Department of Engineering Graphics records

The Engineering Graphics Department can trace its early roots to the 1870s when courses in drafting and mechanical drawing were offered in the School of Engineering. These early courses were primarily taught by William Goss and Albert Stahl.

Gradually, these courses were placed under the Practical Mechanics and Drawing Department, also known as the Practical Mechanics Department. Many of the entry level drawing courses were taught by recent engineering graduates such as Charles D. Peterson, Charles Albert Baechtold, Raymond Clarence Ewry, and Oscar E. Monninger. In 1923, Professor Justus Rising filled Monninger’s vacant position as head of the drawing section in the College of Engineering’s Practical Mechanics Department.

In 1938, The Department of Practical Engineering was discontinued and was incorporated into the General Engineering Department. The General Engineering Department consisted of three sections: Industrial Engineering (Accounting), Manufacturing Process, and Engineering Drawing. In 1955, the College of Engineering underwent an administrative restructuring, and the Department of General Engineering was dissolved. The Engineering Drawing section was transferred to the School of Civil Engineering and became the Department of Engineering Graphics.

J. Howard Porsch was head of the Engineering Graphics Department from 1946 to 1970. Kenneth Botkin replaced Porsch as department head and held the position until 1983.

The discipline of engineering drawing and graphics underwent a transformation with the rise of computers starting in the 1960s. Traditional paper-based engineering drawings were slowly being replaced with computer graphic design software. The department evolved with these changes and invested in computer-based graphics curriculum, laboratories, and faculty. In 1983, the shift to computer graphics led to the department being renamed the Department of Technical Graphics. The Board of Trustees also decided to move the department to the School of Technology in 1983.