Utah State University has approved a new engineering technology degree program to provide more opportunities for students.

The degree is designed to bridge the gap between academia and industry. The program has been developed with input from both fields to provide students with more knowledge and experience.

Richard Hawkes is a program director at Northrop Grumman and was instrumental in the design and development of this new degree.

“My team and I realized we had a whole bunch of highly skilled engineers who needed these degrees to advance in their careers,” Hawkes said. “Say what you want, people say, ‘Well, it’s a piece of paper.’ And no, it’s not a piece of paper. These degrees teach people or employees how to think, and we wanted them to go through that and have that experience.”

Developed in collaboration with industry professionals, this new program focuses on a hands-on approach for students who are more interested in the applied side of engineering.

Andrew Deceuster is the assistant department head of the Technology, Design and Technical Education program at USU.

“A lot of courses have similar names, both in traditional engineering and technical engineering,” he said. “The difference is that typically in technical engineering, almost all courses have some sort of lab or hands-on component that you may not get in your traditional engineering courses. There are usually more hands-on elements rather than deeper dives into theory between courses. So that’s the biggest difference.”

The new program is also designed to give those already in industry the opportunity to expand their skills and education. Jerald Kellar is a new engineering faculty member who comes from industry, and he emphasized the importance of having this opportunity.

“These professionals, technical, very technical, very skilled people, need to have a degree to take the next step in their careers, and this gives them the opportunity to do that,” Kellar explained.

This qualification has been in the works for six years and was approved at the end of July, meaning the first class can begin in August this year.

For more information about the new program, see www.usu.edu