A National Science Foundation-funded program for students interested in a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering. The program supports 24 students in a unique opportunity to earn credits in required engineering, English, history, and a new Precalculus for Engineering sequence. This integrated experience blurs discipline boundaries, emphasizes relevance, and features project-based and experiential learning.

The main goals of this program are to welcome all students interested in engineering, reduce the number of prerequisite courses students take to earn their degree, and to increase student success with a variety of supports for them to continue their engineering education.

We welcome anyone interested in learning more about the engineering field or pursuing a degree in engineering and not ready to start the calculus sequence. The current capacity of the learning community is 24 students per year.

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields are both challenging and rewarding. Students entering engineering education come with a wide range of STEM knowledge. Creating a community of students who have different experiences, but similar interests, is more welcoming and facilitates closer learning experiences. Instruction emphasizes the connections between courses, opportunities to contribute to society as an engineer, and academic preparation for success in an engineering program. The program uses multiple evidence-based practices to support student success in all courses.

Class content is blended, and faculty work collaboratively throughout the entire class time. Grouping the classes in morning and afternoon blocks creates longer periods that allow for field trips and site visits to more areas in Whatcom County. Combined class meetings also allow for flexibility and more involved projects compared to traditional class meetings.

The new pre-calculus for engineering class teaches math in the context of engineering and physics applications and is available only to students in Engineering in Context.

All classes will meet in the engineering lab facilities Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. During those scheduled times, all three faculty members will be present, and the class content will be a combination of the three. Transportation will be provided when there is a scheduled field trip or site visit.

It will reduce prerequisite course requirements by up to 10 credits for most students. Integrating engineering, math, English, history, and our local environment highlights the social connection to engineering and our world. As our learning community collaborates with each other and other community members we build a greater sense of belonging and support for student success.

Reach out to our engineering advisor, Petra McDonnell-Ingoglia (pmcdonnellingoglia@whatcom.edu). She can answer questions and help you register for all three Engineering in Context courses (ENGR 101, HIST& 214, and MATH 132) for fall 2024. The three classes are automatically linked when registering in ctcLink.

You have several options. The primary one is continuing with WCC’s engineering program to earn an associate in science-transfer (AS-T) degree. The WCC engineering team has four faculty, a laboratory technician, an advising specialist, and many student employees that are the core of our peer-mentoring program and student lab support.

An AS-T in engineering at WCC prepares students to transfer to a university at junior level and earn an engineering bachelor of science (BS) degree with two additional years of study. WCC engineering participates in a statewide system to ensure smooth transfer to engineering BS degree programs in Washington and beyond. Our graduates have transferred to UW, WWU, WSU, and many other university engineering programs throughout the country including UCLA, UC Berkeley, Cal Poly, and Purdue. They have earned degrees in virtually every engineering discipline including mechanical, computer, electrical, aerospace, civil, environmental, materials science, and more. Many are now working professionally as engineers, locally and abroad. Joining us today creates many future opportunities.