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Cover Story
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 It’s an exciting time in engineering at Iowa State. Enrollment in the college for fall 2001 was up 3.3 percent from the previous year with 4,876 undergraduates and 802 graduate students. Job placement remained high; 83% of our students were placed prior to graduation at average starting salaries of nearly $50,000. About 100 engineering students participated in international cooperative education experiences or internships in eleven different countries. The Engineering Career Fair maintained its position as the largest indoor event of its kind, drawing recruiters from more than 270 companies. More than 4,500 students attended.Fourteen engineering faculty received patents, research expenditures reached an all-time high of $49 million, and more than 100 faculty and staff members received honors and awards from various organizations. We had the ceremonial groundbreaking for Gary and Donna Hoover Hall, Phase II of the Engineering Teaching and Research Complex. Our students participated in activities that captured regional and national media attention, including the creation of the world’s largest Rice Krispie treat during VEISHEA headed by chemical engineering major Alyssa Armbrecht and Sunrayce ’01, which was covered by the Des Moines Register, CNN, and Newsweek magazine. We accomplished a great deal last year but there is more work to be done. The university continues to face significant reductions in state funds, which has made us more serious in our search for real efficiencies. Over the next few months, we will engage the Engineering Academic Council in strategy development and implementation. I have also appointed a blue-ribbon panel of faculty to serve as advisors to me regarding ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the college. I expect to receive their report soon. Based on comments that I have heard from the Provost and President Geoffroy, it is clear that they intend to place increased emphasis on the quality of targeted programs and national/international visibility, especially in the area of research. I believe that they will be seeking a small number of high-impact, high-visibility initiatives that they can support. It is my intent that the College of Engineering will be a part of most, if not all, of these initiatives. This is the time to dream BIG IDEAS if we are to thrive as a college.
A more comprehensive discussion of the budget and other important college issues can be found in Dean Melsa’s Annual Address to Faculty and Staff. It is available on-line at www.eng.iastate.edu/convocation/fall.conv.html. |
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