Michigan's largest community college pre-engineering program partners with UM-Dearborn
Henry Ford College has the largest pre-engineering program in Michigan among community colleges, as well as one of the largest pre-engineering programs in the nation among community colleges. It is among the largest programs at HFC, second only to nursing.
The program has grown steadily. HFC offered 32% more sections of ENGR 130 in the 2018-19 academic year than five years prior, according to Dr. Hassan Nameghi, faculty chair of HFC’s pre-engineering program.
To accommodate the growth in enrollment, pre-engineering will move to HFC’s M-TEC building on the East Campus at the beginning of the Fall 2019 Semester. There will be a designated space for a new Engineering Innovation Center for students to work on their engineering projects. The room will be equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, including computers, robotics equipment, and 3-D printers.
“The pre-engineering department is excited about the new space at HFC’s East Campus. Students will have room to work on more elaborate projects. We plan to offer workforce development training, hands-on experiential learning for visiting high school students, and host small conferences,” said Janice Gilliland, dean of the HFC School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).
HFC’s ongoing relationship with UM-Dearborn's Engineering program
HFC’s pre-engineering program also has a transfer agreement with the College of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan-Dearborn that was established in 2016. The program allows students to begin their education at HFC, earn an associate degree, and then transfer to UM-Dearborn to complete their bachelor’s degree in engineering. A maximum of 72 credits will transfer to UM-Dearborn if students have taken all of their credits at HFC.
“The transfer agreement between HFC and UM-Dearborn’s CECS has allowed students to successfully transition into the UM-Dearborn engineering program,” said Dr. Ghassan Kridli, associate dean for undergraduate education, CECS, UM-Dearborn. “Students who take advantage of the agreement are able to complete foundational courses at HFC and immediately begin taking courses in engineering at UM-Dearborn.”
The partnership between the two institutions has been close, to focus on student success from start to finish. “We’ve seen strong collaboration from HFC focused on student learning and academic success, which has allowed for quick accommodation of needed program changes," said Kridli. "For example, when a change was required to the mathematics sequence at UM-Dearborn, HFC quickly began offering courses to meet the new requirements.”
Nameghi is proud of how the ongoing partnership between HFC and UM-Dearborn benefits aspiring engineers. “The partnership demonstrates how well Henry Ford College prepares students to succeed in their education at a top-quality educational institution like UM-Dearborn,” he said.
HFC students also successfully transfer to numerous other universities across the state and the nation to earn more advanced engineering degrees. Learn more about the HFC pre-engineering program.