Newsletter Fall 2001 Purdue & ABE Reaching for “ The Next Level ” In August of 2000 Martin Jischke became the new presi- dent of Purdue University. As part of his mandate from the Board of Trustees he organized a new strategic planning initia- tive, whose purpose would be to develop a set of goals and plans to take the University to the next level of excellence. Over the past year a committee of university faculty, staff and administrators has developed a strategic plan for the Univer- sity. The title of the new strategic plan is “The Next Level: Preeminence”. The document defines the mission of the Uni- Martin Jischke Inside versity in society, and describes the roles of Discovery, Learning Purdue President and Engagement. Linda Katehi Dean of To achieve these goals, the University and ABE Department will be going Engineering through a period of significant change. Emphasis will be placed on improving the University’s role in economic development as well as expanding teaching and research at the University. Accreditation Review New areas for investment have been identified as Completed nanotechnology, biological sciences, information systems and management. Current plans call for as many as 200 new fac- ulty members to be added to the rolls over the next five years. Gary Krutz Named The Schools of Engineering and Agriculture are both ASAE Fellow engaging in a similar planning process. Bernie Engel is leading the strategic planning process for the ABE Department. We believe the Department is uniquely positioned to benefit from Advisory Boards these new initiatives and priorities. Meet Purdue & ABE Receive Purdue University $5 million Endowment MISSION for Fluid Power Lab The mission of Purdue University is to serve the citizens of Indiana, the United States and the world through: DISCOVERY that expands the realm of knowledge LEARNING through dissemination and preservation of knowledge ENGAGEMENT through exchange of knowledge. VISION Purdue will be a preeminent university, advancing quality in all areas while leading the world in the basic and applied sciences and engineering and improving society at home and abroad. 2 Dear Alumni and Friends: their membership in the Society and their The fall of 2001 has been quite contributions to education and research in eventful. In September, we dedicated the the Machine Systems area. In October Mike new engine dynamometer laboratory during Ladisch received the AIChE award for out- the Industrial Roundtable. Also in September standing research and teaching in the Food, we celebrated Homecoming and Parents Day. Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering area. This It was great to see all of the parents, alumni award is sponsored by Merck and Company and friends return to visit the department and and was presented during the annual meeting campus. In addition, as you can see from our of the AIChE meeting in Reno, NV. lead article, we have been hard at work pre- The Department is currently look- A Special Note paring for external reviews, meeting with ing for a Biological Engineer. The person alumni and developing a new strategic plan. filling this position will help us with teach- Purdue ABE continues to be ranked high in ing and research in the biological engineer- the national polls of best departments. With ing area. The focus of their program will be Letter from the your continued support and the success of to help us define and produce new products our graduates we aspire to become the best. and processes that improve the economic vi- Department Head There are several new faces in the ability of agriculture and the quality of life Purdue administration: Martin Jischke as for consumers. We are expecting the person President, Linda Frost-Mason as Provost coming into this position to stimulate many and Linda Katehi as Dean of Engineer- new ideas and help us contribute to the new ing. Each of these individuals has great vi- biological revolution in the agriculture indus- sions for helping Purdue move to the next try. level. We plan to work closely with them in As always, please feel free to drop the coming months to make sure ABE is part by to see us if you are in the West Lafayette of their plan. area. We will be happy to arrange a tour of In the fall we completed two pro- the Department so that you can view first- gram reviews. The first was the ABET (Ac- hand the improvements that have taken place creditation Board for Engineering and Tech- over the past several years. nology) review of our engineering programs. The second was a review of our Agricultural Sincerely, Systems Management program by the ASAE. Kamyar Haghighi and Ganesan Narsimhan helped put the ABET reviews together and Mack Strickland and Dan Ess helped us with the ASAE review. The outcomes of the reviews were generally posi- tive although we will not know the final re- Vincent F. Bralts sults of the ABET reviews until later this Professor and Department Head spring. In July Gary Krutz was honored as an ASAE Fellow. This honor is given to less than 2% of ASAE members based on Our Mission: “To prepare students, citizens, and industry for the future through innovative education and extension/outreach pro- grams, and the discovery of knowledge.” 3 Linda P. Katehi New Dean of Engineering Schools Linda P. Katehi, associate dean for academic affairs in the University of Michigan Col- lege of Engineering, has been named dean of Purdue’s Schools of Engineering. Purdue Pro- vost Sally Frost-Mason announced the appointment, effective January 1, 2002. “We are excited that Linda Katehi has joined Purdue as dean of the Schools of Engineering,” Frost-Mason said. “She brings not only impeccable academic and administrative credentials but also an enthusiasm and vigor that will pay rich dividends to the Purdue family.” Katehi (kuh-TAY-hee) received her doctorate and master’s degrees in electrical engi- neering from the University of California, Los Angeles. She earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. Katehi says, “The position of dean of engineering at Purdue provides an exciting opportunity to lead a strong engineering program into a future of academic excellence, visionary research and memorable teaching and learning experiences for the students. During the search process, I came to understand that Purdue aims at assuming a leadership position in the present environment of economic, technological and social change. I view this as a challenge and an opportunity.” ABE Alumni and Industrial Advisory Boards Anne Marie Schmerk, Alumni were invited to campus this fall to help David Smith, and Vince Bralts discuss the ABE us with our ABET accreditation and strategic planning accreditation review. efforts. Bernie Engel accepted the responsibility of lead- ing the strategic planning effort in the ABE Department. The purpose of our planning is to identify opportunities and priorities for the future through consultation with ASM alumni, (clockwise) Jason faculty, staff, students and alumni. Stonecipher, Scott Benko, Bill The Food Focus Group met in October to de- Carteaux, Mack Strickland, and Kevin Eikenberry review the velop new educational objectives for the Food Process ASM strategic plan. Engineering program. Developing new FPE educational objectives was recommended by the fall ABET review team. In addition, discussions focused on future oppor- tunities to expand the program to include bioprocess, In November a combined group of ABE Alumni biochemical or biological engineering. The group was & Industrial Advisory Board members met to discuss successful, and since their meetings on campus they have ABE’s accreditation reviews and help with the strate- continued their discussions via the internet. gic planning. We asked this group to review our strate- gic plan draft and help us determine what curriculum Food Focus Group discussion. Group changes and/or additions would be necessary for the members (clockwise): Jane Lavey, Cindy Department to become preeminent in each field. The McCracken, Kurt Waananen, Wilfred Vermerris, Marilyn Haas, Steve Havlik, group felt that in some areas ABE had already achieved Martin Okos, Becky Thompson. a level of preeminence; these areas were Food Process Engineering, Agricultural Systems Management, and the ABE graduate programs. However, in the area of Bio- logical Engineering ABE still has some work to do. Vince Bralts & Jane Lavey The meetings were a great success. Faculty and during the working lunch alumni had a chance to interact, exchange ideas, and session. share success stories. In the future there will be a regu- lar exchange of ideas with similar groups as we move ABE to the next level. 4 Accreditation Reviews Completed In September the Department completed several accreditation reviews. The Accreditation Board for Engi- neering and Technology (ABET) conducted a review of the Agricultural & Biological Engineering and Food Pro- cess Engineering programs. Our ABE review was conducted along with other programs in the Schools of Engineer- ing. ABET accreditation is essential for students interested in taking the Engineering Fundamentals exam as the first step toward becoming licensed engineers. For the Agricultural Systems Management program, the review is conducted by the ASAE P-206 Commit- tee. The ASM program was evaluated based on materials presented to the committee and a decision to confirm the outcomes was taken. Purdue ABE is a leader in defining ASM programs around the country and continues to be among the best. The implementation of the “outcomes based assessment” process has been an important component of all the program reviews. Outcomes Based Assessments focus on how well our graduates function once they graduate instead of how many science and laboratory courses were taken. This assessment process includes sending ques- tionnaires to alumni and their employers. Over the past two years we have surveyed employers and generally received excellent reviews on our graduates.