Louisiana Tech University has always been a leader in developing innovative academic programs that respond to community needs. Take a look at these new academic programs…
Bachelor Of Science, Instrumentation & Control Systems Engineering Technology
The College of Engineering and Science rolled out a new Instrumentation and Control Systems Engineering Technology degree program in fall 2017. The new program prepares students to meet the demands of an increasingly automated society, providing expertise in sensors and calibration, programmable logic controllers, process troubleshooting, robotics, and electrical power.
Program graduates will be prepared to work in a variety of fields, including manufacturing, information technology, telecommunications, oil and gas processing, water management, and power plant management. The curriculum will provide students opportunities to apply theory to hands-on work with instrumentation, discrete and analog control systems, microcontrollers, data collection and transfer, and networking. As a result, they will have the skills to design, plan, research, evaluate, test, and implement electrical and electromechanical systems in biomedical, chemical, civil, cyber, electrical, industrial, mechanical, and nanosystems disciplines.
Minor — Pre-Medical Illustration
The minor in Pre-Medical Illustration is an interdisciplinary collaboration between the College of Applied and Natural Sciences, the College of Engineering and Science, and the College of Liberal Arts.
The minor allows students to merge the disciplines of art and biology, and it fits well in combination with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art, a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences, or a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering with a Pre-Medicine concentration.
Students who complete the minor will be prepared to pursue graduate work in medical illustration and may have successful careers in a variety of fields, including biomedical research, medicine, or nursing. The program provides students the opportunity to work with clients and build a portfolio that may include publication of their work in scientific periodicals and textbooks.
Master of Business Administration — Six Sigma Concentration
The Six Sigma program is a new concentration for the Master of Business Administration that offers highly sought after technical and analytical skills to improve quality of the output of a process in organizations. A collaboration between the College of Business and the College of Engineering and Science, the Six Sigma MBA combines existing courses from each college in a synergistic way to offer a highly desirable graduate degree (MBA) and a highly desirable certificate (Black Belt/Green Belt). The Six Sigma Black Belt certificate represents current, cutting-edge knowledge in industry process improvement.
Combining business coursework from MBA in the College of Business and Six Sigma certificate courses from College of Engineering and Science represents a useful and innovative diversity of knowledge across these two colleges. The MBA helps with the business side of managing a firm or organization, and the Six Sigma coursework helps students make more technical decisions based on an understanding of process improvement through coverage of all aspects of the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control (DMAIC) model in accordance with Six Sigma principles.
Courses in the Six Sigma are taught both face-to-face and online, allowing for the flexibility of students to take coursework totally face-to-face, totally online, or in some hybrid form of the two modes.
Graduate Certificate in Cyber Technology
It is predicted that there will be a cybersecurity professional shortage of 1.8 million globally by 2022. There is also a high demand for cybersecurity professionals in northern Louisiana to support the growing workforce needs of General Dynamics IT (previously, CSRA) Integrated Technology Center in Bossier City, CenturyLink in Monroe, and many other businesses in the region, including those located on campus of Louisiana Tech.
In order to meet that need and grow the region’s cyber-related technical expertise, we must supply the education needed to support those jobs or risk stifling that workforce growth. Air Force Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications Center recently activated at Barksdale Air Force Base will have similar needs for cyber professionals as nuclear modernization remains a priority for the nation.
Flexible and adaptable educational opportunities are needed to provide active service members, government civilian employees, and separating veterans access to high quality cyber education to prepare them for future careers in different intricacies of the discipline
Louisiana Tech University’s new Graduate Certificate in Cyber Technology is designed to help students address the national cyber workforce shortage and sustain the growth of the technology sector in Louisiana by providing them with specialized training in cyber technology. The courses offered in this program fuse elements of computer science, information technology, criminal justice, and forensic investigations, applying them all to the specific challenges of conducting industry or government operations in the cyber domain. The program challenges students with cutting-edge research in cyber, stimulating them to develop new IT security measures and techniques and become creative thinkers in the exercise of civil principles through cyber investigations. The certificate also has government applications, training students to become public servants in the application of these skills and principles to our nation’s cyber security needs.
Available for completion as an online option, the program leverages our industry and government partnerships to create a high-quality practice-oriented curriculum. It allows students across the United States to advance their careers or perform mid-career transitions into cyber technology areas by equipping them for the performance of job tasks.
For students, the Graduate Certificate in Cyber Technology offers a clear path that is both accessible and flexible towards promising career prospects in a growth industry. Louisiana Tech currently has a cyber-pipeline education pyramid covering K-12 engagement efforts, and multiple undergraduate and graduate programs, including doctoral programs in the area. This unique certificate will be embedded in a new master’s program at Louisiana Tech, and will strengthen Tech’s position as a national provider of advanced quality cyber education in the United States.