With the opening of the new science and engineering complex next fall, Oswego State will offer a new electrical and computer engineering bachelor’s degree.

Its intent is to increase the supply of professionals in bioinstrumentation, robotics, power systems as well as in embedded systems like microprocessors. This new program is a reaction to the high demand for such professionals not only in the region but in the nation as a whole. The program prepares students to work with machines, from cars to refrigerators.

Oswego State becomes the second state-funded college in New York to offer the degree program. The college already offers software engineering in the computer science department. SUNYIT is the other public college to provide the degree. Cornell University and the University of Rochester also provide the program.

According to a press release from Oswego State Office of Public Affairs, many local companies have supported the creation of this program including Welch Allyn, Lockheed-Martin, National Grid, Saab Sensis, O’Brien & Gere, Novelis and SRC.

It is estimated that at least 80 students will enroll in the program and it will produce roughly 20 graduates a year.

The computer science department boasts 18 members on its faculty, according to its web page on Oswego State’s site, and it is part of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The department at Oswego State is where the first software engineering degree in the SUNY system originated.

Two project labs, three studio teaching facilities, a faculty research lab, a project-building room and a computer lab within the new science complex will be dedicated to students in the program. The rooms will have state-of-the-art equipment that can be used for testing robotic and medical devices, circuit boards and microprocessors. According to the press release, the complex will total $118 million.

Dr. Rachid Manseur is the program director and an expert in robotics. The program includes robotics and according to Public Affairs, incorporates programs that already exist at Oswego State such as software engineering, human-computer interaction, cognitive science, graphic design and information science.

This addition comes just months after Oswego State received a five-year STEM grant of $872,523 to help boost retention rates among freshmen and sophomores in those types of programs. This is part of a national science, technology, engineering and math initiative to meet the demand of the growing field.