From the Advisory Board Chair

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Special Report:
ECEs and Biomedicine

April 2004

ECE Advisory Board

Andrew Beach, ’80, ’85
Principal ASIC Design Engineer
Raytheon Corporation

Dinesh Bettadapur, ’89
President & CEO
ASML MaskTools

Shivon Dosky, ’89
President
Evolvian

Steve Fredrick, ’90, ’92
Novak Biddle Venture Partners

Truls Henriksen, ’90
Data Harbor

Sharon Holt, ’86
Vice President
Enterprise Field Operation
Agilent Technologies

Douglas B. Juanarena, ’75
Vice Chairman & Managing Director
Business & Organization Development
Luna Innovations, Inc.

Robert E. Lambert, ’80
Senior Vice President
New Technology & New Media
The Walt Disney Company

Christopher G. Magnella, ’84 (MSE)
Manufacturing Manager
Motorola

Stewart L. Ocheltree, ’81
Fab 6 Wet Process Section Manager
Micron Technology Inc.

Craig L. Purdy, ’69
Deputy Director, Sub Orbital & Special Orbital Projects Directorate, Goddard Space Flight Center

Karl Salnoske, ’76
President & Chief Executive Officer
Adaptive Trade, Inc.

Peter Santago, ’73, ’80
Associate Professor and Chair
Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Wake Forest University
School of Medicine

Wayne Snodgrass, ’61
Vice President
Engineering and Manufacturing
Electronic Systems Sector
Northrop Grumman

James Stewart, ’83
Vice President & General Manager
ASIC Products Division
Agilent Technologies, Inc.

Alan Truman, ’80
Vice President of Engineering
Ingrian Networks

C. Hyde Tucker, ’56
Retired
President and CEO
Bell Atlantic International

Jeff White, ’88
Columbia Capital Corporation

From the Advisory Board Chair

Challenge
We face it each day in our professional lives. In engineering education, challenge is a way of life. State-funded institutions are being asked to do more with fewer resources. At Virginia Tech, as with other state-funded universities, administrators and faculty are stretched. Student admissions have swelled in response to the soft economy, further increasing the teaching load. In this environment, higher education has been given yet another mission – that of economic outreach and development. Funded research now must be commercialized in order to create new jobs and companies to stimulate economic growth of our commonwealth and nation.

The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering has been succeeding in this mission. In 2003 ECE faculty were responsible for $29 million in research expenditures, representing 30 percent of the sponsored research within the college, and nearly 15 percent of all sponsored research at Virginia Tech. Commercialization of research inventions is another area where the ECE faculty has excelled. ECE faculty and graduate students have been responsible for starting more than a dozen technology businesses in the Blacksburg area alone.

The 2003 U.S. News and World Report rankings placed the ECE undergraduate programs (EE and CPE) 15th and 18th, respectively. We strive to build a department that will consistently be ranked in the top 10 to 15 programs nationwide. We will need resources to make this happen. Additional nationally recognized faculty, graduate teaching assistants and space will be needed to expand teaching and research missions.

As I write this note, the college is recruiting a new head to lead the ECE department. The ECE Advisory Board is committed to help our new head secure the requisite resources to continue building an outstanding program. We need your help. ECE alumni who live in Virginia can help by encouraging state legislators to reverse the 10-year trend of de-funding higher education. Many of us owe our success in our careers to the solid education we earned at Virginia Tech. Consider making a financial contribution to support the future students who follow us.

Visit the ECE department when on campus and ask how you can become engaged.

Accept the challenge – get involved!

Doug Juanarena
Chair, ECE Advisory Board
Vice Chairman, Luna Innovations

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Last updated: Mon, Jun 7, 2004