Message from the Dean: Making Opportunities

« Washington Engineer - August 2006

: Acting Dean Mani Soma

When positive change comes into the world, it’s almost always because people have taken the initiative to act on their ideas.

That’s an observation I’ve made over the years and it’s the main thought I wish to leave you in my last Washington Engineer message as acting dean. Why? Because it has specific application to the UW College of Engineering.

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to brag about a few recent examples of positive change brought about by some of the talented people we have in the college.

The first involves our Department of Materials Science & Engineering. Faculty members there have been working hard to take the department’s research agenda to the next level. As a result, they have logged a banner year in research funding from high-profile agencies, garnering nearly $18 million in grants. Department Chair Alex Jen put it best:

“Our people have always competed on the national stage with other leaders in the field,” Jen said. “These results show that we’re doing it at a greater volume with increasingly greater success.”

For more details, see the item in this issue under “ Winners.”

The second involves an individual. Cynthia Atman, an industrial engineering professor and director of Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching and the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education, has been named a fellow in two major scientific societies this year and been awarded an endowed chair. Her research area is unusual – she studies how engineering is taught, how students learn and how teaching practices can be more effective. Her work promises to change how universities worldwide go about educating tomorrow’s engineers.

Cindy exemplifies the kind of people we have in UW Engineering: Smart, talented, innovative and willing to tackle big, complex issues with international implications.

Finally, we initiated a special awards program this year in the college, the Diamond Awards. The purpose is to recognize engineers who make significant contributions, but who often remain in the background. This year’s winners all exemplify how our alums are changing the world, using the foundation they gained at the UW. To read more about them, check the story here.

So excellence is more than a label. It’s an action word that is fully realized when smart people work hard to make their vision reality.

That’s how I see UW Engineering now, and that’s what I see continuing under the leadership of our new dean, Matt O’Donnell, who takes the helm of the college Sept. 1. Matt is a leader of vision, and he has the enthusiasm and the drive to move the college toward that vision. In other words, he can help us continue along the path we’re on.

I think I speak for the entire college in saying with confidence that the best is yet to come.

One final note: We recognize with sadness the passing of the UW’s former dean of engineering, Denice Dee Denton. While at the UW, Denice led transformational changes in the college. She advocated for women and other groups often marginalized in engineering and the sciences, and initiated teaching and learning innovations that continue to make our students more effective and competitive.

Our hearts go out to Denice’s family and to Gretchen Kalonji, her longtime companion and our former UW colleague. Denice was a one-of-a-kind, and we will miss her greatly.