|
| |
Chairman's Corner
 Greetings
from Gainesville:
The faces of our faculty have changed by over 40 % during the past 5 years
with the additions of Drs.
Rajagopalan,
Ladd,
Ren,
Narang,
Weaver,
Chauhan,
Butler, and
Kopelevich. These new positions were added to meet the increasing enrollments,
to help staff the Engineering Research Center on Particle Science and
Technology, and to fill faculty vacancies. In particular,
Dr. Art Fricke
retired from the University last year (now Emeritus Professor), although the
term retired is used loosely judging from the time Art spends in the office and
on consulting. Dr. Fricke joined the faculty in 1985 as department chair and
developed a well-recognized research program around the processing of black
liquor. Many graduates from these last 17 years will remember him for bringing
the practical aspects of chemical engineering into the classroom.
In contrast, our undergraduate curriculum has not substantially changed for
over 30 years. Focused on the chemical engineering sciences, this curriculum has
served our students well as evidenced by their success in the workplace. The
workplace, however, is rapidly changing (e.g., diversity in industries hiring
our students, globalization of engineering) and we have looked for ways to
improve the effectiveness of our program. After 2 years of planning, the
department is introducing a substantially revised curriculum this Fall. One
objective is to give students more flexibility in their degree program. We now
have 15 credits of technical electives (vs. 8), changed the chemistry
requirements (added analytical, dropped organic from 2 courses to one 4-credit
course (the one the Chem. Majors take), and, yes, dropped P. Chem. II). The
number of chemistry credits remains the same, but students can now change the
mix depending on their choice of technical option. Undergraduate students will
be able to graduate in 4 years (and not just on paper), more easily pursue a
coop (our department has 20% of the coop students on campus!), and for most
receive a B.S. in chemistry with just 2 additional courses. This new curriculum
also includes an Introduction to Biology for Engineers course at the Freshman
level, a 1-credit safety course in conjunction with unit ops, transport before
fluids, senior seminar in the junior year, several combined courses, an optional
multidisciplinary design sequence (IPPD), and an elective immersion experience
in process engineering. We hope these changes will help students better prepare
for the workplace or graduate school, yet instill the foundations of our
discipline.
We have experienced an increase in enrollments in all degree programs. Last
year we graduated a record high 93 B.S. students and 15 Ph.D. students. The
substantial increase in the number of high school graduates in Florida, the
Bright Futures program, and the presence of only 2 other Chemical Engineering
programs in the state (FAMU-FSU and USF) have led to increased enrollment
pressures at the undergraduate level. The number of graduate students however,
is directly related to available research funds since we support all PhD
students. According to the most recent records provided by the NSF, the
department ranked 18th in the nation in research expenditures in 2000. This
increase in enrollment has gladly been accompanied by an increase in the
credentials of both our undergraduate and graduate students, making our job that
much easier.
And we had an election this November with a mandated change from the recently
installed Board of Education back to the original Regents system. Of course
there were some problems in some counties with the vote counting (pun intended).
I overheard one resident responding to a little ribbing from a visitor reply,
"If you don't like the way we count votes, then just get on I-75 north and visit
one of the other 54 states."
This newsletter features the class of 1956 and its recent reunion. They got
together for a long weekend on campus and had a grand time retelling stories
from their undergraduate days. In listening to the reminiscing, I was struck how
some things have not changed over the last 46 years. If you would like to
organize a reunion of your class, the department would be more than happy to
help with arrangements.
To an optimist, the glass is half full. To a pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To a chemical engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be. Wishing
you a happy holiday season.
|
