Students Prepare for Engineering Careers
BOE-BOT Robotics Competition Winners pictured from left – NCC Associate in Engineering students Lauren Israel, 3rd place; John Battle 1st place; Damariscotta Wynne, 2nd place.
Nash Community College students and graduates are preparing for careers as engineers. Since the college launched the Associate in Engineering degree program one year ago, eight students have graduated.
Students who earn the Associate in Engineering at NCC are well positioned to transfer into four-year engineering programs at East Carolina University, North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&T, UNC-Charlotte, or Western Carolina University.
According to program coordinator Shilo Lawrence, completing the first two years at Nash could save students more than $30,000 when compared to attending all four years at a university.
Lawrence said graduates from the college’s first cohort are enrolled in engineering programs at North Carolina State University, East Carolina University and UNC-Charlotte. Their majors include chemical, environmental, mechanical, electrical and bioprocess engineering.
Two 2018 NCC Associate in Engineering graduates are Goodnight Scholars studying in the highly competitive transfer program’s Class of 2021 at North Carolina State University.
Currently, Nash Community College has 55 students pursuing the Associate in Engineering degree. This semester the Introduction to Engineering students designed robotic navigation systems and were judged on their performance in a competition against their peers. The course introduces NCC students to engineering fundamentals and the engineering profession. Many of the Associate in Engineering students are also participating in the High Altitude Balloon Club. They will be designing the payload for a high altitude weather balloon and competing against eight other community colleges when they launch their balloon at the Gravity Games in Lenoir, NC on April 14, 2019.
“Most students will go on to major in some branch of Engineering, such as Electrical, Civil, BioMedical, or Mechanical at one of our partner schools. But, the Associate in Engineering degree is also a great option for anybody interested in majoring in Physics or Mathematics.”
Lawrence said in addition to teaching, she helps students navigate enrollment and transition into a four-year engineering program. “The Associate in Engineering program is one of the most rigorous degrees that we offer, with a majority of the coursework concentrated in upper-level science, engineering, and mathematics,” she said. “Our students not only save money on the first two years of their college education, but they also are preparing to enter a field that provides a starting salary of around $60,000 annually with a four-year degree.”
For more information, or to enroll for the spring semester, please call 252-451-8398. Spring classes begin January 14.
