SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING: LEADERS FOR COMMAND AND CRITICAL
ANALYSIS

The School of Engineering opened in September 1967 and subsequently became a leading school in the field in Brazil. The syllabus seeks to train professionals with humanistic and critical profiles who are capable of examining the influence of their actions and decisions in society. Sound technical education in engineering is combined with the development of skills such as critical interpretation and analysis; initiative in the search for The structures of the school's courses were decided only after meticulous surveys and extensive assessment of local and regional scenarios, particularly in relation to the market, challenges facing Brazilian society, and the constant technological and social change of today's world.

The effort has included partnerships with organizations and associations and the best professionals in the field, plus alumni in leading positions in major corporations. As a result, the school was able to tap numerous opportunities for enhancing engineering education and thus introduce significant changes in the curriculum in order to produce excellent professionals for a demanding market.

Engineering graduates acquire the right profile for constant technological innovation in the contemporary world. Professionals hone their ability to work with other people and are prepared to lead and coordinate teams, take initiatives in decision-making, and master the latest computer programs in their area of practice. As a differential, courses stimulate humanistic development in order to foster awareness of the importance of continuing education and a commitment to ethics and citizenship in terms of the social, political, and environmental responsibility involved in the role of the professional in society.

To reach their objectives, engineering courses include disciplines such as communication and self-expression; topics from the humanities; scientific methodology; environmental sciences; and creativity. Themes such as ethics, law, and legislation complement and reinforce their educational background.

Training for engineers also emphasizes student involvement in supervised trainee experience with companies, which is directly appraised by the School's trainee coordination section to ensure close relations between knowledge taught and its applicability in these organizations.

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING

The Civil Engineering course graduates students capable of directing their own professional career in the sense of constant updating from the perspective of continuing education. Highlights are the use of software applications as supporting tools for practical classes in the core disciplines; disciplines providing support when compiling technical and scientific reports or studies; and the introduction of disciplines in the fields of financial management, administrative management, construction management, and building techniques. As well as maintaining the historical profile of a professional with knowledge predominantly of structural engineering, the course furnishes the skills needed to critically analyze systems and organizations; with preparation for project or enterprise management; and creativity to tackle new situations and growing challenges.

The Electrical Engineering course (with emphasis in Electronics) is anchored to an analysis of economic activity in the sector, current and future investments, and needs and potentialities of the different segments of the market. In the Brazilian electricity sector, three major areas concentrate investments and the demand for highly competent professionals: automation, energy, and telecommunications. In this respect, the course seeks to work with the specifications of the profile of excellence for engineers trained by FAAP. Another aim is to train them to show an entrepreneurial approach to project management, deployment, and integration in these three key fields.

The Mechanical Engineering syllabus concentrates on the requirements of the current market and particularly the future need for professionals able to accompany and develop innovation processes in the business environment. The course emphasizes fundamental production engineering concepts, optimizes classroom hours in these disciplines, increases involvement in management issues, and reduces the number of class hours in the final year so that students can also be involved in guided internship activities. Their Business Administration training enables mechanical engineers graduated by FAAP to assume management tasks and work in different areas ranging from quality assurance to the financial market.

The school has latest generation equipment and laboratories for practical classes in all courses. For the last sixteen years, it has published its review Engenharia [Engineering], with technical articles, discussion of issues in the field, presentation of projects, debates, essays, and news of trends and experimental work.