Though the University is not well known for its engineering programs, it boasts two degrees for students.

The two undergraduate engineering programs, Agricultural Engineering and Biological Engineering, are designed to send students into the working world with a different perspective on the profession.

“To turn technology into something people can use takes an engineer,” said Scott Angle, dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

These two programs were selected by the University because of the strong life sciences background the school can provide.

These are two new and rapidly growing fields of study. Biological engineering is the fastest-growing area in the nation because of the constant introduction of scientific discoveries.

Experts say job opportunities in this area are expected to rise in the next decade. Though agricultural engineering offers more traditional career pathways, such as designing farm implements, undergraduates do have the opportunity to choose many different directions to follow within this major.

Though many people associate engineering degrees with schools such as Georgia Tech, the biological and agricultural engineering students at the University say they have a different perspective.

Ashley Babcock, a senior biological engineering and romance languages double major, said she chose to go to the University to “gain an engineering degree that can speak with the knowledge of a liberal arts education.”

Lou Misenhamer, a senior agricultural engineering major specializing in structural systems, shared Babcock’s sentiment.

“Georgia Tech is very specialized in the area you want to go into. Georgia, though, gives you a broad engineering degree that allows you more opportunities in the working world,” he said. “You take a lot of varied classes that are not specific to an area, but you can apply them to many different things when searching for a job.”

Agricultural engineering students can focus on one of five areas, including electrical and electronic systems, mechanical systems, natural resource management, process operations and structural systems.

Agricultural engineers, after their first year, can participate in “work experience semesters,” which allow them to intern for academic credit.

The three emphases of biological engineering are environmental, biochemical and biomedical. Biological engineering students can get a dual-degree with a Bachelor’s of Agriculture in biological engineering and a Bachelor’s of Science in environmental health in a five-year period.

There are also three certificate programs associated with engineering – computer systems engineering, engineering physics and coastal and oceanographic engineering for undergraduates.

Before graduation, students in both majors must pass a Fundamentals of Engineering exam.

After graduation, the University also has graduate engineering programs.

Graduate students can earn master’s of science degrees with majors in agricultural, biological and biochemical engineering.

A new program at the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, called the “Dean’s Promise,” states that “every student in [the] college will have the opportunity to enrich their college experience beyond the classroom,” indicating opportunities for students to intern, study abroad, research and participate in leadership and service-learning projects.

This includes students in the two engineering majors.

Because the college requires engineering students to have some work experience, the “Dean’s Promise” will help undergraduates in this program.

Babcock will travel to Spain with the Maymester Medical Spanish program in May.

Misenhamer said students interested in engineering should be ready to make the Driftmier building their second home, and tells them not to make the mistake “of thinking that just because it is not a Georgia Tech degree that it is any easier here.”

Babcock also said the small engineering program at the University will allow students more one-on-one attention with teachers. To be accepted into this major, Angle said students must be “good at math and science, willing to work hard and put in long hours and willing to think outside the box,” because as an engineer, he said, “no one tells you how to get from A to B.”