Letter from the Dean

Pete Nelson

In this issue of RISE, you’ll find stories about the UIC Engineering community helping others to stay healthy and thrive. Those goals have, in fact, driven much of our work in recent months. We are creating a safe environment for students and faculty in the present moment while continuing to plan wisely for the College’s future.

The coronavirus-related projects you’ll read about—from masks made with nanomaterials to cybersecurity for contact-tracing apps—fit within a UIC-wide effort to lead in improving health and quality of life. The College is committed to research excellence, and our faculty have earned grants totaling $111.7 million across 216 projects. To ensure we have the facilities to support their work and our growing student body, our new computer science building is moving ahead. We are done with the architectural planning for the structure, which will add 125,000 square feet of space for learning, research, and student collaboration, and we will solicit construction bids in November.

This fall semester is unlike any in memory, but we’ve found that change can be good. We are teaching courses in varied ways, with students choosing the delivery methods that work best for them. We plan to hold most science and engineering labs on campus, but almost all courses are available in an online version to accommodate students who prefer remote learning. Undergraduate enrollment remains strong, reflecting a 4.25-percent increase over fall 2019. We also created a program to help 2019 and 2020 undergraduate alumni who finished their education and headed into a difficult job market. They had the opportunity to apply for a UIC Engineering master’s degree with a base-tuition waiver for up to three courses. We hope we have set them on course for a master’s with about a third of their coursework in hand.

Many of you, our readers, also are dedicated to projects—professionally, as volunteers, and at home—that help others to do and feel their best. I salute your work, and I thank you for staying connected to the College of Engineering.

Pete Nelson, PhD
Dean