Reflections on a Remarkable Year
By Ross B. Corotis, Dean
As I begin my second year as Dean, I am continually impressed with the commitment
of the students, staff, faculty, alumni, and friends of the College.
Thanks to the efforts of these talented people, our accomplishments of the
past year are impressive indeed. I am especially pleased that Melvyn Branch,
Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has become Associate Dean for Research
and Administration and that Robert Schnabel, Professor and former Chair
of Computer Science, has become Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
We are seeing remarkable results in the College's four thrust areas. In
environmental engineering and science, a new interdisciplinary undergraduate
major has been developed for submission to the Colorado Commission on Higher
Education for review. In biomedical engineering and bioengineering,
new courses are being offered, and a collaborative research initiative is
under discussion with the CU School of Medicine. Two new faculty positions
have been provided to the College to develop this area of rapidly increasing
student interest. Materials engineering and science has received
a jump start with the addition to Mechanical Engineering of a full professor,
formerly at Cornell University. Open positions in Chemical Engineering and
in Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering are also targeting
the materials area. Information processing remains strongly based
in Computer Science and in Electrical and Computer Engineering, and in the
Interdisciplinary Telecommunications Program. All 3 have added faculty this
year. Except for the 2 new positions in the bio area, all of the above has
been accomplished with existing resources following careful evaluation of
priorities and needs, both locally and nationally.
As you read on page one, our initiative to plan and build a pioneering teaching
facility has continued apace. As the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory
underscores our emerging national leadership in undergraduate engineering
education, we can also point with pride to our accomplishments in graduate
education and research. The National Research Council has ranked 3 of our
departmental doctoral programs among the top 10 percent of those surveyed.
Our engineering faculty's research awards reached $39.4 million in fiscal
year 1994/95, up 34 percent in 2 years, and this with essentially no change
in the number of faculty. I believe the fact that U.S. News and World
Report ranked our graduate engineering program 26th best in the country
and our undergraduate engineering program 28th best indicates a healthy
balance between these programs.
Christopher Bowman of Chemical Engineering was named a Presidential Faculty
Fellow (one of 30 scientists and engineers nationally to receive that distinction
and joining Zoya Popovi´c of Electrical and Computer Engineering) and
Marc Edwards of Civil Engineering and Edith Sevick of Chemical Engineering
received the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development
Award.
Elizabeth Bradley of Computer Science is one of 20 faculty nationwide to
receive a 1995 Packard Fellowship, a 5-year award worth $500,000 to each
recipient's research program. Juan Rodriguez of Engineering Management won
the 1995 Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award in the category of
Entrepreneur.
The above is just a sampling of the recognition that has been received by
our faculty and staff. A more complete list will appear in our College's
upcoming publication, CUEngineering.
This issue of CUTechnology has been shortened and focuses on an update
of our ITL progress, on alumni news, and on recognition of our College's
Honor Roll. By producing CUTechnology in-house, we will be able to
send our more comprehensive spring publication, CUEngineering, to
all of our alums for the first time. Utilizing results of a quality process,
we're able to spend less on publications and provide a better service for
our readers. So watch for us every spring and fall!
On a personal note, I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for
making my first year as Dean so enjoyable and rewarding.
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