 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
The University of Tennessee College of Engineering 114 Perkins Hall Knoxville, TN 37996-2012 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Newsletter
of the UT College of Engineering |
 |
| Chad Holliday |
Dean's Message |
The funding of the new Engage 1st outreach program by the National Science Foundation provides even greater challenges and opportunities. I have asked Chad Holliday (BS/IE '70) to discuss the Engage program in this issue's "Dean's Message."
Mr. Holliday is the chairman and CEO of E.I. DuPont de Nemours Inc. He assumed the position of chairman in 1998 and was the third-youngest person to lead the 195-year-old global chemical company giant in the last century. His career with DuPont began in 1970 after his graduation from UT; his first assignment was at Dupont's Old Hickory plant in Nashville, Tennessee.
In the years that followed, he held a range of manufacturing, marketing and business assignments with DuPont, including serving in leadership roles for DuPont Asia Pacific in the 1990s.
Mr. Holliday was the recipient of the 1999 Nathan W. Dougherty Award, the college's most prestigious recognition, and also serves as an alumni spokesman on the recently completed College of Engineering recruiting CD.
Fred Tompkins, Interim Dean
As chairman and CEO of Dupont, I have an opportunity to interact with hundreds of engineering professionals regularly. At Dupont there are 80,000 employees worldwide; of those, 17,000 are engineers, so it is a very important part of our work.
I'm often asked, "What makes a successful engineer?" Characteristics of success for engineers are the same fundamental characteristics necessary for career success for everyone: You must work well in teams; have individual initiative; exhibit high standards of character and ethics in everything you do; and have a mastery of basic engineering skills.
You may notice that the requirement to have those basic skills was last on the list. I believe it is those other personal characteristics, such as teamwork, drive and determination, that are especially critical to be a success. In today's extremely competitive job market, it's not enough to just have technical skills; engineering professionals must be able to facilitate projects with coworkers and communicate effectively with team members.
A real strength of the Engage program and the University of Tennessee College of Engineering is the emphasis on multi-disciplinary interaction. While each engineering department is a separate, distinguishable entity, all work together toward the common goal of delivering quality engineering education in a collegial, dynamic environment where information and knowledge are shared.
This enables students to have the opportunity to learn from several engineering disciplines and thus determine their own areas of expertise. It is important to integrate in the workplace as well. At Dupont, we rarely have situations where only one area of engineering is used; everything is multidisciplinary Likewise, the Engage program teaches students, regardless of their planned disciplines, to cooperate on projects involving a variety of engineering skills.
One of the primary goals of the Engage program at UT is to help students develop teaming, communications and problem-solving skills. Working in teams under the supervision of a mentor, an upperclassman enrolled in a team facilitation course, the students participate in project-oriented, hands-on activities that allow them to experience the same decision-making process as practicing engineers. In addition, the program's faculty work as a team and, in collaboration with graduate student assistants, conduct all of the instruction.
This program is beneficial on several levels. The students benefit from improving their capabilities to work with others and to learn design and basic engineering skills from hands-on projects. The teaching assistants in the program are exposed to real-life situations in engineering education and are provided opportunities to test their capabilities as instructors.
The students who graduate from the Engage program will go out into the workplace as more well-rounded and capable engineering professionals who will offer their employers much more than technical skills alone.
In July 2002 the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) conducted a study of state-supported engineering programs. In addition to awarding the Engage program a high rating, the THEC committee went on to state in its report, "...of particular note is the integrated freshman engineering program at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, the Engage program. We believe that this is one of the best freshman engineering programs in the U.S., and it could well become a national model for others."
Engage is the most outstanding program at any university for new engineering students to understand what's going on, learn from each other and build a teamwork environment. I have talked with students in Engage classes and quizzed them about what they have learned. I have talked with engineering students at other universities as well, and I can assure you that this Engage program is absolutely terrific.
I am one alumnus of the UT College of Engineering who is proud of the achievements of this unique program, and I know many other alumni share the same sentiment.
I encourage all engineering alums to support the Engage program and follow its continuing success in the coming years.
Article by Chad Holliday
Chairman and CEO, E.I. DuPont de Nemours Inc.
Chairman and CEO, E.I. DuPont de Nemours Inc.
The E.I. DuPont de Nemours Inc. web site can be accessed
at http://www.dupont.com