University of Oklahoma College of Engineering
Encyclopedia
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
unit of the University of Oklahoma
University of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
in Norman
Norman, Oklahoma
Norman is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States, and is located south of downtown Oklahoma City. It is part of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, Norman was to have 110,925 full-time residents, making it the third-largest city in Oklahoma and the...
. It has an enrollment of 2,086 undergraduates and 2,193 graduate
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
students,. In 2009, 257 bachelor’s degrees, 92 master’s degrees and 29 doctoral degrees were conferred.
History
| Engineering College Deans |
| James Felgar, 1909-1937 |
| William Carson, 1937-1962 |
| Gene Nordby, 1962-1970 |
| William Upthegrove, 1970-1981 |
| Martin Jischke, 1981-1985 |
| John Francis (acting), 1985-1986 |
| Tom Love (interim), 1986-1987 |
| Billy Crynes, 1987-1998 |
| W. Arthur "Skip" Porter, 1998-2005 |
| Thomas Landers, 2005–present |
The college was founded in 1909, but engineering work started five years before that under the School of Applied Science. By 1908 formal programs had been established in electrical
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
, civil
Civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
and mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
under the direction of the school's first dean, James Felgar, who would lead the soon to be created college for 28 years. The college's first spike in enrollment came in the 1930s, when demand for natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
and oil led to the creation of programs in geological engineering and petroleum engineering. Until the 1970s, engineering students could be identified by the slide rules which were carried in a leather case on their belts.
The college's main office are currently located in Carson Engineering Center, with many civil and industrial engineering classes being held in that building. Historic Felgar Hall houses mechanical and aerospace engineering, while the first three floors of the Sarkeys Energy Center
Sarkeys Energy Center
Sarkeys Energy Center is the largest and tallest building on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, United States. It houses several academic units mainly centered around earth sciences.-Overview:...
are home to the school of chemical engineering. In recent years, the college has rapidly expanded beyond these buildings as to the recently constructed Devon Energy Hall, for electrical and computer engineering, and the ExxonMobil Lawrence G. Rawl Engineering Practice Facility, which provides students and engineering organizations large scale work space. Four of these buildings (Carson, Felgar, Devon and the Practice Facility) create an "engineering quadrangle" on the northeast section of OU's main campus. Many graduate level classes and research labs have moved to the recently opened Stephenson Research Center located on Norman's south campus.
Between 1998 and 2002, the college had negotiated dozens of licenses and patent applications, marketed more than 55 invention
Invention
An invention is a novel composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived, in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social...
s and helped with the formation of 12 start-up companies.
In 2010 the college celebrated its centennial with a variety of events, including a symposium with presentations from several prominent alumni, as well as a keynote address by renowned humanitarian and Three Cups of Tea
Three Cups of Tea
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace ... One School at a Time is a book by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin published by Penguin in 2006. For four years, the book remained on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller's list...
author Greg Mortenson
Greg Mortenson
Greg Mortenson, SPk is an American humanitarian, professional speaker, writer, and former mountaineer. He is the co-founder and executive director of the non-profit Central Asia Institute as well as the founder of the educational charity Pennies for Peace...
.
Irish Heritage
St. Patrick, who among other things is the patron saint of engineers, has long been the unofficial mascot of the College of Engineering. Paintings of shamrocksShamrocks
Shamrocks is a solitaire game akin to La Belle Lucie. The object is the same as the latter: move the cards into the foundations.-Rules:The game is layout out as in La Belle Lucie: seventeen piles of three cards are placed on the table with one card counting as an eighteenth. Any card that can be...
can be found in many of the engineering buildings, and the week of St. Patrick's Day is known as E-Week, during which numerous engineering related activities occur.
Loyal Knights of Old Trusty
The Loyal Knights of Old Trusty is a secret organization founded at the University of OklahomaUniversity of Oklahoma
The University of Oklahoma is a coeducational public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two became the state of Oklahoma. the university had 29,931 students enrolled, most located at its...
in 1920. That year a small group of engineers banded together and formed this secret order to uphold the traditions of the College of Engineering and to pay homage to the Patron Saint of Engineers, Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick
Saint Patrick was a Romano-Briton and Christian missionary, who is the most generally recognized patron saint of Ireland or the Apostle of Ireland, although Brigid of Kildare and Colmcille are also formally patron saints....
. During this time it has served the College of Engineering in every possible way, but above all by keeping alive its cherished traditions. Until they unhood themselves at the "fireout" event during Engineers' Week each year, members are known only by their number and are only seen on campus wearing black hooded robes bearing their respective number. These students who wear the black robes are seldom seen but they represent an active and old tradition of the university. This secret order, although not an "officially recognized" university organization, has won the respect of all engineers and receives faculty and university approval. There are LKOT signs all around the campus at the entrances to university buildings and university houses.
Rivalry
The College of Engineering has a longstanding rivalry with the OU College of LawUniversity of Oklahoma College of Law
The University of Oklahoma College of Law is an ABA-certified law school located on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Currently, the College of Law has an enrollment of 527 law students....
. Statues of owls
OWLS
OWLS is a mnemonic used by general aviation airplane pilots to assess an unprepared surface for a precautionary landing.Like all mnemonics this check has become part of aviation culture and folklore.OWLS:* Obstacles* Wind direction...
in the facade of Monnet Hall, the former home of the law students, have been repeatedly painted green by engineering students, a practice that has been continued in recent years. For example, the owl statues on the law college's new building were painted green during E-Week of 2003, and a large banner was glued to the front of the building, causing several thousand dollars in damage.
Academic programs
The college grants degrees at the Bachelor'sBachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
, Master's
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
, and PhD
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
levels. Engineering fields covered at the college include:
- Aerospace EngineeringAerospace engineeringAerospace engineering is the primary branch of engineering concerned with the design, construction and science of aircraft and spacecraft. It is divided into two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering...
- Architectural EngineeringArchitectural engineeringArchitectural engineering, also known as building engineering, is the application of engineering principles and technology to building design and construction...
- Bioengineering
- Chemical EngineeringChemical engineeringChemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
(standard, premedical/biomedical, and biotechnology) - Civil EngineeringCivil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
- Environmental EngineeringEnvironmental engineeringEnvironmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to improve the natural environment , to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites...
- Environmental ScienceEnvironmental scienceEnvironmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...
- Computer EngineeringComputer engineeringComputer engineering, also called computer systems engineering, is a discipline that integrates several fields of electrical engineering and computer science required to develop computer systems. Computer engineers usually have training in electronic engineering, software design, and...
- Computer ScienceComputer scienceComputer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
- Electrical EngineeringElectrical engineeringElectrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
- Engineering PhysicsEngineering physicsEngineering physics is the study of the combined disciplines of physics, engineering and mathematics in order to develop an understanding of the interrelationships of these three disciplines. Fundamental physics is combined with problem solving and engineering skills, which then has broad...
- Geological Engineering
- Industrial EngineeringIndustrial engineeringIndustrial engineering is a branch of engineering dealing with the optimization of complex processes or systems. It is concerned with the development, improvement, implementation and evaluation of integrated systems of people, money, knowledge, information, equipment, energy, materials, analysis...
(standard and information technology) - Materials Engineering
- Mechanical EngineeringMechanical engineeringMechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
- Petroleum EngineeringPetroleum engineeringPetroleum engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the activities related to the production of hydrocarbons, which can be either crude oil or natural gas. Subsurface activities are deemed to fall within the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry, which are the activities of...