Message From Dean Richard Brown

Dear Friends:

As the fall 2009 semester gets underway, we are pleased to share a few updates from the College of Engineering. Despite the current economic downturn, the College is experiencing growth in many areas. Enrollment and graduation rates are up. For example, between 2005 and 2008 the number of Ph.D. students enrolled increased by 65%. The number of degrees granted to all engineering students over the past ten years has grown by 76%.

The size of the engineering faculty is also growing. The number of faculty has increased at a compounded annual 4.7% growth: from 101 tenure-track positions in 2001 to 146 in 2009. Over the past six years, research expenditures have more than doubled. Remarkably in the past four years alone, 35 technology companies have been launched from the College.

We are fortunate to have wonderful support from the state of Utah in the form of the Engineering Initiative and the Utah Science Technology and Research (USTAR) Initiative. Through this support we have been able to hire outstanding faculty members, improve our laboratories, increase our capacity to educate students, and improve the quality of education they receive.

Further, we are now expanding the engineering campus with two buildings: the new James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building—a USTAR Innovation Center, and the renovation and addition to the Floyd & Jeri Meldrum Civil and Environmental Engineering Building.

The USTAR building is the first of four proposed buildings to make up an interdisciplinary research complex. USTAR’s objective is to generate positive economic impact in Utah by creating new businesses through successful research. The Meldrum building will provide space for new Civil & Environmental Engineering Department offices, faculty offices, student groups, conference rooms, and an auditorium.

As you explore other stories in our e-newsletter, we hope you will enjoy reading more about our research and the difference our faculty and students are making in the world.

Richard B. Brown
Dean, University of Utah College of Engineering