I'm currently a Mechanical Engineering sophomore at North Dakota State University. I have nothing bad to say about NDSU whatsoever. I've absolutely loved my time in Fargo thus far. With a base tuition right around $7,000/year it's pretty hard to beat for the cost. NDSU's best college is by far the College of Engineering (not that I'm biased or anything
). In terms of national ranks, NDSU's engineering program is comparable to that at the University of MN. Fargo is often rated as one of the top college towns in the nation, and it's easy to see why once you visit. It's also pretty fun to be able to say "Back to Back to Back to Back National Champions in FCS football."
I also started
Bison Robotics at NDSU last year, and it has absolutely blown up. We went from 24 members in our inaugural year to around 90 members this year. Robotics is kind of taking over the engineering department here. Before I leave NDSU I'm sure it'll be not only the largest engineering club at NDSU, but also the most heavily supported by the college and by local industries.
As for what we do in Bison Robotics, we are a volunteer focused, competition based organization with a lot going on. Volunteer events include mentoring local FRC, FLL, and BEST Robotics' teams, running STEM camps for kids, and traveling to the Minneapolis and Duluth FRC regionals in Minnesota. I also hope to get a number of Bison Robotics members down to the new Iowa Regional and Champs. Oh and we also do Robot in 3 Days! The GreenHorns
Ri3D team is comprised solely of Bison Robotics members. As for competitions Bison Robotics is doing the following:
NASA Robotic Mining Competition (aka: Lunabotics),
AIAA's Design/Build/Fly, quadcopter competition (we actually have 3 quadcopter teams that are going to compete),
National Robotics League Battlebots Competition, and
ION Autonomous Snowplow Competition... like I said we have a lot going on.
If you're looking at NDSU and have any questions please PM me or email me at
ryan.j.swanson@ndsu.edu