From the Dean of Engineering
Louis A. Martin-Vega
Greetings and welcome to our first edition of NC State Engineering magazine online. As many of you are aware, the state and the university are facing significant budget challenges as a result of the current economic situation. Developing an online alternative to our printed magazine is one of many ways the College of Engineering is creatively addressing the downturn in the economy. I very much appreciate the great job of our communications group in the College for developing this attractive online alternative and we hope that you will enjoy it as much or more as our previous printed versions.
Even with the economic storm clouds that were brewing, I am pleased to share with you that 2008-09 proved to be one of the college’s most successful years. We not only welcomed a record number of first year students in 2008 but it was also the strongest first year class in our history. With an average GPA of 4.34 and 55 percent of those admitted in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class, this is truly an outstanding group of young men and women who have entered our College. This influx of undergraduate students combined with continued growth in our graduate and distance education programs has grown our College to 8,304 students, again a record number for total enrollment in the College.
Our faculty has also continued to grow and with the 14 new faculty members we welcomed this year, we have now added 40 new faculty to our College in the last two years. This faculty growth has also spurred an increase in our external contracts and grants as well as our research expenditures which have increased from $104 million in 2007-08 to a record $121 million in 2008-09. While there have been many contributions to this growth in research activity, a major contributor has been a five-year $18.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to establish the FREEDM Center, an NSF Engineering Research Center for Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management Systems at NC State. We are very proud of this singular accomplishment and confident that it is but one indication of the ability of our outstanding faculty to successfully compete at the very highest levels of federal funding opportunities.
The articles in this issue illustrate the variety of ways our college impacts the world – from finding better ways to deliver medicines to building environmentally and structurally sound structures to nurturing the entrepreneurs of the future. You will read about a professor who travels the world improving engineering education and a group of students developing a rover that may some day travel to the moon. And articles on our alumni show how alumni support creates even greater opportunities for achievement among our students and faculty.
The bottom line is that even with the economic challenges that we currently face, we continue to be enthusiastic about the future of research and innovation in the U.S. and welcome our role and responsibility in moving our state and country forward.
The stimulus package recently signed by the President provides significant opportunities for our faculty to obtain research contracts and grants from major government funding units such as the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, NIST and others. With current research projects in bridge safety, renewable energy, the environment and information technology, the College of Engineering is well-poised to expand our research in the priority funding areas identified in the stimulus package. Our faculty and administration have already begun the process of applying for these funds and we look forward to sharing more of these results as they develop in the future.
At a more local level, we continue to be very proud of the significant role that our College plays in the economic development of our state. During this last year the College has partnered with the NC Department of Commerce to attract a variety of industries to the state, including Spirit Aero Systems, slated to move to the Global Transpark in Kinston. This move will bring more than 1,000 new high-tech jobs to the state. Another effort has assisted with the move of Fidelity Investments to RTP, which cited proximity to a reliable source of skilled computer science graduates as key to their selection of North Carolina. Other key companies that rely on graduates of the College of Engineering include IBM, SAS, Cisco, Red Hat, Progress Energy and Duke Energy. Historically, North Carolina’s investments in higher education have supported economic growth within the state. Now, as the economy weakens, investing in the College of Engineering—a known producer of a high-tech workforce and a catalyst for new companies and new jobs—is essential for the state’s continued economic success and for long-term prosperity.
The College continues its move to NC State’s Centennial Campus as the construction of Engineering Building III, the future home of the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, nears completion. We have also requested funding for design and construction of Engineering Buildings IV and V, the future homes of our departments of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, and Nuclear Engineering. These buildings would complete the move of the College to Centennial Campus and clearly enhance our ability to meet the state’s needs for a highly educated, technical workforce and for attracting the best jobs and industries to North Carolina.
As you can see, our college is ready to meet the challenges of the future, and I invite you to be a part of our success. I hope you enjoy this inaugural edition of the NC State Engineering magazine online.
Louis A. Martin-Vega
Dean