A message to our nearly 60,000 alumni from Richard Benson, Dean of the College of Engineering
Dean
We are extremely proud that Popular Science named one of our faculty members, Dennis Hong, to its Brilliant 10 of 2009 list for his pioneering work in robotics. We were likewise thrilled to learn that Maurizio Porfiri made the magazine’s Brilliant 10 list for his work in that field.
Porfiri, a two time graduate of our college, is now an assistant professor at Polytechnic Institute of New York University and his accomplishments reflect wonderfully upon us.
In higher education, there are several measures institutions can use to gauge how we are doing. How much research money we attract is one. National rankings for undergraduate and graduate programs are another. I’m happy to say we are doing well on all those fronts.
But one of the most telling signs of how well an institution performs its key mission – preparing students – can be seen in how well its alumni do in their careers, and how well a school’s graduates are regarded by employers. I’m happy to say that Virginia Tech, and our college in particular, was recently rated by the Wall Street Journal one of the best schools in the nation by corporate recruiters.
While we take a great deal of pride in that endorsement, it’s really a tribute to the quality of our students and alumni. Our college has nearly 8,000 students and nearly 60,000 alumni, a tremendous pool of talented engineers, who are making a difference in numerous industries, all over the world.
If you are one of them, I hope you will find some of the links on this page to be useful. Please take some time to learn about upcoming College of Engineering events or read about some of the many exciting recent accomplishments by our faculty, students, and alumni.
Sincerely,
Richard C. Benson
For more information contact Carolyn Bain.
