Majors > Electrical Engineering
Program Description
4-Year Plan
Accreditation
Electrical engineers design, develop, and test electrical equipment, such as electric motors, radar and navigation systems, communications systems, or power generation equipment.
Your JBU education goes far beyond the fundamentals. Here, students are challenged to solve real-world problems with innovative solutions from their first semester. Become immersed in the full design process, starting with brainstorming ideas, refining design, fabrication and troubleshooting, final testing, and ultimately presenting a final product unique to you and your inventiveness. This type of creative design space is the environment in which engineers thrive.
Learn more about the electrical engineering major
Engineering students have access to 40,000 square feet of state-of-the-art lab space and equipment like a jet engine and 3-D prototyping tools for projects in Balzer Technology Center.
Expand your engineering degree with a minor in renewable energy.
Our students regularly take summer internships at top companies including NASA.
Each year, a team of students builds a robot and competes in the NASA Lunabotic Mining Competition. In 2012, JBU’s team won fourth place out of 50 international teams.
Research and build your project at JBU, then take it global like a former student aquaponics project that now helps a village in Cambodia.
Students work with professors on grant-funded projects like an EPA grant to develop a drinking water disinfection system for rural Guatemala.
JBU engineering students are recruited to graduate programs both in the U.S. and abroad including Caltech, UT-Austin, Virginia Tech, University of Arkansas, Tulsa University, UT-Arlington, Vanderbilt, University of Maryland, Iowa State and more.
JBU’s Engineering degree path is sufficient for graduates to successfully complete the Fundamentals of Engineering exam. That exam is administered by NCEES. Details on the exam may be found here. For complete state licensure, a graduate must complete 5 years of experience and then meet the licensure requirements of their current state of residence. Requirements for each state can be found here. This site is updated regularly as various state requirements may change.
Balzer Technology Center is a 40,000-square-foot facility that is dedicated home for JBU's engineering and construction management programs.
The lobby in Balzer Technology Center is a common area for students to gather to study and hang out.
Each year, students have the ability to build a robot and enter it into competition at the NASA Lunabotic Mining Competition.
The engineering section of Peer-Andrus Studio and Project Barn, a 16,800-square-foot facility that provides essential studio and project space for art and engineering students, includes one large project area with 17 flexible workstations for engineering students.
Dr. Tim Gilmour joined the engineering faculty in August of 2012. Dr. Gilmour received his B.S.E.E. from Cedarville University in 2003, his M.S.E.E. from Penn State University in 2005, and his Ph.D. from Penn State University in 2012. For his masters' research he tested different signal processing methods for brain-computer interfaces. For his doctoral research he applied signal processing to examine the effects of cell transplants on brain electrical activity in Parkinson's Disease. He has published four journal papers and presented seven conference abstracts. In his free time he enjoys spending time with friends, reading, hiking, music, playing Frisbee and Ping-Pong, learning about other cultures, and spreading the good news about Jesus Christ.
Director of InnovationAssociate Professor of Engineering
Dr. Ted J. Song grew up both in the U.S. and Korea, and he was an ROTC cadet during his undergraduate studies and served as an Air Defense Artillery Officer in the Republic of Korea Army. While in graduate school, he worked at various engineering companies and organizations including Samsung Electronics (Tangjeong, Korea), UNIDO-ICHET (Istanbul, Turkey), and NEC Laboratories America (Cupertino, CA); he also taught calculus and received the 2012 Texas Exes Teaching Award. Dr. Song has been teaching electrical engineering courses at JBU since 2012 and is the recipient of the 2018 JBU Faculty Excellence Award.
Apart from teaching, Dr. Song co-chairs the Faculty Affairs Committee which serves to facilitate communication between the faculty and the administration. He also serves as Director of Innovation, seeking to make Christ-centered education more affordable and accessible using advanced technology.
Dr. Song and his wife, Michelle, live in Siloam Springs, AR, and have three daughters: Leanne, Erin, and Kori. They are members at Siloam Springs Bible Church (an Evangelical Free Church) where Dr. Song leads College Ministry and serves as an elder. He recently received his Master of Theological Studies degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing the M.Div. degree.
Adjunct Instructor, Engineering
Mrs. Kimberly Cornett has been teaching with the Engineering Department since 2015. She received her B.S.E with concentration in Electrical Engineering from John Brown University in 2007 and earned her MSEE from the University of Arkansas in 2009. Her Master’s research was integrated circuit design for extreme environment applications in Space and on surface of the Moon and Mars. Some of the circuits she worked on orbited with the International Space Station. She then worked for Texas Instruments as a Servo Systems Engineer for 3.5 years developing application-specific integrated circuits for the hard disk drive industry. These experiences developed her special interests in circuit design and verification as well as project management. Mrs. Cornett has served as the Counselor for the JBU Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers and loves to encourage young girls to pursue STEM careers.
Mrs. Cornett and her husband Nick Cornett (JBU Graduate Counseling Faculty) returned to Siloam Springs in 2012. They have one daughter and two sons. They are active in the local church and Bible study groups. She enjoys spending time with family, baking, sewing, woodworking, running, hiking, biking, and spectating various sports.
Assistant Professor of Engineering
Dr. Shanon Vuglar joined the JBU engineering faculty in 2018. He received his B.Tech. (Aeronautical Engineering), B.E. (Electrical Engineering), and M.Sc. (Information Technology) from the University of New South Wales, Canberra, Australia, while serving in the Royal Australian Air Force. On completing his undergraduate degrees, he served as an Engineering Officer, predominantly working in the areas of Information Operations and Communications. In June 2015, he was awarded a Ph.D. (Electrical Engineering) from the University of New South Wales. His doctoral research was in the area of quantum control and considered the physical realizability of quantum systems. Before joining JBU, he held postdoctoral research positions at the University of Melbourne and Princeton University. He has published four journal articles and five peer-reviewed conference papers. Dr. Vuglar values being an active part of a vibrant Christian community and has led prayer and Bible study groups as well as serving on worship teams, playing saxophone and drums. He enjoys running, cycling, mountain biking, and skiing and in July 2018, he successfully completed his first Ironman Triathlon (Lake Placid, NY). He also enjoys playing chess and other board games.
A degree in electrical engineering opens up opportunities in many different industries. Demand for electrical and computer engineers is high and generally remains stable, even in an unstable economy. Electrical and electronics engineers have a median salary of $99,070, while computer engineers have a median salary of $114,600. For more occupational outlook information, visit the Bureau of Labor Statistics website.
Many of our EE graduates pursue programming careers. Recently, several of our grads have taken software jobs at Garmin, Boeing, IBM Bluewolf, Hewlett Packard, Texas Instruments, EngWIT, Field Agent, Walmart Information Technology, and other companies. One of our grads from three years ago is now in charge of smartphone app development at Field Agent.
Electronic controls engineers design, develop and supervise all aspects of electrical control systems, equipment and machinery. This engineer may also install and provide technical support of programmable logic controller based hardware and software.
Systems Engineer manage and monitor installed operating systems, application software and system management tools to ensure the highest levels of systems and infrastructure availability.
Robotics engineers use computer-aided design and drafting, and computer-aided manufacturing to design, test and build robots that are productive and safe to operate, as well as economical to purchase and maintain.
Hardware design engineers develop, improve and test components and systems including circuit boards, processors and memory cards for computers and other devices.
Software design engineer will analyze existing processes and then design or refine software to increase the efficiency of users.
Power systems engineer may work in wind turbines or electrical power systems, analyzing results, assisting organizations with upgrades, overseeing the quality and technical support for projects and preparing cost estimates and bid proposals.
Sam Stewart is the senior electrical engineering manager for Walmart in Arkansas. He is a certified professional engineer, receiving his Arkansas State Board Licensure
The legacy B.S. Engineering degree (not available for new student enrollment) is accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET.
JBU will be seeking ABET accreditation for the new B.S. Electrical Engineering and B.S. Mechanical Engineering degrees at the earliest possible date after our first class of B.S.E.E. and B.S.M.E. students graduate (anticipated in May of 2020).
To find out more about why choosing an accredited program is key, visit the ABET website.
In compliance with ABET Accreditation Public Release Requirements, the links shown below will provide direct access to information that include program educational objectives, student outcomes, enrollment and graduate rates:
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