Selective Investment 1998 Award Recipients

The discipline of electrical engineering has been a powerful agent of change through innovation and is a cornerstone of engineering science. In our nation, the academic reputation of a college of engineering is closely linked to the strength of its electrical engineering department. For example, the top five engineering colleges ranked by U. S. News and World Report in 1996 also have the top five electrical engineering departments ranked by the National Research Council (NRC) in 1992.

Electrical engineering is always in the forefront of new technologies and is central to the academic mission of the university and to the achievement of academic excellence. Faculty members in Ohio State's Department of Electrical Engineering (EE) are active in each of the six key technology areas selected by the Office of Research for investment in recent years.

Ohio State's Department of Electrical Engineering has a long history of excellence throughout the United States and the world. Three National Academy of Engineering members have served on the faculty, and currently, 14 faculty members are Fellows of the IEEE or other professional societies. In recent years, the faculty is becoming more competitive and productive in attracting research funding, from a total of $526,600 in external research funding in 1994 to $783,000 in 1998.

With its existing strength, EE is in an excellent position to move to preeminence. In 1982, the department ranked 15th in NRC ratings. With additional investment, this department will be able to regain and then exceed its prior standing to become one of the top ten programs.

EE is involved in many interdisciplinary projects. Wireless communication technology, for example, will impact the development of the wireless computer internet which is a focus of research in the Department of Computer Information Science (CIS). EE faculty collaborate with researchers in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Science on projects in the intelligent transportation area. In work in medical image processing, EE faculty collaborate with researchers in Biomedical Engineering and the College of Medicine and Public Health.

To monitor the progress of their strategic plan

and to evaluate their achievements, the following measures will be used: a graduate program in or close to the top ten in the next NRC rankings; significant growth in external research funding and in the number of publications by the department's faculty and students; a steady increase in elections to the National Academy of Engineering members and as Fellows of IEEE and other professional societies, as well as awards received at the college, university, national, and international levels.

The quality of EE students will be measured by the average SAT and GRE scores of the new students entering undergraduate and graduate programs respectively, and by the placement of graduates. More and more top students come to EE programs; EE doctoral students are recruited by highly ranked institutions; and EE students with a bachelor's or master's degree are recruited by major companies.

EE's vision is to develop a preeminent Department of Electrical Engineering at Ohio State by focusing on information and wireless communication. Federal government forecasts predict that the information and wireless communication industry will surpass all other manufacturing worldwide by year 2005.

On the other hand, the state of Ohio has focused its major industrial emphasis and support on manufacturing and not on the exponentially expanding information and wireless industry. Developing an internationally renowned electrical engineering program at the state's premier university will provide the driving force to bring the information and wireless industry to Ohio. As a result, the Selective Investment award in electrical engineering will benefit the entire state.