I am delighted to welcome you to the first quarterly E-Newsletter of the College of Engineering and Computing at the Florida International University – Miami’s public research university.

This inaugural edition of our E-letter renews our commitment to effectively and consistently communicate with our stakeholders: faculty, staff, students, alumni, industry and education partners, family and friends. While we are expanding our communication media, our goal remains the same – to share with you the news of the College. For that same purpose, we are simultaneously launching our college page on facebook® in an effort to build an e-community of our stakeholders.

Fall 2009 marks our silver anniversary, as we celebrate 25 years of quality, growth and diversity in our College. Although our school has its roots in FIU’s College of Technology that opened in 1973, the College was officially formed in 1984 as the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Today, I am proud of our tradition of excellence built on a fertile ground of diversity, as reflected in our dedicated faculty and growing alumni base of about 14,000 Golden Panther Engineers.

2008-09 has been a remarkable year for our faculty and students on various fronts: Our student body has grown to over 4,400; as we awarded over 900 degrees (518 BS, 364 MS, and 35 PhD). The College received a total of over $15.3M in research awards with research expenditures exceeding $14.9M. In the most recent edition of ASEE Profiles of Engineering Colleges, our School of Computing and Information Sciences ranked as the 4th largest in the nation for the number of BS degrees awarded.

In this E-letter, among other news, you will read about the success of our Construction Management campaign and the inauguration of our state-of-the-art intelligent transportation system (ITS) lab. You will also meet our featured alumnus, Chad Moss, a Construction Management graduate, who is now a top executive in a leading construction firm in South Florida. For more information about the College, please visit http://www.cec.fiu.edu.

Dr. Amir Mirmiran , PhD, PE, Fellow ASCE, Fellow ACI
Professor and Dean
Summer 2009

Having almost completed my first year with the College of Engineering and Computing, I am delighted to report substantial successes from the most recent fundraising efforts. First, we are proud to announce that Titan America LLC has established an Endowment to support the Structures and Construction Testing Laboratory in the College of Engineering and Computing. Titan America is one of the premier cement and building materials producers in the Eastern United States. Titan America operations include cement plants, ready-mixed concrete plants, concrete block plants, quarries, import and rail terminals and fly ash beneficiation. The Lab will be named the Titan America LLC Structures and Construction Testing Laboratory. The College plans a dedication ceremony to honor Titan America’s generous donation on September 14th.

In addition, it is with great pleasure that the Construction Management Department announces the successful completion of its industry support campaign to raise $250,000 for the Department’s  2009-10 operating budget.  The nationally recognized and highly regarded program takes pride in its placement of more than 80% of Construction Management graduates within the construction marketplace of South Florida. The companies that participated in the support campaign demonstrated their appreciation of the Department’s well-prepared students and graduates who serve the construction community as interns, project managers, upper level management and CEOs. The generous donors will be recognized at an event later this month. The donor list includes

As many of you know, the College maintains state-of-the-art laboratories in each of our departments. From breast cancer detection to futuristic robotics to nanotechnology, the groundbreaking research conducted in the College’s laboratories contributes to the welfare of our community and our society. It is of critical importance that alumni and friends of the College support these labs. Please contact me for more information on how you can participate at jays@fiu.edu or call me at 305-348-0230.

Finally, as FIU enters the next phase of its phenomenal growth and development with President Mark B. Rosenberg at the helm, the need for generous donations to maintain and grow our University’s reputation in the local, national and international communities, is urgent. Please contact me to discuss a cash, in-kind or planned gift that honors your education, your business or your loved ones in support of the College of Engineering and Computing.
 
Dr. Susan R. Jay
Director of Development

Ysrael  Seinuk speaks at Spring Order of the Engineer Ceremony
The College was honored to welcome renowned structural engineer
Ysrael Seinuk as keynote speaker at Spring Commencement’s Order of the Engineer Ceremony. Mr. Seinuk, one of the 25 most influential Hispanics in America (Time Magazine, 2005), is internationally recognized as one of the foremost structural engineers and pioneers in the field of tall buildings and special structures.  His firm Ysrael A. Seinuk, P.C. has an extensive portfolio of project awards, some of which include such iconic structures as the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami; The Loft 2 in Miami and the Trump World Tower. In his first visit to FIU, Professor Seinuk sent graduates off with an inspiring message of hard work and ingenuity learned from his own life experiences. With humor and passion, he offered real career advice for a challenging job market and inspired his audience to reach for their dreams.

Join us as we build The College of Engineering and Computing
Central Park "Brickpath"
In the last 25 years the FIU College of Engineering has become a beacon for education and research in engineering and computer science. The College’s stand-alone center, on 38 acres of property, is perfectly suited to develop our new ecofriendly Central Park. Your support is critical to our success. Overlooking the Central Park "Brickpath" will be the newly remodeled 2005 FIU Solar Decathlon house, a student-built, stand-alone solar-powered house that incorporates the latest features in sustainable construction. The Solar Decathlon house and the Central Park will become a center for inspiring scholarly exchange and discussion on sustainable design, construction and renewable energy.
Buy a Brick and support the College

Chad Moss
Senior Vice President/Project Executive
Chad Moss has joined his father at Moss and Associates in the role of Senior Vice President/Project Executive. The strong relationships that he has built during his 16 years in the South Florida construction industry make Chad an invaluable team member. In this role Chad will manage multiple projects, preconstruction, buyout, scheduling, contract management, billing, public relations, and new project pursuit. Chad serves on the Executive Council of the Construction Management Industry Advisory Council.  He was part of the leadership team that successfully completed the Department’s Industry Support Campaign.

College of Engineering and Computing
10555 West Flagler Street
Miami, Florida 33174
(305) 348-2522
www.cec.fiu.edu