Penn State Altoona is offering two new majors this fall.

The information technology and mechanical engineering programs, which kicked off this semester, will be great additions to their respective colleges, according to professors in both disciplines.

According to information sciences and technology professor Dave Barnes, the information technology program has been successful so far in its infancy and he expects it will grow.

“So far, it’s going very well,” Barnes said. “We’ve got faculty ready to go and resources in place. We’re going to be rolling it out really quickly and will see a significant influx of students as things progress by next fall.”

Barnes said the major is attracting “significant interest” from current and incoming students.

Mechanical engineering, on the commonwealth campus’ website, is described as “one of the largest and broadest engineering disciplines.”

“We are excited to launch our newly minted mechanical engineering program,” said Chancellor and Dean Lori Bechtel-Wherry. “In the past, students have expressed their desire to obtain a mechanical engineering degree at Penn State Altoona and we’re thrilled to offer this opportunity to our current students. In addition to the ability for them to stay at our campus all four years, many ME graduates will likely find employment in our area due to a strong job market for mechanical engineers.”

“The launch of the new mechanical engineering program in fall 2021 is very exciting for our students, staff and faculty at Penn State Altoona,” said Grant Risha, professor of mechanical engineering, in an article on the campus’s website.

Risha said the Mechanical Engineering program is “classical in nature,” with topics such as controls, thermodynamics, materials science, vibrations, fluid mechanics, heat transfer and mechatronics.

Class sizes will be small, Risha added, in order to allow direct communication with instructors and a better student-instructor rapport.

Mirror Staff Writer Andrew Mollenauer is at 814-946-7428.