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College of Engineering marks 25 years
Marking its silver anniversary this year, the Florida A&M University-Florida State University College of Engineering has much to celebrate.
Launched in 1982, the joint engineering school has become the fastest-growing engineering college in the nation under the leadership of Dean Ching-Jen Chen. Along the way, the school has honed a sterling national reputation, says Braketta Ritzenthaler, assistant dean for Industry and Research, Career Services.
"It is a big deal. We began 25 years ago with only 35 students and now with almost 2,300 students, the College has made a lot of gains and has experienced a tremendous amount of success," says Ritzenthaler, who is one of the more than 90 faculty members from 22 nations employed by the college.
Two state-of-the-art buildings with 200,000 square feet of classroom, office and laboratory space in Innovation Park are the academic home for the FAMU-FSU engineering students and faculty. The college looks forward to continued growth, and there are plans to add two more buildings by 2010.
Dean Chen's team of faculty members and researchers are positioning the school to become a cutting-edge research center in engineering and technology. The college's instructors are widely recognized by their peers as leading scholars in their disciplines.
"As a dean, I always encourage my engineering faculty to do the kind of research engineering faculty ought to do and not to be shortsighted. We have to look at the long term," he says.
That perspective is paying off. Today, the research efforts of the College of Engineering faculty are supported by more than $80 million in grants from both public private sources.
FSU mechanical engineering students study how to design and build a vast range of machinery, from airplanes to engines to air conditioners-and even robots.
Mechanical engineering professor Emmanuel Collins is developing a robotic vehicle that can be used in Iraq to patrol areas for hidden explosive devices.
"The US Army has great interest in using robots in the field to take away much of the danger that humans encounter on military missions," Collins explains, "so they're largely thinking of using the robots for what's called 'reconnaissance and surveillance and target recognition.'"
As for programming those robots, students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering are trained in designing and developing computer and electrical technologies, as well.
The college also offers industrial chemical and biomedical engineering. Chemical engineering professor Teng Ma has made international headlines recently with his creation of a device that will allow adult stem cells to live longer in a lab. Ultimately, Ma's breakthrough could lead to the creation of new tissue to replace bone mass lost to osteoporosis or to treat traumatic bone injuries such as those suffered in automobile accidents or combat.
"One attractive feature is [the new technology] uses adult stem cells from bone marrow," he says. "Each of us carries our own medicine cabinet, basically. Take out some cells from bone marrow, you can expand them, and you can make them into tissues [to combat] the disease that you're suffering."
The college offers bachelor of science and master of science degrees, as well as doctoral programs in biomedical, chemical, civil, computer, electrical, industrial and mechanical engineering. The college has conferred almost 4,000 degrees since its inception, and its graduates are a diverse group of engineers from many races, ethnicities and nationalities.
These graduates fulfill vital roles and are coveted by some of America's top industries. Almost 200 companies recruit FAMU-FSU College of Engineering graduates, including elite firms like Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Shell Oil, to name a few.
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