2009 State of the Batten College of Engineering and Technology address

Oktay Baysal, dean of the Batten College of Engineering and Technology (BCET), painted an optimistic picture of growth during his annual State of the College address Thursday, Aug. 27.

Before a large crowd of engineering faculty and staff, as well as other Old Dominion University deans and Provost Carol Simpson, Baysal outlined the growth of the college in quantitative terms - a student body that now numbers more than 2,700, almost 600 degrees awarded last year, a full- and part-time faculty cadre of more than 200, and numerous awards and recognition received by students and faculty around the world.

"Our mission is to promote the advancement of engineering knowledge, both in its creation and dissemination - those are two, critically important words for us - by providing successful graduates and a continuously improving learning environment, with high ethical, multicultural and global standards," Baysal said.

Proof that the college is accomplishing that mission is measured by growth in key areas, and the emerging areas he added. Among them, he announced the new developments in modeling and simulation, marine engineering, and biomedical engineering.

"Right now, fully one-third, 33 percent, of our students are from traditionally underrepresented groups," the dean said. He noted that 15 percent of the college's engineering students are women, an increase of 5 percent over the past year.

In his address, Baysal recognized new faces at BCET, including nine new faculty members. He also acknowledged the tenure promotion of five new associate professors and the promotion to professor of four other faculty members.

Baysal said the college has continued to innovate, both through its investment in research, which resulted in grant support of more than $32 million in 2008-09, allowing faculty members to produce more than 400 technical papers, but also through the expansion of programs such as "Teaching Engineering." These two-day seminars are designed to help young faculty members learn engaging ways to teach difficult subject matter.

Baysal said the college has also done well at fundraising, desperately needed at a time of flat State-government support.

"Between our cash donations and our in-kind donations, the college took in more than $2 million through the first three quarters of 2008-09," Baysal said. "In this time, when you have state budgets cut annually, the work that we do on the research side, and the development side, is vitally important to the college."

The dean highlighted a number of research initiatives from the past year that have been BCET successes, such as the operation of the magnetic levitation device, or bogey, on the elevated maglev track, and  the system of systems engineering solution to the complex problem of border security.

Baysal also mentioned collaborations and partnerships that have come to an end in the past year, or are ending soon, especially the Langley Full-Scale Tunnel.

"This was, and still is - because we are still using it into September - the largest university-run wind tunnel in the world," Baysal said.

He ran through some of the accomplishments of the wind tunnel team, including generating more than $8 million of revenue through testing of everything from turbines to tractor-trailers.

"I'd like to give a big hand to everyone who's been involved in this initiative," Baysal said.

The dean also talked about BCET's research efforts in the field of energy. "You can't have a discussion about an engineering college without speaking about what's being done on energy. It's so important to our country's future."

Baysal said two new faculty experts are being searched and a total of 14 different energy-specific courses are being offered in three of the college's engineering departments - mechanical engineering, engineering technology and electrical and computer engineering. He shared some of the renewable energy research projects conducted by the faculty.

Concluding his presentation, he urged faculty and staff to continue growing BCET by conducting cutting-edge, collaborative research, offering innovative teaching methods, and promoting an enhanced diversity of voices and experiences.

"I wish all of us together a very happy, successful, and prolific semester."