Industrial Technology

Industrial Technology Project

      The Association of Technology, Management and Applied Engineering (ATMAE)-accredited industrial technology program I selected to evaluate is the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Department of Industrial Technology (http://itec.louisiana.edu/).   This program offers a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Industrial Technology, and includes a comprehensive curriculum of 128-130 credit hours of study (including 42 credit hours specifically in industrial technology).   Participants in this program are exposed to other areas of study in their junior and senior years, including communication, business law and management.   The purpose of these additional courses is to provide the student with necessary skills for immediate employment upon completion of the program.   The types of jobs graduates can expect are typically in the manufacturing, petroleum, food and other service industries.   I found the plan of study to be very straightforward, with only 12-15 hours available for program-specific electives.
The University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science (http://seas.virginia.edu) offers several engineering degree options; however, I selected to evaluate the Bachelor of Science in Systems Engineering (http://www.sys.virginia.edu/students/undergrad_admissions.html).   In this program, there are two plans of study – a standard curriculum and an advanced “scholar” curriculum (called the Rodman Scholar Program).   For the purpose of this project, I chose to review the standard curriculum.
      Much like the BS in Industrial Technology offered by the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, this program requires a minimum of 128 credit hours for program completion; however, whereas the former provides a somewhat rigid curriculum, the BS in Systems Engineering curriculum from the University of Virginia is more flexible with nine hours of non-restricted electives, nine hours of application (or specific area of emphasis) electives and six...