Dean, School of Engineering

Engineers shape our world. They create and manage the complex technologies that address humanity's most pressing needs. The challenges have never been greater, and engineering is as exciting today as it's ever been.

Through education, research, outreach, and service, MIT's School of Engineering develops future technological leaders, advances the frontiers of engineering knowledge, and imprints engineering practice. Building on an unparalleled tradition of achievement and a passion for excellence, the School is ushering in the next generation of engineering innovators.

Currently' the School of Engineering encompasses a community of some of the world's brightest minds and most inventive thinkers—about 60 percent of MIT's undergraduate majors' about 45 percent of MIT graduate students' and over one-third of the Institute's Faculty. Third-party ratings routinely rank the Schoolof Engineeringfirst in the nation, both at the undergraduate and at the graduate levels.

During 2002–2003' the School undertook several major initiatives that underscore its commitment to shaping engineering education and research. This report presents selected highlights of significant achievements. It also includes information on notable awards and events' organizational updates, personnel changes' and School statistics. The reports of the School's departments' divisions' laboratories' centers' and programs provide additional information about their activities during the past year.

Continuing Initiatives

Leadership through Technical Excellence and Innovation.

The School strives to address the societal challenges of the 21st century through leadership anchored in technical excellence and innovation. It has identified seven programmatic themes for special emphasis:

By emphasizing these themes, the School aspires to set the direction and create new models for engineering education and research. For example, this year the School hired 25 new faculty members, including 10 women. This year's figures represent new records for both overall number of new hires and for new women faculty hires.

This report provides examples of both continuing and new educational, research, and service initiatives. Separate reports provide additional detail.

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New Initiatives

This section provides information on some major new initiatives, both of the School of Engineering itself and those in which the School is a key participant.

Computational and Systems Biology Initiative

In early 2003, MIT launched the Computational and Systems Biology Initiative (CSBi), a major institutional commitment to the emerging field of systems biology, a field in which MIT is uniquely positioned to become a leader. The campus-wide activity links biologists, computer scientists, and engineers in a multidisciplinary approach to the systematic analysis of complex biological phenomena. This initiative, joint with the School of Science, draws upon faculty broadly from the School of Engineering and especially from the Biological Engineering Division and the Departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Chemical Engineering. In May, CSBi held its First Annual Conference in Systems Biology, "From Bioinformatics to Biofabrication." At the event, CSBi leaders declared systems biology to be biology's third great revolution, at least as significant as the first two—molecular biology and genomics.

Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies

Founded in March 2002 through a five-year, $50 million grant from the US Army, the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies (ISN) combines basic and applied research to create an expansive array of innovations in nanoscience and nanotechnology that will dramatically improve the survivability of soldiers. With significant participation from faculty and researchers in the School of Engineering, current ISN research focuses on several key soldier capabilities, including protection from bullets, blasts, and chemical/biological threats; automated medical monitoring and treatment; improved performance; and reduced load weight. In May of this year, the ISN formally opened its doors with a ribbon cutting and dedication ceremony in front of its new 28,000 square-foot facility located at 500 Technology Square. At the event, the ISN also announced the addition of several new industrial partners to its list of research collaborators.

Earth System Initiative

In november, MIT started the Earth System Initiative (ESI), a new multidisciplinary research and education effort whose goal is to forge new understandings of how different aspects of the Earth's natural systems interact with and depend upon one another. This initiative, joint with the School of Science, brings together scientists and engineers from different disciplines, including Civil and Environmental Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Chemical Engineering, and Biological Engineering. One educational component of ESI is Terrascope, a program for freshmen that combines study in civil and environmental engineering and earth, atmospheric, and planetary sciences. More information can be found in Terrascope's report.

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Educational Initiatives and Developments

The School of Engineering has distinguished itself as a leader in engineering education, teaching applied, hands-on engineering and creating innovative pedagogies and programs. The School continues this innovation through pioneering programs in partnership with industry or other universities, such as the Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA), Project iCampus, and the Leaders for Manufacturing and the System Design and Management programs. This section presents highlights of a number of key efforts in this area.

d'Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in Education

School of Engineering faculty and students have again launched several new educational initiatives funded by the Council on Educational Technology through the Alex and Brit d'Arbeloff Fund for Excellence in Education. This year these include the following: "Discover Engineering," a parent organization for a series of immersive freshman seminars aimed at providing an introduction to the engineering disciplines and improving the quality of the freshman year at MIT; a one-year pilot investigation, intended to lay a foundation for transforming the core curriculum in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; an experiment in the Department of Mechanical engineering to weave the use of mobile computing platforms into everyday teaching; and a new curriculum for a core course in Civil and Environmental engineering that stresses a hands-on approach to computation to reinforce that course's traditional focus on algorithms and data structures as a means toward engineering problem solving.

Engineering Council for Undergraduate Education

Last year, the School of Engineering formed an Engineering Council for Undergraduate Education (E-CUE) with representation from all departments and divisions, as well as from the office of the Dean for Undergraduate Education (DUE). E-CUE's mission is to identify, develop, implement, and disseminate best practices in curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment in engineering education and to serve as a forum for addressing and sharing common issues and concerns in undergraduate engineering education among the School's units. E-CUE is chaired by the associate dean of engineering, Professor Dick K. P. Yue, and staffed by the School's director of education assessment, Dr. Barbara Masi.

During this initial year, E-CUE focused on the theme of "Engineering and the First Year" and established its position as a forum for sharing ideas and for coordinating engineering education innovations and developments across the School, as well as with other units both within and outside MIT. Some of E-CUE's main activities included the following:

In addition, the School of Engineering and E-CUE have worked together to develop a new engineering education web site. E-CUE has envisioned a site that will help School faculty maintain awareness of new engineering education issues, important data, and reports; and provide interactive tools to assist in curriculum design, development, and evaluation, as well as in ongoing assessment and improvement. E-CUE plans to launch the site in fall 2003.

Engineering Special Programs

The School of Engineering offers several programs: the Engineering Internship Program (EIP), the Minority Introduction to Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Science (MITE2S), the Saturday Engineering Enrichment and Discovery (SEED) Academy, and the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program (UPOP).

Engineering Internship Program

Given an increase in choices among summer internships, summer jobs, and five-year master's programs available to School of Engineering students, the School began to phase out the Engineering Internship Program in 2001–2002. Continuing the phase-out of EIP this year, the program has enrolled no new sophomores since 2001. Six graduate students (down from 17 in 2002) will participate in EIP internships in 2003—one from Aeronautics and Astronautics and five from Mechanical Engineering. The School now directs sophomores interested in the program to enroll instead in UPOP (see below).

Minority Introduction to Engineering, Entrepreneurship, and Science

This year, the MITE2S Program selected 76 high school seniors to participate in its rigorous six-week session, up from 64 students in 2002. For the first time in the program's 28-year history, non-underrepresented minority students were eligible to apply, triggered by a US Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights investigation. Non-underrepresented minorities constituted approximately 5 percent of the 474 applicants and 76 participants. The selected students came from 25 states and a US Air Force base in Japan. The program added three new courses: biology, advanced physics (which included topics in quantum physics), and a project course in genomics, the latter from a joint project with the Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research, made possible by a five-year, $360,000 National Institutes of Health diversity grant. In addition, a mix of corporations, foundations, MIT alumni, and parents of former participants made major contributions in support of the 2003 session. Although three corporate sponsors failed to renew their support, three new or previously inactive companies did become sponsors. The program endowment in pledges and gifts remains at $4.97 million. Of the 64 students who attended MITE2S 2002, 29 will attend MIT beginning fall 2003, tying a previous record. A committee of faculty, administration, and alumni will formulate a permanent policy and procedures for eligibility and selection to ensure that the program maintains its mission to increase the participation of underrepresented minorities in science and engineering and to foster skills needed to work effectively with people of many different backgrounds (which are necessary for success in an increasingly diverse nation and world).

Saturday Engineering Enrichment and Discovery Academy

The Saturday Engineering Enrichment and Discovery Academy is designed to strengthen fundamental mathematics, science, and communications skills of local high school students using hands-on engineering projects. In its second year, the 20-week academic-year program expanded to accommodate 17 local minority ninth graders. Fully 20 of 23 tenth graders returned to complete their second and third semesters in the program, bringing the total enrollment to 37. Approximately $100,000 in grants from private and corporate foundations funded the second year of the program. At full capacity in 2004–2005, the SEED Academy will host up to 80 students from five Cambridge and Boston high schools.

Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program

UPOP continues its mission of better preparing MIT's engineering sophomores for the multifaceted nature of engineering practice. The program consists of three phases: the Independent Activities Period (IAP) Engineering Practice Workshop in January, the Spring Professional Development Seminar Series, and the Summer Practice Experience. With assistance from engineering professionals, faculty from the School of Engineering and the Sloan School of Management delivered instruction for the IAP Engineering Practice Workshop on topics including robust engineering design, system dynamics, leadership, and communication. At the conclusion of the first year of a five-year, $2.5 million pilot funded by the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation, 97 percent of UPOP summer employers said they would like to rehire their UPOP interns. UPOP kicked off its second year by doubling in size to involve 141 students from all eight engineering departments in two IAP Engineering Practice Workshops. The Spring Professional Development Seminar Series engaged a growing number of MIT alumni to assist UPOP students in improving interviewing and networking skills, as well as preparing to make the most of their summer internships. In spite of the program's rapid growth, the 2003 recruiting effort resulted in 85 percent of UPOP students receiving one or more internship offers, and currently 80 percent are engaged in internships as part of the Summer Practice Experience.

Engineering Systems Graduate Degrees

Formally approved in 1998 with its first faculty members appointed the following year, the Engineering Systems Division (ESD) now has over 30 faculty members with either joint or dual appointments. In addition to the School of Engineering, these include faculty with ties to the Sloan School of Management and the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. Last year, the Engineering Systems Division developed new degree programs leading to the Master of Science in Engineering Systems (SM), the Doctor of Science in Engineering Systems (ScD), and the Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering Systems (PhD). See ESD's individual report to learn more about the division and the degree programs.

iCampus

Project iCampus' the alliance between MIT and Microsoft Research, is now in its fourth year. To date, iCampus has sponsored over 30 cooperative projects among members of Microsoft Research and students' faculty' and researchers at MIT' particularly in Engineering. In its next round of projects, iCampus aims to explore new applications, core technology, and educational and organizational models that could build on MIT's OpenCourseWare project. For more on iCampus activities in 2002–2003, see its separate report.

MIT-British Petroleum Projects Academy

In June, MIT and British Petroleum (BP), one of the world's leading energy producers, announced the start of Projects Academy, an innovative, collaborative educational venture bringing together MIT faculty and high-level BP executives from around the globe. At two-week sessions of Projects Academy, MIT faculty from the Schools of Engineering and Management deliver a curriculum on project leadership, business acumen, and technical excellence in which BP senior executives and faculty reflect on how those ideas play out in BP's environment. This team approach distinguishes the BP-MIT collaboration from other executive education models that are usually either executed in-house or fully outsourced. Projects Academy is the first nondegree executive education collaboration between MIT's Schools of Engineering and Management.

Office of Faculty Diversity Searches

Last year, the School created the Office of Faculty Diversity Searches to support the departments' and divisions' efforts to diversify the Engineering faculty. Activities include developing search plans to find, approach, and recruit minority and senior women faculty, as well as to address two-career situations; collaborating with the School's Recruitment and Retention Committee on strategies for networking with and recruiting underrepresented minority engineers; and researching potential senior women faculty. The office is implementing a communications plan to showcase the School of Engineering as a place of opportunity for minority students and faculty; the plan includes targeted ads and a web site featuring the activities and achievements of diverse members of the community.

Professional Education Programs

In support of its overall education mission, last July the School created a new Office of Professional Education Programs (PEP), designed to offer comprehensive lifelong learning opportunities to alumni and professionals. Professor Dick K. P. Yue, associate dean of engineering, provides oversight and leadership for PEP, and Jennifer Stine is its executive director. In its first year, PEP brought together three existing programs: the Professional Institute, the Advanced Study Program, and MIT World. It also launched new activities, including prototyping new internet-based offerings called Knowledge Updates and a major joint program with the Sloan School of Management's Executive Education Office. Under PEP, the School aims to develop a full spectrum of professional education offerings designed to create broad impact and promote technical excellence through ongoing engagement with communities of practice. Please refer to the separate report about PEP to learn more.

Singapore-MIT Alliance

In March, the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, and MIT signed a Memorandum of Understanding to expand graduate education and research in science and engineering provided through SMA. The largest interactive distance education collaboration in the world, SMA takes advantage of state-of-the-art synchronous and asynchronous facilities to achieve seamless instruction across 12 time zones. Planned to start in July 2005, the new five-year program SMA-2 will involve extensive research. While current graduates receive a certificate from MIT for their participation in SMA, SMA-2 would provide students in Singapore with the opportunity to earn a masters degree from MIT as well as graduate degrees (masters or PhD) from the two Singapore universities. engineering faculty members will prepare proposals for SMA-2 over the coming year. SMA's report provides additional information.

Terrascope

Having admitted its first group of freshmen in fall 2002, Terrascope has taken the place of the School's Integrated Studies Program (ISP) begun in the mid-1980s. Continuing ISP's tradition of small group, hands-on, multidisciplinary learning, the new program offers first-year students the opportunity to explore basic science and engineering concepts through the study of planet Earth. Terrascope is a joint venture of the Schools of Engineering and Science and draws its faculty from Civil and Environmental Engineering and Earth and Planetary Sciences. Terrascope's report to the president is included in both the School of Engineering and School of Science sections.

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Notable Events

$50K Entrepreneurship Competition

The MIT $50K Entrepreneurship Competition this year chose as its winner a team called Smart Cells, one of whose members is Todd Zion, a doctoral candidate in Chemical Engineering. The team delivered a business plan for a once-a-day, self-regulating insulin delivery system for diabetics.

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science celebration

In May 2003, the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science celebrated its centennial with "100 Years of Transformation 1902–2002," a two-day symposium attended by faculty, students, staff, and alumni. For more on EECS' anniversary, see that department's report.

IdeaStream Symposium

Added to the School in 2002 to increase the impact of leading-edge research at MIT, the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation helps bridge the gap between the laboratory and the marketplace. Through research grants, Ignition Forums, and faculty entrepreneurship workshops, the center cultivates interactions between the Institute and the entrepreneurial community to accelerate the commercialization of innovative technologies from MIT. Its annual IdeaStream Symposium provides an important venue to further these objectives. Held in May this year, the IdeaStream Symposium featured a keynote speech by Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, a preview of the first 17 Deshpande Center grant recipients, and presentations by other notable speakers in the areas of wireless networking, portable energy, systems biology, pharmaceutical development, data security, and technology transfer. See the report of the Deshpande Center for more information on both the center and the IdeaStream Symposium.

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Organizational Reviews and Changes

Biological Engineering Review

Professor Rafael Bras, Bacardi and Stockholm Water Foundations professor, chaired a committee that reviewed the Biological Engineering Division (BE) and presented its findings to the MIT Faculty in april. Overall, the BE Review committee judged the past five years' efforts of the division as very successful. It advocated making BE a permanent academic unit at MIT with a single leader and with its own undergraduate major phased in over the next few years. It also recommended that the division's several doctoral programs be unified. As of July 1, 2003, Professor Douglas Lauffenburger, the Uncas and Helen Whitaker professorship in health sciences, technology and management, will serve as the division's sole director. Professor Lauffenburger, cofounder of BE, has served as codirector for the past five years, along with Professor Steven Tannenbaum, the Underwood-Prescott professor of toxicology and professor of chemistry. See the separate report by BE to learn more about the division.

Center for Transportation and Logistics

On July 1, 2002, the Center for Transportation Studies, established in 1974, changed its name to the Center for Transportation and Logistics (CTL). As part of a restructuring in the School of Engineering designed to establish a centralized home for key engineering programs and centers that are part of the School's Engineering Systems Division, the center moved to the east side of MIT's campus in June 2003. For more on CTL, see ESD's report.

Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory

The Laboratory for Computer Science and the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory announced at the EECS' anniversary event their plans to merge into the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) beginning in July 2003. Housed administratively in the School of Engineering, the new laboratory will become the largest on campus, with more than 750 students, faculty, and staff. A computing powerhouse, CSAIL will aspire to germinate and cultivate the most far-reaching ideas and carry out the world's best research in information and intelligence technology and science.

Ocean Engineering Review Committee Report

This year, the dean of Engineering convened a committee to assess the core strengths and impacts of the Institute's current efforts in ocean engineering and to examine alternative organizational structures for the Ocean Engineering Department. The Ocean Engineering Review Committee submitted a draft of its final report to the dean in June.

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Personnel

In January, Professor Edward Crawley, professor of aeronautics and astronautics and of engineering systems and a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, became executive director of the Cambridge-MIT Institute, succeeding Professor John VanderSande of Materials Science, who is taking a sabbatical leave. Professor Crawley continued to serve as department head of Aeronautics and Astronautics through June, a position he has held for the past seven years.

On June 16, 2003, Professor Wesley L. Harris, the Charles Stark Draper professor of aeronautics and director of the Lean Sustainment Initiative, became head of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Professor Daniel Hastings, professor of aeronautics and astronautics and of engineering systems, became the codirector of the Engineering Systems Division, effective April 23. He had previously served as associate director of the division for two years and acting director during the sabbatical leave of ESD director, Professor Daniel Roos, now also a codirector. Professor Hastings had also served as the director of the Technology and Policy Program for three and a half years.

Professor Patrick Jaillet, the Edmund K. Turner professor, was named the new department head of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, effective August 1. He succeeded Professor Rafael Bras, who held the position from 1982 to 2001. During the previous year, Professor Chiang C. Mei served as acting department head.

Professor Henrik Schmidt became the acting head of the Department of Ocean Engineering, effective September 1. He succeeded Professor Chryssostomos Chryssostomidis, the Henry L. and Grace Doherty professor in ocean science and engineering. having served as department head since 1994,Professor Chryssostomidis is devoting himself more exclusively to his teaching and to the MIT Sea Grant Program, which he has directed since 1982.

Effective June 30, Professor Steven Tannenbaum, the Underwood-Prescott professor of toxicology and professor of chemistry, stepped down from his five-year position as founding codirector of the Biological Engineering Division to begin a sabbatical leave.

Professor Ian Waitz, professor of aeronautics and astronautics and a 2003 MacVicar Faculty Fellow, served as deputy head of the Aeronautics and Astronautics Department for the last half of the year.

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Awards

Each year, faculty of the School of Engineering receive numerous honors in recognition of their research and service, many offered by professional societies and the faculty's professional communities. This year was no exception. The reports of the School's departments, divisions, laboratories, centers, and programs make note of many of these awards. Several especially notable awards and School-based awards deserve additional mention here.

The National Academy of Engineering elected two School of Engineering faculty to membership: Stephen D. Senturia, the Barton L. Weller professor of electrical engineering, and Gregory N. Stephanopoulos, the Bayer professor of chemical engineering and biotechnology.

Two of the five MIT professors elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) are affiliated with the School of Engineering: Professors Sallie E. Chisholm, who has a joint academic appointment in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Biology, and G. David Forney Jr. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. Along with 70 other new members, Professors Chisholm and Forney were cited for their "distinguished and continuing achievements in original research." In addition, Professor David R. Karger of EECS received the NAS Award for Initiatives in Research, a prize awarded annually in a field supporting information technology to recognize innovative young scientists and to encourage research likely to lead toward new capabilities for human benefit.

Professor Silvio Micali of EECS was one of three MIT faculty members this year to be awarded the distinction of Fellow by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Emeritus Gordon L. Brownell of the Department of Nuclear Engineering was elected to the Institute of Medicine. Members are selected for their major contributions to health and medicine or related fields, such as social and behavioral sciences, law, administration, and economics.

Robert Gallager, MIT professor emeritus of electrical engineering and inventor of advanced communications codes, and Robert M. Metcalfe, an MIT alumnus who developed the Ethernet computer networking standard,received this year's International Marconi Fellowship. Gallager and Metcalfe join a select group of 30 of the world's most influential communication technology pioneers previously awarded the highly coveted annual recognition by the Guglielmo Marconi International Fellowship Foundation at Columbia University.

Professor Ronald L. Rivest, the Andrew and Erna Viterbi professor of electrical engineering and computer science, and two former MIT research colleagues of his received the A. W. Turing Award for their contribution to public-key technology. The Turing Award, presented by the Association for Computer Machinery, is considered "the Nobel Prize" of computing.

Institute and School Awards

The Amar Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching went to Professor Heidi Nepf of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The award, established in 1989 by the School to recognize outstanding contributions to undergraduate education, is given annually to an engineering faculty member whose teaching contributions over an extended period are characterized by dedication, care, creativity, and inspiration to students and colleagues.

The Junior Bose Award went to Professor Rahul Sarpeshkar of EECS. The award, established in 1995–1996, recognizes teaching excellence by junior engineering faculty.

Professor Hari Balakrishnan of EECS received the Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award. The award recognizes exceptional distinction in teaching and research or scholarship among junior members of the MIT Faculty.

One of the Graduate Student Council Graduate Teaching Awards for excellence in teaching a graduate-level course, given each year to one professor or teaching assistant from each school, went this year to Micah O'Halloran, a teaching assistant in EECS.

In recognition of their devotion to undergraduate education at the Institute, MIT named Professors Jesús A. del Alamo of EECS and Ian A. Waitz of Aeronautics and Astronautics as two of five 2002–2003 MacVicar Faculty Fellows. The awards, given in memory of former dean of undergraduate education and professor of physics Margaret L. A. MacVicar, recognize faculty members' excellence in teaching and innovation in education.

The Frank E. Perkins Award for excellent advising of graduate students went to Professor Randall Davis of EECS.

The Irwin Sizer Award for the Most Significant Improvement in MIT Education was awarded to William C. Hanson, codirector of the Leaders for Manufacturing and the Systems Design and Management Programs.

The Institute awarded the Arthur C. Smith Award to Wesley L. Harris, the Charles Stark Draper professor of aeronautics and astronautics. Established in 1996 on the occasion of Dean Smith's retirement from the position of dean for undergraduate education and student affairs, this award honors the service of Dean Smith. It is presented to a member of the MIT faculty for meaningful contributions and devotion to undergraduate student life and learning at MIT.

Professors Ronald Ballinger of Nuclear Engineering, David John Perreault of EECS, and Peter So of Mechanical Engineering were awarded the Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Distinguished Teaching. The award is made possible by a gift from Ruth and Joel S. Spira to acknowledge "the tradition of high-quality engineering education at MIT." Awards are made each year to one faculty member in each of the three departments.

Awards Received by Engineering Students

The Association of MIT Alumnae Senior Academic Award is given to senior women who have demonstrated the highest level of academic excellence through coursework and related professional activities at MIT. This year, Caroline M. Twomey of Aeronautics and Astronautics received the award.

Alexander Wissner-Gross of the School of Engineering and the School of Science received the Henry Ford II Scholar Award, given to a senior in the School of Engineering who has attained the highest academic record at the end of the third year and who exhibits exceptional potential for leadership in the profession of engineering and in society.

Two of three Karl Taylor Compton Prizes for achievements in citizenship and devotion to the welfare of MIT went to engineering students. Alvar Saenz-Otero and Sanith Wijesinghe, both graduate students in Aeronautics and Astronautics, received the prize.

The Frederick Gardiner Fassett Jr. Award is given to InterFraternity Council members who have demonstrated the qualities of spirit, dedication, and service in furthering the ideals of MIT fraternity brotherhood and sisterhood. This year, Lawrence W. Colagiovanni, a junior in EECS, and Christine M. Ortiz, a junior in Chemical Engineering, received two of the three awards.

Engineering students received two of three Barry Goldwater Scholarships given to MIT students this year. The award honors students who exhibit outstanding potential and intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or those engineering disciplines that contribute significantly to the technological advances of the United States. Aadel Chaudhui, a junior in Electrical Engineering and Biology, and Lauren Tsai, a junior in Mechanical Engineering, received the Goldwater Scholarships.

The Albert G. Hill Prize is awarded to minority juniors or seniors who have maintained high academic standards and made continued contributions to the improvement of the quality of life for minorities at MIT. Oscar J. Murillo, a senior in Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Kasetta V. Coleman, a junior in Materials Science and Engineering, received awards. A former vice president for research, Dr. Hill was an early champion of equal opportunity at MIT.

One of the Malcolm G. Kispert Awards for the male and female senior scholar-athletes of the year went to Sean P. Nolan of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

The Lemelson-MIT Program awarded its 2002 Student Prize for Inventiveness to James McLurkin, a graduate student in EECS. The Lemelson-MIT Student Prize judging panel selected McLurkin, a 30-year-old doctoral candidate, for his initiative, creativity, and extraordinary inventiveness. McLurkin has helped to push the frontiers of microrobotics by inventing the world's smallest self-contained autonomous robots.

The Ronald E. McNair Scholarship Award recognizes black undergraduates who have demonstrated strong academic performance and who have made considerable contributions to the minority community. Created by the Black Alumni/ae of MIT in honor of Dr. Ronald McNair (PhD 1977), who died in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger, both of this year's awards went to engineering students: Jumaane A. Jeffries, a senior in EECS, and Danielle R. Lawrence, a senior in Chemical Engineering.

This year, five graduate students in EECS were named Siebel Scholars: Ryan N. Lang, Adrian Birka, Ketan D. Vyas, Brian P. Ginsburg, and Timothy Kuan-Ta Lu. The Siebel Scholars program provides scholarships in recognition of students who have demonstrated academic and leadership excellence in the first year of their graduate studies at the world's leading graduate schools of business and computer science.

Three Engineering students received William L. Stewart Jr. Awards, which recognize contributions by an individual student or student organizations to extracurricular activities and events during the preceding year: Jamy M. Drouillard, a graduate student in Aeronautics and Astronautics, Arthur G. Fitzmaurice, a graduate student in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Terrence R. Strader, a junior in EECS. The awards are given in memory of William L. Stewart Jr., an alumnus and member of the Corporation who showed deep interest in student life at MIT.

The Laya W. Wiesner Award for an undergraduate woman who has most enhanced MIT community life went to Nancy E. Ramirez, a senior in Mechanical Engineering.

Awards to Engineering Staff

This year, the School continued the Rewards and Recognition Program it launched in 2001 to recognize the achievements of the School's dedicated staff. In April' the School presented 15 Infinite Mile Awards for 2003 at its third annual school-wide Celebration of Excellence. The School gave six awards for Excellence: Elizabeth D. Cooper of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), Rolanda L. Dudley Cowans of Biological Engineering, Ted M. Hoppe of the System Design and Management program, Anita Kafka of the Industrial Performance Center, Yueh-Ping Lim of the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems, and Maureen R. Lynch of Mechanical Engineering received awards. Kiyomi Boyd and Karin B. Janson-Strasswimmer of the Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems won the award for Team Excellence. Constance J. Beal of Chemical Engineering, Robin C. Elices of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science Engineering, Joan McCusker of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Lucille A. O'Hehir of EECS, Helen V. Schwartz of EECS, Hilary R. Sheldon of Materials Science Engineering, and JoAnn B. Sorrento of Chemical Engineering received awards for Sustained Excellence.

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Statistics for 2002–2003

The following statistics provide summary information about students, degrees awarded, and Faculty.

Undergraduate Enrollment

1,813 students

34 percent women

23 percent underrepresented minorities

Graduate Enrollment

2,763 students

668 women

101 underrepresented minorities

Degrees Awarded

679 bachelor's degrees

817 master's and MEng degrees

210 PhD, ScD, and professional engineering degrees

Faculty

231 professors

68 associate professors

56 assistant professors

Thomas L. Magnanti
Dean, School of Engineering
Institute Professor
Professor of Management Science and Electrical Engineering

More information about the School of Engineering can be found on the web at http://mit.edu/engineering/.

 

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