TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama College of Engineering recently received the Increasing Diversity in Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering grant from the National Science Foundation.

The grant, funded through the NSF’s Undergraduate Education Division, will allow UA to award 24 scholarships over a four-year period totaling $330,000. The goal of this program is to increase workforce diversity in technical fields, specifically computer science and mechanical engineering.

“The program will emphasize participation by students from underrepresented groups, such as women and minority students, first generation college students and students from economically challenged areas of Alabama,” said Dr. Susan Vrbsky, associate professor of computer science and co-director of the project.

The project will provide scholarships to students in UA’s computer science and mechanical engineering departments. The students participating in the program will be assessed and assisted with their academic career, including regular meetings with faculty, student mentors and involvement of higher-level undergraduate students in research programs for elective course credit.

In 1837, UA became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering, with about 1,900 students and more than 95 faculty, is one of the three oldest continuously operating engineering programs in the country and has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.