Camille Sloan Schroeder, who oversees K-12 community outreach for Iowa State’s College of Engineering, talks about the enjoyment of providing kids and teachers with a summer full of creativity, learning and fun. How was your summer? In Engineering Community Outreach we have a simple, one-word answer that sums it all up: Busy. While the K-12 schools are out of … Continue reading Guest post: The best way to spend the summer
Thomas Lograsso has been named interim director of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory. Lograsso will succeed Alex King, who is stepping down to the lead the laboratory’s Critical Materials Institute, a $120 million DOE Energy Innovation Hub announced in January. Lograsso will assume the Ames Lab directorship as soon as funding for the … Continue reading Ames Laboratory interim director named
On July 30 of last year, I was named interim dean of the College of Engineering. It was a time of leadership transition, and I was honored to serve in this capacity. Jonathan Wickert left the college in great shape when he became senior vice president and provost of the university. The last eight months … Continue reading Reflections on serving as interim dean
People around the world, especially Americans in the Midwest, should be familiar with the term ethanol. Record volumes of this biofuel are being produced in the United States, to the sum of 13.9 billion gallons in 2011. As the country continues to diversify its energy portfolio, ethanol bio refineries will play a vital role in … Continue reading Turning fungus into animal feed
When I began doing FIRST LEGO League in 2001, lots of people commented that it must be fun to play with LEGO bricks and cute to watch kids play with toys for a job. There was much to be done to alter perceptions of K-12 STEM programming. (science, technology, engineering and math) Now, don’t get … Continue reading They’re more than little plastic bricks
As I began preparing for when I would take the College of Engineering’s reins from Jonathan Wickert, who is now the senior vice president and provost at Iowa State, I knew the college was in great shape. Each day on the job of interim dean, I realize just how true this is. Our research funding … Continue reading Building on success
Iowa State recently hosted Vice President Joe Biden and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who came to campus March 1 to highlight the importance of innovation and advanced manufacturing to the American economy. Vice President Biden’s visit to Howe Hall also included a tour of aerospace engineering’s Make to Innovate lab, where Iowa State President Steven … Continue reading Advanced manufacturing important for Iowa
The freshman year at any university, and particularly in a rigorous engineering program, can be challenging – a new place, new social connections, and new academic expectations. One of the trends we’ve seen nationwide since the 1990s is a renewed emphasis of offering more engineering courses up-front in the curriculum, including during the freshman year. … Continue reading Making the most of the freshman year
I like to think that engineers make good leaders. We have abilities in quantitative reasoning; in decision making, even when information is incomplete or ambiguous; and breaking down complex problems into manageable pieces. These broad skills can prove useful at every level of an organization, making engineers a natural fit to hold leadership positions. I’m … Continue reading Engineering Leadership Certificate
Early in the morning on October 5, we learned that Dan Shechtman received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for the discovery of quasicrystals.” Professor Shechtman is a faculty member in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, a research scientist in the Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory on our campus, and a professor at the … Continue reading Nobel Laureates, today and yesterday
Last year at this time, I blogged about how high-tech industries are experiencing significant growth, particularly in sectors at the boundaries of traditional engineering disciplines and fields such as biology, medicine, and product design. Coupled with that surge of career opportunities is an approaching demographic crunch in the engineering workforce as more baby boomers retire. … Continue reading National workforce needs in engineering
A university campus is a great place to be in the fall, and that certainly is the case at Iowa State. Ames has been bustling with activity the past two weeks with the presidential candidate debate, the Straw Poll, and the arrival of students at the start of the academic year. Summer proved to be … Continue reading A promising year
Taehyun Park, sophomore in computer engineering, was one of 26 college students invited to Mountain View, California, for the first-ever Google Android Camp. Over the course of the weeklong camp held June 5–11, the students met with and attended seminars given by top Google engineers. “At Google, we are committed to helping the innovators of … Continue reading Iowa State student attends first Google Android Camp
The engineering college has a very broad constituency – current and prospective students and their families, employers in business and industry, Iowans, government entities, other educational institutions, and alumni – to mention just a few. While our daily energy is focused on educating students and engineering innovation, we know that you are interested in staying … Continue reading There’s an App for us
I was recently at a national meeting of engineering deans, and in conversations with my colleagues, it’s clear that the Great Recession and the pullback in support from state legislatures have placed created significant pressures for engineering education in the United States. At the same time, our corporate partners have challenged us in two ways: … Continue reading Our vision, our plan
