BUIES CREEK, North Carolina – Founding Campbell Engineering Dean Dr. Jenna P. Carpenter attended the national Engineering Deans Institute (EDI) March 29-31, 2016, in San Francisco, California.
The meeting, sponsored by the American Society for Engineering Education Engineering Deans Council, provides a venue for engineering deans from across the nation to discuss common issues, new trends, and best practices. It also creates a platform for deans to network and interact with key industry, government and non-profit executives.
Guest speakers at EDI included top corporate executives in engineering and higher education, including Vint Cerf, vice president at Google and one of the four recognized “fathers of the internet”; Janet Napolitano, president of the University of California and former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security; and Paul Jacobs, executive chair at Qualcomm, among many others.
Attendees also toured Jacobs Institute of Design, the University of California-Berkeley’s new maker lab and design space.
“EDI is a fantastic opportunity to learn about the very latest trends and issues in engineering education and in industry,” Dr. Carpenter said. “It was great, for example, to see the same brands of equipment at Cal Berkeley’s Makerspace that we have ordered for our Makerspace here at Campbell.”
“EDI also provides engineering deans with the opportunity to learn from each other and forge new partnerships with like-minded institutions across the country, such as engineering deans at faith-based institutions,” she added.
Carpenter was invited to serve on a panel focused on Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion in Engineering Education. She led off the session and talked about the research-based strategies that Campbell’s new School of Engineering has employed to recruit a more diverse student and faculty population.
Campbell Engineering will welcome its inaugural freshman class in August 2016. Offering a Bachelor of Science in General Engineering with concentrations in mechanical engineering and chemical engineering, Campbell’s program will feature an innovation project-based, hands-on freshman curriculum taught by outstanding faculty from the top institutions in the country in a small, personal environment.
Lab facilities will include a state-of-the-art Makerspace and complete fabrication laboratory, as well as innovative classroom and collaboration space.