Gonzaga University plans this fall to begin offering a bachelor of science degree in computer engineering, says Dennis Horn, the dean of the Spokane universitys School of Engineering.


The four-year program will be offered in response to a soaring nationwide demand for computer engineers. Horn says the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that employment opportunities for computer engineers are expected to double by the year 2005 from the present 200,000 jobs. He adds that a separate study reports that by 2006 the number of jobs in all fields of engineering is expected to increase by between 15 percent and 20 percent, with the exception of computer-engineering jobs, which are expected to increase by 110 percent.


Gonzaga spokesman Peter Tormey says the universitys School of Engineering began offering a computer-engineering option within its electrical-engineering program two years ago. Those students already are being wooed by companies while theyre still in their senior year at Gonzaga, he says, adding that once they graduate they will be pulling down some high-paying salaries.


Horn says a computer engineer can expect to earn a starting wage of about $55,000 a year and a mid-level wage of about $70,000 a year. This just reflects that were not producing enough computer engineers, he says.


The School of Engineering began offering the computer-engineering option with the intent of offering an accredited computer-engineering program eventually. Horn says those plans were accelerated because of the demand in the engineering industry. He says that employers currently are looking for accredited computer engineers.


Horn says that accrediting the Gonzaga program not only will give students a better chance to land jobs in the current hot job market, but likely will make the program more marketable. The university likely will have to wait at least two years, though, before the program can receive accreditation, because of standard accreditation procedures, he says. That accreditation would be retroactively applied to students who graduate from the program before it receives such a designation, he adds.


More than 20 studentsone junior, six sophomores, and 16 freshmancurrently are studying under the schools computer-engineering option. Those students will be transferred to the computer-engineering program. Horn adds that he expects a significant number of freshman to enroll in the new program this fall.


Computer-engineering students will work closely with both the School of Engineerings electrical-engineering department and the schools computer-science department. Classes within the program will concentrate on computer systems, programming, microcomputer architecture, and embedded computer systems.


Horn believes that the computer-engineering bachelors program will be the only one in Spokane. Washington State University and University of Idaho also offer such programs at their main campuses, he says.