Engineering Studies

Clarkson combines two distinctive strengths: Personalized teaching and high-powered research. As a small, undergraduate-centered university, our professors get to know students as individuals. These faculty members also conduct world-class research in areas of vital importance — and they involve undergraduates in the process.

Engineering studies allows you, regardless of your major, to participate in a program called SPEED — Student Projects for Engineering Experience and Design. Clarkson has 12 different SPEED teams that compete with student teams from other universities. The experience will help you sharpen your skills in creative problem solving, collaboration, communication and leadership. As with all engineering students, you also have access to undergraduate research opportunities. More than 250 undergraduates a year participate in sponsored research.

Students who choose the Engineering Studies program work directly with our Director of Engineering Studies and support faculty members, who assist them in finding the right personalized pathway through engineering. Through a partnership with the Office of Undergraduate Advising, students in the Coulter School of Engineering also have additional resources for advisement. 

For all engineering majors at Clarkson, the first two semesters are nearly identical regardless of specific engineering discipline. This common experience provides the flexibility needed for our students to explore our eight unique engineering majors - aeronautical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, environmental, mechanical, software - without having to choose until the second year.

In this common experience, engineering students take all the fundamental courses needed, including chemistry, calculus, physics, engineering and society, and introduction to engineering in the first year. They may also take biology and/or computer science. 

At our Fall and Spring Career Fairs, employers will talk to our current engineering students about their field and the preparation they look for. You'll also talk with upper-class students in engineering majors to find out about their program. And, finally, through your courses, you will learn more about your own preferences and abilities.