The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association                                                                               May  2018
Letter from the Editor
Badri Roysam,
University of Houston
Dear ECEDHA Members, Industry Partners, and Colleagues,

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Magnus Egerstedt, robotics expert, and the newly named Chair of Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He succeeds Steve McLaughlin, who became Dean of the College of Engineering.
 
Georgia Tech features prominently in this issue of Source. In the April issue of Source, we described the ECEDHA branding initiative  that has its roots in an earlier initiative at Georgia Tech. In this issue of the Source, we are featuring the ECEDHA branding materials that were developed with the assistance of the Tailfin marketing agency.

ECE in the News
ECEDHA Branding Initiative Materials: Available Now!

Over the past year, ECEDHA has been working on an ambitious rebranding project with Tailfin Marketing to raise the visibility of the field of ECE to prospective students and the general public.

Attendees of the 2018 ECEDHA Annual Conference this past March received a first glimpse of the work to date, via presentations from the talented team at Tailfin Marketing, Greg Abel and Tracy Clark.   As discussed during the meeting, w e have made great strides to present research findings, creative concepts, and an implementation plan and marketing toolkit that can be utilized by all member institutions.

Please visit the below link to access all materials.  Feel free to reach out to the ECEDHA team with any questions.
Dr. Eve Riskin Honored at ECEDHA 2018

Dr. Eve Riskin, Professor and Associate Dean of Diversity and Access in the College of Engineering at the University of Washington, was honored with the Diversity Award at the 2018 ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECE xpo in Monterey, California this past March.

The award is given in recognition of proactive efforts to increase cultural, ethnic, and gender diversity within the ECE student body and among ECE faculty, that go well above and beyond the normal institutional recruiting practices.

Dr. Eve Riskin has been responsible for a number of diversity initiatives, which have had substantial i mpact on both the University of Washington and the nation more broadly for the past 17 years.  To highlight one initiative in particular, the Washington State Academic RedShirt (STARS) in Engineering Program is a 2-year program with a specialized curriculum designed to build learning skills and academic preparation. The STARS program serves highly-motivated Washington students from economically disadvantaged and educationally underserved backgrounds who intend to major in engineering.  Similar to the "redshirt" year in college athletics, in the STARS program, the freshman year is devoted to building learning skills, academic preparation and the support systems necessary for the rigorous academic environment of a university engineering curriculum. Since the average time-to-degree in Engineering is 4.5 years, STARS is in practice only 1-2 quarters longer than average.

Dr. Riskin has been a trailblazer in diversity and access well before diversity and access became common  words in the academic community. Her passion, leadership and dedication to the development of diversity  well beyond the traditional domains shines through her records.


Above (from left to right):  John Janowiak, ECEDHA Executive Director,
Eve Riskin, University of Washington, and Barbara Marino, Loyola Marymount University
Magnus Egerstedt,
Georgia Tech
Magnus Egerstedt Named School Chair for Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Dr. Magnus Egerstedt has been appointed as the new Steve W. Chaddick School Chair of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) in the College of Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, effective August 1. Egerstedt is currently the executive director for Georgia Tech's Institute for Robotics and Intelligent Machines. He also holds the Julian T. Hightower Chair in Systems and Controls in ECE. Egerstedt earned his Ph.D. in applied mathematics from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. He joined Georgia Tech's School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2001 after completing a postdoctoral appointment at Harvard University.
 
"Magnus is a distinguished investigator, world-class expert in his field and a respected mentor," said Steve McLaughlin, dean of the College of Engineering and Southern Company chair. "His unique combination of administrative and academic experience has prepared him well to transition to an academic leadership role. An award-winning teacher and researcher, Magnus has also been at the forefront of our online classes in robotics. His unique perspective in the delivery of coursework will certainly serve him well in his role as chair in meeting the needs of our future students."
 
>> Read the full press release
Conference Corner
Corporate Features
ECE Insights

ECE Insights offer in-depth interviews with leading industry executives.

Featured ECE Insights:


Jay Alexander
Chief Technology Officer
Keysight Technologies


In This Issue
Calendar of Events
March 22-26, 2019
ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECE xpo
Hilton Tucson El Conquistador - Tucson, AZ
On Demand Webinar
Rethinking Electronics Fundamentals
Sponsored by National Instruments
On Demand Webinar
Sponsored by Keysight Technologies
On Demand Webinar
In Partnership with National Instruments, ISTEC, LACCEI, and Tecnológico de Monterrey
On Demand Webinar
Sponsored by COMSOL
ECEDHA Member and Partner News
UCSD Hands-On Curriculum Workshop

Featuring ECE 5 (Introduction to ECE) and ECE 16 (Rapid Hardware and Software Design for Interfacing with the World), the workshop will be divided into two 1-week sessions from  July 23 - August 3, 2018, and will take place on UC San Diego's campus in beautiful La Jolla, California.

Deadline: May 21, 2018

>> Learn more
National Renewable Energy Laboratory: ESIF Visiting Scholars User Call

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has recently announced its Visiting Scholars User Call.  The Visiting Scholars User Call allows faculty and students to conduct research in state-of-the-art laboratories in the Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF). The ESIF contains a collection of interconnected laboratories that can accommodate megawatt-scale R&D at full power. By immersing visiting researchers into the ESIF ecosystem, the hope is that they will carry valuable insights and new capabilities back to their home institutions.

Applications for the ESIF Visiting Scholars User Call are accepted throughout the year. Meritorious applications will be granted on a rolling basis. More information and application requirements can be found at the link below.

>> Learn more

At the ECE Source, we strive to cover topics that are relevant and timely to ECE  department heads.  We welcome your comments, feedback, and suggestions of topics t o cover in our next issue.  Thank you.