As one of the smallest engineering schools in a R-1 research university, Tufts’ School of Engineering offers undergraduate students exceptional access to professors, classes, and lab spaces that prepare them for careers at top companies in Boston and around the world. Alongside its small class sizes and personalized advising, Tufts offers 16 different engineering majors and 18 engineering minors - but don’t worry if you don’t know which to choose! Everyone at Tufts, including our engineers, matriculate undeclared. With the help of your pre-major advisor and our exploratory Introduction to Engineering courses for first-years, you can hit the ground running toward your future with internships, co-ops, research, and study abroad as opportunities along the way.
EN-1 and pre-major advising
Did you know that electrical engineering plays a huge role in the development of medical devices? Are you still trying to decide whether you are a software (computer science) or hardware (computer engineering) minded-person? Then do I have the class for you! Each first-year student at the School of Engineering at Tufts will take an EN-1, or Intro to Engineering, course to help them get a feel for what a career in a given field will be like through a hands-on, collaborative class, while also narrowing down their majors list. In recent years, we’ve had classes like Engineering in Augmented Reality, Equitable and Inclusive Civil Infrastructure, and Coffee Engineering, each of which offers a glimpse into one of the majors we offer here at Tufts.
Coursework and HAAS requirements
Once you declare your major, you’ll get started on your engineering classes along with your liberal arts classes. Along with your calculus and physics coursework, you may find yourself in a class like Assistive Technology Foundations, where undergrads from Human Factors and Biomedical Engineering come together graduate occupational therapy students in our maker spaces like Bray and NOLOP to create technology that makes the world more accessible for people in our local community. Or maybe you will choose a class like Public Health Engineering, learning about how your engineering degree can help mitigate waterborne diseases or find ways to safely handle hazardous waste.
Alongside your engineering classes, you will be a part of a vibrant community of engineers who value the liberal arts. Through Tufts’ HASS requirements, our engineers find variety in their schedules each semester by taking eight classes in the humanities, social sciences, and arts by the time they graduate. From studio art classes at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts to classes through our Derby Entrepreneurship Center like Bringing Products to Market or Societal Aspects of Design, engineers have the flexibility to supplement their curriculum with liberal arts coursework and can even complete a minor in the process. With about two-thirds of Tufts students studying more than one subject, engineers are no exception.
Study abroad, Co-ops, and Research
Besides classes, engineers have access to a variety of experiences that not only enhance the college experience but also their preparedness to work in a global technological environment. A semester in Hong Kong gives students have the opportunity to continue taking major-related classes in engineering while gaining a global perspective on development and technology. Or, if a semester away from campus seems a bit daunting, check out our summer program in Pavia, Italy, where students spend six weeks taking one class in computer or data science and one in Italian language or culture!
Co-ops and internships are another way students get real-world, hands-on experience through the School of Engineering. Recent biomedical engineering grads have done internships at the likes of Boston Children’s Hospital and Moderna, while our Computer Engineers have gained experience at Amazon Robotics. Co-ops allow students to spend six months working in their industry while being paid and trained by their employer, maintaining the Tufts campus life, and still graduating in four years. You can read more about recent engineering grads’ experiences completing co-ops at companies like Honda and Nvidia in Tufts Now!
Last but not least - research! I mentioned that Tufts’ School of Engineering is one of the smallest engineering schools in an R-1 university, but what does that mean? In a nutshell, it means that most of our graduate students are in professional programs like our medical, dental, or veterinary schools, and therefore we get to offer the research opportunities of a larger university to our undergraduate students. You will find that most labs on campus are made up of majority undergraduate students, and that plentiful opportunity exists to get involved and funded to do independent research! Getting involved in lab research is as easy and showing up to office hours and saying “I want to know more” - and you might just find yourself working with Professor Tom Vandervelde in the Renewable Energy and Applied Photonics (REAP) lab, where participants focus on thermophotovoltaics that help reduce heat loss and may even help spacecraft make it to Venus. Or if robotics are more your thing, check out Professor Jason Rife’s Automated Systems and Robotics (ASAR) lab group, who are working with the Department of Transportation on systems that will allow for safer navigation for autonomous vehicles.
Career Outcomes
There are infinite pathways for our engineers to take during their four years of undergraduate study, but where do they end up? With the help of the Career Center at Tufts, our students end up at companies like MathWorks, Epic, or right down the the MBTA's Red Line at the Google headquarters in Cambridge, or maybe in one of our Fifth-Year Master’s Degree programs that allow students to apply coursework to their graduate-level degree.
There are infinite pathways for our engineers at Tufts, but remember, you don’t have to have it all figured out ahead of time. But if you made it to the end of this post and are psyched to learn more, you can dive into the stories of our current engineering students in our Jumbo Engineer magazine or here our Jumbo Talk blog!