  College Strides Forward with Research and Private Support By Ross B. Corotis
This is a very exciting time for the College of Engineering and Applied Science. Research awards are at an all-time high in the college, totaling nearly $35 million, and we have several major new projects coming on-line that were made possible through private gifts and donations. As I write this message, I can look out my window in the Engineering Center and see construction of the new Discovery Learning Center progress. When the public/private project is completed next fall, a state-of-the-art research and learning environment will provide expanded opportunities for student involvement in the college's world-class research. Ten leading research laboratories will be housed in the new facility, including the Center for Drinking Water Optimization and a new center focusing on applications of photopolymerization, which are described on the facing page. Other exciting projects getting under way include the college's new immersive visualization center, made possible through a cor-porate donation from BP (formerly British Petroleum/Amoco). The $10.6 million gift of equipment and cash to get the center rolling represents the single largest corporate gift ever made to the University of Colorado. A gift from computer science professionals Bill and Claudia Coleman, meanwhile, has launched a research initiative on developing technological tools to assist people with severe cognitive disabilities — a community that for the most part has lacked a voice in the public arena. The college also is involved in planning for a new research initiative in the area of nano- and micro systems for engineering and life sciences. A faculty research retreat and follow-up meetings have identified this as a strategic area of growth for the college. With all of this activity, the college has a new associate dean who joined our team this fall. Jim Avery, former technical director of the Integrated Teaching and Learning Laboratory and associate chair of electrical engineering, is now serving as the college's associate dean for academic affairs. Michael Lightner has assumed the position of associate dean for special projects, and he'll be overseeing the Coleman project along with the college-wide Discovery Learning Initiative, and relationships with the governor's Colorado Institute of Technology, an initiative for technology education involving colleges and universities statewide. A search for a new dean is also under way, as I have announced my intention to step down next July and increase my teaching and research activities. Now that the college's strategic planning process is complete and we will be finishing our second new building in four years, I look forward to enjoying my role as an endowed professor in civil engineering. For more information about the college, please visit the CU Engineering web site at www.colorado.edu/engineering.  Engineering Home |
