50TH ANNIVERSARY VISION OUTLINED AT STATE OF THE COLLEGE ADDRESS
Dean Oktay Baysal outlined his vision for the college's 50th year during his annual State of the College address on Friday, Aug. 24.
The dean's address, in the auditorium of the E.V. Williams Engineering and Computational Sciences Building, outlined the accomplishments of faculty, staff and students, and articulated a new vision for the college moving forward.
"This is an exciting time for our Batten College, and an important juncture for the field of engineering in America," Baysal told the crowd.
With Gov. Bob McDonnell's call for 100,000 more university graduates, especially in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields, Baysal said the growth of the Batten College can help the State meet its higher education goals.
Conferring about 500 degrees in the 2011-12 academic year, Baysal said Batten College graduates are contributing to solving the nation's issues in energy security, transportation, modeling and simulation, and bioelectrics.
Baysal highlighted the achievements of Batten College faculty such as Sylvain Marsillac, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, who - along with ODU colleagues Shirshak Dhali, Hani Elsayed-Ali, Helmut Baumgart and Gon Namkoong - has secured more than $2.5 million in Department of Energy funding for research into photovoltaic, or solar, energy.
Among engineering students, Baysal complimented Brittany Gesner, winner of ODU's top award, the Kaufman Award, for her academic strength and work as a student ambassador for women in engineering. The dean said that with females comprising 15 percent of the college's students, the Batten College is a leader in Virginia in diversity.
With the 50th anniversary celebrations under way for this school year, Baysal also spoke about the biggest change the ODU community will see this year - construction on the college's new engineering building in the now-fenced-in parking lot behind Kaufman Hall. Among the events planned to mark the 50th anniversary are a groundbreaking for the new building, an engineering tailgate during October's Homecoming, Engineers' Week in February, and a big event marking the 50th anniversary at the Batten College Annual Celebration in the spring.
"We are very excited to see the new building take shape," Baysal said. "It will position our College as a modern, forward-focused engineering program offering real-world experience to our students and faculty."