The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology was recently awarded two new grants from the Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors. The state-of-the-art equipment obtained through these grants will help address urgent needs in civil engineering education at Jackson State University.
Dr. Farshad Amini, chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, said engineering firms are more reluctant to hire graduates without experience or advanced knowledge of state-of-the-art surveying and hydraulics engineering equipment. “Recognizing the importance of becoming a licensed professional engineer, civil engineers must demonstrate knowledge of surveying and hydraulics areas both in theory and experiments. Thus, it is crucial that students are exposed to the adequate experiments in the laboratory,” said Amini.
In preparation as future civil engineers, students enrolled in the surveying and fluid mechanics classes will use the newly purchased equipment to validate fundamental surveying and hydraulic theories. In addition to providing current students with more job-ready experience, the new equipment would also help attract more prospective students to the field of civil engineering.
With the rapid increase in civil engineering enrollment at JSU, it is anticipated that 30 to 40 students per year will benefit from the acquisition of the equipment. In approximately 10 years, the equipment will impact an estimated 300 to 400 students. Dr. Himangshu Das, associate professor, and Bradnado Turnquest, adjunct instructor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, direct hydraulics and surveying engineering laboratories, respectively.
“These grants are important and very helpful since we are always seeking to upgrade and enhance our laboratories. It is hoped that the acquisition of this equipment will have a long-term positive impact on the civil engineering education in the College of Science, Engineering and Techonlogy at JSU,” Amini said.