2015 was a remarkable year of progress in the transformation of the college as we work to better align ourselves with the digital age; 2016 promises to be even better!

This has been a year of tremendous success for the college by nearly every metric we track. We have achieved these accomplishments because of the great work of our faculty, staff, and students. We have had many challenges over the past year, but we have persevered and overcome many of them. The transformation of the college is picking up momentum as we better prepare graduates for their future, conduct cutting-edge research, and engage with industry and the State of Indiana.

During the first week of November, I had the pleasure of traveling to Colombia, South America, with, Robert Cox, our associate dean for globalization, and José Garcia, an assistant professor in our School of Engineering Technology. José was raised in Bogota, Colombia, and he completed his undergraduate work at the Universidad de Los Andes.

I am pleased to pass along more great news for our college as we pass the fall term’s midway point.

Welcome back for the 2015-2016 academic year! The busy and exciting academic year we completed in June has set up another year full of opportunities, decisions and announcements.

I would like to share an update on three very important activities – one that takes place tomorrow (April 29), one that will be highly visible beginning Fall 2015, and one that may take place over the summer.

As you know we have been getting a great deal of support from Purdue President Mitch Daniels for our transformational efforts. Financially, the college has received support through an increase in recurring funding as well as the recent gift from Lilly Endowment Inc.

Faculty and staff development is an important part of the Polytechnic initiative. I would like to review a few important concepts related to faculty and staff development, a plan for which is currently being created and will be shared with everyone in the college in a few weeks.

By nearly every metric the College of Technology is doing very well. Undergraduate enrollment is up after nearly a decade of decline, the quality of our fall admits is the highest ever, research awards were the highest ever, cash donations to the college continue to grow, globalization efforts are at their highest level of activity ever, diversity of our faculty and students is increasing and professional graduate programs continue to grow at a rapid pace. The seeds of change we sowed over the last few years are slowly beginning to show great promise.

As students, faculty, and staff return from vacation, I want to take a moment to welcome you back to campus to the next 50 years of the College of Technology at Purdue University.

I hope your summer breaks were both refreshing and productive. Many returning students extended their Purdue practical education over the summer with real-world learning in internships around Indiana and around the world. Many returning faculty worked vigorously on important and practical research projects at the University and with companies and organizations that are household names.