School Facts 2007-2008

• The School is the oldest department at Georgia Tech; classes began in October 1888.
• The first degree offered at the Georgia School of Technology, as the Institute was then called, was the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Today, the Woodruff School offers two undergraduate degrees: the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering (BSME) and the Bachelor of Science in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering (BSNRE).
• We prepare students for successful careers and lifelong learning by teaching analytical methods, design and data analysis skills, experimental techniques, and the professional and ethical responsibilities of being an engineer.
• Our undergraduate and graduate programs are consistently ranked in the top ten in the nation.
• We are the leading producer of graduate degrees to women and minorities and among the top producers of bachelor’s degrees in mechanical engineering in the country.
• We have a Five-Year BS/MS Program for outstanding students interested in a graduate degree. The program features undergraduate research with a faculty mentor and the opportunity to take graduate courses in the senior year.
• We belong to the Academic Common Market, which allows students from a consortium of southern states to attend Georgia Tech and pay in-state fees to study nuclear and radiological engineering.
• In 1990, we established the Frank K. Webb Program in Professional Communication to help students improve their writing and presentation skills.
• Our facilities are excellent.
• Our students can participate in numerous study-abroad programs: Georgia Tech Lorraine in Metz, France; Worcester College at Oxford University (England); Summer in Shanghai; and the Australia-New Zealand Study Program are some of the most popular largest programs for Woodruff School students.
• We feature two major annual lecture series: The Woodruff Distinguished Lecture and the Gegenheimer Lecture on Innovation.
• In 2000, the School was designated a Mechanical Engineering Heritage Site by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
• There are only 225 sites, landmarks, and collections in the world, and we are the only educational institution to be recognized.
• In 2001, Patents of the Woodruff School Faculty was installed in the MRDC Building. This display is supported by the Harold W. Gegenheimer (class of 1933) Endowment for Innovation and includes 203 first-page patent plaques of current academic and research faculty.

Faculty

• We have 80 tenure-track faculty (all with Ph.D.s), 21 research faculty, and five academic professionals.
• Sixteen senior faculty members hold endowed chairs or distinguished professorships.
• The faculty in mechanical engineering is divided into self-selected interest groups: Acoustics and Dynamics; Automation and Mechatronics; Bioengineering; Computer-Aided Engineering and Design; Fluid Mechanics; Heat Transfer, Combustion, and Energy Systems; Manufacturing; Microelectromechanical Systems; Mechanics of Materials; and Tribology. The groups in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering are Fission, Fusion, and Medical Physics.
• Twenty-six faculty members have received prestigious National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Awards.
Forty-four faculty members hold the grade of Fellow in various professional societies, such as the ASME.
• The Woodruff School has two members of the National Academy of Engineering and two NAE members who hold emeritus or joint appointments. Georgia Tech has a total of 25 NAE members.

Staff

• The faculty and students are supported by a staff that numbers 44, including persons who specialize in communications, computers, editorial, electronics, and machine shop.
• Because of staff efforts, the School received an Outstanding Safety Award from the State of Georgia.
• The School employs a number of Georgia Tech co-op students to assist in supporting programs.
• The School is a leader on campus for giving staff members the opportunity to participate in training programs.

Students

• Our students are outstanding. In fall 2005, entering Woodruff School freshmen had a high school grade point average of 3.70 for mechanical engineering and 3.72 for nuclear and radiological engineering and an SAT score of 1354 for ME and 1371 for NRE (out of 1600).
• The enrollment in the Woodruff School in fall 2005 was 2,370: 1,674 undergraduate and 696 graduate students.
• Four hundred and eighty-seven degrees were awarded in the Woodruff School from summer 2004 to spring 2005: 273 bachelor's degrees, 170 master's degrees, and 44 Ph.D.s.
• About thirty-eight percent of undergraduate mechanical engineering students participate in the Cooperative Program, which is the largest voluntary program of its kind in the country. More than 600 companies participate in the program. There is also a Graduate Cooperative Program, an International Cooperative Program, and an Undergraduate Professional Intern Program for juniors and seniors who want some work experience and do not participate in the co-op program.
• This fall, the school joins thirteen other programs at the Institute in the new Undergraduate International Plan. This is a new degree designation, similar to the Cooperative Plan. Students can spend their third year abroad, gaining valuable international experience.
• Each year the students sponsor an Undergraduate Research Fair, where undergraduates can learn about research opportunities with Woodruff School faculty members.
• In the fall, the Woodruff School Student Advisory Committee sponsors a Woodruff School Career Fair, which allows students to meet employers who are interested in hiring mechanical engineers.
• Woodruff School students belong to a number of very successful groups that participate in regional and national competitions: gt motorsports, GT Off-Road (Mini-Baja Team), RoboJackets (including GT FIRST), Wreck Racing, and Solar Jackets. Some of these groups have work space in the Student Competition Center.
• In 2001 and 2002, gt motorsports was the Overall Winner in the Formula Student competition in Birmingham, England; in 2003 the team placed fourth out of 129 teams in the national competition in Detroit and won the competition in Australia.
• Other student organizations include: American Nuclear Society (ANS); American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME); Mechanical Engineering Graduate Student Association (MEGA); Pi Tau Sigma (the mechanical engineering honorary society); Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE); Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME); and the Woodruff School Student Advisory Committee (WSSAC).
• Since 1990, Woodruff School students have won 124 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships and 125 honorable mentions. In 2006, five Woodruff School students won this prestigious award.
• Approximately ninety-eight percent of entering Woodruff School freshmen from Georgia have HOPE Scholarships, a tuition payment program funded through the Georgia State Lottery.
• For each of the past several years, Woodruff School students have received more than two million dollars from outside sources in graduate study fellowships.

Alumni

• Thirteen Woodruff School Ph.D. alumni, who are faculty members at other universities, have won prestigious National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Awards.
• Each year we select an Outstanding Alumnus who speaks at the Annual Spring Banquet.
• Approximately twenty percent of our graduating seniors go directly to graduate and/or professional school.
• Approximately twenty percent of our graduating Ph.D. students pursue academic careers.
• In the past academic year, alumni were inducted into the College of Engineering Hall of Fame, alumni were selected for the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni, and of the School’s alumni were chosen for the Council of Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni.