Engineering Department Overview

Marion Technical College’s Engineering Technologies Department offers a variety of Associate degrees as well as several Associate of Technical Study (A.T.S.) and one-year Certificate programs.  AAS degrees are available in Electrical, Mechanical, Manufacturing, Electric Utilities and Telecommunications Engineering Technologies.  The department also offers an Individually Planned Engineering Degree for those requiring something other than the standard associate degree configurations.  If you’re sure you want to study Engineering but aren’t ready to choose an area of concentration, that’s ok—many students start out declaring “undecided engineering” as their curriculum choice and narrow it down later.  You can channel your engineering coursework toward future transfer to a 4-year college if you wish—our Mechanical AAS contains a high number of TAG-approved courses and is ideally suited for students with 4 year ambitions  Engineering Technologies also partners with MTC’s Center for Workforce Development in various employer-driven training programs.  If your company might benefit from such a program, or you are an employer interested in establishing employee training opportunities, CWD may be able to help. The Engineering Technologies Department is constantly evolving, striving, with the help of advisory committees made up of local industrial leaders, to offer courses which teach what Ohio employers need.  If you want a technologically focused career, not just a job, Engineering Technologies may be your avenue to success.

What is the Difference Between Engineering and Engineering Technologies

Marion Technical College offers a variety of Engineering Technology associate degrees, and we are often asked how this differs from a plain Engineering Degree.  Very basically, an Engineering Technology degree, even a 4-year one, focuses on applied engineering skills while an Engineering degree focuses on conceptual engineering skills. 

Another difference is that Engineering is a calculus-based program of study while Engineering Technologies programs are algebra-based.  Some calculus is used in applied engineering programs, but it is not the main mathematical basis of the program. 

Another way to define the difference in the two disciplines is to compare some characteristics of the two areas.  The following concepts, related to Mechanical Engineering as an example, are paraphrased from a brochure “Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Technology, Which Path Will You Take”, published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers:

An Engineer is an innovator – one who is able to interweave a knowledge of advanced mathematics, the natural and engineering sciences, and engineering principles and practices with considerations of economic, social, environmental and ethical issues to create new systems and products.  The ME graduate can develop new procedures to advance the state of the art. 

An Engineering Technologist is a doer or implementer – one who is able to apply a basic knowledge of mathematics, the natural and engineering sciences, current engineering practices and an understanding of economic principles to the   solution of design problems and to the operation or testing of engineering and manufacturing systems.  The MET graduate can apply established procedures which utilize the current state of the art.

In addition to these characteristic differences, because our goal is to send our graduates right into the workforce, Marion Technical College’s Engineering Technologies programs are driven by the needs expressed by advisory committee members representing area industries, and are tailored to meet these needs.  The result is a hands-on, career-oriented program which not only prepares graduates to apply engineering knowledge efficiently, but gives them the specific skills that are foremost in current job-market demand.