NIU’s College of Engineering will celebrate its 20th anniversary today with day-long events followed by an invite-only formal dinner.

“There’s two different parts,” said Trish Sellers, the alumni relations coordinator for the college. “During the day we’re having an open house in the engineering college. All the public is invited.”

Building tours begin at the Engineering Building at 11 a.m., leaving from the main lobby every hour. In addition, there will be several lectures, demonstrations and experiments conducted in the laboratories.

The activities, co-sponsored by some of the college’s corporate supporters including Hamilton Sundstrand, will include a raffle, a food tent and corporate giveaways.

“In the evening we are having a dinner event at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center that’s by invitation only. A lot of our industrial and corporate partners will be attending,” Sellers said.

Mansour Tahernezhadi, associate dean of engineering, said planning for the event began last semester.

“We have been collaborating with all of our departments and alumni representative,” Tahernezhadi said. “Basically we are trying to bring alumni back to the college and let them know about the new programs.”

The college was recognized recently by U.S. News and World Report magazine as the 39th in the nation under “best undergraduate engineering programs.”

It began in a small, rented building in an industrial area of Sycamore and now encompasses three buildings on campus with 35 laboratories.

According to the dean’s message on the college’s Web site, the college has grown by 48 percent in the last six years with a current student population of more than 1,600 students.

However, Tahernezhadi said the college is still looking to improve.

“Basically, [the ranking] is a reflection of the high quality of our programs. We are hoping to get into the high 20s,” he said.