Point Park’s New Electrical, Mechanical Engineering Programs Earn ABET Accreditation Tuesday, September 15, 2020
“Achieving ABET accreditation for our new electrical and mechanical engineering programs is a great milestone for us and, most importantly, for our students. We have long maintained that our programs provide a rigorous, hands-on engineering education, and this is a welcome validation."
Point Park University’s new Bachelor of Science programs in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering have been accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, the global accreditor of college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering and engineering technology.
Point Park’s civil engineering technology program also received a renewal on its accreditation by ABET's Engineering Technology Accreditation Commission.
ABET accreditation assures that programs meet standards to produce graduates ready to enter critical technical fields that are leading the way in innovation and emerging technologies, and anticipating the welfare and safety needs of the public.
“Achieving ABET accreditation for our new electrical and mechanical engineering programs is a great milestone for us and, most importantly, for our students. We have long maintained that our programs provide a rigorous, hands-on engineering education, and this is a welcome validation,” said Gregg Johnson, Ph.D., chair of Point Park’s Department of Natural Sciences, Engineering and Technology.
“Our students, alumni and their employers now have assurance that an engineering degree from Point Park University comes from a program that has been closely scrutinized and found to meet the high standards ABET requires in all aspects, including curriculum, faculty, facilities and university support," Johnson added. "I would like to thank the engineering program coordinators Donald Keller, Ph.D., P.E., and Robert Draper, M.S., for their extraordinary efforts in making this long-term vision happen, in addition to Kristin Steele who helped in many capacities at every step along the way.”
While Point Park has offered accredited degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering technology for more than three decades, the NSET department began the process of developing the electrical engineering and mechanical engineering programs about four years ago. The move was an effort to stay in step with the needs of our students and their regional employers.
Sought worldwide, ABET’s voluntary peer-review process is highly respected because it adds critical value to academic programs in the technical disciplines, where quality, precision, and safety are of the utmost importance.
Developed by technical professionals from ABET’s member societies, ABET criteria focus on what students experience and learn. ABET accreditation reviews look at program curricula, faculty, facilities, and institutional support and are conducted by teams of highly skilled professionals from industry, academia, and government, with expertise in the ABET disciplines.
ABET is a nonprofit, non-governmental organization with ISO 9001:2015 certification. It currently accredits 4,144 programs at 812 colleges and universities in 32 countries.
More information about ABET, its member societies, and the accreditation criteria used to evaluate programs can be found at www.abet.org.