University of Michigan College of Engineering facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
University of Michigan
College of Engineering

Other name	Michigan Engineering
Type	Public engineering school
Established	1854
Parent institution	University of Michigan
Endowment	US $807.6 million
Dean	Steven L. Ceccio (interm)
Academic staff	579
Students	9,682
Undergraduates	6,351
Postgraduates	3,331
Location	Ann Arbor, Michigan
Campus	800 acres (3.25 km2)

The University of Michigan College of Engineering, also known as Michigan Engineering, is the main engineering school at the University of Michigan. This university is a public research school located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Michigan Engineering is a big school with many students who want to become engineers.

History of Michigan Engineering

The College of Engineering started way back in 1854. At first, it only taught civil engineering, which is about designing and building things like roads and bridges. Over the years, the college became a leader in many new fields. For example, it was one of the first schools to offer programs in data science, computer science, electrical engineering, and nuclear engineering.

In 2014, the aerospace engineering program celebrated its 100th birthday! This program teaches students how to design planes and spacecraft. The Materials Science and Engineering program is also very old. It's the oldest program in the United States that focuses on how different materials are made and used. In 2021, the college even created the first Robotics Department among the top engineering schools in the country.

The college first started on the main campus of the University. But in the late 1940s, it began moving to a new area called North Campus. This campus is huge, about 800 acres! Today, the College of Engineering is right in the middle of North Campus. This area is also home to other schools, like the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, and the School of Art and Design. North Campus also has the Lurie Tower, which holds one of only 23 grand carillons (a type of musical instrument with bells) in the world!

Who Leads the College?

Steven L. Ceccio is currently the interim dean of the University of Michigan College of Engineering. An interim dean is someone who leads the college for a short time. He started this role on June 1, 2023.

Mr. Ceccio is also a professor of engineering. His research looks at how different liquids and gases flow together. For example, he studies how water flows with gas bubbles in it. He wants to understand these flows better and find new ways to use them.

The college has had many leaders over the years. Here are some of them:

What Can You Study?

The North Campus Diag, looking towards (from right to left) the EECS Building, G.G. Brown, and H. H. Dow Building (hidden by trees)

The College of Engineering offers many different study programs. You can earn a bachelor's degree (your first college degree), a master's degree, or a PhD (a very advanced degree).

Here are some of the undergraduate (first degree) programs you can study:

• Aerospace Engineering (designing planes and rockets)
• Biomedical Engineering (designing medical devices)
• Chemical Engineering (working with chemicals and materials)
• Civil Engineering (building structures and infrastructure)
• Climate and Meteorology (studying weather and climate)
• Computer Engineering (designing computer hardware and software)
• Computer Science (creating software and computer systems)
• Data Science (analyzing large amounts of data)
• Electrical Engineering (working with electricity and electronics)
• Engineering Physics (combining physics with engineering)
• Environmental Engineering (solving environmental problems)
• Industrial and Operations Engineering (making systems more efficient)
• Materials Science and Engineering (studying and creating new materials)
• Mechanical Engineering (designing machines and mechanical systems)
• Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (designing ships and marine structures)
• Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (working with nuclear energy)
• Robotics (designing and building robots)
• Space Science and Engineering (exploring space and space technology)

The college also has special programs that offer unique courses:

• Applied Physics
• Engineering Education Research
• Macromolecular Science & Engineering
• Tauber Institute for Global Operations
• Transportation Research Institute

Cool Labs and Places

The College of Engineering has many cool laboratories and facilities. For example, there's the Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSystems (WIMS). This lab works on tiny electronic systems. Another lab is the Center for Ultra-Fast Optical Sciences, which studies light at super-fast speeds.

The Phoenix Memorial Laboratory used to have a nuclear reactor. Now, it's used for research on how to use nuclear technology peacefully. The college also has 11 wind tunnels, which are used to test how things move through the air. There are also labs for electron microscopes, ion beams, and making solid state devices.

You can find labs for automotive engineering (cars), neutron science, and robotics all around the college. There's even a hydrodynamics lab on the main campus that studies how liquids move.

The Duderstadt Center

The Duderstadt Center is a very popular building for engineering students. They often call it "The Dude"! It's named after a former university president and nuclear engineering professor, James Duderstadt. This center has a library, computer labs, and places to edit audio and video. It also has cool areas for virtual reality and digital media.

The Computer Aided Engineering Network (CAEN) provides computer services and networking for the college. They run many computer labs for students.

In 2015, the University of Michigan opened a special test track called Mcity. It's a 32-acre course designed for autonomous cars (self-driving cars). Mcity looks like a small town with roads, a tunnel, and even a railroad crossing. Professors and students use Mcity to test new car technology and work with car companies.

In 2019, professors started the University of Michigan Center for Digital Curricula. This center creates online learning materials for students.

Rankings

The College of Engineering is considered one of the best in the United States. U.S. News & World Report ranked it No. 7 in the country in 2021.

Honor Code

Students at the College of Engineering follow an Honor Code. This is a set of rules about being honest in their schoolwork and when using computers. If a student sees someone breaking the Honor Code, they are supposed to report it.

During exams, professors usually aren't in the room. Students are trusted to follow the rules on their own. They must write and sign an Honor Pledge on their exams. It says: "I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this (exam/assignment/etc.), nor have I concealed any violations of the Honor Code."

All schoolwork must be a student's own work, unless the teacher says it's okay to work with others. If you use ideas or words from someone else, you must say where you got them from. Trying to copy software illegally from the college's computers is also a violation of the Honor Code.

If a student is suspected of breaking the Honor Code, a special group of students called the Honor Council will look into it. They gather information and the student will meet with them. The Honor Council then gives their decision to a faculty committee, who decides on any punishment. The records of the Honor Council are kept private.

Student Groups

There are many student groups at Michigan Engineering! These include student branches of professional organizations like AIAA (for aerospace), IEEE (for electrical engineers), and ASME (for mechanical engineers).

There are also groups for minority students, like the SWE, NSBE, and oStem. Honor societies like Tau Beta Pi also exist for students with excellent grades. Most of these groups have offices in Pierpont Commons or the EECS building. The Engineering Student Government (ESG) represents all engineering students.

Many students also join project teams where they build amazing things. These teams often work in the Wilson Student Project Center. Some major project teams include:

• University of Michigan Electric Boat
• Michigan Health Engineered for All Lives (M-HEAL)
• BLUELab
• Baja SAE Team (building off-road vehicles)
• Concrete Canoe (building canoes out of concrete!)
• MRacing Team - Formula SAE (building race cars)
• Michigan Electric Racing Team
• Michigan Mars Rover Team (building robots for Mars)
• Michigan Robotic Submarine
• Steel Bridge
• Engineering Global Leadership Honors Program (EGL)
• University of Michigan Solar Car Team (building cars powered by the sun)
• University of Michigan Supermileage Team
• MFly
• UM::Autonomy
• Human Powered Submarine
• Human Powered Helicopter

The Michigan Baja Racing team is one of the best in the country. In 2013 and 2015, they won first place overall in their competitions! They design and build special off-road vehicles.

In 2006, the UM Human Powered Submarine Team won the International Submarine Races. Also, the Radio Aurora Explorer was a small satellite designed and built by University of Michigan students. It was the first satellite sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

Did you know that over one-third of the students in the Michigan Marching Band are engineering students?

Fun Events

Tech Day is an event held every fall. High school students who are thinking about going to Michigan Engineering can visit the campus with their parents. They can talk to current students and professors, see demonstrations, and learn about the different engineering programs. Over 500 students and their parents come to Tech Day each year!

The SWE/TBP Career Fair is a big job fair held every fall. It's organized by the Society of Women Engineers and Tau Beta Pi student groups. Many companies come to this fair to meet engineering students and offer them jobs or internships. It's one of the largest student-run career fairs in the country, with almost 300 companies attending!

The Engineering Research Symposium is a one-day event that started in 2006. Students from all levels (from first-year to PhD) show off their research projects. They give presentations and show posters about their work.

See also

In Spanish: Escuela de Ingeniería de la Universidad de Míchigan para niños

• Engineering
• Glossary of engineering
• List of University of Michigan people – people associated with the college are marked with COE