A message from the director
In 2015, at the recommendation of the Industrial and Professional Advisory Councils (IPAC) for both electrical engineering (EE) and computer science and engineering (CSE) and a faculty committee, the departments of computer science and engineering and electrical engineering joined together to form the Penn State School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The goals in forming the school were to improve academic breadth and programs for undergraduate students; grow and serve the University as the focal point for research on and learning of computation to further engineering, natural science, and social science research; improve breadth and depth of interdisciplinary research; provide better research opportunities for graduate students; and improve our ability to attract large projects and fundraising.
Since forming the school, our undergraduate programs went from ranked just outside of the top 25 to ranked in the top 20 in both electrical engineering (18) and computer engineering (18). That puts electrical engineering in the top 5% and computer engineering in the top 7% of their respective peer programs nationally. Twenty-five percent of degrees awarded by the College of Engineering last May were from the School of EECS.
We have experienced a 70% growth in joint research expenditures involving both departments, and electrical engineering is ranked fourth and computer science and engineering seventh in National Science Foundation funding. Fifteen faculty members have won NSF CAREER Awards in the past six years, and 14 have been named distinguished professor or received a named endowed position.
We are proud of our commitment to equity and inclusion at all levels, starting in K-12. To that end, we founded CSE and EE summer camps geared toward girls in middle and high school. We have had more than 160 participants over the last four years. We also lead the Girls Who Code club for high school students.
These successes deserve a pause for our faculty, staff, students, and alumni to celebrate. However, we have more to do. It’s time to set even more ambitious goals for the next six years and beyond.
In particular, we plan to increase cross-listed courses for undergraduates and integrate electrical engineering into the data science program; increase joint research within the school and continue to grow research with our institutes; be the focal point for education and research on quantum computing and data science and artificial intelligence; and increase diversity by searching for top faculty candidates with diverse backgrounds, fostering a supportive environment for all people — including through growth of our mentorship program — and continuing our outreach to attract top students of all backgrounds.
I’d like to thank all who have been or are part of our EECS community for making all of the accomplishments of the past six years possible. We look forward to building on these successes and are excited to see what the future holds for the School of EECS.
Sincerely,
Tom La Porta
Director of the Penn State School of EECS
Evan Pugh Professor
William E. Leonhard Endowed Chair
Message updated summer of 2021
