Product rollouts, innovation, and process improvement: Those concepts are drivers in today’s engineering. At the Whiting School, we’ve been watching them in action—in the laboratories, the classrooms, and even out on the quad.
Since “rolling out” the School’s new magazine last spring, in fact, we’ve been paying special attention to your suggestions so that we can practice our own process improvement. It is heartening to know that the first issue has been so well received, and we aim to put your feedback to good use in upcoming issues. Plus, we want to make sure that you are in the loop and have easy access to connecting with the Whiting School. You will notice at the end of many articles a phone number, e-mail address, or link to a web site for more information. We encourage you to get in touch with the innovators featured in each issue, especially if you have ideas on how to partner with faculty to promote research and educational endeavors.
As we walk around campus, we’re delighted to see the very rapid progress being made in the Homewood master plan (and tracking the cranes, ducts, and girders is fun for anyone associated with engineering). Hodson Hall is the latest impressive addition. It’s a spectacular classroom building equipped with advanced instructional technology. Clark Hall, too, not only seems to blend in flawlessly but greatly expands the School’s capabilities. Both of these edifices extend the environment in which undergraduates and graduate students can work side-by-side with eminent faculty.
But believe us, there is life beyond work: The new facilities constructed for fitness and artistic expression—the Ralph S. O’Connor Recreation Center and the Mattin Center—have become enormously popular places.
At the Whiting School, there is a continuum in innovation and academic excellence that began with Daniel Coit Gilman’s bold vision in launching a research university in 1876. The continuum extends through the decades that the Wolmans, father and son, have dedicated to their alma mater (in the first issue, we offered some glimpses into their remarkable legacy). In this issue, we highlight another individual in Engineering’s great tradition of innovation: the late William B. Kouwenhoven, the father of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). And we point with pride to several examples of entrepreneurial ingenuity, evidenced through the partnerships faculty have shaped not only with industry and government but with their students as well.
If you’re planning on coming back for Homecoming or for any reason, visit the new buildings, stroll along those beautiful brick paths, and be sure to stop by and say hello.