ABET accreditation ensures the program follows national standards of quality for faculty, curricula, students, administration, facilities and institutional commitment. Some of the noted institutions that provide ABET-accredited engineering programs include Princeton University, Boston University, the University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University and Widener University. Students can specialize in more than 20 branches of engineering, such as aerospace, industrial, nuclear, architectural and computer engineering. Chemical engineering applies principles of chemistry, physics and engineering to the design and operation of plants and processes for the production of materials that undergo chemical changes during their manufacture. Chemical engineers develop processes for producing plastics, synthetic fibers, pharmaceuticals, paper, paints and many other consumer products.
Electrical engineering is concerned with electrical devices, circuits and systems.
Traditionally, electrical engineers have specialized in areas such as power generation and transmission, electrical machinery, electronics, communication, control and circuit design. In the past several decades, this field has expanded considerably with the development of the transistor, integrated circuits and microelectronics, the laser and the digital computer. Mechanical engineering involves machines and mechanical processes, such as energy generation and conversion. Mechanical engineers design, test and manufacture popular products, such as household appliances, heating systems, cars, ships and airplanes. Undergraduate programs in engineering can take four to five years to complete, depending on a university's requirements.