Tulane Expands Engineering Programs, Focusing On New Technology to Meet Advanced Workforce Needs
Tulane University is expanding its engineering programs with the return of bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering beginning in fall 2027.
The new majors add disciplines designed around some of today’s fastest-growing fields across Louisiana, the Gulf South and the nation, from robotics and advanced manufacturing to semiconductors and quantum technology.
These additions make Tulane’s offerings in the field of engineering stronger than ever. They vastly enhance the university’s focus on high-skill workforce development that connects students with advanced career pathways, preparing them to lead in industries shaping the local, national, and global economy. The move also adds two engineering disciplines that were eliminated after the university restructured its undergraduate programming following Hurricane Katrina.
“This exponential growth in Tulane’s second largest school underscores the university’s commitment to academic excellence by offering the widest array of engineering majors as Tulane continues its unprecedented upward trajectory on every metric of university success,” Tulane University President Michael A. Fitts said. “These programs will prepare the next generation of engineers to lead in a rapidly changing world while helping drive innovation and economic impact across our region, address complex societal problems and improve lives.”
The new programs mark another major step forward in Tulane’s School of Science and Engineering, which in recent years has expanded its engineering curriculum, launched new graduate programs and invested in faculty and research. Mechanical and electrical engineering minors were launched in 2024, followed by master’s degree programs in both fields. Civil engineering, which returned first as an undergraduate minor, was subsequently expanded into a Bachelor of Science in Engineering with a focus in water and environment in 2025. In the fall of 2027, the school will also offer a minor in Space Science and Engineering, another major growth industry in Louisiana.
“This is an exciting step forward for Tulane,” said Robin Forman, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “To be clear, we are not simply replicating the programs of the past. Rather, these new offerings are modern, future-focused, infused with the latest technological tools, and designed to graduate students who are prepared to address the most interesting and challenging questions of today and throughout the coming years.”
The School of Science and Engineering also offers undergraduate engineering programs in biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, and engineering physics. Computer science has also returned as a standalone major.
Mechanical and electrical engineering have deep roots at Tulane. Many engineering alumni maintained strong ties to the university during the years the disciplines were absent and helped pave the way for the degree programs’ return for a new generation of engineers in a vastly different technological landscape.
The mechanical and electrical engineering programs will be housed within Tulane’s Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, building on strengths in engineering design, materials, optics, robotics, energy, computation and electronics.
School of Science and Engineering Dean Hridesh Rajan said computation and artificial intelligence will be integrated into both curricula beginning in the first year, reflecting the growing need for engineers who can work with AI as part of the design and problem-solving process. The programs will also connect students with research across quantum science, advanced materials, energy, automation, healthcare, and sustainable technologies.
“This is a defining milestone for engineering at Tulane,” Rajan said. “Mechanical and electrical engineering are foundational disciplines and restoring them positions us to pursue the full sweep of modern engineering challenges. Our larger vision is a school where engineering grows alongside the sciences in service of better lives.”
Science and Engineering’s incoming Class of 2030 includes 737 students, up from 662 the previous year, as the school continues to invest heavily in faculty, laboratories and engineering curricula. The university has hired 27 new SSE faculty members during Rajan’s first two years as dean, strengthening the teaching and research capacity supporting the expansion. Over the past decade, the school has seen a 25% increase in student enrollment and a 21% increase in faculty.
The new mechanical engineering program will give students a grounding in how mechanical and thermal systems are designed, built and improved, with opportunities to explore robotics, advanced manufacturing, automation, energy and aerospace.
The programs are designed to give students flexibility as they explore those fields. Electrical engineering, engineering physics and mechanical engineering will share the same first-year curriculum, allowing students time to experience the disciplines before choosing a major.
“Our industry-informed curriculum will prepare students for careers in advanced manufacturing, aerospace, robotics and beyond, while giving them the flexibility to explore where their interests take them,” said Matt Barrios, senior professor of practice and director of Tulane’s mechanical engineering programs. “I’m especially excited to tell our alumni that their majors are back and it’s time to get excited about Tulane engineering all over again.”
Electrical engineering students will study the technologies that power and connect the modern world, with opportunities in electronics, communications, advanced computing, semiconductors, photonics, robotics, and quantum engineering. Every electrical engineering major will take Engineering Quantum Mechanics, an undergraduate requirement designed to prepare students for emerging areas such as quantum computing and sensing, as well as a Robotics and Automation Design Lab.
Both new programs will include required laboratory and design studio experiences beginning in the spring of the first year and continuing throughout the curriculum, culminating in a two-semester senior capstone project.
“Students will get a rigorous foundation while spending significant time designing, building, testing and integrating real systems,” said Ryan Gelfand, senior professor of practice and director of Tulane’s electrical engineering programs. “Our goal is to prepare students not just to understand technology, but to create it.”
Both programs will draw on Tulane’s interdisciplinary strengths, connecting engineering students with research and expertise across science, medicine, computing and entrepreneurship.
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