College of Science, Engineering and Technology

If you’d like to chat about ion implantation in microchips, wonder how circuit boards work, or would just like to shoot the breeze about engineering in general, Dr. Melissa Trombley is the person to speak with. Trombley, who goes by “Mel,” joined Grand Canyon University recently as lead faculty on the new electrical engineering program, which opens to students in August. She brings 10 years of experience from Intel, where she worked on massive, multimillion-dollar equipment used to manufacture computer semiconductors.

Eight members of Grand Canyon University’s chapter of the AzHOSA health care professions organization are off to Anaheim, Calif., today to compete in HOSA’s 38th annual National Leadership Conference, where they will face some of the top students of pre-med and other health care undergraduate programs from around the U.S.

Led by faculty member Michael Bodeen, students in Grand Canyon University’s Biology 492-L internship are learning the dissection skills they will need to be succeed in medical school. The two-credit course is new this summer and open in the fall to premed and other pre-health professional program students who meet a high academic standard. As GCU Today explores in this story, several students are working on human cadavers in the University’s anatomy lab this summer, honing their dissection techniques as they prepare the cadavers for demonstrations in 200-level biology courses. The new dissection internship is one of three health science internship courses offered through CSET.

GCU Today Magazine A group of health care professionals who studied together at Grand Canyon University before going to medical school traveled to western Uganda last year to bring medical care and God’s love to people for whom modern necessities are scarce. Among them were Dr. David Engstrom and his wife, Jamie, a physician’s assistant, who operate Pinnacle Family Medicine in Litchfield Park, Drs. Nicole and Brent Nedella, Courtney Mitchell and Stephanie Bradley, all GCU alumni. (Photos courtesy of the Nedella family)

By Darryl Webb GCU News Bureau  

By GCU News Bureau Thursday morning’s commencement, the first of six to be held this week for the Grand Canyon University’s Class of 2015 in the Arena, had all the usual pomp — grinning parents using cellphones and Canons, elaborately decorated mortarboards balanced on graduates’ heads and purple in every corner of the Arena, on flowers, stoles and drapes. (Click here to see a slideshow.) But the 80-minute ceremony attended by 528 undergraduates in five colleges — Theology, Fine Arts and Production, Education, Humanities and Social Sciences and Science, Engineering and Technology — also was punctuated by poignant circumstances. For one, several graduates in the first CSET class adorned their mortarboards in ways unique to their career paths, such as outlines of bodies and crime scene tape. And there was not one but two student speakers, identical twin sisters Joy and Claire Flatz, who earned degrees in theatre from the College of Fine Arts and Production. The duo, who are as close to America’s sweethearts as you can get, did a lovely tag-team bit about how the University’s campus has changed in four years. (Then: no lines, no Chick-fil-A and the worst parking spot was behind Hegel Hall next to […]

GCU Today Magazine  Photos by Darryl Webb There was no shortage of news at Grand Canyon University during the 2014-15 academic year. And it was no easy decision picking the Top 10 stories from the dozens that were produced by GCU Today. But those that emphasized community, growth and reputation quickly rose to the top. Here they are: 1. GCU revs economic engine in west Phoenix The University announced a five-point plan to revitalize the neighborhood, continued expanding its campus along the Canyon Corridor, agreed to operate and began renovating Maryvale Golf Course, and opened a hotel to train students in hospitality management and employ local residents. A study credited GCU with an annual economic impact of $1.1 billion that generates 10,490 jobs, with wages approaching $500 million per year. 2. What’s in a name? A lot, when it’s Colangelo GCU’s business school was renamed for Phoenix icon Jerry Colangelo, whose principles of servant leadership, ethics and entrepreneurship became as ingrained into campus life as he did in just a few short months. As part of the hospitality curriculum, the college also announced plans for golf course and tennis management programs. 3. It’s full STEM ahead as 8th college opens Determined to fill high-tech […]

By Janie Magruder GCU Today Magazine As a student at Canby High in northwestern Oregon, Bryce Beatty filled his days with chemistry, honors biology, advanced placement physics and playing shortstop for the baseball team. But when he came to Grand Canyon University in 2012, Beatty traded his mitt and jersey for latex gloves and an apron. For the then freshman, focusing on his major — biology with an emphasis in pre-med — required protection for his hands and clothing in GCU’s cadaver lab. Despite his considerable high school science background, Beatty knew he would need some help in chemistry as he pursued a career in spine surgery. As soon as he arrived on campus, he requested tutoring help from the Center for Learning & Advancement (CLA). Now a junior in the College of Science, Engineering and Technology, Beatty is one of GCU’s top science tutors. He helped inspire University leaders to restructure the tutoring system and is assisting with its success. There’s extra credit, of course: “If you can teach it, you know it,” he said. Narrowing the focus Tutoring has evolved over the past 18 months during a perfect storm of change at GCU. The administration wanted to boost […]

Story by Janie Magruder Photos by Darryl Webb GCU Today Magazine Jesse Hannington Nedella is a cherubic blond bundle of busyness. He zips through his living room in Avondale, Ariz., alternately lobbing a fluffy ball at his dad’s head and fitting plastic triangles into a puzzle box. He stops just long enough to bounce on toddler legs to an Elmo song on TV’s “Sesame Street,” then pops a plastic bucket onto his head and continues to entertain. Jesse is 20 months old and even knows how to whistle. By all accounts, he is the definition of a miracle. The uniting of brainpower Looking back, their meeting at Grand Canyon University feels accidental. But Drs. Nicole (Stevenson) and Brent Nedella, now 34, have realized their relationship — which began awkwardly in organic chemistry class — and their entire lives are being orchestrated quite beautifully by God. Brent figured out at 13 that he wanted to be a doctor, and GCU made his undergraduate education possible with a scholarship. Nicole decided in kindergarten that she would be a veterinarian, came to GCU because of its cadaver lab (as so many high school students do) and switched to people medicine as a junior […]

The first Senior Night at GCU was a big moment Thursday for nine students and eight faculty/staff members, who were among a crowd of 450 in the Arena. The student award recipients were selected by University leadership in the areas of academics, athletics and student affairs and for their service, faith and spirit. The faculty and staff received awards for positively impacting students.