One of the great pleasures of being the Dean for the College of Technology is meeting with our alumni.  I learn so much from their experiences since leaving Purdue and how their degrees helped them in their careers.  I also have the opportunity to meet fascinating alumni who have had great careers and life experiences.

Mary Johnson, a professor in our Department of Aviation Technology,  shared this article about Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner with me.

Although the article describes the problems Boeing is having related to their new 787 Dreamliner aircraft, the main premise of the article is our society becoming risk averse, which stifles innovation. Incrementalism is also criticized in the article as a halfway measure that stifles innovation.

Steven Lincoln from our Communications group was reading the 25th anniversary history of the College of Technology and shared with me this quote from our first dean, Charles Lawshe. To quote:

” . . . universities, particularly land-grant universities, must continually modify and adapt their curricula and their educational delivery structures, sometimes producing faculty instability and the need for academic reorganization.”

Manufacturing is making a comeback in the U.S. thanks in part to the re-shoring of jobs as well as a slowly healing economy.  It is critically important that this nation have a strong manufacturing-based economy if for no other reason than for national security reasons. For example, many computer parts and electronic devices are manufactured in Asia and Europe and no longer in the US.

Guest post by Mihaela Vorvoreanu, assistant professor of computer graphics technology and technology leadership & innovation.

I came across this story about the brilliantly hilarious criticism that BiC, the pen company, encountered upon launching a line of pastel-colored pens “for her.”

Shown below is the text of a presentation I made on Friday, March 23, in Richmond, Ind. The College of Technology at Purdue has programs in 10 different locations across the State of Indiana in addition to its programs on the West Lafayette, Ind., campus. One of those locations is in Richmond. We are introducing two new bachelor’s degree options, and I was asked to make a presentation as part of the events scheduled the day of the announcement. The text of the presentation shown below covers a few topics that I believe will be of interest to the reader.

I just read an article in the New York Times titled “True Innovation“.

The article is a brief history of Bell Labs and description of how the lab scientists, engineers, and technologists worked together to create one of the most prolific labs that produced innovation funded by an industry. The article also defines innovation in a narrow way compared to how that term is currently being used in our country.

About a week ago I returned from our fall break and looked through the mail I had received while away from campus.  In the mail was a clipping from the campus newspaper, the Exponent, of an editorial titled: Professors should teach more instead of doing research (http://www.purdueexponent.org/opinion/editorials/article_dd0041ff-c9c2-5...).

I thought I would share the remarks I made at the College of Technology’s Scholarship Reception that was held on Saturday, October 8, 2011, before the Purdue vs. Minnesota football game.

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Good morning and welcome everyone to the College of Technology’s Scholarship Reception. What better way for me to celebrate my first 100 days as Dean than to thank individuals and businesses for your generosity and support of our students?