UofL, ECTC Applied Engineering Program Partnership Brings Advanced Degree to Local Workforce 

The future of advanced manufacturing is unfolding right here in Hardin County thanks to a new partnership between Elizabethtown Community and Technical College (ECTC) and the University of Louisville (UofL). At the recent Elizabethtown Hardin County Industrial Foundation (EIF) Facilities Managers Meeting, President and COO Andy Games welcomed Thomas Rockaway, professor in UofL’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, to promote the groundbreaking collaboration for its Bachelor of Science in Applied Engineering.

While UofL brings the prestige of its J.B. Speed School of Engineering, the heart of this program lies in its deep integration with ECTC. For local industry partners and their employees, this partnership isn’t just a new degree, it’s a local pathway to high-demand careers.

The cornerstone of this “blended approach” of the community college’s two-year program with the university’s four-year program is the 2+2 Pathway, Rockaway said, which is specifically designed to make a four-year engineering degree accessible without leaving the region.

“There’s two things this program does,” ECTC President and CEO Dr. Juston Pate said. “One thing is it keeps local talent local. … You take the person who wants to live here, wants to raise a family here, and you bring the program to them. That’s what this program is intended to do.”

The first step for students is beginning their path at ECTC where they earn an Associate in Applied Science (AAS). This work-ready foundation ensures they gain immediate, practical technical skills.

After completing the two-year degree, the program allows for a seamless transition process, including a summer bridge program, that prepares students for upper-level coursework before completing the rest of their Applied Engineering course work through UofL, which will have designated space in the ECTC training center in Glendale, featuring state-of-the-art equipment like Mitsubishi Cobots and PLCs.

For facilities managers and plant leaders, this program addresses the urgent need for engineers capable of integrating rapidly accelerating automation and robotics technologies and provides a robust pipeline to their workforce. By starting at ECTC, employees and students significantly reduce the overall cost of a bachelor’s degree. Add on to it any company education incentives and the program becomes even more affordable for employees to advance.  

The “living-degree program” is built for the region, making it adaptable to a student’s specific needs providing focus tracks. The customizable focus tracks are the “connection between industry and academia,” which in turn allows students to pursue particular tracks suited to their specific industry and “transforms higher education,” Rockaway said. It provides a speed of change not typically seen in higher education. By providing a clear, local advancement path, companies can invest in their current technicians, helping them grow into engineering roles while remaining with the company.

This isn’t a theoretical degree. The Applied Engineering curriculum is heavily influenced by industry needs, requiring students to accumulate one year of work experience through co-ops or internships before graduation and most classes will be held from 4 to 8 p.m., allowing for workers to earn their degree and maintain at least part-time status with their employer. 

With the first track focusing on Automation and Robotics, and future tracks planned for semiconductors and pharmaceutical processing, this partnership ensures that Elizabethtown remains the epicenter of Kentucky’s industrial future.

“It is extremely urgent to produce the engineers who are appropriately trained to integrate these automation and robotic technologies,” Rockaway said. 

The presentation served as the starting point to build momentum for the program with industry leaders, Games said.