Fox and Robert Schnabel, dean of the School of Informatics and Computing, both said one reason for the creation of an engineering program at IU was a survey of southern Indiana economic development by the Battelle Corporation. The research showed a lot of engineering work in southern Indiana that IU did not have the ability to prepare its students for in the future. Another reason for adding the program, Fox said, is because engineering is part of or works with other disciplines.
“Engineering pervades almost everything,” Fox said. “The people in SPEA are doing environmental engineering ... applied physics is a part of engineering in many universities.
This particular field also looks at the engineering aspect of areas of great strength here, in biology, chemistry, psychology and brain sciences.”
Within the undergraduate degree, the department plans for three concentrations: bioengineering, computer/cyber-physical systems engineering and nanoscale systems engineering. The focus of IU’s program will be on intelligent systems, as the name implies, specifically small intelligent devices like smart phones or sensors which connect to the Internet, medical instruments and building computer hardware.
Purdue’s undergraduate engineering program focuses on a range of types of engineering, including large-scale disciplines such as nuclear engineering and chemical engineering among others.
Purdue also offers concentrations in biological engineering and computer engineering.
Before next fall, Fox said IU still needs to hire around 20 to 25 new faculty members, find a physical location to house the department, “flesh out” the specifics of the degrees and advertise the program to attract students.
The estimate for enrollment of undergraduates starting fall 2016 is 50 students. The total number of undergraduate engineering students by fall 2020 is estimated at 455 students. Official projections put the number of Ph.D students at 50 students by fall 2020, though Fox said he thought the number could be closer to 75 students by that time.
“I’m very optimistic we’ll be highly successful because (engineering) is at the leading edge of many very important things, and it adds value to existing Bloomington programs,” Fox said. “My guess is we will have more students apply than those numbers project because these areas we’re working in have lots of jobs available. I’m not guaranteeing high enrollment — that’s just my guess because Bloomington is viewed as a nice place. It’s a nice campus, and it has a lot of other nice programs.”
