RAPID CITY, SD
(Sept. 1, 2020) — In order to expand research capabilities and offer advanced
training in electrical engineering (EE), South
Dakota Mines has added
a Ph.D. program in EE. The university also added a minor in Science,
Technology, and Society
(STS) and a specialization in biochemistry.
The South
Dakota Board of Regents (BOR) approved the changes in early August.
“Adding a
doctorate in EE allows Mines faculty to pursue more advanced and larger
research grants and projects,” says Thomas Montoya, Ph.D., interim head of the EE department
at South Dakota Mines. “The EE department anticipates growing both our graduate
student numbers as well as research expenditures as the doctoral program
develops,” Montoya says. “The goal of the electrical engineering doctoral
program is to provide students with an education in advanced electrical
engineering topics and mentoring in research skills to produce experts/scholars
as well as leaders for academia, government and industry.”
Research
emphasis areas for EE include autonomous systems/vehicles, robotics, computer
vision, control theory, electronic materials, organic electronic devices such
as OLED and solar cells, wireless communications and networking, antennas,
applied electromagnetics, power systems and the smart grid. Currently, Mines EE
undergraduates earn an average starting salary of $63,127 and have a placement
rate of 100%.
The BOR also
approved a new minor in STS. This degree is an interdisciplinary field of study
that explores how science and technology shape the world. Graduates of the
program go into a variety of careers, from public policy to law.
“The addition
of an STS minor provides students majoring in other degrees the opportunity to supplement their scientific and
technical training with interdisciplinary coursework in the humanities and
social sciences,” says Allison Gilmore, Ph.D., head of the Department of Humanities
and Social Sciences. “The STS curriculum also furthers the South
Dakota Mines commitment to bring interdisciplinarity, collaboration and respect
for the human dimensions of technological innovation to our students as they
prepare to address the scientific and engineering challenges of the 21st
century.”
Gilmore adds, “Confronting
issues from climate change to biodiversity loss to sustainability involves not
only continual progress in science and engineering, it demands an understanding
of the historical origins of current problems, effective communication across
cultures and audiences, and an examination of the ethical implications of our
choices. As such, the STS minor provides essential training for our STEM
students, as they strive to connect scientific and engineering innovation to real-world
problems and analyze the impact of those innovations on communities across the
globe.”
The BOR gave
approval to the addition of a specialization in biochemistry that is designed
for students interested in a career in a health field such as medical, dental or
pharmacy. It will be taken by chemistry majors interested in the application of
chemistry concepts to biological systems. It will require courses in
biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology.
“The
biochemistry specialization will create synergy in curriculum development among
chemistry, biology and pre-professional health sciences programs of our
department,” says Zhengtao Zhu, Ph.D., interim department head/associate
professor in the Department of Chemistry Biology and Health Sciences. “The
biochemistry specialization will help recruit students who are interested in
industry and research in areas such as health professions, biotechnology and
life science.”
College Factual
has ranked South Dakota Mines No. 1 in the nation on Return on Investment for
best engineering school for the money out of 302 similar institutions.