Colleagues and Friends,
Like educational institutions worldwide, the UWM College of Engineering & Applied Science has faced enormous obstacles these past few months. I am pleased to say that thanks to our ability to adapt – quickly, in multiple ways—we have successfully executed on our three-fold mission of research, education and community engagement.
It has been my privilege to witness how this has manifested among individuals and our college as a whole.
In a timeframe previously thought impossible, our faculty have adapted by moving all courses online—a stunning accomplishment—and redesigning their lab activities to accommodate the CDC’s social distancing guidelines.
Likewise, our student advisors have moved enormous workloads online, ensuring that they meet the new and urgent needs of many students while providing core services to all. Other staff members have each adapted as well, in individual ways that speak to their ingenuity and commitment.
Finally, our community members have adapted along with us. We have asked you to work with us, virtually, to continue our careers fairs, our student project presentations, and our student research poster competitions. These events benefit our students tremendously and I thank you for your continued support.
Many of you are currently joining us this February—again, virtually—for our fifth annual Milwaukee Engineering Research Conference, a time when engineers and other scientists from academia, industry, and government network and learn about emerging technology that is of local, national and global significance.
This ability to adapt to the challenge before us has proven to be a great strength of our college and our community.
This is a tumultuous time that demands more distance and less physical contact as we meet our mission. While I very much look forward to the day when we work together again in person, I invite you to join us virtually for the remaining MERC sessions this February (two hours each Friday afternoon in February), to judge in this spring’s Student Research Poster Competition, and take part in late February’s Industry Expo/Career Fair. You will find those events enlightening and uplifting, albeit delivered virtually.
Together, we will continue to expand the frontiers of knowledge, develop new technologies, advance the solutions of key problems, and address many critical societal challenges.
Wishing you and your family well,
Brett