hardware displays."