College of Science, Engineering and Technology

The number of GCU students doing internships just keeps growing — up to more than 300 for the 2014-15 school year. The types of opportunities they’re getting also are expanding, and several found themselves getting to do far more than they expected.

The tools to succeed as a student at GCU have never before been so intentional and integrated throughout the colleges and curriculum. From the time they step onto campus until their commencement, students are continuously exposed to purposeful planning, advising and other guidance to make the most of their programs of study, academics, career aspirations and spirituality. And soon, a new First Year Center of academic excellence will open in Juniper Hall, which is home to 250 of GCU’s 750 Honors College students. Click here to read more in GCU Today.

The first students in GCU’s engineering program attended classes Monday in their new building. Over the coming years, they will be exposed to a new way of preparing for the workforce and future jobs in biomedical, electrical and mechanical engineering and of thinking about how Christian anthropology fits in with their future careers.

By Janie Magruder GCU News Bureau If Ethington Theatre at Grand Canyon University ever staged “Goldilocks and the Three Bears,” freshman Heidi Laabs would make an ideal lead character. The Mesa biology major, who moved into Willow Hall with hundreds of other new students Tuesday, has sampled University life over the past 72 hours and is finding things to her liking. It’s been a blessed week filled with good fortune. Her room, a vintage Pottery Barn prototype, is clean and cool. Already, her roommate and suitemates have BFF status, and in just three short days on campus, Heidi has experienced some of the best things GCU has to offer — a warm welcome from volunteers, a high-energy worship service, movie night, swimming, free iced tea and much more. All with thousands of other members of the Class of 2019. With her long blond hair, Heidi is more Goldilocks than Little Red Riding Hood or Snow White. The GCU decision The only child of Susan and Tom Laabs, Heidi graduated from Gilbert Christian High, a college preparatory school, with about 40 other seniors this spring. She likes science, played on the women’s basketball team and performed with the hand bell choir at her church, Christ’s Greenfield Lutheran in Gilbert. Heidi […]

Record-breaking high temperatures Friday in Phoenix couldn’t hold a candle to the enthusiasm of President/CEO Brian Mueller and other GCU leaders during the all-employee meeting in the Arena. Mueller delivered his own take on a “State of the University” address by hosting a Q-and-A with more than a dozen representatives of the faculty, colleges, programs, enrollment, student body, community outreach and staff.

GCU Today Magazine GCU is training tomorrow’s engineers in an interdisciplinary setting that replicates the workforce environment. Here’s a snapshot of each program emphasis: BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING Also known as “bioengineering,” this field produces technology for medical devices and other health care purposes. It’s where engineering and medicine come together to solve humanity’s biological problems and improve patient care through automation. Innovations: Implants that regulate the brain’s response to hunger and guide weight loss in obese adults, optical scanners that analyze the skin to potentially reduce the need for routine dermatological biopsies, and microchips that alert doctors to potential heart attacks Major course topics: Biomedical Design Elements, Biomaterials and Biomedical Instrumentation and Devices ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING From portable electronic devices to robotic manufacturing systems, engineers in this broad field work on hardware that delivers data for a range of everyday purposes. The technology they build and maintain keeps everything from wireless networks to power plants humming along at an optimal pace. Innovations: Renewable energy delivery systems, such as high-efficiency solar cell materials, and microcircuit boards and nano-electronics for biomedical implants Major course topics: Advanced Circuits, Electromagnetic Fields and Optics, and Communications Signal Processing MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Considered the broadest of all engineering disciplines, mechanical engineers […]

GCU Today Magazine There were times when Carter Bennett felt asphyxiated, as if someone was sitting on his chest or thrusting a knife into his lungs. Throughout his youth, the Grand Canyon University freshman relied on his parents, Dave and Kimberly, for relief from the suffocating complications of cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder for which there is no cure. When Carter was diagnosed at age 9, his father was a software entrepreneur. But the family’s ensuing experience with doctors and insurance companies led Dave into the emerging field of health care information systems. He became focused on the blending of technology with personalized health care. The Bennett family learned to understand Carter’s disease and to investigate his genetic makeup. They tailored his treatment plan by zeroing in on his disease mutation, one that affects only 4 percent of cystic fibrosis patients. They researched new drugs for Carter’s mutation and actually brought information to their doctor about one that has helped him thrive. “It’s kind of unfortunate that the doctor didn’t know it, but it’s not really the doctor’s fault since he didn’t really have the systems to do it,” said Dave Bennett, a member of the GCU President’s STEM Advisory […]

The cover story in the latest edition of GCU Today Magazine introduces you to 10 new faces on campus who are shining representatives of this fall’s incoming freshmen class. Check out the students’ stellar academics, servant qualities and deep faith and watch a cool video about their first-year expectations. The September magazine also has full coverage of a beach get-together for new GCU students from Southern California as well as a story about the University’s new engineering degrees, a feature and video about its promising soccer program and an article about a unique collaboration between GCU and Arizona hospitals to train and employ new nursing graduates. Other content: a look at where GCU students spread the Gospel during summer mission trips, a story and video about new alumnus Zenon Castro, who is moving from school janitor to teacher thanks to GCU’s s online program and a profile of alumna/future doctor Erica Wadas, plus alumni class notes.  

GCU alumna Erica Wadas has followed in her father’s footsteps by graduating from medical school, and has landed a residency at a New England medical center that is part of a prestigious Ivy League school.

GCU is planning the biggest welcome for the biggest entering class in its history next week, as thousands of freshmen move onto campus into seven residence halls, four of them brand new. Meet 10 members of the Class of 2019 who bring a grand diversity of skills, interests, plans, passions, backgrounds and geography to GCU and will surely make their mark on the world.