The College of Engineering in the Era of Covid

Well, that was interesting.

As the world grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic over the past several months, the College of Engineering had its own challenges. Never before have we faced a situation like this one, and I know I’m not alone when I say that I hope we never will again.

We learned a lot about ourselves during our time of isolation. We learned that we can be agile and move an entire semester’s worth of courses online in a very short period of time, while maintaining an admirably high level of academic rigor. We learned that technology offers exciting prospects for the future of higher education. We learned, through events such as our Virtual Innovation Day and online Commencement activities, that it’s possible to offer a student experience that maintains a sense of normalcy and showcases the great work being done here at UT Arlington.

As we slowly come to grips with our return to normal, and discover what normal means post-COVID-19, there are things to celebrate:

• Early indications are that UT Arlington has achieved the benchmarks required for access to the Texas National Research University Fund, which would allow the University to access significant new funds to advance our research enterprise.
• Some of our faculty earned research grants to aid in the fight against the coronavirus. You can read more about them in the pages of this magazine.
• We welcomed several new faculty and staff this fall, including the new chair of the Electrical Engineering Department, Diana Huffaker. I offer a public thanks to the former chair, Jonathan Bredow, for his many years of dedicated service.

I remain hopeful that, sooner rather than later, we’ll all be able to enjoy the collegiality inherent in the college without relying on technology. Thank you all for your continued support. Please continue to stay safe, and keep in touch.

Peter E. Crouch
DEAN, COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING