State of the College of Engineering: Building a legacy of innovation, excellence, and impact

The Dean’s Office hosted a Holiday Breakfast and State of the College on Wednesday, December 11, 2024. Faculty and staff gathered to celebrate a successful year, enjoy a festive breakfast, and connect with colleagues across the college.

Dean Ahmed Khattab delivered an inspiring address, sharing the college’s achievements and vision for the future.

“I am so proud of our outstanding faculty and staff. Their dedication and commitment have led to incredible achievements as we build a legacy of innovation, excellence, and impact for our students and programs. Thank you all for inspiring our students and driving success. The future is bright, and what's next is even more inspiring!”

Year in Review: Highlights and Achievements

Record-Breaking Enrollment

• Fall 2024 welcomed the largest freshman class in six years, marking a 39% increase over the past three years.
• Graduate enrollment exceeded expectations with a 25% increase overall, including a 36% increase in PhD students—the largest in the college’s history.
• The largest curriculum enhancement, finalized in Fall 2022, remains a major success:
  • 41% of fall 2024 freshmen class declared a concentration on day one.
  • 28% of the entire college have declared concentrations.

• Diversity milestones included 19% female enrollment and 20% African American enrollment, the highest percentages in over thirty years.

More concentrations are coming very soon that will meet the needs of industry in Louisiana and beyond.

Research Success

• The College's research efforts have driven active research grants to grow more than fivefold over four years, reaching over $84 million from $16 million and demonstrating a significant expansion in funding and impact.
• Two junior faculty were promoted to Associate Professor after publishing 32 peer-reviewed journal papers and securing over $11M in external research funding during their tenure-track period.
• College faculty have earned prestigious Eminent Scholar Awards eight times in the last nine years. Most recently, Mechanical Engineering Professor Dr. Terrence Chambers received the 2024 Distinguished Professor Award.

Empowering Students and Faculty

Programs under the Engineering Center of Excellence (ECoE) continue to grow, enhancing opportunities for students and faculty alike:

• Student initiatives include high school outreach, supplemental instruction, engineering freshman camp, peer advising, the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP), and career development workshops. Events like social activities, alumni roundtables, speaker series and other have impacted 1,500+ students and faculty this year alone.
• Six sections of UNIV 100 for Engineering entitled: Intro to Engineering Innovation.
• Nine faculty earned the Innovation Engineering Blue Belt Certification after completing rigorous training and projects, empowering them to drive innovation within the college and beyond.

Retention and Student Success

Programs and initiatives have improved 2nd-semester and 2nd-year retention rates, underscoring the college’s commitment to student success.

Campus Developments

• The groundbreaking ceremony for the new student-centered collaborative engineering building was a major milestone. The building will house the ECoE and a state-of-the-art makerspace, with foundation work already in progress.
• Renovations to Madison Hall are underway, with Phase 1 set for completion in Spring semester 2025.

Looking Ahead

Dean Khattab closed the event with a bold vision:

“We are engineering a strong, smart, sustainable future—closing the skills gap and meeting industry needs. Stay tuned, we are adding to our world class curriculum and together, we are building a legacy of innovation, excellence and impact!”