URI pilots accelerated engineering degree

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The University of Rhode Island’s College of Engineering is establishing an accelerated bachelor’s-and-master’s degree program that students can complete in five years.
URI said its recent announcement follows calls from several professional engineering societies pushing schools to develop degree programs that better prepare students for the workplace.
The new URI program, launched as a pilot for ocean engineering students during the 2009-2010 school year, requires students to take courses in project management and systems engineering and gain research experience working on a faculty research project or in a project with an industry or agency partner.
In addition, students who enroll in the accelerated B.S./M.S. program are required to pass the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, a nationally sanctioned exam. •