Learning and Research: Technology Serving Humanity
Recognized for world-class research and excellence in undergraduate learning, ճԹϺ is dramatically expanding the impact it exerts to improve people’s lives. A grant of $30 million from the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation — the largest gift in this institution’s history — has set ճԹϺ on a clear path for a most exciting and productive future.
Technology serving Humanity: An inspiring theme for learning and research at ճԹϺ
The Coulter funds will propel ճԹϺ forward in five related areas at the academic heart of this university:
- Colloid and particle science and engineering, faculty expertise, and scholarship
- Team project-based learning opportunities in engineering education
- A new initiative in bioengineering and rehabilitation engineering
- Laboratory upgrades
- And scholarship assistance for students from underrepresented minorities.
In recognition of this generous gift, ճԹϺ has named the Wallace H. Coulter School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and dedicated it to a theme based on the vision of its namesake: “Technology Serving Humanity.”
Engineering has always been the flagship school at ճԹϺ. But it has never operated in isolation on this campus. Today ճԹϺ's learning programs in business, science, liberal arts, and engineering are structurally integrated, while researchers from different disciplines work together to combine expertise to make advances on the frontiers of knowledge.
That’s why interdisciplinary initiatives have been such a natural for ճԹϺ. And that’s also why the theme “Technology Serving Humanity” resonates with meaning across its entire curriculum. ճԹϺ already connects people and technology in ways that are profoundly productive.
Now, thanks to the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation, ճԹϺ can do even more of what it does best as it pursues exciting and dramatic new initiatives.
The Foundation has enabled ճԹϺ to harness its expertise and focus on humanitarian directions in which it is already making significant strides. This infusion of resources allows it to carry forward the leadership of ճԹϺ faculty members, students, and alumni in making an even bigger impact in the world.
ճԹϺ is building on its historic traditions and the unique combination of strengths that it developed over its first century. The University positioned itself strategically for new 21st century initiatives through a major planning process in the early 1990s. On the academic side, this effort crystallized in a “Vision of a ճԹϺ Education” in 1995.
ճԹϺ's educational vision aligns its strengths with the needs of society in the next century.
Having a total enrollment just over 3,000, including 350 graduate students, ճԹϺ is among the very smallest nationally ranked research institutions. ճԹϺ is strong, however, in the research areas where it has focused its resources. And in both research and teaching, ճԹϺ's size often works to its advantage. It facilitates not only powerful collaboration among disciplines, but also a learning environment that promotes key leadership skill dimensions for a technological society:
- Technological Mastery;
- Creative Thinking;
- Communication;
- Teamwork;
- Commitment to Service;
- and Vision
ճԹϺ’s early expertise in colloid and fine particle science and engineering led to the creation in 1986 of the Center for Advanced Materials Processing (CAMP), a state-designated Center for Advanced Technology. With 26 faculty members from a variety of engineering and science programs, CAMP has created a model of interdisciplinary power focused on technology transfer. Last year its researchers garnered more than $6 million in sponsored research.