| Lamar University College of Engineering | |
|---|---|
| Established | 1951 |
| Dean | Dr. Jack Hopper |
| Academic staff | 40 |
| Students | 1,200 |
| Location | Beaumont, Texas, U.S. |
| Website | dept.lamar.edu/engineering/COE |
The Lamar University College of Engineering (LUCOE) is an engineering college at Lamar University. The college offers bachelors, masters, doctorates and Ph.D.'s. The college's goal in its own words is to provide a foundation of strong theoretical emphasis, the development of practical engineering skills, experience in interpersonal communication and teamwork, and an emphasis on ethics, professional conduct and critical thinking. The vision for LUCOE is to provide students with engineering theory and practice, industrial experience and leadership skills.[1]
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Lamar's birth was in large part due to the demand for technically trained individuals in the area, after the 1901 Spindletop oil discovery, making Beaumont, Texas one of the most heavily industrialized areas of the United States. The School was founded in 1923 as a junior college. On September 1, 1951 the Texas Legislature promoted the school to a four year institution and renamed the school Lamar State College of Technology. The legislature noted the school would emphasize engineering, technology, and science to serve the regions large industrial base.[2] The school immediately began granting engineering degrees in 1951. In 1970, Lamar's history as a science and technology school was again a driving force in a name change. The state authorized Lamar to offer its first doctoral degree program, the doctor of engineering. On May 3, 1971, Gov. Preston Smith signed a bill changing the name of Lamar State College of Technology to Lamar University. In 2005, Lamar's First Ph.D program was established in the College of Engineering: the Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering.[3]
The college gets industry and government support, such as a $1 million donation from the Valero Energy Foundation,[4] and a $4.8 million research lab funded by the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration under the Disaster Recovery Project.[5] The College of Engineering has the two of the three endowed departments at Lamar University. In 2007 The Philip M. Drayer Department of Electrical Engineering was established with a $5 million gift from Philip M. Drayer.[6] In 2009 The Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering was established with a $5 million donation from Dan F. Smith.[7]
The College of Engineering has 10 research centers located under its authority. These are coordinated under the Texas Centers for Technology Incubation (TCTI).[8] The research centers receive $3.5 million a year in external funding in addition to state and university research funds.
The Cooperaive Education Program at Lamar is a work experience program for Lamar Engineering students meeting the academic standards to participate. The program's goal is to provide engineering students with immediately applicable education and to help students have the qualifications companies want. Cooperative education (co-op) and internship programs are designed to make student success upon graduation a priority by combining practical experience with academic study.[9]
The College assist co-op students to obtain paid cooperative education/internship opportunities in all five of the engineering disciplines at Lamar: Civil, Chemical, Electrical, Industrial and Mechanical.
The Dan F. Smith Department of Chemical Engineering was established with a $5 million donation from Dan F. Smith in 2009.[10] Dan F. Smith graduated from Lamar in 1969 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, since then he has worked for many chemical companies including Lyondell where he was the CEO. Lamar University Chemical Engineering has a history of being one of the top rated programs in the country. The program continually produces the same or more M.S. in Chemical Engineering graduates than Universities such as Stanford, IIT and MIT.[11] The building housing the Ph.D. program was completed in 2010.
The Civil Engineering department is one of the broadest departments in the College. Headed by Dr. Robert L. Yuan. It offers the degrees of:
In the Fall of 2008 the Civil Engineering department started a new program, the Reese Construction Management program, with a 1.25 million dollar donation from Jerry and Sheila Reese.[12] The program is headed by Steve McCrary Ph.D.
The Philip M. Drayer Department of Electrical Engineering was endowed with a 5 million dollar gift from Philip M. Drayer in 2007.[13] Phillip M. Drayer graduated from Lamar in 1967 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. Since then, he has gone on to be the CEO of several successful companies. The department has been chaired by Harley Myler, Ph.D., since 2001. Dr. Myler is the inaugural holder of the Mitchle Endowed chair in Telecommunications. The department has many successful alumni in the industry including Phil Drayer (LUEE ’67), and [14] (LUEE ’59) inventor and founder of Garrett Metal Detectors.[15]
The Industrial Engineering Department at Lamar is headed by Dr. Victor Zaloom, who is also the Associate Dean of the College. In 2010 the department won a contract to provide masters degrees to new hires within the United States Army Materiel Command, one of the army's primary engineering units.
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