The Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association
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Dear ECEDHA family and friends,
From my Chair’s desk, I occasionally reflect back on my PhD student days (1984 – 89, Washington University). Happily, it was a carefree, energetic, and exuberantly creative period for me that had a formative impact on my subsequent career. However, this is not the universal case. The PhD student experience is inescapably a function of the student’s own personality and intellect, and the research style of the faculty advisor. At the next level, the department’s and the university’s environment play important roles in shaping the student experience. Recently,
Nature
conducted a global survey of >6,000 graduate students in five languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, French and Portuguese), and the results are revealing. Importantly, they offer important hints to department chairs on ways to
improve the student experience.
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November 21-22, 2019
Western Regional Meeting
Hosted by UC Santa Cruz
March 18, 2020
ABET Workshop
Orlando, FL
March 18, 2020
New Chairs Workshop
Orlando, FL
March 19-20, 2020
ECE Communicators Program
Orlando, FL
March 18-21, 2020
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In this issue of the Source, we are pleased to feature a letter to the membership from ECEDHA President Zhihua Qu describing the progress being made by the Association. Saliently, the Association now has a grown-up organizational structure that provides abundant opportunities for members to engage and contribute. As always, we all look forward to our annual meetings. Bring the family along - the next
Annual Meeting and ECExpo
will be held March 18 – 21, 2020 at the Renaissance Orlando at SeaWorld.
Regional meetings are a vital ECEDHA activity, and they have been exuberantly upping the game over the past few years. We are pleased to feature reports from the Central States, whose members met in Norman, OK, and the Northeast, whose members met at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
Finally, we are pleased to welcome and spotlight new ECE Chair Dr. Deepa Kundur at the University of Toronto. Serving new Chairs is a vital aspect of ECEDHA – the New Chairs’ workshop at the
Annual Meeting
is always well attended.
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Letter from the President:
Enhancing ECEDHA in the New Era of ECE
By: Zhihua Qu, University of Central Florida
Generations of engineers in Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) made technical contributions that drastically improved people’s lives. The top 20 engineering achievements in the 20
th
century, compiled by NAE, include electrification, electronics, radio and television, computers, telephone, internet, imaging, lasers and fiber optics, all of which are among the core technical areas of ECE. Now, our graduates are hard at work in addressing the grand challenges in the 21
st
century, and ECE is impacting numerous fields along such cross-cutting themes as sustainability, health, security, and joy of living.
As ECE moves beyond its traditional fields, there are new challenges of better defining ECE, building a research community to enhance its impacts, and increasing diversity of ECE professionals. In recognizing these challenges, the ECEDHA board decided three years ago to increase membership dues as the investment to take upon new activities such as ECE branding, ECEDHA community (ECEDHA-C), and iREDEFINE.
Currently, ECEDHA has eight standing workgroups: Communications and Branding, Community, Curriculum, Diversity, Lab Professionals, MakerSpaces, New Chairs, and Robotics. The volunteers in these working groups are making real differences toward fulfilling the following missions of ECEDHA:
- Advance the fields of electrical engineering, computer engineering and related disciplines; and to contribute to the development and dissemination of engineering knowledge in the public interest and for the public good;
- Provide a forum for electrical engineering, computer engineering and related disciplines departments to exchange information and ideas for improving the quality and effectiveness of electrical and computer engineering education; and
- Allow ECE departments to improve electrical engineering, computer engineering and related disciplines education through effective communication with ECE-related professions, industries, professional organizations, institutions, and governmental agencies.
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ECEDHA Member and Partner News
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THE BRIDGE Magazine of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu (IEEE-HKN)
The magazine of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu is THE BRIDGE, which publishes a variety of features and content relevant to ECE students, faculty, and professionals. The magazine is electronic and open access with PDF versions of the current and prior issues.
Issue 3 of THE BRIDGE 2019 is available now!
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SMART Competition
The competition is designed to provide a real-world application of technology by empowering students to address critical environmental and energy challenges. In addition to the academic elements of the competition, the program facilitates the development of workforce and life skills including computer analysis and software design, reality modeling, verbal and written communication, research, teamwork and problem solving.
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Texas Instruments’ Gift Creates Early Career Faculty Award at UTD
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Deepa Kundur Named ECE Chair at the University of Toronto
Professor
Deepa Kundur
has been appointed Chair of The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) at the University of Toronto for a five-year term.
Two areas of focus for her during her term as Chair of ECE include faculty expansion and enhancing international research and educational collaborations.
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ECEDHA Central States Regional Meeting Update
The Central States Regional ECEDHA Meeting took place on October 13-14 at The University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK with ten department chairs in attendance. Discussion topics included the revision of the Chair’s Survey questions to best fit the operational needs of departments and the assessment of the survey’s utility, in addition to three topical sessions, namely, on budget models, industry advisory boards, and motivating underperforming faculty.
On the first day, Don Gruenbacher, Kansas State, and Jerry Hudgins, Nebraska, led a discussion on budget models from the traditional “incremental” model to the pure “responsibility center management” (RCM) model, and all the hybrid variations in between. There was a lively exchange of ideas and sharing of experiences especially with respect to tuition revenue sharing, service costs, and strategic investment. The session ended with dinner at a local restaurant, but the discussion continued through the evening confirming the timeliness of the topic and the motivational skills of the presenters.
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ECEDHA Northeast Regional Meeting Update
On October 25th and 26th, the Northeast Regional Group held a very exciting meeting at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Chairs from nearly 20 institutions gathered for engaging discussions on use of technology in labs at scale, new university-industry partnerships and student mental health, what universities are doing about it and what implications it has for the ECE departments.
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The program began on Friday with a regional iREDEFINE meeting. Students from 4 institutions participated and enjoyed the close personal attention and feedback from faculty and chairs. After a productive day, students and chairs had the opportunity for further networking and fun at the UMass Lowell v. Boston hockey game.
During the ECEDHA Regional Meeting the next day, all participating chairs/heads expressed very strong support to set up this kind of mentoring program on a permanent basis.
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Now Renewing 2019-2020 Membership
Renew your membership today to continue receiving ECEDHA membership benefits, including:
- The opportunity to participate in the ECEDHA Annual Survey, a valuable tool in benchmarking your organization in faculty and department head salaries, research budgets, student retention, graduation rates, and much more.
- The opportunity to attend the 2020 ECEDHA Annual Conference and ECExpo
- Complimentary job posting service via the ECEDHA website
- And much more!
Please contact Claire Seifert at
cseifert@ecedha.org
or 312.559.3724 for assistance with your renewal.
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Previously recorded webinars are now available for your on-demand viewing!
Sponsored by Quanser
Sponsored by Texas Instruments
Sponsored by Keysight
Sponsored by Keysight
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ECE Insights offer in-depth interviews with leading industry executives.
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Aart de Geus
Chairman and Co-CEO
Synopsys
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