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Engineering and Design 

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The Engineering and Design Department offers four undergraduate Bachelor of Science degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Industrial Design, Manufacturing Engineering, and Polymer Materials Engineering. Our department has a strong commitment to teaching and scholarship that develops industry-ready graduates through a combination of creative problem-solving, analytical skills development, and experiential learning. 

Ross Engineering Technology Building room 204

8-1pm and 2-5pm, M-F

You can also reach us at 360-650-3380  or by email at ENGD@wwu.edu.

DEGREES

UPCOMING EVENTS

June 1, 2023 Industrial Design Junior Show

Join us at this exhibit of work from the WWU + UW junior industrial design students. 

6-9pm

Tether | 316 Occidental Ave S #400, Seattle

June 2, 2023 Electrical and Computer Engineering Major Application

Online applications due by midnight on June 2, 2023

June 6, 2023 Electrical and Computer Engineering Capstone Expo

Join the EE/CE seniors for capstone posters and demonstrations. 

1-3pm  - ET third floor labs

June 8, 2023 Industrial Design Senior Show: Epilogue

6:00-9:00pm

Tactile | 2013 4th Ave, Suite 400, Seattle

MAKING WAVES

A New Life for Ocean Plastics

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Polymer Materials Engineering students helped pull 50,000 pounds of plastic from beaches in Alaska, and not a single pound made its way to a landfill. 

Read about how Associate Professor John Misasi and his students are giving discarded plastic new purpose!

QUICK FACTS

Number of Enrolled Students

419

2022-2023

Number of Graduates

81

2021-2022

Funded Research Projects

16

2018-2022

Department Research Funding

$2,034,521

2018-2022

SPOTLIGHT

Research Spotlight

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Jayme Perman, a Polymer Materials Engineering senior, has been working with the Ocean Plastics Recovery Project (OPR) since April 2022. Jayme was offered a summer internship by OPR in Portland and was also able to travel to Alaska to characterize recovered marine debris. Jayme is currently working on research incorporating recovered ocean plastic into new products in partnership with HP and OPR. 

Jayme, Associate Professor Misasi, and a fellow classmate recently were invited to present their research at the 2023 Plastics Recycling Conference in Washington DC. 

Click to learn more about this research!

Faculty Spotlight

Jill Davishahl

Jill Davishahl is Assistant Professor and First Year Programs Director in the Engineering + Design department. Jill’s teaching, service, and research activities focus on enhancing the first-year student experience by implementing strategies focused on increasing equity and improving success in the major. She recently developed a new course ENGR 101: Engineering, Design, and Society that centers social justice within first year engineering education and helps students to understand the relevance of social justice to their future careers.  In addition to teaching, she runs a Student Engagement Liaison program and manages the Makerspace. Her current research focuses on creating inclusive and equitable learning environments and is supported by two National Science Foundation grants, one of which is centered around investigating the impact of social engagement on sense of belonging in academic makerspaces.

Makerspace    Student Engagement Liaisons 

Alumni Spotlight

Juliana

Polymer Materials Engineering alumna (2022) Juliana Covarrubias is a Research and Development Project Engineer at Janicki Industries where she hopes to improve sustainability of the aerospace industry. While at WWU, Juliana was interested in the ongoing environmental issue of plastic in the ocean and began to research how to recycle various ocean plastics.  She joined a research team that found ways to recycle buoys, nets, and fishing lines.  Her team's findings were published in the Society of Plastics Engineers journal and at the Annual Technical Conference for Plastics Professionals

Juliana applied for and received multiple scholarships during her time at WWU, which allowed her to focus on research and studies.  This inspired her to create the Pay it Forward Scholarship to help other students studying Polymer Materials Engineering at WWU. 

Read more about our graduates on our Alumni Page!