For 125 years the Penn State College of Engineering has been a leader
in education , research, innovation and inspiring change around the world.
The goal of the college of engineering is
to always be at the forefront of having impact on society.
My heroes growing up were engineers. So I wanted to
be an engineer and that's why I came to Penn State.
The degree you've obtained no matter which department you choose and which engineering
degree you choose, is going to let you go on to do great things in the world.
We're taught the fundamentals here but we also are given a broad range of technical knowledge.
We really are able to interact on a global scale and that encourages innovation and creativity.
Our faculty are some of the brightest minds in the country
focusing on real challenges that our society faces.
We're 3d printing concrete we're building bridges and providing
safe drinking water to people around the world.
What makes me really excited about working at Penn State is the access and the ability to leverage
some of the world-class expertise. To really advance our research programs to the next level.
It's a combination of academic excellence and yet utter humility.
The Penn State School of Engineering was officially established on January 3rd 1896 but
the history of engineering at Penn State stretches back to the earliest years of the institution.
Many scholars believe it was one of the most important pieces of legislation in the history
of our country. The Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862, named for Vermont congressman Justin Morrill
and signed by President Abraham Lincoln the act gave federal lands to the states which in turn
sold that land to establish universities that shared knowledge with the public.
In 1863 Penn State became one of the nation's first
and Pennsylvania's only land-grant institution.
I can't imagine what would be more important than the contributions of
engineering in service to our society in advancing our economy and advancing the quality of life.
Already by the early 1900s, Penn State engineering graduates were
helping society and in high demand in leading firms like General Electric,
Westinghouse, Union Switch and Signal, and the Pennsylvania Railroad.
In the decades that would follow Penn State educated tens of thousands of engineering students
preparing them for impactful roles in industry, government, academia and beyond.
Talent is key for us. When we look for engineers for our company we lean to Penn State engineering.
When you've obtained your Penn State engineering degree you will find that you are empowered to
go and have whatever type of career that you're seeking. Our enormous network of
engineering alums are there to help you in the next stage and build your career.
I'm an engineer because i went to Penn State.
I'm an astronaut because I went to Penn State.
The head of the department called me into his office and said the only place of any significance
that you need to go to to graduate school is Penn State!
And so I took his advice and that's the best decision I ever made.
I've had so many amazing alumni who looked at me and saw a lot of potential and saw
that I could do great things. I know that I could do that for the next generation.
I feel very strongly about the need to invest in young people's futures. Certainly others before
me did the same for me and made it possible for this institution to exist and grow.
Innovations in engineering education throughout the 20th century benefited more than
85,000 degree recipients and helped the nation prevail in two world wars.
One innovative program was a partnership with the Curtiss-Wright Corporation to train
women as engineering technicians for working stateside defense plants during World War II.
And in February 1943 the first class of women enrolled in the Curtiss-Wright
Cadet Program arrived at Penn State for a 22-week program.
They proved that women were just as capable of succeeding in technical
education and engineering education as men. At that time it was very important.
The Curtiss-Wright Cadets were path-breakers like others who had come before.
In 1893 Carrie McElwain was the first female to graduate with an engineering bachelor's degree.
But it was another 40 years until Benson Dutton in 1933 became the first
African-American to receive an engineering bachelor's degree and shortly thereafter in
1936 Dorothy Quiggle was the first female nittany lion to earn an engineering PhD.
Penn state is an institution of academic excellence. All you Penn Staters that are here,
you've got the opportunity of your life to absorb knowledge that will stand you in good stead.
I speak as a person who has competed
on every level and I have been proud to be a Penn State man.
Learn all you can so that you can be Penn State proud.
The Multicultural Engineering Program, started in 1985, and the Women in Engineering Program,
created in 1989, have been critical initiatives to strengthen community
connections within the college and support successful outcomes for engineering students.
When we help students reach that finish line we may be making a huge impact on
the economic future for that student and for the people who surround them.
When I heard about the Women in Engineering Program it was a defining moment for why I
chose Penn State. Engineering is a really tough discipline so to stick through it you
need to have a sense of confidence and you need that support backing you up.
MEPO really like changed the trajectory of my freshman year and allowed me to reach
new heights. Its more of a family more than anything and the community that's
going to support you throughout your journey in the college of engineering.
Today, with a focus on building a workforce best equipped to solve the engineering challenges
of the future, the College of Engineering is strategically committed to an inclusive
equitable community that enables all students to thrive.
I believe we only solve our greatest challenges by working together.
Diversity of thought, whether that diversity is academic discipline,
race, gender, geopolitics, economic status, whatever, is vital to advancing humanity.
And it's my great honor to announce that the Clark Foundation has committed 15.5 million dollars to
create the A. James Clark scholars program in the Penn State College of Engineering.
We are bringing students to Penn State not only to be individually
successful but to improve our college, to improve our university and our community.
For 125 years engineering students at Penn State have benefited from
a range of transformative educational experiences.
From access to an experimental railway and telegraph station in the early years
to developments like the learning factory, leadership programs, and global experiences
in the more recent years. Penn state has prioritized educational innovation in engineering.
The Leonhard Center is this really amazing thing that was created in about 1990
with a gift from the Leonhard family with the goal of improving engineering education at Penn State.
We can't just teach people to be engineers we need to teach ethical decision making.
The ability to communicate is so important not just among engineers but to people outside of
engineering because engineers contribute so much to the health, happiness, and safety of society.
One of the greatest things about being at Penn State are the students
enjoy what they're doing and they enjoy what they're doing
because they're doing engineering and they're doing engineering from day one.
HESE is really this amazing opportunity to find this solution that you think is going to help
people and then really go and see that solution in action and hear from community members.
You get to be part of something bigger than yourself and you get to
start a business from the ground up, come here and implement it and change people's lives.
Not only was our team diverse but we were working with a completely different culture.
I was so grateful that I had that opportunity to see how
engineering can impact the lives of other people.
The opportunity that Penn State has given us to be able to collaborate globally
is a skill that I think is so valuable for any workplace, any job.
We give tours and presentations of the College of Engineering
and we also go on outreach trips to middle schools and high schools to
encourage students in engineering principles and STEM disciplines.
This program had come up so many times in my interview process when they ask you the
normal questions of how have you been a leader,
what have you learned? I always was able to relate it back to Global Engineering Fellows.
They understand how to leverage what they've learned abroad
and incorporate that into their academic plan, into their future careers.
One of the best things about the Learning Factory is that students get to see
something that they've just thought of and take that all the way into something that's real,
that they can use and see other people use.
I wouldn't really know what research is or if I wanted to
do it in the future but now that I've had this experience I know I do.\
Penn State has allowed me to work abroad, perform undergraduate research
and give back to the community to truly inspire the future generation of engineers.
Research and innovation have been core aspects of the college's mission since
the early 1900s when the engineering experiment station was established.
As the decades passed, the impact of the college's
investments in research-focused facilities and technology expanded in historic ways.
The Penn State Breazeale Reactor is longest continuously operating reactor in the United
States. It was established in 1955 right after President Eisenhower's atom for peace project.
The United States knows that peaceful power from atomic energy
is no dream of the future, that capability already proved is here, now, today.
Who can doubt if the entire body of the world scientists and engineers
had adequate amounts of fissionable material with which to test and develop their ideas
that this capability would rapidly be transformed into universal efficient and economic usage.
Through research in power generation and storage,
smart building systems, robotics, sensors, bio devices and countless other areas,
the College of Engineering is working at the leading edges of discovery.
Penn State researchers are really excited about identifying
problems that make a difference in the world.
We all have the responsibility for improving our communities, our cultures, and our climates.
We all have the responsibility and the right to change the world.
We all must take control of our collective future.
Why? because technology is advancing faster than we can understand its impact on people,
the economy, and the environment.
We engineers and scientists have a responsibility to understand the broader impact of our work.
Research that we do here will impact everyone globally.
The ultimate goal is making the world a more secure place for everyone that uses computers.
Penn State is very unique in the way in which they've invested in this high-end
technology that allows us to go very deep inside these cancer cells and figure out why they're
outsmarting all the modern medicine, how we can finally obliterate them inside the body.
The breakthrough is that we can now extract energy out of the wastewater
or source of organic matter rather than putting in energy.
Hybrid electric vehicles will be a crucial part of the future energy policy of this country.
Developing engineers who are capable of designing these machines is really critical.
That's why we put together the BEST center. To bring together the best minds for material device
systems and put them under one roof to address these very complicated
interdisciplinary problems around energy storage and batteries.
We're developing new materials and new fabrication techniques
for that miso scale range which is perfect for endoscopic procedures. No matter what happens
surgeons are going to need versatile small scale tools and that's what we're trying to do.
So the DNA of this place is to be collaborative, to work together. And so you combine you know,
great talent with a cooperative spirit and wonderful things can happen.
Dragonfly is the fourth NASA new frontiers mission designed
to explore the mysteries of the solar system.
This is a once in a life-time opportunity
to design a vehicle that is going to be flying out of this world.
Dragonfly is truly a journey of discovery for humankind.
As the college of engineering looks to the future and continued innovation and progress
it's also reshaping its footprint on campus in dramatic ways through
the implementation of a 10-year master plan.
The Penn State College of Engineering is embarking on an unprecedented transformation of our campus.
This plan creates engineering hubs of education, research and innovation that will lead the nation.
We are doing so much more than adding buildings,
we are transforming the face of Penn State engineering.
It'll really be a space where we can welcome everybody and I think that's a
big part of that equity initiative is to have that message that everybody's welcome
and we're all here to do really great things in the college.
When these new buildings are put in over there you're going to say
this is where the heart of the College of Engineering is.
Understanding that what we're doing today and the decisions we're making and the investments we're
making are going to have this long-term trajectory of impact in a positive way
on not just Penn State but on the world - it can't get more exciting than that.
125 years after its founding in 1896 the College of Engineering is building toward the future.
We are engaging around the world to solve humanity's greatest challenges.
We are working to build a more inclusive academic community and a more diverse engineering
workforce. We are partnering in new ways with campus partners, government, and industry.
We are inspiring change and impacting tomorrow.
On a daily basis I get to see a spark that gets ignited that gets students
invigorated about the topics that they're studying and engaging with their coursework.
The work I'm doing is saving hundreds of thousands of lives because I'm actually
creating devices or drugs that are going to be used one day by patients who need that treatment.
In my career I really hope to make sure people come home from work safe every day.
You can think up anything you want and you have the ability to make that happen.
Things that we thought was science fiction a few years ago are now reality
and being a part of that is what makes this an amazing opportunity.
More than ever before, the world needs you and the solutions you will help provide. You have
what it takes as a Penn State engineer to make a powerful impact in the years and decades to come.
You are ready. You are Penn State.
I want to be able to give back to not only the local area here but the world as a whole.
We are engineers and we know that taking on challenges
is what we do and we have been working every day to solve problems,
to keep ourselves moving forward and succeeding in these amazing times.
Our College of Engineering provides such a rich
area for academic study, for research , and for service to our nation.
I will be able to have an impact on the world - to make this world safer
and to make it a better place for everyone.