| Industrial Liason Council |
As it prepares for the new millennium, the College of Engineering faces enormous challenges. There are unprecedented demands for its resources from customers both on and off campus. At the same time, federal and state budget constraints mean some difficult choices must be made about future directions.
Fortunately, the college has shown a willingness to be entrepreneurial in its approach to the changing climate. The UW Technology Enterprise Cooperative is showing promise in assisting faculty, staff and students in creating new technology based businesses through concepts such as the virtual cooperative. The number of consortia continues to grow, as do innovations such as communicating with customers via the World Wide Web.
There is also an inventive spirit with regard to the undergraduates. Faculty members are being encouraged to help students think about engineering from a business as well as a technical perspective. Courses in communications are being emphasized, and students are being offered the chance to do engineering design in the first year. This promises to help create a generation of 21st-century engineers with the ability to be creative and consider all the available possibilities. Whether they work for a large company or for themselves, future engineers will benefit from developing an entrepreneurial outlook from the start of their career.
The Industrial Liaison Council will continue to act as a resource to help the college stay on target in its efforts to prepare for 2000 and beyond. This partnership yields an important industry perspective for the institution and allows members to help shape the engineering leaders of tomorrow.
Thomas N. Hendrickson
1996-97 Chair
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Last Modified: Thursday, 02-Oct-1997 12:00:00 CDT