College of Engineering and Technology
Congratulations on taking the next step in your STEM career as a College of Engineering and Technology or College of Natural Sciences student at GCU! Our knowledgeable and experienced faculty and staff, a multitude of on-campus resources, as well as various lab and research opportunities at GCU are here to help you collaborate, explore, design and further develop as a future STEM leader.
Student Success Resources
At GCU, we are committed to providing a supportive and enriching college experience. The Academic Centers for Excellence (ACE) offer resources designed to help you improve your academic skills and plan for future graduate studies. To learn more about ACE and their offerings, visit an ACE location. In addition, our Career Services can provide you with tools and resources to help you explore career opportunities and prepare for potential internships or career development.
College of Engineering and Technology
As a student in the College of Engineering and Technology, you can find a variety of resources through the Student Success Center to help support your coursework. The Student Success Center website includes documents, templates and videos covering lab safety, capstone projects and other STEM-related topics. These materials may help you better understand key concepts in your studies. Explore the engineering and technology Student Success Center page to access these resources.
College of Natural Sciences
If you are a student in the College of Natural Sciences, the Student Success Center offers a range of materials to assist you with your academic progress. Resources such as lab safety training, capstone project information and instructional videos on STEM topics are available to help enhance your understanding of course content. Visit the natural sciences Student Success Center page to explore these tools.
GCU provides students with innovative technology and learning resources, as STEM is a field that requires access to high-level equipment, hands-on labs and various resources to better study and understand. As a student in the College of Engineering and Technology or College of Natural Sciences, you have access to our state-of-the-art equipment and technology, located in the STEM classroom building and engineering building. There are many STEM-related resources available for you to utilize and explore.
- Human Cadaver Lab: GCU provides you an opportunity to access human cadavers. As opposed to having to wait until attending further schooling to access cadavers, you have the opportunity as a student at GCU to study the human body in full. As part of GCU's biology program, students study human cadavers for an entire academic year. We believe these cadavers are imperative to giving you the most hands-on experience and can make you a competitive candidate for medical school or post-graduate programs.
- Biomedical Device Development Lab: This engineering lab helps support undergraduate research in areas such as biomedical device development and medical sector engineering research.
- Combined Lecture and Lab Classrooms: The equipment that you use in your undergraduate lecture and labs include high-quality scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), ultrasound machine, x-ray diffractor and CT machine.
- Engineering Design and Prototyping Facilities: Aspiring engineers have access to important prototyping support equipment, including 3D printers, CNC machines, laser and plasma cutters, as well as standard industrial tools, such as mills, lathes and welders.
- Computer Science Collaboratorium: This space is ideal for collaboration between scientists and engineers to discuss ideas, explore prototypes, instruments and software. This space is also used by computer science and software development, as well as for capstone projects.
- Cyber Center for Excellence (CCE): The CCE takes the concept of hacking and makes it into a positive, engaging experience. This center approaches hacking in an ethical way, providing visitors with technological tools that are typically used to break into restricted networks. With these resources at your disposal, you can learn how to better protect your network and become a forward-thinking new generation of cybersecurity professional. The CCE also has academic collaboration relationships with companies such as ACTRA, NACRA, CompTIA Academy, Log Rhythm, Cisco Academy, Red Hat Academy and EC-Council. The CCE is located on the third floor of building 57.
As a GCU student, you have access to numerous student clubs and organizations to provide you with opportunities to further your interests in a fun, educational way that encourages a well-rounded college experience. STEM students may find many clubs and organizations that fall in line with their interests, such as:
- GCU Technology Club
- azHOSA Future Health Professionals
- Grand Canyon Pre-Physical Therapy Club
- Student Wellness and Health Association (SWAHA)
To learn more about these and all other GCU clubs, visit the GCU Clubs website. If you’re on campus, you can also visit the Office of Student Engagement at Building 26 on the first floor, or The Club Hub in Building 41, Class 41-100.
The Research and Design Program provides undergraduate students with the opportunity to gain experience in development and investigation of science, technology and engineering through mentoring and hands-on workshops and research. Whether you are researching for a project or looking to improve your overall learning experience, there are a multitude of workshops, projects and research programs to fulfill your needs.
Email [email protected] for a current listing of investigators and projects. Here is a sampling of several RDP projects students can join:
Smart Urban Fabrics (SMURF)
The SMURF group is comprised of several groups, each focusing on applications within an urban setting:
The Virtual Reality Group investigates and develops simulations of immersive, interactive and virtual environments for applications within education, healthcare and public safety.
The AI/Machine Learning Group works on algorithms and software applications used to extend the capabilities of professionals in various disciplines.
The Microcontroller/Embedded Systems Group investigates the use of IoT, smart devices and their integration at home or in the workplace.
Performance Optimization, Wellness and Exercise Research (POWER) Lab
The POWER Lab is designed to allow you to contribute to research in the areas of kinesiology, health, biomechanical analysis, nutrition, sports performance and cognitive strength. In this lab, you will gain research experience and handle a variety of research-grade testing devices.
Canyon Neuroscience Group
The Canyon Neuroscience Group focuses on the investigation of basic science questions, such as the functions of the nervous system and brain. It also looks to use different approaches to address important neurological questions, from human to cell and molecular studies, using strategies such as tissue culture models. This multilevel approach enables greater outcome related to important neurological issues faced by our society today.
Antimicrobial Discovery Lab
Nature has been a source of medicinal products for millennia, with many useful drugs developed from plant sources. Desert plants synthesize a wide variety of secondary metabolites to survive adverse conditions of the arid zone. In recent years, efforts have been made to find effective and safe bioactive phytochemicals, such as essential oils, phenolic compounds and saponins. The present investigations evaluate and characterize plants and algae to address the need for safe and effective antimicrobial agents against drug resistant microbes.
If you’re looking to get involved in creating a brighter future, you can work to find solutions to environmental problems, such as clean water and maintaining a healthy, sustainable environment, through cross-disciplinary research projects in this program. This program aims to find solutions to some of the most important environmental challenges in the ecology and environmental science field.
This group works together with the goal of producing a human cadaveric, photographic atlas by constructing a database of histological photos, art and clinical pathological case development. In addition, this group seeks to complete projects that push the biotechnological limits of 3D printing, such as printing biological materials and structures.
Learning Opportunities for STEM Students
Hands-on research, creation and implementation are all crucial parts of STEM learning. Past STEM students at GCU have participated in various projects and presentations to demonstrate their knowledge and gain industry experience. Here are some of the many projects that STEM students have undertaken.
Canyon Motorsports, a part of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) GCU Collegiate Chapter, designed, constructed and successfully competed with an open-wheel racecar in their rookie season in June 2019 at the Lincoln, NE Formula SAE event. Additionally, the SAE GCU Collegiate Chapter received the 2019 Class 3 Honeywell Outstanding Collegiate Branch Award “for exemplary performance in the areas of technical meetings, networking opportunities, SAE collegiate design series teams, membership and recruitment and community service programs.” In Fall 2019, SAE GCU performed 120 hours of STEM outreach to Sevilla West School - West Campus. The SAE-sponsored program, called “A World In Motion,” allowed members to teach basic engineering concepts to fifth through eighth-grade students.
Founded in 2017, the Thunderbots competed in VEX Robotics competitions and also sponsored many local service projects. After being invited to the 2018 VEX World Championship, the team won the 2018 Judges Award for the club that “showed exemplary effort and perseverance, team accomplishments or endeavors that might not fall under existing awards but are deserving of special recognition.” The team later received Guinness World Record's official participant certificates for competing at the 2018 VEX World Championship event, certified as the world’s largest robotics competition. In November 2019, the team also earned the Judges Award at the VEX U Fall Tournament in recognition of their efforts and outstanding character.
Cory Cathrea, a 2020 electrical engineering graduate, founded GCU’s IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) student branch in September 2018, becoming the first engineering club on campus to be affiliated with the national organization. Cory attended the IEEE Rising Stars Conference in Las Vegas in December 2018, where he helped bring together 335 IEEE industry professionals and university students from all over the world as a member of the conference planning committee. Cory earned the opportunity to network at the conference and learned new technologies and skills on topics such as 5G and learning to give impactful presentations.
Three biomedical engineering program undergraduate students, Madison Strong, Manuel Torres and Jeffrey Richards, were accepted to give an oral/poster category presentation at a premier academic, industrial and clinical diabetes conference. At the Diabetes Technology Meeting in November 2020, they presented their report, entitled “Preliminary assessment of a mass manufacturable point-of-care insulin sensor” at the virtual session in front of many other university and industry experts across the world. The conference typically draws attendees from the FDA, American Diabetes Association, Mayo Clinic and many others. Their work has since been published in the academic journal, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, titled “Faradaic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy for enhanced analyte detection in diagnostics.”
As a College of Engineering and Technology or College of Natural Sciences student, you have access to various resources to aid you in your studies, develop your understanding of the field and pursue your career. If you’re exploring career options and are looking for resources, GCU has online tools such as Career Compass (access code: Purpose) and Career Connections to assist you in your career development.
Career Compass – will help guide you on the right career path through providing a series of questions for you to answer. With these answers, this tool will put together a professional summary with career suggestions that fit your wants and needs.
Career Connections – is a higher education tool that can help you with career readiness, student success and the overall student experience. This tool provides you with information on internship opportunities, job postings, workshops and upcoming events. It also has a resume builder and a platform for networking. It can also be added to your student portal homepage as a shortcut for easy access.
Internship opportunities provide an environment for Science, Engineering and Technology students to apply the knowledge they learn from the classroom into real practice, as well as develop new skills and observe professionals in the field. Students may choose to pursue internship options such as:
- Physical Therapy
- Exercise Science
- Information Security
- Full-Stack Software Engineering
- Software Development
- Data Scientist
To learn more about internships, visit the Career Services page.
For more information on STEM-related careers, topics and interests, visit the College of Engineering and Technology blog or College of Natural Sciences blog pages. There, you’ll find many articles of interest on topics such as cybersecurity, electrical engineering, biochemistry, robotics, technology and more.