RICHMOND, Ky. — The newest program at Eastern Kentucky University is growing in popularity, only a semester into its existence and it’s helping to fill a much needed field in the Commonwealth and country.
Kentucky’s Council on Post-Education projects an over 11% increase in engineering jobs by 2029. Forty-two students between this fall and next fall make up the cohorts of EKU’s manufacturing program, learning important skills at a more affordable cost.
Most days, students in EKU’s Intro to Manufacturing and Engineering Design class begin their day going over the previous night’s homework equations in the classroom. It’s the first step toward a career with many possibilities, from automotive to aerospace.
“It’s a very broad field, I’m really keeping my options open, I’m not going to be picky to choose a career,” said Davis Huntley, a freshman at EKU.
Huntey, a native of Winchester, said he prefers to work in the automotive field. He said he chose EKU’s engineering program over larger schools and got the most out of his scholarship money.
“My father went to engineering at a large school and he said he was just a number. I’m glad to see that we’re small enough and local enough to where we get to work closely with faculty and staff members,” Huntley said.
But it’s not all books and equations. Huntley and the other students spend the second half of their days in the workshop, learning how to make and design an Adirondack chair.
“So the Adirondack chair is a good way to do that on a very small scale; we learn to do it with something small, that way we can apply it to larger things,” Huntley said.
Sean June is the program director and professor. He said manufacturing engineering is similar to mechanical engineering.
“Manufacturing engineering just puts more emphasis on the manufacturing process. It’s, of course, going to be the typical things that come out of a factory; might be cars, might be airplanes, your iPhone,” June said.
In the Commonwealth, the demand for manufacturing professionals is rising. According to EKU, motor vehicle seating manufacturing is projected to grow 38% and aerospace manufacturing by 21% in the next decade.
“The more students, the better, getting them prepared because there’s certainly jobs and they’re really well-paying jobs,” June said.
EKU is the only university in Kentucky to offer degree specific to manufacturing engineering.
“I originally am from here and went to another school because we didn’t offer engineering yet and transferred back whenever we got the program,” Morton said.
Junior Ashtyn Morton is one of two women in the original cohort of around 30.
“I’m really trying everything I can to get more women and grow the program,” Morton said.
The average starting salary for a manufacturing engineer in Kentucky is $50,000 to $60,000.
Nationally, an expected increase of nearly 33,000 new jobs will be available by 2029.