222 Palisades Creek Drive
Richardson, TX 75080
Phone: 972-952-9393
Fax: 972-952-9435
Email: [email protected]
Surveying Engineering program
Ferris State University
School of Engineering and Computing Technology
Ferris State University Mission Statement
Ferris State University prepares students for successful careers, responsible citizenship, and lifelong learning. Through its many partnerships and its career-oriented, broad-based education, Ferris serves our rapidly changing global economy and society.
https://www.ferris.edu/administration/president/mission.htm
How will your program use the prize money to engage your students with other professionals, introduce them to both historical and new technology, and promote licensure?
We have invested in student travel so that students can attend conferences and present their work. The students have gone to Geoweek in 2022 and 2023. They also went to the Indiana and Wisconsin land surveyor meetings and of course the Michigan land surveyor meeting. At the Michigan meeting there is a separate presentation time reserved for the Ferris surveying student presentations every year. Our students benefit from the experience of publicly presenting their work and interacting with academics and professionals. Meeting with students from other institutions also promotes the Ferris program, in fact we have received students through these meetings as Ferris surveying program allows for the acquisition of both PE and PS licenses. Many other surveying programs are aligned for only the PS license.
The students also take excursions, like to the Michigan State University FRIB or the towers on the Mackinac bridge, 500 ft above the Mackinac straits.
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) at Michigan State University (MSU) is a world-class research, teaching and training center, hosting what is designed to be the most powerful rare isotope accelerator. A graduate of the program works at FRIB as an alignment engineer. The accelerator beams have to be very accurately placed to work correctly and this is what an alignment engineer does. The student organization can pay for these trips, thanks again to alumni donations and other awards and grants, like Perkins or NCEES.
We were able to pay for students to go to the YSN competition in Washington, D.C. This was a great experience, since Ferris student won in 2022 and 23.