Since its inception, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has had eight chairmen. The six survivors are pictured here.

Chairman's Corner

by John R. LaCourse

Well I made it.. made it through my first year at the helm. I have this feeling that I did not mess up too badly and at the same time I might have done some good. For better or worse I have chugged along with three thrusts in mind.

My first thrust was to continue implementing the new curriculum. If you remember from the last issue of Signals and Noise (Summer 97, p. 12-13), we have modified our curriculum to meet the needs of our accreditation agencies and at the same time hoping to meet the needs of this fast changing technological world. Presently, we are in the third year of the new curriculum. Of course you must realize that we are offering the new curriculum for freshman through juniors and the old curriculum to the seniors. It has been a challenge. Associated with the curriculum change, the Department has revamped the Signal and Systems Option and the Computer Engineering Option and established new rules for professional electives. This new and exciting curriculum will better prepare our students for this ever complex technological world and at the same time stimulate our students to new heights of creativity.

A second thrust was to assess our educational, research and support space within the department for its best use, and to assess our existing stock of equipment for meeting the needs of the new curriculum and present and future research. I found that we presently meet our educational and technical support space needs adequately; however, some of our research areas, especially in Kingsbury Hall, will need some restoration in the near future. In support of this assessment effort I invited the Health and Safety Officer to evaluate the department for safety hazards. Except for a few overwhelmingly cluttered faculty offices, a few egress problems in some of the older laboratories, and a few blocked fire extinguishers, we came out OK. With respect to equipment we are holding our own because of the financial support of friends, alumni, and the IAP. Furthermore, I have charged the Laboratory Committee to clear the department of unusable equipment.

The final thrust was to develop strategies to deal with student recruitment. Engineering enrollments have dipped nationwide as compared to the early eighties. This trend has not been unique to us; it is seen in many New England engineering schools. It surprises the faculty because electrical engineering and computer engineering careers are plentiful and the pay is exceptional. It is estimated that the New England colleges will not be able to meet the demand for engineers as early as.. now. As reported by Earl H. Dowell, Dean of Duke University's Engineering School, "The starting salaries and bonuses may not be as large as those of NBA star recruits, but we have heard numbers as high as $70,000 base salary plus a $30,000 bonus. And a $40,000 salary plus $10,000 bonus is not uncommon."  Salaries and careers never looked so good. To help cure this situation we are working with the Dean and the University's new enrollment manager. Our intent is to focus on high school juniors with mailers, e-mail, high school visits, and possibly a CD to help get the word out about these good salaried exciting careers.