Georgia Southern University made history last Wednesday when the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia granted the university with the first undergraduate manufacturing engineering degree program in the state and Southeast U.S.

“Manufacturing is returning to the U.S., and the state of Georgia can now prepare its citizens for careers in this fast-growing field,” said Mohammad Davoud, dean of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Information Technology. “Employees trained in manufacturing will enable Georgia to attract corporations and industries to invest in the state and region. These corporations need manufacturing engineers who are trained to think innovatively and use state-of-the-art techniques and technologies. The new manufacturing engineering program at Georgia Southern will do just that.”

Manufacturing engineers work closely with mechanical, electrical and other engineers as a member of the design team to ensure manufacturability of the product while maintaining recycling and other aspects of the product life cycle. They also concentrate on the facilities, equipment, processes and methods necessary for the efficient and safe production of products in a globally competitive environment. Manufacturing engineers direct and coordinate the processes for transforming materials into products and guide the design, and conduct analysis and modification of product design to ensure the viability of the design for manufacturability.

Currently, there are only 20 accredited manufacturing engineering programs in the U.S. and none in the Southeast that offer a manufacturing engineering undergraduate program.

The manufacturing engineering program will be housed in the College of Engineering and Information Technology. In addition to the manufacturing engineering program, CEIT is working toward establishing a world-class Southeastern Materials and Manufacturing Applied Research Center. The research center will enable Georgia Southern’s engineering programs to collaborate with regional corporations to conduct applied research projects, pilot manufacturing studies, product development and technical support.

The manufacturing engineering program will begin accepting students in fall 2015.