Welcome!

Greetings from Environmental and Ecological Engineering (EEE) at Purdue University. Welcome to our first Newsletter, which has been specifically designed for our alumni, friends, and corporate partners. Newsletters like this often have a note from the Department Head that provides an update on recent developments. For this first issue, in lieu of providing an update, I will provide some background on EEE.

History of EEE

Purdue has a long history of excellence in environmental engineering established through the contributions of individuals such as Drs. Bloodgood, Wukasch, and Etzel. Building upon this tradition of excellence, the Division of Environmental and Ecological Engineering was established by the Purdue College of Engineering (CoE) on July 1, 2006. EEE was charged with establishing undergraduate and graduate curricula, promoting environmental engineering research collaborations, and assuming ever-greater levels of leadership in environmental issues.

Dr. Inez Hua was appointed the Interim Head of EEE in July 2006, and I became the Head in Fall 2009. In Fall 2010, the Fehsenfeld family established an endowment for the EEE Headship. The BSEEE degree was formally approved by the CoE at the start of the 2011-12 academic year. Degree approval was given by the Purdue Board of Trustees in July 2012, and was approved by the State of Indiana in Fall 2012. The inaugural class of 10 graduates completed the BSEEE degree program in May 2013. Before the BSEEE degree was officially approved, about two dozen of our EEE students graduated from the Multi-Disciplinary Engineering program.

The EEE Philosophy

EEE employs a modern approach to environmental engineering that draws on the principles of systems engineering, biology, and chemistry to develop strategies to protect human and environmental health. Our philosophy is unique in that, in addition to considering the control, treatment, and remediation of media (air, water, soil); we also address the development of engineering systems that pursue environmental opportunities to proactively avoid environmental problems. Our name was specifically chosen to highlight our unique emphasis on the management of complex problems with an integrated perspective that considers both environmental issues and ecological interactions. We promote resilient design thinking that considers complexity and connectivity between systems.

We hope you will enjoy this newsletter; please forward me any feedback!

John W. Sutherland, Ph.D.
Professor and Fehsenfeld Family Head of
Environmental and Ecological Engineering
EEE@purdue.edu