Contents
Overview
Innovation and creativity in all places should primarily be driven by the educators. Union College, according to all statistics and personal experiences, is a wonderfully balanced educational institution. With leading undergraduate engineering program embedded in a liberal arts college setting, Union should be the prime leader in innovation. This is the one thing that Union engineering students always unanimously agree upon. If there is any communication across disciplines it should be happening on this almost unique campus.
Union College admits, educates, and inspires nearly 330 engineering students annually, while the general campus population totals in approximately 2,200 undergraduate students scattered across disciplines. With small class sizes, and 96% of faculty that holds PhD degrees, Union College fosters an educational environment that supports and deeply cares about each individual.
With the ease of access to every discipline available at Union, students can easily branch out of their area of study. This, seemingly common liberal arts college trait proves to be highly significant in educating future engineers, and Union graduates are frequently praised for their distinguished communication skills, excellent team work, and leadership abilities. One of Union's main goals is to educate well-rounded individuals who are likely to succeed in any area they choose after graduation. Union College fosters and encourages creativity and innovation, leadership and academic research. The campus is a wonderful environment that has simply not worded its efforts as "Innovation and Entrepreneurship".
Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Union College is a hub of social events. At this point, every department holds weekly speaker series, there is at least one speaker or discussion event going on each day, and every student can easily obtain a minor leadership position. With vibrant Greek life, and vibrant social life through campus activities, Union sometimes feels overwhelmingly educational even outside of the classroom. With a lot of campus events being student-run, Union students tend to acquire excellent advertising, planning, and event facilitating skills during their four years at the U. A large number of these students join MBA programs, medical school, or law school, and it is highly common for Union engineers to continue their education in business rather than engineering, simply because their interdisciplinary engineering experience allows them to become leaders in the business areas of engineering.
For those students interested in technological advancement, Union is the place to be. With only undergradute students on campus, the professors are committed to providing research opportunities and seeking interested students. Although different for students in liberal arts, engineering students frequently take on faculty research projects as early as their freshman year, committing to practica or summer research.
Students interested in entrepreneurship always find their niche. Ranging from academic majors in economics and menagerial economics that allow vast exploration of the curriculum, through the combined 5-year MBA program with Union Graduate College, this liberal arts college provides a good amount of opportunities for broad education that easily leads to business and entrepreneurship.
Faculty Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Professor Hal Fried, of Economics department, and Professor Ron Bucinell, in Mechanical Engineering, are joining their efforts and cooperating with the Alumni Committee on Entrepreneurship, striving to advance Union's current position on entrepreneurship. They are jointly teaching a class on entrepreneurship, offered next trimester.
Professor Fried, in particular, has organized some wonderful international opportunities, such as the Minerva Fellowship (recent graduates' year-long placement in a developing community). One such opportunity is available at a small manufacturing business in India. Professor Harold Fried has also initiated entrepreneurship exchange program to Cambodia. His efforts on campus are a true inspiration.
Professor Bucinell in Mechanical Engineering department is one of the most passionate innovators. He consistently emphasizes importance on entrepreneurship and innovation in all of his engineering classes. He is one of the best connected faculty members when it comes to local businesses and industry.
The University Technology Transfer Function
Union College makes its students a priority, which means the vast majority of faculty gives their best effort to teaching, and working closely with undergraduate students on reseach projects. In engineering, the communication with industry is the greatest. Professors appear well connected and often know of industrial opportunities, as well as do consulting or work on policy making in the region.
One of the better known cases of the technology transfer is an invention by Professor Frank Wicks, who for the longest time held a patent for his electricity-producing furnace. He used thermodynamics and heat transfer theories to arrive at a furnace design that would be producing electricity while it uses it, and in turn allow for cost decrease and advancement in efforts for creating environmentally friendly technologies.
The research opportunities at Union are vastly available, and often provide not only excellent academic experiences, but also teach students valuable skills for their future work in industry.
University-Industry Collaboration
Union College is very fortunately located in the region full of industrial opportunities. For small and individualized businesses to GE headquarters and global research center, Union students seem to easily obtain employment in the areas of their choice. While there is a valuable collaboration between academic departments and local industrial businesses, it is important to note that the majority of students identifies their possibilities and opportunities through Becker Career Center on campus.
Due to a high demand for engineers, Union College strives to prepare its engineering students for the industrial setting to the best of its ability. Combined with the excellent research opportunities available on campus, Union engineers are prepared for every possible environment.
Through ASME speaking competitions, GE Prize Day Awards, and IBM internships offered, Union maintains a highly successful long-term relationship with local industries.
Regional and Local Economic Development Efforts
Union College provides a good balance of innovation on campus and service to the community. The engineering faculty strives very hard to identify the key areas in education that need improvement in order to educate engineers who will be an excellent fit for the jobs that are currently on the market for them. At times this involves high increase of software use, very frequent team work, design projects, and open-ended questions.
To a student, this may seem like the College is attempting to produce a "disruptive" engineer, by educating students to become marketable, competitive, and long-term desirable candidates for a wide range of positions. Union students are repeatedly told that their designs, ideas, and projects need to be cutting edge, and fresh. A Mechanical Engineering professor particularly discourages brainstorming in his class, claiming that it shuts down the most unique and innovative ideas. In his MER 419: Design of Mechanical Systems, this professor ensures that his students spend the lab portion of the course working on a design project for a local company. So far, he has found that students are able to come up with fresh ideas, and unique ways of resolving problems differently from engineers in industry.
Union College, along with RPI, and SUNY Albany, drives the technological development of the region and provides constant supply of excellent engineers ready to tackle today's technological, mathematical, and business challenges.