WPI to Offer Bachelor's Degree Program in Architectural Engineering in New England
WORCESTER, Mass. –– Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will launch a new interdisciplinary program leading to the bachelor of science degree in architectural engineering in the fall of 2012. It will be one of just 17 such programs nationwide, the first program in New England, and only the second in the Northeast. WPI’s program has been designed to prepare students to help address the growing challenges of sustainability, energy conservation and safety in the built environment.
“With rapid increase in world population, growing demand on resources, and changing demographics and lifestyles, engineers are increasingly being called upon to rethink how we approach the design and construction of buildings,” said Selcuk Guceri, Bernard M. Gordon dean of engineering at WPI. “Buildings consume about 40 percent of the nation’s energy and nearly 70 percent of its electricity, so energy efficiency is a vital challenge, as are how buildings contribute to a sustainable environment and how they maximize the safety of their occupants. Our new program in architectural engineering will build on WPI’s strengths in all of these areas to produce graduates who are uniquely well prepared to help create tomorrow’s sustainable structures.”