NSU receives grant to promote Engineering Tech. program | Business

Timber management company Weyerhaeuser has given a $10,000 grant to Northwestern State University's Engineering Technology Program. The money comes from the Weyerhaeuser Giving Fund Grant program and will help NSU attract more students to the Engineering Technology Program and show what careers are available to ET graduates.

“We will be reaching out to secondary schools in communities within a 50-mile radius of each Weyerhaeuser location.  Those communities include Dodson, Holden, Natchitoches, Ruston, Simsboro/Arcadia, Taylor, Zwolle and associated m that fall within the 50-mile radius of each, ” said Dr. Phil Brown, associate professor and principal investigator of the grant.  “The primary purpose will be to make counselors and students aware of the STEM [science, technology, engineering, mathematics] career opportunities within the Louisiana manufacturing community, the secondary education preparation requirements for entry into manufacturing and the post secondary opportunities for students in Northwestern State’s engineering technology program.”

The Weyerhaeuser grant will fund travel and related expenses for faculty, as well as new printed literature and other initiatives. Brown hopes to inform prospective students and their parents about in-state job opportunities in manufacturing, salary scales and the high tech working conditions of modern manufacturing facilities. Students will have a better understanding of what high school courses they should take that will better prepare them for classes in the engineering technology program, Brown said. He also hopes ET faculty can work more closely with school counselors who advise students on their post-secondary options.

For more information on Northwestern State’s engineering technology program, visit engrtech.nsula.edu.