Alumni in the Spotlight
First in his (online) class
The first graduate of NC State’s Engineering Online program in nuclear engineering is looking ahead.
John Hannah, a radiological engineer at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, says the Engineering Online master's program “certainly helped me.” (Photo: courtesy of John Hannah)
John Hannah wanted to get a master’s degree in nuclear engineering, but he just couldn’t find the right program.
So NC State found him.
This spring, Hannah will become the first person to graduate from NC State’s Engineering Online program with a master’s degree in nuclear engineering. Taking the online classes, which are identical to on-campus courses in terms of content, requirements and academic rigor, meant that he did not have to give up his day job at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) in Wilmington, N.C.
NC State started offering the program after Hannah inquired about it during an information session. Hannah is already benefiting from the technical know-how he’s gleaned from the classes, and soon he’ll get to add a key line to his resume.
“It’s nice that it’s available now to other people,” Hannah said. “It’s certainly helped me.”
The recent addition of the nuclear engineering degree means the College now offers 10 master’s degrees online. The degrees have been popular with employed students because they can access recorded class lectures any time from any computer that has a high-speed Internet connection. Course assignments, lecture notes and handouts are also made available on the Internet.
“You have the same opportunities that you have on campus, but you get the work experience at the same time,” Hannah said.
The Engineering Online program is a great value, too. GetEducated.com recently recognized the program as its No. 1 Best Buy for online engineering degrees nationwide.
Hannah, 25, learned about NC State’s program a few years ago after he started thinking about returning to school for a master’s degree. There were not any big engineering schools near Wilmington, where he was working at GEH as part of the Edison Engineering Development Program, so he started looking at online degrees.
Around that time, Dr. Linda Krute, director of the Engineering Online program, held an information session for Hannah and others in the Edison program in Wilmington. NC State did not offer a distance-education master’s degree in nuclear engineering at that time, but when Hannah and others asked about adding it, Krute liked the idea. She then approached NC State’s Department of Nuclear Engineering, which strongly endorsed the development of an online master of nuclear engineering program for the GEH employees in Wilmington. (Now, others can also participate in this degree program from any site or location.)
A few months later, Krute called Hannah to tell him that NC State would start offering nuclear engineering classes online.
Hannah enrolled in fall 2007 and already is seeing the results. On several occasions, he said, he’s applied what he’s learned in class at his current job as a radiological engineer at GEH.
He also has enjoyed the online format, which makes it simple to view lectures and course materials. While online, he can easily communicate with the professors and other students.
“Even though you can’t raise your hand, you do get that interaction,” he said.
Hannah views his degree as a building block for the rest of his engineering career. He is thankful that when he asked for something, Engineering Online at NC State responded.
“It’s nice that they were able to recognize that students could benefit
from something like this,” he said. 