Press Release

JBU Expands Renewable Energy Learning to Engineering Majors

Siloam Springs, Ark. (October 28, 2009) – John Brown University added a renewable energy concentration for engineering majors beginning fall 2009.

“We have seen the current market focus on improved energy activities and ‘going green,’” said Dr. Larry Bland, professor of engineering. “The engineering department saw an excellent opportunity to partner with the JBU Natural Science department to meet an emerging need.”

After Natural Sciences announced the addition of a Bachelor of Science degree in Renewable Energy in the fall of 2008, the engineering department proposed the new concentration to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and received approval in September. Concentrations for engineering had previously only been available in electrical/computer and mechanical engineering, Bland said.

While the renewable energy major aims to concentrate on the scientific side of renewable energy, the renewable energy engineering concentration uses the science to solve problems in society and emphasizes the application of renewable energy in an engineering design process.