Efforts to launch an engineering program on Indiana University’s Bloomington campus recently were approved by IU’s Board of Trustees during its most recent meeting — a move that now places the program before the Indiana Commission for Higher Education for consideration.
The program will be housed with the School of Informatics and Computing and initially offer a bachelors and doctoral degree beginning in the 2016-2017 academic year, with a master’s degree expected to be offered shortly thereafter. Establishing such a program at IU-B is part of the Bicentennial Strategic Plan for Indiana University that IU trustees approved last December and follows the release of an economic development study for southwest central Indiana in late 2014.
The study warned that the lack of engineering and applied technology programs at IU Bloomington posed a serious threat to the economic future of the region, as it made it “more difficult for regional manufacturers to find avenues in which to engage the university.” The idea of launching the program was introduced by IU President Michael A. McRobbie in his October 2014 State of the University address.
“An engineering program at Indiana University Bloomington is vital if the campus is to reach its fullest potential in providing students with relevant and rewarding educational opportunities and to support the very best research of our faculty. Such a program, based on our strong traditions of critical analysis, creativity, innovation and exploration, will substantially enhance our ability to increase Indiana’s economic competitiveness and support a culture of entrepreneurism across the whole state.”
— IU President Michael A. McRobbie
Following the trustees’ approval, a number of Indiana’s top business and industrial leaders have offered their support. They include:
- Steve Ferguson, chairman, Cook Group
- David Becker, president and CEO, First Internet Bank
- Brian Blackwell, director of engagement, Naval Surface Warfare Center-Crane
- Don Brown, president and CEO, Interactive Intelligence
- Scott Dorsey, chairman, TinderBox
- Tim Hassinger, president and CEO, Dow AgroSciences
- Craig Neal Jones, personnel director, GM Powertrain, Bedford
- John C. Lechleiter, chairman, president and CEO, Eli Lilly and Co.
- Ray Niehaus, director, Center for Technology, Innovation and Manufacturing, Vincennes University Jasper
- Alisa Wright, CEO, BioConvergence
In other developments, the National Security Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently renewed IU’s designations as both a Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense Education and Center for Academic Excellence Information Assurance/Cyber Defense Research through academic year 2021.
IU was initially certified as a Center for Academic Excellence in Information Assurance/Cyber Defense Education in 2007 and as a Center for Academic Excellence Information Assurance/Cyber Defense Research in 2008. IU is one of just a handful of universities to have dual designations spanning more than one campus. The role that IU plays in providing cybersecurity education and research in Indiana was among the reasons that the Indiana Army National Guard recently was selected to host a three-state Cyber Protection Team.
IU’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research coordinated the application process, working closely with faculty and staff at the IU School of Informatics and Computing, both on the Bloomington and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campuses.
“First and foremost, these certifications are an indication of the outstanding work being done by the School of Informatics and Computing faculty and staff, who are some of the nation’s foremost cybersecurity experts. It’s a stamp of endorsement on the classes, course work and the curriculum they’ve put together and also on the research they’re doing in this field.”
– Von Welch, director, IU’s Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research
For more information about efforts to launch an engineering program at IU Bloomington, read here and here:
For more information about IU’s cybersecurity certifications, read here:
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