MEAM Annual Report 1995­1996

The following pages give you a "facts and figures" update on our activities this past academic year. Most of the goals we adopted in our 1993 three-year strategic plan have been accomplished:

* We have completed an unprecedented faculty recruitment effort that brought twenty outstanding new faculty to join our ranks and to help shape the Department's future in the coming decades--and the new century.

* We have positioned the Department as the national leader in automotive and manufacturing engineering. For example, the Automotive Research Center (ARC), a U.S. Army Center of Excellence in Modeling and Simulation of Ground Vehicles, was established in 1994, while the Center for Dimensional Control had already been in existence since 1990, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and ten industry partners. These have been complemented in 1996 by the Engineering Research Center in Reconfigurable Machining Systems, supported by the National Science Foundation and over twenty corporate sponsors, and by the Center for Laser Materials Processing, supported by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in collaboration with several industry partners. Our new Masters in Automotive Engineering degree program is growing rapidly, as is the College's Program in Manufacturing (PIM), offering both masters and doctoral degrees in Manufacturing Engineering.

* We have overhauled our entire undergraduate program, introducing a new series of core hands-on, team-oriented design and manufacturing, as well as experimentation and metrology courses. Our core engineering science courses and technical electives continue to evolve into a more streamlined, unified curriculum with increased flexibility.

* We have brought a better balance to our undergraduate and graduate student populations; and we have given increased emphasis on professional graduate degrees, making it easier for non-traditional students to pursue advanced degrees through distance learning and partnership agreements with other institutions in the U.S. and abroad.

* We have established strong partnerships with our constituents, working with our highly active student societies, alumni, and our External Advisory Board to enhance our students' experience on campus and to serve the future needs of both our graduates and their employers.

* We have continued to improve our business operations and physical plant to meet the needs of curriculum reforms, new faculty activities, and a research budget that has tripled to $14 million of annual expenditures.

There are still many challenges ahead that the Department will be addressing with strong support from the new College and University administration, as well as its student and alumni groups and corporate friends. As a Michigan institution we are also very fortunate to enjoy the support of the parents

of our students, the citizens of our State, and their representatives. This is an opportunity for me to express the gratitude of our faculty, students, and staff to all the individuals and organizations that have contributed so much to the Department's success.

With best regards,

Panos Y. Papalambros

Professor and Chair