Glass Engineering Science (GLES) BS

Glasses have been used for thousands of years in drinking glasses, storage bottles, prized decorative objects, and jewelry. Glasses have these same uses today, but glasses are truly high-technology materials used in optical applications, as sophisticated windows that control light and heat, and in fiber optics that make high-speed, high-capacity voice and data communications possible. Every mobile phone and solar panel has a strengthened glass screen. Glasses are essential components of many medical devices, such as X-ray tubes, endoscopes, and lasers. Advanced testing is being done on using small glass spheres that are injected into the bloodstream to carry radiation or chemotherapy agents directly to the liver to attack cancers.

Most glass products are made from abundant raw materials, such as sand and soda, and glasses are recyclable. In fact, in some countries, glass containers are made using over 90% recycled glass. There are numerous opportunities for new applications for glass, the development of new glasses, and further efficiencies in glass manufacturing. You cannot imagine life today without glass.

Glass Engineering Science graduates are highly sought after by the glass industry and by companies that use glasses in processes or products. The Glass Engineering Science program is unique. There simply is not another program like it in the United States. Graduates can oversee glass production, work on developing new processes and products, test glass products, or work in technical sales. Many choose to continue their education, obtaining a Masters or Ph.D., preparing them for research or teaching at a college or university. In what may be a very short time, many will become managers or owners of their own companies. 

The BS program in Glass Science and Engineering is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET under the General Criteria and the Program Criteria for Materials, Metallurgical, Ceramics and Similarly Named Engineering Programs. 

GLES Program Objectives

The program objectives of the Glass Engineering Science Program are as follows:

1. Graduates of the Glass Engineering Science Program will be materials engineers with an in-depth knowledge of the science, engineering and manufacturing of glass. Having acquired the necessary technical and personal skills the graduates will have embarked on a fulfilling career path.
2. Graduates of the Glass Engineering Science Program will have detailed knowledge of glass and related materials, with hands-on experience for problem-solving enabling their ability to innovate within their chosen field.
3. Graduates of the Glass Engineering Science Program will be able to design, produce and characterize glass and related materials and use that information to conduct independent research or solve manufacturing problems.
4. Graduates of the Glass Engineering Science Program will operate as ethical and effective professionals and will have the skills necessary to clearly communicate and to function on interdisciplinary teams.