Doors of opportunity: 100+ years of engineering excellence
As part of The University of Akron’s sesquicentennial celebration — honoring 150 years of our people, place and promises — we are hosting a “Celebration of Academic Excellence” to highlight the history and future of our colleges and academic disciplines.
Today we are looking at the history and achievements of the College of Engineering and Polymer Science.
Professor R. H. Schmidt (center) demonstrates a smoke screen used for chemical warfare in the 1944 Engineering, Science and Management War Training program.
Image courtesy of Archival Services of University Libraries.
In 1914, the College of Engineering — now the College of Engineering and Polymer Science — opened its doors to its first students.
Around that time, the college’s first dean, Frederic E. Ayer, walked through the doors of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. to speak with its founder, F.A. Seiberling, who introduced Ayer to the company’s superintendent.
“This is Dean Ayer, who is starting the cooperative system of engineering at Akron University,” Seiberling said. “Of course, Goodyear will employ some of his students.”
And, as a matter of course, the college would, over the next 100-plus years, usher students through one company door after another, earning a reputation for producing some of the most coveted, career-ready graduates in the country.
UA’s engineering design teams, such as the Concrete Canoe team, often rank highly in competitions.
Hands-on learning has always been a staple of engineering education at UA. Here, three students look closely at a piece of equipment in the electrical machine lab in 1972.
Image courtesy of Archival Services of University Libraries.
That reputation for engineering excellence continues today.
- The college’s faculty bring their industry experience to the classroom, having worked previously with industrial giants such as the Timken Co., Goodyear, Ohio Aerospace Institute, NASA Glenn Research Center and more. Accomplished researchers, they collectively receive an average of $1 million per month in research funding, enabling them to tackle everything from cancer and Chiari malformation to corrosion.
- The college’s storied co-op program, the fifth-oldest in the U.S., gives students hands-on, paid work experience with elite employers, including world leaders in tire technology and Fortune 500 companies in the Akron area. Upon graduation, UA engineering students get hired by household names such as Amazon, Microsoft and SpaceX, as well as innovative startups.
- UA’s engineering student design teams build concrete canoes, steel bridges, race cars, robots, rockets and more, frequently ranking among the best in the country, and even the world, in competition. Students on the Engineering Service Design Team and Biomedical Engineering Design Team work with local nonprofits to adapt devices for community members with disabilities.
- The college was among the first to tackle the nationwide problem of corrosion, launching the country’s first bachelor’s degree program in corrosion engineering — as well as the National Center for Education and Research on Corrosion and Materials Performance (NCERCAMP), established by a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense.
- UA’s bachelor’s degree in aerospace systems engineering is the only degree of its kind in the country outside of the U.S. Air Force Academy.
Today, students continue to work closely in the lab with expert faculty members, such as Dr. James Keszenheimer (center).
Students in UA’s surveying and mapping program — the only ABET-accredited bachelor’s degree program in Ohio — have consistently won national competitions and awards.
Moreover, the college now contains, in addition to its celebrated engineering programs, the University’s in-demand programs in engineering technology, computing, and polymers:
- Automated Manufacturing Engineering Technology, and Advanced Manufacturing Engineering Technology
- Computer Information Systems (Cybersecurity, Networking, and Programming),
- Computer Science
- Construction Engineering Technology, and Construction Field Operations
- Corrosion Engineering Technology
- Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology
- Mechanical Engineering Technology
- Polymer Engineering
- Polymer Science
- Surveying and Mapping, and Land Surveying
With the inclusion of these programs, the college is stronger and more dynamic than ever, opening doors to even greater opportunities for collaboration and innovation — and to an even brighter future.
Engineering students get real-world, paid work experience with top employers through the college’s renowned co-op program.