TMCC launches engineering degree

Truckee Meadows Community College will launch a civil engineering program focused the development of roads, bridges and dams. The new program was made possible by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

The two-year program offers students the opportunity to earn an associate's of applied science degree in civil engineering.

It also provides 15 qualified students with internships with a possible stipend to work with civil engineers during the summer and part-time during the school year.

"TMCC would provide the coursework and we are going to try to hook up these students with industry folks who can mentor them and teach them," says Jim Nichols, an instructor in the school's physical science department.

In 2009, the Physical Science department at TMCC wrote a $144,000 grant request to the National Science Foundation. In March, the Nevada Higher Education Board of Regents approved the program.

Nichols worked as a civil engineer for 30 years, said that employers are looking to hire individuals with skills learned in this program.

"You can go into any portion of civil engineering, whether it's drafting, plans and specification, construction testing, field and laboratory testing, or management systems," Nichols adds.

Kent Cooper, assistant director of engineering for the Nevada Department of Transportation, says the practitioners program will provide benefits for both students and employers such as NDOT.

"We have a lot of positions that don't require a full engineering degree, but do engineering type of work," says Cooper. "This will help them to qualify for a lot of our jobs, and help them get a foot in the door of the agency. And it will help us, because it gives them that background they need to be able to do the work also."