Recently, some students on campus, some meaning the 175 LSSU Engineering students, received an email from Dean Walworth  regarding a new policy going into effect in the department with regards to that wonderful time saving mechanism we’ve all come to know and love – the calculator. Before anyone panics, the policy is non-mandatory, meaning it is up to the professor to choose which calculators can and cannot be used at whatever time. The new calculator to be used is the TI-36X Solar, a fairly simple scientific calculator, which, as the name might suggest, doesn’t use batteries, but may, according to the Compass’ own Editor in Chief, take a few minutes to ‘warm up’ in the dim lighting of the robotics lab.

The calculator performs all the necessary functions an engineering student would need, and also does calculations in various number systems (as do most scientific calculators). The primary reason for the switch, and the move away from the graphing calculators many of us have grown to know and love, is the PE (Professional Engineering) and FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exams that most engineers take after graduating colleges – these are the tests that actually certify one as an engineer with the government. On these tests, there are only four calculators that are allowed, and the -36X that the department has now made standard is one of those.

No, there is no model of graphing calculator that is usable on either of those exams.

Students will not, however, be required to purchase one of these calculators, although they are available in the Engineering Department’s main office in CAS for $10 US. The calculators will be made available for checkout by students for up to a semester at a time, and the department purchased enough of them on their own so that professors may loan out enough for an entire class at once, should the need arise.

“We feel we’re within the guidelines of the state of Michigan, which certifies all engineers, if they say these are the only ones we can bring, this is something we should be ready for,” Dean Walworth said. “We took a look at all the ones that could be used, saw what they had and didn’t have, and this is the one thought would be the best choice.”

Engineers – time to make friends with a new calculator.

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