ENG, Smith College Form Innovative Partnership
The College of Engineering and Smith College are pioneering an innovative 4+1 BS-MS partnership program. The program will offer Smith College Bachelor of Science engineering students enriching research experiences as they prepare to enroll in one of BU’s Master of Science engineering programs.
Smith College is among the largest liberal arts colleges for women in the country and graduates approximately 45 Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science students annually from its ABET-accredited Picker Engineering Program. Smith students accepted into a master’s degree program in the BU College of Engineering will be offered a substantive research experience in a faculty laboratory in the summers before and after their senior year. They will be able to apply to BU as early as the spring semester of their junior year.
“This partnership with Smith College is a natural extension of our mission to create the Societal Engineer,” said College of Engineering Dean Kenneth Lutchen. “Much like our students, these talented undergraduates share a commitment to using their engineering skills to address societal challenges, including climate change, health, resource limitations and conflict, among many others.
“Having demonstrated that commitment in their undergraduate careers, Smith College students are well prepared to elevate their impact on society with an advanced engineering degree that includes exciting and impactful research experiences.”
Andrew Guswa, director of Smith’s Picker Engineering Program, said, “With its commitment to creating the Societal Engineer, the College of Engineering at Boston University is a natural partner for the Picker Engineering Program. Smith graduates will apply their integrative engineering background to innovative research and graduate work to address society’s challenges. This collaboration allows our undergraduates to experience at BU 14 exciting areas of study, including electrical engineering, materials science, product design, and biomedical engineering – the professional home of Associate Professor Cara Stepp (SAR, BME), one of the first graduates from the Picker Engineering Program.”
Said Stepp, “As an alumna of Smith, I am very excited about this formal partnership, one I wish had existed when I was a student. Both the Smith and BU engineering programs aim to prepare students to address societal challenges through the creative application of science and technology. I am convinced that this collaboration is the ideal mechanism to provide cutting-edge research opportunities and graduate study to Smith engineering students.”
This unique partnership will give Smith College engineering students research experiences in BU College of Engineering faculty labs while they are still undergraduates. They will be paired with faculty in the summer after junior year and will have the opportunity to pursue a follow-on research experience the following summer, just prior to beginning graduate studies. Once enrolled in any of the College’s MS programs, they will also have the option of pursing a thesis supervised by a faculty member.
Smith students will enjoy other benefits, as well. In addition to the opportunity to apply early, BU will allow them to waive the required GRE scores as part to their applications and early decisions will be provided as the applications arrive. Every accepted Smith student will receive a partial scholarship toward tuition, as well as a stipend and housing supplement for each summer research fellowship. In addition, Smith students will have the option of applying to the PhD program of their choice at BU during their initial master’s year.