Dear Friends of The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
I hope you and your families are doing well and remaining healthy and safe despite the challenges we have all been facing this past year due to the pandemic. We will emerge out of this crisis with a renewed commitment to higher education and research, new solutions, and innovative ideas that will make education more flexible and valuable than ever before.
I am very grateful and proud of the resilience and ingenuity of our students, staff and faculty in adapting to the new situation. Student enrollment, research grants and expenditures, productivity output, as well as awards and recognitions have continued to grow, putting the department on track to be competitive with the top 5% to 10% of departments in the nation. Faculty and students in the department have been involved in critical areas ranging from energy resilience and security, novel biomarker and COVID sensors, robotics, AI/machine learning and implantable devices that restore lost function due to disease or accidents. Former U ECE student, Chris Meyers, was appointed Chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder. And U ECE associate professors Masood Parvania and Pierre-Emmanuel Gaillardon were appointed as department associate chairs for Research and Advancement and for Academics and Strategic Initiatives, respectively.
I am also especially grateful for the outstanding support from our friends and donors. When it counted most, we were able to get significant donations this past year to help our students and educational mission. To name just two: David and Annette Jorgensen contributed the lead gift of $300,000 for our new undergraduate teaching laboratory suite, while L3Harris followed as a lead donor for the wireless communications laboratory ($150,000). We have also received contributions and pledges towards endowments that will continue to grow the resources and ability to support our students towards one of the most promising career tracks a young person can follow today. Thank you to all those of you who graciously contributed! We could not do what we are doing without your help. Your willingness to share in times of difficulty and hardship is wonderful and goes to the core of what we as engineers are striving for – to help people and make the world a better place around us!
Happy Holidays!
Best,
Florian