The United States Military Academy — West Point — is a four-year college dedicated to training officers in the US Army. You can read more about STEM careers in the military – including the Army – in our post on the general subject. Today, we will take a deep dive into STEM education at West Point, which, as you will soon understand, is a significant component of the overall education of future Army officers.
The academic program at USMA is, not surprisingly, thoroughly structured. Each student, known at the Academy as a “Cadet”, will take 40 classes in their 8 semesters at the academy, in addition to courses in physical fitness and military science. Of those 40 classes: 16 are “core” courses for everyone, 8 are in the military profession and culture thread, 10 are in the selected major, and 6 are engineering sequence and complementary courses.
Of the 36 academic majors available at USMA, 23 of them are in STEM areas including 7 engineering degrees and an array of science and technology concentrations. And in fact EVERY major at West Point is a Bachelor of Science degree due to the required course load. The US Military Academy academics catalog has a 100-page detailed report (which you can read at the bottom of this post) on each academic major, its areas of study, and the story of that discipline in real-world terms; that is a detailed source of information about STEM majors available to undergraduate students at the United States military Academy.
First, there is a core curriculum in STEM that each student takes – starting even before declaring a major. Of the 16 “core” courses, 9 are STEM focuses. That’s right, every major at West Point requires at least these STEM classes: Chemistry, Physics, Geography, three Math classes including calculus and statistics, and Computing and Cyber.
Once a cadet selects their STEM major, the accredited coursework is similar to what one would study at a civilian college or university. There are, however, concentrations of learning developed to make the major applicable to the mission of the United States Army. Cadets also have unique opportunities for research programs in military-specific areas that would generally not be available elsewhere. The goal is to develop cadets with a firm foundation in the fundamentals of engineering, physical sciences, investigative techniques, and problem solving skills. For high-school students interested in becoming Officers in the United States Army, and have an interest in STEM, the following are highlights of the STEM majors available at West Point:
CHEMISTRY and CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
Chemistry and Chemical Engineering majors study the basics of organic and inorganic chemical reactions, participate in design and laboratory projects for chemical reactions – both small scale and industrial scale – and learn to design and execute experiments to address a problem or question. They also study how to analyze and assess scientific data gathered in the laboratory. Cadets also have the opportunity for summer opportunities through academic projects at Department of Defense and government laboratories, on projects like synthetic biomaterials, flame retardant compounds, and explosive science.
CIVIL and MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
Civil and Mechanical Engineering majors study the building of modern civilization. Civil Engineering is one of the oldest professions. Civil Engineers design, construct, and maintain the critical infrastructure of modern life. Roads, bridges, buildings, tunnels, dams, water treatment systems, waste treatment systems, railroads, airports, docks, harbors, irrigation projects, canals, and offshore structures are examples of civil engineering “products.” As a Civil Engineering major at West Point, you will work on a capstone event: the design and construction planning of a basecamp in an active theater of operations.
Mechanical Engineering is the study of energy and mechanisms, which can focus on aeronautical, automotive, biomechanics, energy storage and conversion, and the control of ‘autonomous systems’ like robots and drones. As an officer in the US Army, you might be responsible for aircraft, tanks and hummvees, power for those systems, and the interaction between the soldiers and their equipment – the study of mechanical engineering is a great preparation.[/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Stemwinder has many colleagues who are in a unique profession: The US Army Corps of Engineers. That’s right, the US Army actually has a specific designation for engineers, many of whom have degrees in civil engineering. The Army Corps build and maintain the nation’s infrastructure, and military facilities where service members train, work, and live. They work on dredging ports and harbors to allow ships to come and go, and build hurricane and storm protection infrastructure including dams and levees. Officially known as the 249th Engineer Battalion, the US Army Corps of Engineers is at the moment Stemwinder is writing this preparing for Hurricane Harvey: USACE assets have been prepositioned to provide a swift and effective response to the impending hurricane. Liaison Officers, team leaders, and a Prime Power Planning and a Response Team from the 249th Engineer Battalion have deployed in support of state Emergency Operations Centers and FEMA Response Nodes. Additionally, local USACE Districts are conducting flood-fighting activities such as stockpiling and issuing flood-fighting materials (sandbags and materials/fabrics that keep soil in place) to local government entities in an effort to mitigate the effects of flooding in the area.
Yes, those are all activities you can learn about by studying Civil Engineering at West Point.
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING and COMPUTER SCIENCE
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science are important majors for the Army of the future; soldiers will more and more interact with electronic systems in military hardware. As a ‘double-E’ major, the cadet at the United States Military Academy learns about mastery of the fundamental elements of circuit theory, electromagnetic fields and waves, electronics, digital computer logic and electromechanical energy conversion, and can concentrate on robotics, communications, opto-electronics, alternative energy and cyber-engineering – all part of the weapons and defense systems used in the US Army. Computer Science majors learn the standard curriculum of CS: programming and software design with languages, algorithms, and data structure. Then as they move to upper-level courses, their studies emphasize tools used in modern warfare. While a traditional civilian school might focus on e-commerce and using search to deliver advertisements, West Point CS majors can focus on cyber, which the West Point CS department calls “The newest way to fight and win the nation’s wars”. CS cadets learn attack and defense, and then compete to win on the Competitive Cyber Team; they prepare by learning networking and operating systems, reverse engineering, security, and digital forensics.
GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SCIENCE
Geospatial Information Science is a special program within the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering. While the department has majors in both of the title subjects, GIS expertise has a particularly significant role in the US Army. To dominate on the battlefield, the Army’s fighting forces depend on leaders who understand the capabilities and applicability of geospatial technologies. Every branch in the Army uses some form of geospatial information for operations. Some of the courses in this major include remote sensing, computer cartography, advanced remote sensing, photogrammetry. Cadets use GPS, view and analyze satellite imagery, build map databases and produce maps with state of the art hardware and software. Majoring in Geospatial Information Science provides the cadet and future Army Officer the knowledge to use these tools when leading soldiers in the high-tech digital Army. The two Army skill identifiers available for GIS majors are “Space Activities” and “Geospatial Engineering Officer”.
NUCLEAR ENGINEERING and SCIENCE
Nuclear Engineering and Science at the US Military Academy provides a field of study covering nuclear power, nuclear tools and instruments, and nuclear weapons. It is the national defense aspects of this curriculum that provide the cadet an opportunity to learn about nuclear nonproliferation and counter-proliferation, and also how to defend soldiers against a nuclear and radiation environment. Cadets also can participate in summer Advanced Development studies at national laboratories like Lawrence Livermore, Los Alamos, and NASA. In addition to the science of nuclear materials and their use in power generation and in weapons, Cadets at West Point also study the social, political, economic, technological, and safety implementations of new technologies. As Officers, West Point graduates in Nuclear Engineering or Science can participate in homeland defense as part of nuclear and radiation task forces with the CIA, FBI, DOE, NNSA, or DOD, work with antiterrorist teams in radiation detection and counter-proliferation, detect, monitor, and account for weapons of mass destruction, and participate in nuclear treaty verifications.
SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, OPERATIONS RESEARCH, and ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
Systems Engineering, Operations Research, and Engineering Management are integrative disciplines which teach the Cadet how to bring together technical, decision-making, and organizational behavior aspects of science and engineering. Systems are the interaction of equipment, people, and operations that cannot be seen just by looking at the components, and the Systems Engineer studies how to solve complex interdisciplinary problems methodically and holistically. They study simulation and optimization modeling, and decision making under uncertainty. Operations Research majors study the applied mathematics aspects of simulation and decision making – tools like applied statistics, nonlinear optimization, and decision analysis — and advanced studies in probabilistic and deterministic models and advanced cyber. And Engineering Management majors bring together systems analysis and applied sciences with studies in organizational leadership and personnel management; these Cadets take similar coursework in the systems and decision analysis, as well as concentrations in project management supply chain, and combat modeling. These three majors prepare cadets for the everyday challenges faced by Army officers, and are in demand due to the rapid spread of advanced technologies and the emergence of a highly networked, globally-oriented information age that drastically increased the complexity of the current and future military environment.
As you now know, there are many exciting and challenging STEM majors at the United States Military Academy. West Point engineers are real engineers – the accreditation of USMA engineering by ABET is the same as top civilian colleges and universities, and most West Point engineers take the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam in the senior year. The Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam is generally your first step in the process to becoming a professional licensed engineer (P.E.). It is designed for recent graduates and students who are close to finishing an undergraduate engineering degree from an ABET-accredited program. The National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing professional licensure for engineers and administers the FE exam. The West Point engineers are qualified to take the same FE license exams as other accredited colleges.
Want to read more about STEM in the US military?
While a Cadet is studying STEM at USMA, they also study with the Department of Military Instruction – which has the mission to educate Cadets in the essence of war-fighting to develop future Army offices with values, leadership and military skills, and warrior ethos to lead America’s soldiers. That is important for high school students to remember – when considering a STEM education at West Point, they would also study to become commissioned 2nd Lieutenants in the US Army upon graduation, and would be expected to be assigned to a deployment role as Army Officers.
You can see the West Point academic majors here.