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Summer 2006 EAA Newsletter TempFrom the Dean <<DRAFT: Still in Progress>> We have great hope in the future of our graduate students. Whether they are called to solve a public health crisis in Mumbai, or design and build the next great civil works project in Alaska, the graduate students in our classrooms are eager for an experience that is as realistic, exciting, and engaging as their careers will be upon graduation. They will work in a world where technology is advancing at a remarkable rate, and where people are coming together to solve challenges such as energy, environment, and poverty. In short, we are inspiring and encouraging graduate students to engineer a better life for all. Leah H. Jamieson
Feature: Inspiring Leaders
Our strategic plan calls for renewing our commitment to strengthening our nationally recognized graduate program, particularly the PhD program. In Fall ’05, an internal assessment committee was established to review three aspects of graduate education: recruitment, retention, and assessment. The college’s Graduate Education office is working with the schools’ graduate chairs and graduate administrators as well as members of the Engineering Leadership Team to develop and implement a detailed plan that will move Purdue Engineering’s graduate program toward achieving its goals. <<Chart 1: Graduate Program Strategic Plan Goals>>
The plan, being drafted this summer, will serve as a starting point for discussions in Fall ’06. It takes into account preliminary recommendations by the internal assessment committee and information gleaned during early discussions with each school. The plan to improve and promote the graduate programs will be revised and immediately implemented following an early-fall meeting. While parallel efforts on recruiting and retention must be maintained, our focus during the 2006-07 academic year is expected to be on recruitment. Once an enhanced recruitment process is established, with mechanisms in place to maintain that process, we can shift our focus to retaining our enrolled graduate students by creating opportunities for mentoring and professional development. <<Graph 1: Engineering Graduate Programs—Total Enrollment 1999-2005 Trends>> Recruiting Domestic, Women, and Minority PhD Students Currently, more than half of Purdue Engineering’s PhD students are international, and as graduate education and career opportunities in other countries improve, the number of international students willing to come to the U.S. for an education and stay for a career will decrease. Our strategic plan calls for an increase in the number of domestic PhD students. The need for domestic PhD engineers is especially critical at national laboratories and in government agencies devoted to defense and security. We would also like to increase the number of women and minority students—a largely untapped pool of domestic talent. Employers who hire our students are seeking to diversify their workforce and have a strong preference for hiring from institutions that can provide that diversity. Doctoral students become leaders in academia, industrial research programs, and in formulating national policy. To remain competitive, the U.S. needs a continuous stream of leading thinkers. To maintain its influence and reputation, Purdue needs to produce a significant number of those leaders. That is why we will recruit the best and brightest for our PhD programs, with an emphasis on recruiting domestic, women, and minority students. Possible future components of the recruiting effort include:
Mentoring, Retention, and Professional Opportunities The college is seeking to motivate, mentor, and nurture our graduate students to increase the retention rate and to ensure that our graduates are among the most highly sought worldwide. Providing graduate students with active advising, faculty and peer mentoring, learning communities, rich research experiences, and professional role models will help us reach this goal. Professional development opportunities are crucial when preparing our graduates for leadership roles. Some of these opportunities will include:
We are committed to graduating larger numbers of PhD students prepared for leadership positions, especially for faculty appointments where they can influence the next generation of engineering leaders. In addition, emphasis will be placed on enhancing the quality of the student’s graduate education experience, including shortening the average time for degree completion. Assessment An assessment plan will be developed to run parallel with all of the recruiting and retention initiatives. Some of the initiatives will require more time than others to show results, but all will be reviewed periodically and revised or terminated as appropriate. Moving Forward We are at an amazing period in the history of science and technology. Far-reaching scientific and technological advances are happening more quickly than ever. We’ve seen the decoding of the human genome and the rapid growth of biotech and information technology. We are on the brink of a truly global economy, and we need every resource available to us, every form of “human capital.” That’s why we’re placing our graduate program among the college’s top priorities.
Up Close: Alumni Dr. Gene Meieran Predicting the Challenges of the 21st Century <<Gene Meieran’s Picture>> Editor’s Note: This article was recently published in the Purdue Materials Engineering Impact magazine <<provide link>>. Dr. Gene Meieran (BSMetE ’59) is a Senior Intel Fellow located in Chandler, Arizona. He received the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus award in 1996 and an Honorary Doctorate in 2004. <<Article>> In 2003, the National Academy of Engineering published A Century of Innovation, a wonderful book that looks at the 20 greatest engineering achievements of the past century. Purdue alum Neil Armstrong’s opening words in the forward of this book (we all remember his words when he became the first human to walk on the moon!) describe the tremendous success of 20th century innovations and inventions that shaped today’s world. New materials, the laser, space flight, refrigeration, the airplane, automobile and telephone, clean water, and above all, the electrification of the world contributed to make the last century humanity’s greatest in terms of advancing our quality of life. The technological accomplishments listed above, along with their scientific counterparts—quantum and relativity theory, nuclear energy, high-energy particle and cosmology physics, understanding DNA, cloning and genome splicing, and many others—are difficult to match. However, matched they must be by similar or even greater accomplishments in the 21st century! To progress, it is worthwhile to chart a course for the next 100 years. Unfortunately, no one sat around in 1901 and asked, “What would be the great technology accomplishments of the coming 20th century?” These accomplishments were just selected and ranked after the fact in 2000 by the NAE. In this article, I predict the top 20 technical accomplishments for this century—made possible by the work of engineers and scientists. Most assuredly, some of these predictions will be incorrect. In 2101 when the National Academy of Engineering looks back at this century and presents a new list of accomplishments, perhaps many of these predictions will appear as challenges we have overcome. My non-prioritized list appears below. <<Figure 1: 20 Technical Accomplishments for the 21st Century>>
This list covers what many consider today’s biggest problems as well as exploits what appear to be major opportunities for the creation of economic wealth—a similar focus of 20th century innovation. Upon careful examination of this list, two significant themes emerge: information sharing and environment. Most of the issues that I consider essential to the technological development of the 21st century involve the distribution and application of information (probably through the wireless Internet), much as the innovations of the 20th century centered on the distribution and application of energy through generators and transmission wires. The application of the technologies in my list will solve or resolve many serious environmental issues, including traffic and logistic control, providing sufficient clean water and clean energy, improving waste management, weather and disaster prediction, and possibly even weather control. It seems that the use and application of the great innovations of the 20th century led to a significantly greater quality and length of human life, but also led to equally daunting environmental problems that plague us in this century. (For example, nuclear power led to nuclear waste problems; plastics led to non-biodegradable waste products). Not a coincidence, Purdue has launched Discovery Park, whose divisions aim at dealing with many of the issues originating in our past. For me, environmental issues are the main issues we all need to deal with if this century is to be an improvement over the last century, rather than a leap backward to the 11th century—where the world is a less hospitable place. If there is ever a time, it is now for engineers to contribute to the advancement of humankind through positive environmental management. Our planet and our people demand no less.
Students in Action: Connections, interactions, and global networking are words used constantly in academia and industry. Their relevance is impressed upon us everyday when we look upon the faces of the engineering graduate students coming in from so many countries to connect and interact with other students and faculty at Purdue. The Women in Engineering Program’s (WIEP) Graduate Mentoring Program (GMP) is just one of the resources that help to establish these critical connections for underrepresented engineering students. WIEP has been actively recruiting and retaining undergraduate students at Purdue for 36 years. However, the GMP has been in existence only since 1994, when it began with 50 participants. Over the last three years, participation has increased to close to 100 students. Although the GMP continues to reach as many of the 396 female graduate students in engineering as possible, the program is not just about the numbers. Given their strenuous curriculum and busy lives, perhaps 40 of these 396 students come to any given GMP meeting, but all students are drawn into meaningful mentoring relationships and given multiple resources for their academic, personal, and professional development. The focus is on providing useful information and a supportive environment that results in a less stressful, more productive, and more confident approach to graduate studies. Programs like the Graduate Mentoring Program help to retain women students and to change attitudes held by these students, their peers, and their professors. The GMP offers a mix of presentations on academic skills and stress-relief as well as fun activities. A small sample of past topics by dynamic, experienced corporate speakers and faculty include technical writing, job searches and interviewing, resolving conflicts, cooking on a budget, and financial management. This year, a poster session on women engineering graduate student research will be included. Sharing their accomplishments and inspiring each other by their academic productivity increases confidence and offers the encouragement that ensures women engineers succeed! For more information visit: https://engineering.purdue.edu/WIEP/ Minority Engineering Program Upcoming Events A message from the Purdue Alumni Association Are you a member of PAA? Connecting the Purdue family forever... Membership in the Purdue Alumni Association brings you benefits like the Purdue Alumnus magazine, travel opportunities, event news and discounts. Your membership supports Purdue academics, clubs, and scholarship programs across the country. Call (800) 414-1541 or visit www.purduealum.org for more information on upcoming events in your area.
Contact us: Send your alumni news and thoughts on what you’d like to see in this e-newsletter to the Engineering Alumni Association, at EAA@ecn.purdue.edu. |
