This is the fifth in a 10-part series about the current and future state of each undergraduate college within Boston University after President Robert Brown and Provost David Campbell assumed their new positions.
The College of Engineering is going through a period of transition as the college reevaluates its programs and continues to improve its research facilities, while the process of searching for a permanent dean is underway.
Dean ad interim Solomon Eisenberg, who recently replaced Campbell after he was promoted to provost, said this period of change is a good opportunity to reassess the current status of the school. He said it is especially important to review programs because the university’s top two posts are now filled by former professors of engineering.
Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department Chairman John Baillieul, who has been teaching at BU since 1985, said since both Brown and Campbell have had distinguished academic careers, they understand the importance of developing top-research programs.
“These are both people who can lead by example,” he said. “I’m optimistic that under their leadership, BU will increasingly be recognized as the first-rate place that those of us inside know that it is.”
Professor David Mountain said that the most significant change in ENG in his 26 years at the university is the growth of both the size and quality of the biomedical department.
“In my first year there were four faculty members in my department,” he said. “Now we have one of the biggest biomedical departments in the nation.
“BU went though a period when they weren’t even sure that they wanted a College of Engineering,” Mountain continued.
Eisenberg noted that the whole college has improved its status since he started at BU as assistant professor in 1983, when the college was primarily devoted to undergraduate teaching.
BU’s undergraduate engineering program is currently ranked eighth and the graduate program is ranked seventh by U.S. News and World Report. The undergraduate program is also the sixth-largest accredited program in the nation, according to the biomedical engineering website.
Mountain said the quality of students has improved with current SAT averages of ENG freshmen well above 1300, placing BU among “fairly elite company in major research universities.”
Baillieul said he noticed improvements in his department as well, which are continuously reevaluated through faculty meetings every other month.
“The department now has many faculty members who are world-famous in the discipline,” he said. “Also, the facilities, classrooms and teaching labs are enormously better.”
ENG junior Robert Pomarico said he chose BU’s engineering program based on its reputation of accomplished professors.
“The school does a great job pairing their professors with students in a small enough setting where it is beneficial,” he said. “All the professors I have dealt with know the material inside and out and do a great job communicating it.”
According to Eisenberg, six new faculty members are joining the college this year.
New buildings, including the Life Science and Engineering Building and the Bradford Ingalls Engineering Center, provide students with state-of-the-art facilities for research, Eisenberg said.
ENG professor Lucia Vaina said since she joined the ENG staff in 1986, the college has become a “fantastic research institution.”
“I am hoping for more research to be conducted in order to make progress towards better understanding the plasticity of the brain,” she said.
For the future, Eisenberg said it is important to maintain strong leadership ability by exposure to global economy and other cultures.
According to Eisenberg, BU was one of the first universities to offer a study-abroad program specifically for engineering students, referring to the flagship program in Dresden, Germany. Because of the success of the program, Eisenberg said a second program in Guadalajara, Mexico will be added this year.
In this “exciting year” for ENG, Eisenberg said some of the programs may be expanding.
“We are in the process of making fundamental engineering theory more compelling to students by linking it to common technological devices,” he said.
“Cell phones, for example, can be used to demonstrate things like antennae patterns, circuits and LCD displays,” he continued. “We believe incorporating devices familiar to students will pique their curiosity and provide a stronger engineering foundation.”
Eisenberg said he wants to develop a stronger sense of community among engineering students by adding more social events and creating more academic opportunities for students.
“We’re also working to increase the number of opportunities for undergraduates to participate in faculty research,” Eisenberg said.
He added that in the short time he is dean, he wants to improve the quality of his students’ educational experience and hopes that fostering a network of relationships will benefit them in their future careers.
“During the next several months, my job will be to ensure that the college sustains its forward momentum and continues to make progress in key areas,” Eisenberg said. “The next dean will inherit a vibrant and dynamic College of Engineering well on its way to the next level of educational and research excellence.”