Louisiana Tech University is a selective public university located in Ruston, Louisiana. Ranked as one of US News & World Report’s Top-Tier Universities and a Tier 2 Carnegie Research Institution, Louisiana Tech is committed to providing unique experiences to students, as can be seen through its tenets: confidence, excellence, commitment, knowledge, integrity, respect, leadership, loyalty, enthusiasm, caring, hope, and pride.

The university uses a projected-based model for its undergraduate education, which helps students build confidence to create startups, perform impactful research, and earn internships early in their academic careers.

Why We're In KEEN
Our university and college place a high priority on creating a unique experience for our undergraduate engineering majors. Many of the strategies we’ve implemented align closely with the mission of KEEN, such as our pioneering first-year engineering sequence, Living with the Lab, Research and Design Conference, and various activities offered through our Integrated STEM Education Research Center (ISERC).

We are constantly looking for new ways to engage students and improve their marketability in the workforce. We believe our partnership with KEEN will help us further integrate these principles into the curriculum and student experience.

Ultimately, we aspire to instill an entrepreneurial mindset across nearly all facets of a student's journey, from recruitment to graduation. We recognize that the KEEN partnership will open opportunities for collaboration with universities with like-minded goals. We also value the knowledge and experience that the KEEN partners will share as we work towards enhancing and building our entrepreneurially minded learning-focused programs.

Mission and Values
The College of Engineering and Science’s mission is to create the best dynamic and supportive educational environment that produces the highest caliber and most sought-after graduates in the region with interdisciplinary research and scholarship that has a transformative impact. We are committed to melding Louisiana Tech into a destination university for engineering and science education in the region and beyond due to its dynamic and supportive educational experience, exceptional graduates and impactful research.

• We pursue and maintain an interdisciplinary scholarship and research environment that enhances all parts of the academic mission.


• We provide an exciting, challenging and supportive environment for all students, faculty and staff to attain their maximum potential.


• We exhibit integrity, respect and dignity in every aspect of our conduct and instill that in our students.


• We instill a spirit of pride, cooperation and accountability in all we do.

We invite you to visit our campus, tour our facilities and meet our faculty and students to explore opportunities and programs within the College of Engineering and Science.

Current Work

• We have more than 10 papers pending approval for presentation at the 2024 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. Louisiana Tech faculty and staff will present on our Project Development Canvas. This guide assists faculty in thoroughly conceptualizing and implementing projects within their courses.


• Our faculty participate in national panels, with a recent example being the Principal Investigator (PI) of an NSF S-STEM grant (Award No. 2221638) who contributed to a three-part workshop, aiding others in developing S-STEM proposals.


• Our Living with the Lab (LWTL) sequence has been adopted in varying forms by several universities nationwide. Notably, Campbell University, Portland State University, and Houston Baptist University have all visited Louisiana Tech to learn about and receive training on our LWTL sequence.


• We are looking forward to integrating many KEEN resources into our classes. Faculty members are currently reviewing cards with the aim of incorporating projects and activities from them into their courses. Additionally, we are hosting a three-part workshop in the Spring focused on developing and integrating projects into classes, where Engineering Unleashed will be highlighted as a resource. Faculty members will be encouraged to utilize cards as inspiration for their projects during this workshop.


• The first-year engineering programs coordinator is currently evaluating the first-year curriculum to formalize the KEEN framework into pre-existing content as well as identifying opportunities to integrate EML into new aspects of the course sequence. The sophomore-level circuits course, a requirement for all engineering disciplines, is also undergoing redesign to incorporate more project-based learning. The objective is to enhance the perceived value of the course for non-electrical engineering majors; EML will be a key component of the redesign.


• We have 11 faculty members representing 8 different disciplines who will attend the 2024 Engineering Unleashed Faculty Development (EUFD) National Workshops. Collectively, these faculty teach 48 unique courses that can be enriched with entrepreneurially minded learning. We anticipate that these faculty members will serve as catalysts for change upon their return to campus, sharing their workshop experiences with others and implementing what they have learned.