COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
College of Engineering Strategic Plan
2011-2016
2
College Snapshot 2011:
â $1.4 million in approved research expenditure
â ABET-accredited bachelor’s programs in Aerospace, Civil, Computer, Electrical,
Mechanical, and Software Engineering
â On-campus master’s programs in Aerospace, Electrical and Computer, Mechanical,
and Software Engineering
â #1 Aerospace Engineering program among primarily undergraduate colleges for 11
years in a row
â #11 College of Engineering among primarily undergraduate colleges
â 28.2:1 student to faculty ratio
ERAU Undergraduate to Graduate Enrollment Ratios
Diversity of Undergraduate Student Population in Engineering
2000
Undergraduate Students
Graduate Students
African American
1500
Caucasian
Foreign
Hispanic
Number of Students
Asian American
1000
500
Other
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
3
Strategic Plan
Magdy Attia, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Aerospace Engineering
Jeanette Barott
Communication Specialist
College of Engineering
Brian Butka, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Electrical, Software,
and Systems Engineering
Mark Fugler, PhD
Professor
Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering
Steve Lehr
Steve Lehr
Associate Professor
Department of Freshman Engineering
2011-2016
This strategic plan was developed in fulfillment of a charge made by the College Advisory Board to
the Dean of the College of Engineering during the annual meeting in fall 2009.
The plan was developed by a six-member ad hoc committee including faculty representatives
from each of the four departments of the College of Engineering—the Department of Aerospace
Engineering, the Department of Electrical, Computer, Software, and Systems Engineering, the
Department of Freshman Engineering, and the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering—
and the College Communication Specialist, and was chaired by the Dean of the College. A draft was
completed and presented to the faculty during the Fall Retreat in August 2010, resulting in lively
and spirited debate. Faculty and staff feedback and opinions were elicited using an anonymous
feedback system after each presentation component.
After composing a new draft using faculty and staff responses, feedback was solicited from the
College Advisory Board during the annual meeting in November 2010. This final version has been
prepared for acceptance by the Advisory Board and the University Administration in January 2011.
Over the next five years, the College will employ seven strategies, implementing the strategy
elements, in achieving its four primary goals. Four critical strategy elements are identified as
imperatives, since failure to implement any of these will critically hinder achieving our goals.
Designed to help us realize our educational and research goals by 2016 and beyond, the success
of this strategic plan depends on buy-in by the faculty and the resolve to see it implemented, as
well as the support of University upper administration and our ability to secure the resources and
funding needed to fully implement the plan.
Maj Mirmirani, PhD
Professor and Dean
College of Engineering
4
Overview
Mission
The College of Engineering at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is one of the top non-PhD granting
engineering colleges in the nation, ranked #11 out of 119 such universities in the 2010 U.S. News and
World Report rankings, with the #1 program in Aerospace Engineering according to these rankings for over a
decade.
As the most prestigious engineering program at the College, Aerospace Engineering accounts for over 77%
of the enrollment; however, the vision of the University is to create a comprehensive College of Engineering,
promoting the visibility and viability of all the programs offered by the College of Engineering, including
Aerospace Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering, and Software Engineering.
All of these outstanding ABET-accredited engineering programs are unique in their connection to the
aviation and aerospace niche market of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and provide students
an outstanding opportunity to explore in-depth important components of engineering for aerospace
applications. In addition, the continuation and growth of these programs is vital to establishing the College
of Engineering as a premier applied research facility for the aviation and aerospace industry.
A second, equally important aspect of developing a comprehensive College of Engineering is the
development of the PhD program. The University and College intend to propose a PhD program in Aerospace
Engineering to begin in the fall semester of 2013, enabling increased research opportunities for faculty and
students, and increasing the visibility of Embry-Riddle’s College of Engineering as a world-class engineering
institution.
I
To educate and prepare our students for careers and leadership
in engineering, aerospace, aviation, and related fields.
II
To support the advancement
of engineering through
interdisciplinary research and
by developing technology
that serves the needs of
the aerospace and aviation
industry.
III
To serve society and the
engineering profession
by teaching from a global
perspective, as well as
promoting and instilling
strong values, such as social
responsibility and service, in our
graduates.
The vision of the College of Engineering is to be a preeminent engineering college,
recognized internationally for excellence in education and leadership in aerospace
applied research.
5
Goals
Over the next five years, we will make quantifiable progress toward realization of our vision
and fulfillment of our mission by focusing on four overarching goals:
I
World-Class Reputation
Currently, Embry-Riddle and its College of Engineering enjoy a world-class reputation in undergraduate
education in aerospace and aerospace-related disciplines. Our goal is to increase this reputation to
encompass excellence in research and graduate education, as well as increase the visibility and individual
reputation of engineering programs other than Aerospace Engineering, while maintaining and improving our
current reputation.
II
Leadership in Aerospace and Aviation Research
III
Graduates Prepared for Careers and Leadership in the 21st Century Global Context
IV
Diversity and Intellectualism in the Academic Environment
The College of Engineering currently has outstanding faculty with a breadth of experience and expertise. We
intend to become the acknowledged source for expertise and research in signature areas selected because
of our current expertise, their relevance to the mission of the University, and their overall impact and
importance.
Even with the move toward an increasing emphasis on graduate-level education and research, the College of
Engineering maintains a focus on the importance of undergraduate education and teaching excellence. With
the help of the College Advisory Board, the department-level Industrial Advisory Boards, and the expertise
of the education-focused Department of Freshman Engineering, the College of Engineering will focus on
making the concept of the “Engineer of 2020”, as proposed by the National Academy of Engineers, a
reality in our classroom environments, multidisciplinary co-curricular activities, and individualized advising
process.
The role of a diverse student and faculty population in promoting a good environment for creativity and
intellectualism is well documented. It is our goal to create a diverse academic community, including
a diversity of ethnicity, gender, global perspective, and academic background, in order to foster the
development of new ideas and methods for education and research, and increase the overall quality-of-life
for faculty, staff, and students in this shared community.
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Signature Areas of Research
As we become a world-class PhD-granting research institution, we will recruit talented faculty and expand our infrastructure of research in many
emerging areas of technology. Among these, we have identified four as our signature areas of research, in which we will make significant investment
and commit considerable resources to build a national reputation and become an acknowledged leader.
NextGen National Air Space Systems
Clean Energy Systems
NextGen, an umbrella term for a wide range of technologies related to the
management of the national airspace (NAS), involves complex and challenging
engineering problems. Embry-Riddle has been involved in NextGen research
and has led a consortium of industry partners focused on one of the most
far-reaching and challenging aspects of this—integration of unmanned aerial
systems (UAS) in the NAS. Removing barriers to allow less restrictive access
by UAS into the NAS will allow UAS to perform national security and defense,
science, emergency management, as well as future commercial applications.
The College of Engineering has been increasingly playing a leading role in this
research, which involves major technical and regulatory challenges including
modeling and simulations, separation assurance through sense and avoid,
robust and secure communications links, radio frequency spectrum allocation,
airworthiness standards, and certifications.
With the growing level of environmental regulation in the aviation industry,
green aviation is becoming both a legal and ethical necessity in the aerospace
industry. Our expertise in flight test engineering has already positioned us
at the forefront of testing biodiesel lead-free fuel for use in general aviation.
With this experience, and our faculty’s expertise in other areas of green
energy, including solar power, hybrid vehicle technology—as demonstrated
through the EcoCAR Challenge and the NASA Green Aircraft Challenge and
wind and ocean energy production devices, we are positioned to take the lead
in this increasingly important field of research.
Commercial Launch Vehicles and Access to Space
In 2010, the Commission on the Future of Manned Spaceflight concluded
that the current NASA budget is inadequate for manned space exploration
to the moon, Mars, and beyond. It suggested investing in commercial space
transportation services for the delivery and return of crew to low Earth orbit, so
that NASA could focus on more challenging space exploration missions. Such
private missions involve a wide range of technological, safety, and regulatory
challenges. Our faculty are currently involved in research funded by the FAA
and NASA including vehicle plume triggering electric fields, space debris
hazard, spaceport planning and design, space traffic management, study of loworbit radiation’s impact on humans, and the development of commercial launch
and recovery operations. Through these projects, and supporting this field as a
signature area, we will develop a significant body of knowledge and prepare our
students to be leaders in the commercial race for space.
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
To obtain a perspective on the place unmanned aerial systems have occupied
in the commercial and military sectors of the aerospace industry, one only
has to look at the growth of almost two orders of magnitudes in funding
and investment in these systems in the past 20 years. These systems are
used for a variety of government, military, and commercial applications,
and involve technological gaps that no university is better positioned to
address than Embry-Riddle. We host a wealth of faculty and student research
projects in unmanned and autonomous systems, and are the only university
participating in all five of the Autonomous Unmanned Vehicle Systems
International (AUVSI) student competitions. Over the next five years, we will
develop capabilities to address all aspects of UAS, including autonomy—
from remotely controlled systems to fully autonomous swarms, processor,
communications, network, airframe, and propulsion technologies as well as
airworthiness, certification, and integration in the national airspace.
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Imperative:
PhD in Aerospace
In order for the cultural shift to
occur, the PhD program in Aerospace Engineering program MUST
be successfully started.
Resources
Strategy 1
Changing the Way We See Ourselves; Promoting a Cultural Shift
Currently, we view ourselves as a primarily teaching, undergraduate
institution. We can promote a cultural shift by beginning to view ourselves as
a premier College of Engineering with a national reputation for leadership in
aerospace and aviation research.
1.
Establish a doctoral degree in Aerospace Engineering by fall 2013.
• Faculty recruited for at least six new AE
faculty positions, three at senior distinguished
level.
2.
Identify and assign a faculty lead for each signature area of research to promote
and facilitate funded research as well as internal and external collaborative efforts.
• Funding for reduced PhD faculty teaching
load, tuition waiver and stipend for PhD
students, library materials and laboratory
equipment as identified in the PhD proposal.
3.
Recruit at least three distinguished faculty affiliated with the signature areas of
research, with a national reputation and an outstanding track record of sponsored
research.
4.
Establish at least one named chair or professorship in Aerospace Engineering.
5.
Double the number of available Graduate Research/Teaching Assistantships from
the current 20 per semester to 40 per semester.
6.
Significantly enhance infrastructure of support for research including reduced
workload and increased faculty development funds.
• New or renovated space providing an
additional 40,000 gross square feet.
Timeline
June 2011
College-Approved Proposal submitted for
University-Level Review
November 2011
University-Approved Proposal presented to the
Board Of Trustees
Spring 2012
Proposal approved by the Board of Trustees
submitted to SACS
Fall 2012
SACS approval expected
Fall 2013
First cohort will matriculate
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Strategy 2
Protecting and Enhancing Our Reputation
Reputation is the most valuable asset
of any organization, and EmbryRiddle is no exception. However,
quality precedes reputation; therefore,
continuing to build on and expand
our reputation requires a continued
commitment to quality. In addition, a
reputation is built on a commitment to
informing the public and maintaining
close positive relationships with the
immediate community—alumni, the
Volusia County area, students, parents,
and the rest of the University.
The following measurable strategy
elements will result in successfully
completing this strategy over the next
five years.
the nation’s premiere college
“forWeanare
undergraduate education in Aerospace Engineering. We will soon become
the aerospace industry’s ‘go-to’ place for
applied, real-world solutions, and the best
place in the nation to get a graduate degree in aerospace-related disciplines.
”
—Dean Maj Mirmirani
1.
Achieve top-10 US News and World Report ranking for the College and maintain our
#1 Aerospace ranking.
2.
Move into the top 500 on the Forbe’s Best Colleges report ranking.
3.
Maintain an annually updated communications plan, consistent with the available
budget, specifying target audiences and methods for reaching them.
4.
Increase the overall caliber of students admitted to the College, increasing the
average SAT for AE to 1300, and the minimum entrance GPA requirement for AE
to 3.0 (with few exceptions allowed for extraordinary circumstances).
5.
Increase the annual research funding of the College of Engineering from $1.2
million to $4 million.
6.
Adapt both promotion and tenure criteria for incoming faculty and the annual
review of all faculty to emphasize active participation and promotion in professional organizations.
7.
Host at least one national conference in one of our signature areas of research
with the intention of it becoming an annual event.
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Strategy 3
Diversifying Our Funding Sources,
Securing Adequate Resources
We cannot reach our goals and achieve a
position of prominence by relying on the
University distributed annual budget as
the sole source of funding for the College.
New revenue streams are necessary to fund
major initiatives, support faculty and staff
professional growth, develop and maintain
state-of-the-art facilities, and to fund student projects and scholarships.
Although working closely with the University’s
Office of Institutional Advancement can
help to close the gap, significant increases
in funded research and support resulting
from industry partnership will be required to
truly become a top-tier school of engineering.
In addition to the need for significant financial resources in the next five years, we
urgently need 40,000 square feet of additional office and laboratory space. Although
the completion of the new College of Arts
and Sciences in the next five years will result in major opening of space in Lehman,
we must obtain additional space in the next
two years to meet our immediate needs.
The following strategy elements will help
in successfully implementing this strategy
over the next five years.
1.
Obtain 40,000 ft2 of office and laboratory space.
2.
Double our current allowed indirect costs (IDC) rollover from $50,000 to $100,000.
3.
Triple the College Fund of Excellence, bringing it from $60,000 to $180,000 over
the next five years, through a fundraising campaign and increased alumni relations.
4.
Increase the annual operating budget from 4% to 10% of the total College budget
by 2015.
5.
Establish at least one new nontraditional educational program.
6.
Provide course releases and funding for the patent process for faculty to promote
entrepreneurship, spin-offs, and royalties.
Imperative: Increased Lab, Teaching, and Office Space
30,000ft2
5,000ft2
3,000ft2
2,000ft2
Teaching & Research Laboratories
Classroom & Conference Room
Faculty Office1
Graduate Student Office2
2,200 students, at a 24:1 student faculty ratio will require 20
more faculty @ 140 ft2 per faculty office
2
30 additional GTA/GRA, 70 ft2 per GTA Office
1
The COE needs 40,000 ft2
Our enrollment has been steadily growing
over the past decade, and research activities
and hands-on student projects have increased
significantly. The Lehman Engineering Center,
which is currently shared with the College of
Arts and Sciences, has reached capacity and is
inadequate for our current and future needs.
It is imperative that the College obtain the
space, both office and laboratory, it needs
within the next two to three years.
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Strategy 4
Graduating “ERAU Engineer of 2020”
We will provide our students, from
freshmen to seniors, with learning
experiences that develop the
knowledge, attitudes, and skills
necessary for success as 21st century
engineering graduates. Our programs
will be rigorous and will encourage
creativity, innovation, leadership, and
entrepreneurship. In keeping with our
tradition of hands-on approach, we
will continue to promote and further
emphasize a teaching philosophy of
“learning by doing.”
An important component of this
strategy is to transform the Freshman
Engineering Department from its
current status of a “service
department,” to one focused on
Engineering Education, where faculty
are engaged in scholarship of teaching,
in finding innovative approaches to
teaching, and in discovering and
implementing methods for improving
learning and teaching effectiveness.
1.
Recruit two Freshman Engineering faculty with a PhD in Engineering Education in
the next five years.
2.
Set a maximum student:faculty ratio of 24:1.
3.
Integrate systems engineering into the curriculum for all disciplines.
4.
Integrate leadership and entrepreneurship into the curriculum.
5.
Include knowledge of systems engineering, entrepreneurship, and an attitude of
leadership among program educational objectives in the assessment process.
6.
Promote and broaden studying abroad opportunities and provide incentive for
broader student participation.
7.
Expand undergraduate research opportunities and participation in student
competition projects by encouraging and funding additional student projects.
8.
Promote participation in at least one hands-on activity (co-op, internship,
undergraduate research project, or faculty-guided student competition project) in
all disciplines.
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Attributes of the ERAU Engineer of 2020
In fall 2009, the Dean challenged the faculty and staff of the College of Engineering to use the report of the National
Academy of Engineers, along with their experience in education at Embry-Riddle, to develop a list of the attributes of the
ERAU Engineer of 2020. The resulting list is as follows.
Knowledge
•
•
•
•
•
•
Math and Science
Engineering Fundamentals
Integration and Systems Engineering
Business
Multidisciplinary
Awareness of Impact of Engineering on
Society
• Global Awareness
Abilities and Skills
•
•
•
•
•
Leadership
Teamwork, Long-Distance and Virtual
Analytical and Problem Solving Skills
Strong Communication
Work Effectively in Diverse and
Multicultural Environment
• Modern Computer Aided Engineering
and Manufacturing Tools
Qualities
• Innovative, Creative, and
Entrepreneurial
• Strong Working Ethics
• Ethically Responsible
• Safety Consciousness
• Curious and Life-Long Learner
Imperative: Re-Imaging Freshman Engineering
Currently, the Freshman Engineering Department is staffed by qualified, but mostly junior, non-tenure-track faculty whose main responsibility is
teaching. Graduating the ERAU Engineer of 2020 will require a new paradigm for the Department, one that is focused on engineering education
by teaching innovative, modern courses for first-year engineering students, as well as conducting research and expanding the boundaries of the
emerging field of engineering education. To realize this new vision, we must recruit three new faculty with expertise and a track record of research
in Engineering Education.
The Chair of the Department of Freshman Engineering will be responsible for presenting the formalized vision of the department by the end of
summer 2011.
The Dean of the College must obtain the budget and faculty position approval for one PhD-level faculty with research experience in Engineering
Education each year between 2011 and 2013.
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Strategy 5
Leveraging Corporate and Industry
Partnerships
Broadening and leveraging strategic
alliances with industry is a crucial step
in increasing our research capacity,
our reputation, our undergraduate
education capacity, and in our
intellectual diversity.
Strategic Alliances
Currently the College has strategic
alliances with JPL, Boeing, Lockheed
Martin, Dassault Aviation/Falcon
Jet, Pratt Whitney Rocketdyne, and
Northrop Grumman. The degree and
level of support varies. Some include
MOUs and financial support.
1.
Create a complete research portfolio of College capacities, previous research success,
and faculty capability profiles.
2.
Create a CoE Design Institute as a one-stop-shop for open SOW-type relationships
with industry.
3.
Submit at least three STTR or SBIR proposals in the next five years.
4.
Create a position for an Associate Dean of Research to serve as a liaison to
industry.
5.
Expand and enhance the current alliances and increase the number of corporate
partners by at least one a year for the next five years.
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Imperative:
Enrollment Management
Enrollment management is critical in
maintaining quality, our reputation, and our
ranking as a top engineering school. Our
overall strategic approach in the next five years
is to improve the selectivity of the Aerospace
Engineering program over the long term, while
growing enrollment in other engineering majors.
Since, from a capacity viewpoint, the College of
Engineering is nearly full, we intend to reduce
the number of current Aerospace Engineering
students by shifting students to other
engineering disciplines. The lower academic
profile students (approximately the bottom 10%
of applicants) will be sent a personalized letter
informing them that, while they are rejected
from the Aerospace Engineering program, they
would be accepted to the COE should they
consider a different academic major.
Strategy 6
Managing Enrollment
Enrollment management is a key factor in maintaining overall educational quality, improving our national ranking, protecting our reputation, obtaining tuitiondriven revenue, and improving the working environment for faculty and staff.
Transforming current enrollment statistics as follows will allow the College to
balance the programs, decrease faculty workload, increase our reputation as an
excellent provider of graduate education, and optimally utilize existing facilities.
Undergraduate to Graduate Enrollment Rates
Program
Current
Percentage
Future
Current
Percentage Number
Future
Number
Undergraduate
89%
77%
1649
1700
Graduate
11%
23%
205
500
1854
2200
TOTALS
Undergraduate Student Body Composition
Our strategy, which has been developed jointly
with the University Admissions Office, is to
increase the prospect pool and to develop
personalized relationships with prospective
students early in their decision process,
increasing the percentage of accepted
students who choose to enroll. The College of
Engineering will have current students perform
outbound calls to admitted students based
on their academic and personal profiles and
specific area of interest.
Program
Current
Percentage
Future
Current
Percentage Number
Future
Number
Aerospace
72%
59%
1200
1000
Civil
1%
3%
35
50
Electrical
2%
5%
45
75
Mechanical
9%
15%
150
250
Computer Science,
Computer & Software
Engineering
6%
10%
102
175
Undecided Engineering
10%
8%
117
150
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Strategy 7
Promoting Diversity
In addition to the well-documented positive impact of diversity in an academic environment, diversity increases visibility
and enhances reputation. In the term “diversity,” we encompass the definition given by the University of California,
San Francisco.
Diversity—the variety of experiences and perspectives which arise from differences in race, culture, religion, mental or physical abilities, heritage,
age, gender, sexual orientation, and other characteristics—promotes creativity and produces better solutions to problems and a higher level of
critical analysis.
1.
Create hiring process guidelines for chairs and committees
encouraging that opportunities above-and-beyond the usual be
provided to minority and female faculty candidates, with a goal
of hiring six additional female tenure-track faculty by 2016.
2.
Develop a Women’s Engineering Institute at ERAU, under the
leadership of a female faculty member.
3.
Provide at least one College of Engineering designated scholarship
for minorities and women, in addition to currently existing ones.
4.
Designate a preference that at least 25% of GTA/GRA funds
be earmarked for qualified minority and female candidates, if
available.
5.
Create an annual College award for one student and one faculty/
staff member in recognition of service, citizenship, leadership,
and contribution to the overall living climate of the College.
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Institute for Women in Engineering
Recruitment
The primary goal of the Institute for Women in Engineering is to reach a
minimum of 20% female enrollments in the College of Engineering by 2016.
This will be achieved by addressing both recruiting and retention issues.
Research shows that offering networking, mentorship, and other support
activities (i.e., tutoring) has the largest impact on retention, for all students,
but especially females. For this reason, the Institute will focus on initiatives that
are centered on these types of activities to improve retention in the College of
Engineering. Other research has shown that STEM recruiting activities have the
largest impact on females in the late elementary and middle school ages. The
Institute will use this data to effectively focus future recruiting efforts.
Retention
To address the isolation effect that occurs for minority groups, the Freshman Engineering Department
initiated a 2+2 Women in Engineering Mentoring Program in fall 2006, which later became known as the
FIRST Program (Female Initiatives: Reaching Success Together). However, while the University’s female
retention numbers are increasing, the College of Engineering numbers are stagnant; we attribute this to
the fact that the FIRST Program, while limited to engineering students and very successful, is housed
in a universitywide center (the Women’s Center), where students who may be considering transferring
out of the University due to difficulties in their engineering classes are counseled and advised to switch
degree programs in an effort to retain them at the University. For this reason, the Institute for Women in
Engineering will supplement the activities in the Women’s Center through assigning an engineering faculty
and appointing a Graduate Teaching Assistant to represent the College at the Center. The presence of these
personnel in the Women’s Center will provide students who are struggling in engineering the chance to
receive encouragement and the appropriate assistance needed to retain them in engineering, as well as the
University.
With the growing numbers of female students participating in the FIRST program, the number of female
faculty mentors must increase as well. To assist with this, small stipends or appropriate release time will
be provided to facilitate significant involvement. In addition, success and retention rates of females in the
Honors Program will be tracked.
Before improvements in total retention
numbers can be significant, improvements
in recruitment must also be made.
The Institute’s coordinator will work with the
Marketing and Recruitment departments,
providing an advisory board of current
female students and high school students
to develop more female-friendly recruiting
materials, and ensuring scholarship monies
earmarked for female students is equitably
divided among the different colleges within
ERAU, including the COE.
In addition, the coordinator will increase
financial support to the ERAU women
engineering clubs and teams. Supporting
these groups of women (such as the Society
of Women Engineers and the All Women’s
Baja SAE Team) and ensuring their continued
existence and success will continue to aid in
the recruitment of future women engineering
students. Future students want to know that
exciting and beneficial opportunities await
them at their chosen university and in their
chosen degree program. Financial support of
these groups can also be used as a contract
with the groups, obligating them to a certain
expected level of outreach and participation
or perhaps creation of local elementary,
middle school, and high school female
STEM competition teams (for example, the
all-female robotics teams at Cypress Creek
Elementary), as well as participation in
the ambassador program already housed in
ERAU’s Admissions Office.
Office of the Dean
College of Engineering
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
600 S. Clyde Morris Blvd.
Daytona Beach, FL 32114-3900
Tel: (386) 226-6258
Fax: (386) 226-4902
E-mail: engineer@erau.edu
www.embryriddle.edu