2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Historically, the construction of buildings has relied on the contributions of architects and multiple branches of engineering, such as mechanical, civil and electrical. In the early nineteenth century, as cities began to grow in the US, the need for specialized areas combining architecture and engineering became necessary. To fulfil this need, in 1908, the first Architectural Engineering (AE) program was established at ---. During the initial years, the AE program included the first two years, which were common to all engineering fields, followed by a diversion for the remainder of the AE program. Subsequently, in 1922, the curricula were separated for the architecture and AE programs, without a year in common. In 1915, in addition to several men, the first woman earned her architectural engineering degree at ---, becoming the --- School of Engineering’s first female graduate. Over the years, the AE program at --- has greatly contributed to producing several architectural engineers who have either served in the industry or pursued a graduate program elsewhere. The current AE program involves five years of study, including taking courses in art, history, studio courses and engineering, with several required and elective courses. Furthermore, the number of students, including both men and women, graduating from the AE program has increased since its inception in 1908. There are currently 26 architectural engineering programs in the US, including the one at ---. To assess the importance of the AE program and its contribution to the scientific community and society at large, the authors will conduct two separate surveys consisting of multiple-choice questions. The first survey will be sent to current students enrolled in the AE program at ---, while the second survey will be sent to former graduates of the AE program. The surveys will be conducted using Qualtrics software, utilizing the anonymized function of the software to seek honest opinions without obtaining and retaining personal information from the respondents. Results from this survey will provide the authors with an in-depth understanding of how the AE program is benefiting recent graduates and its impact on the industry. The results are also likely to provide means for improvement of the current AE program, besides enhancing industry collaboration and changes in course curriculum. As cities continue to expand and design practice prioritizes structural performance and energy efficiency, architectural engineering education must keep pace with evolving standards. This paper reexamines the history of --- Architectural Engineering program, tracing its development and proposing forward-looking changes.