GROWTH FOR IMPACT COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
A FIVE-YEAR ROADMAP FOR ENGINEERING EXCELLENCE
The University of Delaware is committed to excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, research and service. From its roots as a private academy in 1743, the institution today is a research-intensive, technologically advanced university with global impact.
MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
The University of Delaware College of Engineering Strategic Plan provides a framework for our collaborative efforts to deliver extraordinary education, transformational research and engaged service. Our values of respect, culture, growth, integrity and engagement bolster our pursuit of innovation and scholarship that best serves our world. We engaged stakeholders throughout our engineering community to define strategies for each of the four key priorities outlined in this plan: culture & climate, people, curriculum & research, and infrastructure & organization. These priorities will inform decisions across the College during the next five years, from how we attract talented people to our community to how we prepare a new generation of globally informed and globally minded engineers.
The Strategic Plan will remain a living document from which we can draw inspiration in our day-to-day activities with a keen eye on our longer-term strategic vision. It will take all of us working collaboratively — as a true community of engaged scholars — to achieve our aggressive goals. We are inspired by our students, staff, faculty and partners to redefine engineering excellence, and look forward to engineering the future together. We welcome your feedback as we embark upon this journey.
Levi T. Thompson Elizabeth Inez Kelley Proffessor of Chemical Engineering
TO LEARN MORE, VISIT: engr.udel.edu/initiatives/strategic-plan/
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The destination for an extraordinary education and transformational research.
Vision We envision the University of Delaware’s College of Engineering as the destination for an extraordinary education, transformational research and engaged service to the state of Delaware and the nation, making the world better today and for generations to come.
Mission The College of Engineering, a community of scholars driven by discovery and design, is devoted to education, research and socially-
The Ammon Pinizzotto Biopharmaceutical Innovation Center opened on UD's campus in 2020. The building is home to our biomedical engineering department, the Delaware Biotechnology Institute, and the National Institute for Innovation in Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing (NIIBML).
responsible innovation. We are committed to generating new
The director of NIIMBL is Kelvin Lee, Gore Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
oriented culture aimed at engaging our diverse faculty, staff and
knowledge, inspiring invention and pursuing vexing challenges with a much better future in mind. We foster an inclusive and globallystudents in vertically-integrated education and interdisciplinary research. We seek meaningful connections with partners who extend our reach from campus to the community and to the world at large. Together, we strive for engineering excellence.
Values As individuals, we value integrity, compassion, and respect for others as we continuously improve and diligently persevere toward excellence. Professionally, we are energized by curiosity, creativity, a collaborative spirit, technical mastery, and constructive dialogue across real and perceived boundaries as we engineer solutions that serve the world.
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UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE | COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING STRATEGIC PLAN
Our Key Priorities Culture & Climate, People, Curriculum & Research, and Infrastructure & Organization are our key priorities. Within each priority, we will pursue the following strategies.
Growing Our Impact
Culture & Climate
People
Curriculum & Research
Live Our Values
Elevate Our Recruitment
Build Intellectual Neighborhoods
Optimize Our Operations
Strengthen Our Inclusivity
Support Our Talent
Enhance our Partnerships
Upgrade Our Facilities
Empower Greater Creativity
Strengthen Our Partnerships
Expand Our Impact
Connect Our Community
Infrastructure & Organization
Pioneer New Curricula
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Key Priority
CULTURE & CLIMATE WELCOMING, BELONGING
GOAL
STRATEGIES
Foster welcoming, actively inclusive and collaborative classrooms and workplaces to foster a sense of belonging that helps everyone at the University excel.
Live our values. Emphasize a respectful and inclusive environment with personal responsibility and accountability for living the University of Delaware values.
Empower greater creativity. Foster empowerment and the development of breakthrough thinking and creative problem solving within the College of Engineering.
We will consistently communicate UD engineering’s diversity, equity and inclusion values and make sure every student, staff and faculty member recognizes these values as central to our college’s culture.
We will start by introducing more tools and techniques that teach creative, lateral thinking in first-year engineering courses.
Strengthen our inclusivity. Instill an inclusive, supportive climate in which all members of the community can thrive. We will expand our inclusivity training and support, building upon award-winning inclusive teaching modules developed by our faculty experts.
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UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE | COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING STRATEGIC PLAN
Connect our community. Improve channels and opportunities for sharing information within the college community and with internal and external partners to expand our network for success. We will start by highlighting the accomplishments of our alumni, who are making a global impact in industry, academia, medicine and more.
Key Priority
PEOPLE
INNOVATIVE, INFLUENTIAL
GOAL
STRATEGIES
Cultivate a community of innovative, influential thinkers to expand the success of the College of Engineering and the entire University of Delaware.
Elevate our recruitment. Recruit a diverse group of talented individuals to the College community, drawing on the full talent pool and ensuring appropriate student-faculty-staff proportions. We will start by reinvigorating our undergraduate recruitment strategy and developing new methods to help us reach the next generation of engineers. Support our talent. Ensure that all members of the College community have the resources, opportunities and support they need to reach their goals and achieve their potential. Building upon our successful Resources to Inspire Successful Engineers (RISE) Program, one of the oldest programs of its kind for underrepresented students in engineering, we will invest in and develop our programming for underrepresented minorities to better meet the needs of current and prospective students and trainees. Strengthen our partnerships. Develop meaningful opportunities for alumni and partners from industry, the community and across campus to actively engage with the College. We will start by supporting faculty and staff in their efforts to engage in community outreach.
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Key Priority
CURRICULUM & RESEARCH
LOCALLY IMPACTFUL, GLOBALLY RELEVANT
GOAL
STRATEGIES
Be the economic and innovation engine to provide the talent, solutions and expertise that benefit the state of Delaware, the region and communities all over the world.
Build intellectual neighborhoods. Define the structure, organization and resources for intellectual neighborhoods, including leadership and local and global challenges to be addressed through curriculum and research.
Expand our impact. Analyze markets to identify growth opportunities for traditional and online offerings in undergraduate, graduate, professional, certificate, workforce development, K-12 pipeline and teacher development programs.
See page 12 to learn more about our neighborhoods.
We will assess our potential to contribute to the local and regional economy and then deliver programs that meet critical needs.
Enhance our partnerships. Develop strategies for sustainable partnerships with funding agencies, industry sponsors, research collaborators and prospective donors. We will start by building more partnerships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). We will build upon existing partnerships, such as the UD Center for Hybrid, Active and Responsive Materials partnership with Delaware State University and Claflin University, and create new opportunities for impact.
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UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE | COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING STRATEGIC PLAN
Pioneer new curricula. Establish core competencies and practices within the curriculum and experiential learning in project management, strategic thinking and communication to ensure students are prepared to enter a competitive market upon graduation. We will start by intentionally developing new, impactful interdisciplinary programs. We will build upon our success in establishing programs that cross traditional disciplinary bounds, such as our master of science in robotics and doctoral degree in engineering and public policy.
Key Priority
CURRICULUM & RESEARCH INTELLECTUAL NEIGHBORHOODS
A Convergence Approach Intellectual Neighborhoods represent the intersection of our education, research and service expertise; our location and partnership opportunities; our resources; and our societal needs. They facilitate convergence or transdisciplinary efforts to address societal challenges and opportunities, they are inclusive enough to bring together diverse contributors and stakeholders, and they guide strategic collaborations to address key global and local challenges. Intellectual neighborhoods will define opportunities to enhance our educational excellence and will delineate activities that have high impact in the communities we serve. They will help with major personnel, resource allocation, investment and fundraising decisions, and they will provide an opportunity to differentiate ourselves with respect to competitive institutions. These Intellectual Neighborhoods will evolve over time and be revisited annually. Currently, they are:
ENGINEERED THERAPEUTICS
The Engineered Therapeutics neighborhood is home to experts in nanomedicine, precision and personalized medicine, computational biomedicine, biomedical informatics, immunoengineering, therapeutic delivery, biopharmaceuticals and more. We’re advancing the discovery, design, development, manufacture and delivery of lifesaving therapies to enable a healthier future for humans around the world.
ADVANCED MANUFACTURING AND MATERIALS
The Advanced Manufacturing and Materials neighborhood is home to experts in composite materials, 3D printing methods and software, process intensification and deployment, biopharmaceutical manufacturing, biomaterials, and quantum materials. We’re advancing basic and applied research of advanced materials and manufacturing processes for use in a wide range of applications, from consumer product development to national defense.
COASTAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING
The Coastal and Environmental Engineering neighborhood is home to experts in hydrology, coastal dynamics, microbiology, environmental engineering, ocean engineering, civil infrastructure, structural engineering, transportation engineering and more. We’re elucidating the effects of climate change on the natural and built environments along coastlines.
TRANSLATIONAL BIOMECHANICS
The Translational Biomechanics neighborhood is home to experts in biological material testing and modeling, clinical imaging and bioimaging, human motion and movement science, mechanobiology, medical device design, rehabilitation, robotics and more. We’re translating basic and applied research into clinical practice to help people move better.
SCHOLARSHIP OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
The Scholarship of Engineering Education neighborhood is home to experts in pedagogy, field experiences, design of hands-on modules and laboratory exercises, capstone course development and more. We’re ensuring that engineering graduates are well prepared for the 21st century workforce.
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Key Priority
INFRASTRUCTURE & ORGANIZATION STUDENT-CENTERED, DISCOVERY-DRIVEN GOAL
STRATEGIES
Provide student-centered, discovery-driven facilities and operations to advance the mission of the College of Engineering and University of Delaware.
Optimize our operations. Organize our administrative structure to maximize efficiency, effectiveness and impact. We will start by reorganizing college staffing to maximize efficiency and effectiveness and developing and communication best practices, processes and reporting mechanisms. Upgrade our facilities. Develop new infrastructure and renovate or repurpose current facilities, as necessary, to achieve the College’s priorities and maximize space utilization. In the near term, we aim to renovate existing spaces to encourage collaboration and creativity. As we look toward the future, we are developing a visionary long-term facilities plan for the college.
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engr.udel.edu/initiatives/strategic-plan