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MSU College of Engineering Welcomes Largest Entering Class In A Decade

EAST LANSING (WWJ) -- When freshmen Spartan engineers walked into their classes at Michigan State University Wednesday, they were part of the College of Engineering's largest entering class in more than a decade.

Leo Kempel, acting dean of the MSU College of Engineering, greeted freshmen and transfer students during opening ceremonies of the 2013 Colloquium Tuesday in East Lansing.

"Welcome to our largest entering engineering class in recent years," Kempel said. "Get ready for an exciting ride."

Official attendance numbers won't be available until October, but unofficially this year's entering class has doubled since 2006.

Freshmen in the College of Engineering total around 1,300 students, including 225 women that represent an increase of 30 percent of incoming female students from last year. All 1,300 of the students will take Introduction to Engineering Design (EGR 100), where they will pursue hands-on design projects in teams of four. More than half of the incoming students will live in Wilson Hall as part of the residential component of CoRe, the first year living-learning program.

There will be more than 4,200 undergraduates in the college this year. The College of Engineering also welcomed 10 new faculty members as the new academic year began.

"Technology changes the world," Kempel continued. "The people sitting here with you in the College of Engineering are those that will change the world in the next 10-20 years. Welcome."

MSU enrolled 7,800 freshmen and expects about 48,000 students on the East Lansing campus this academic year. Classes began at Michigan State on Wednesday, Aug. 28. Read more on MSU's back to school at this link.

Michigan State's College of Engineering is one of the university's largest and oldest colleges on campus. MSU's first mechanical lab dates back to 1885. The first undergraduate degrees granted at the university went to four engineering students. Today's College of Engineering has six departments and about 200 faculty members serving more than 4,200 undergraduate and about 700 graduate students. The college supports a strong research portfolio with a strategic vision focused on five major areas: energy, health, materials, security and sustainability. For more, visit www.egr.msu.edu.

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