The Daily Mining Gazette - Published: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 Print Article | Close Window Tech makes national engineering rankings By DAN SCHNEIDER, DMG Writer HOUGHTON — Michigan Technological University’s engineering graduate programs were recognized in a national magazine that hit newsstands Monday. Four of Tech’s engineering programs were ranked in the top 50 in their respective categories in U.S. News & World Report’s annual graduate school rankings. The rankings are published in the April 7 issue of the magazine, which went on sale at newsstands Monday. Tech’s environmental engineering graduate program ranked 26th while the university’s graduate programs in materials science and engineering, civil engineering and mechanical engineering ranked 41st, 43rd and 48th, respectively. Tech Dean of Engineering Tim Schulz said mechanical engineering made a significant jump from last year’s U.S. News & World Report rankings, when the program ranked 54th. “Relative to last year, they did jump above some universities and those universities were Clemson, Dartmouth, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University of Iowa and Washington State,” Schulz said. Tech President Glenn Mroz hopes to surpass more universities by this time next year. “We’re pretty pleased with the recognition of the graduate programs and we’re looking forward to moving up again next year,” Mroz said. Schulz said the rankings show Tech’s efforts to build its graduate study programs in engineering are gaining traction. “I think these rankings are one indication of the growing presence we have in graduate education here,” Schulz said. U.S. News and World Report publishes top 50 rankings in eight categories that match graduate programs offered at Tech. Tech’s biomedical, chemical, computer and electrical engineering graduate programs did not make the top 50 in their respective categories. In the overall engineering rankings, Tech placed 78th, directly behind Washington State University, tied with the University of New Mexico and one place ahead of Clemson University. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley placed first, second and third, respectively in the overall engineering rankings. Schulz said Tech’s placement in the rankings will help the university in the competitive field of graduate student recruitment. “There are a lot of students who look to these rankings to get relative assessments of the quality of these programs,” Schulz said. Mroz credited the teaching staff at the university for the award. “To a large degree, this is an accolade for the faculty across campus, because whether you happen to be in one of the departments that was ranked or not, you played a role in this because all of the faculty play a role in teaching graduate students in all different departments,” Mroz said. U.S. News & World Report does not have a ranking category for geological and mining engineering graduate programs, but Tech’s ranked 77th in the nation in the earth sciences category. Dan Schneider can be reached at dschneider@mininggazette.com