DBU Offers New Pre-Engineering Program

"The pre-engineering program at DBU is an example of teamwork and God's grace," says program director Dr. Owen Schipplein. "There is no one person that can say, ‘look what I've done.'"

Dr. Owen Schipplein has seen the need for a pre-engineering program at DBU, especially as DBU's mission is to transform the world in every area of life. Seeing this need, Dr. Schipplein reached out to DBU and after several months of discussion and interviews with the university, was brought on to help form and direct the pre-engineering program.

Starting this upcoming Fall, DBU is offering a new pre-engineering program that will allow students to graduate with an Associate of Engineering (AE). Each track is approximately 70-74 hours in length. The program has an articulation agreement with LeTourneau University to receive DBU students, although students will be equipped to attend other universities to complete their four-year engineering degrees.

There are four specific distinctives for the pre-engineering program, which are that students will be good communicators, students will understand teamwork and work together in teams, students will do lab work in their industry, and students will be trained to be servant leaders in their field.

The program will also consist of four tracks that students can pursue: biomedical, computer, electrical, and mechanical. The current faculty teaching engineering courses and leading these tracks are Dr. Owen Schipplein, Dr. Shu Shaw Wang, Dr. Hahn Chei Wei, and various adjunct faculty.

Along with these program requirements, there will be optional tours once per semester to various engineering facilities in the metroplex such as Bell Helicopter, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon Technologies. Students will be able to not only tour facilities but also network with them in hopes of later gaining internship opportunities with companies in the engineering industry.

The engineering program, directed by Dr. Owen Schipplein, was approved by SACS in October of 2020 without revisions and is currently accepting students and will begin this Fall semester.