Spring 2015 Meeting of the MAE Visiting Committee (VCMAE)

April 10, 2015Morgantown, West Virginia

Overview of Current State of the MAE Department• Educational Programs, Initiatives and Challenges:

– New Graduate Program in Materials Science & Engineering Approved at M.S. Level– Approval at Ph.D. Level Anticipated Before the End of Spring 2015 Semester– Implementation Scheduled for Fall 2015 Semester as a College-Wide Program

– High Ratio of Student Credit Hour (SCH) per Faculty (251 this semester) Affects Both Teaching Effectiveness and Research Productivity, while Draining Internal Resources ($229K in Spring 2015) • Result of Undergraduate Enrolment in Excess of 600 Students in MAE and 2,100 in All Engineering Majors (Fall 2014) • Strategies for Enrolment Management Range from Preset Caps, Student Quality Controls, to More Faculty

– Respond to National Trends in Engineering Education and Needs of New Generations of Students– Curricular Flexibility through Optional Areas of Emphasis in Senior Year, Combined with Hands-On Projects (7 in Spring 2015)– Proliferation of Advanced Information Technologies Raises New Challenges in Addressing Academic Dishonesty

• Recent Accomplishments, Strategies and Challenges in the Pursuit of Sponsored Research:– Air Force Young Investigator Research Award to John Christian for “Estimation of Shape and Relative Motion for Partially

Resolved Objects in Optically Acquired Imagery”; broad applications in vision-based navigation systems– New Investigator Program (NIP) award of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) to Jason Gross for “Multi-

Constellation GNSS, Multi-Sensor Precise Point Positioning”, to improve accuracy and robustness of GPS applications to fast moving platforms by combining it with other navigation systems

– The project “Simulation-to-Flight (STF-1) CubeSat” proposed by Jason Gross and John Christian as subcontractors to NASA IV&V was selected for possible launch in about 18 months for advanced simulation and navigation.

– The Pursuit of Major, Competitive Research Funding Requires Inter-Disciplinary Teaming Across Many Institutions

• Other Recent Faculty and Staff Awards:• WVU’s Foundation Award for Outstanding Teaching to Mario Perhinschi • Statler College’s Award for Outstanding Advisor to Dave Solley • Statler College’s Outstanding Staff Award to Debbie Willis

• Changes and Searches for Faculty and Staff Members:• Larry Banta to Retire Effective May 15, 2015, Sam Mukdadi and Ismail Celik on PDP Leave in Fall 2015 Semester.• Chris Buchheit Hired in February 2015 as Full-Time Engineering Technician through the Research Corporation • New Search for MULTIPLE TT Faculty Positions in Energy, Materials, Manufacturing, GNC, Fluid & Solid Mechanics• New Searches for TWO Teaching Faculty Positions, One in AE, the Other in ME (mainly to teach 200-level courses)

• Educational Mission– “Full-Blown” Preparations for the ABET Review and Site Visit on October 18-20, 2015 – Approval and Implementation in the 2015-16 AY of “Articulation Agreements” with Four Mexican Universities in

Queretaro for M.S. Degree Tracks in Aerospace Engineering– Development of Distance Learning (DL) Courses for at Both the M.S. and B.S. Levels– Development of New Technical Elective Courses in the Areas of Materials, Vibrations, GNC, in Support of New

UG Optional Areas of Emphasis, as well as Research Projects

• Research Mission– Submission and Approval of New Business Plan for the CAFEE, as Essential Element of WVU’s Energy Institute

and Shale Gas Utilization Initiative– Formal Strategies for Establishing Long Term Partnerships with Industry, with Emphasis on the Area of Energy in

General, and the CAFEE in Particular

• Outreach and Service– Enhance Fund Raising Efforts for Scholarships, Facilities and Student Projects by Better Leveraging the Support

of the College’s Development Office, as well as the Departmental VCMAE and ADA.– Enhance the National Visibility of the MAE Department through Multiple Media and Venues by Better

Leveraging the Communications Office of the College and Possibly Hiring of PR Person

• Enhancement of Facilities– Start Implementing the Capital Investment Plan in Conjunction with Relocation of Offices and Labs.– Pro-Active Pursuit of Equipment Donations from Industry, with the Support of the VCMAE and ADA

• Financial and Personnel Management– Align MAE Procedures with Changing Federal, State, WVU Policies and the New EBO Structure– Strictly Enforce New Departmental Policies for Lab Safety, in Response to DEP Inspections & Penalties – Comprehensive Review of Work Assignments to Align Them with Specific Abilities of Faculty and Staff

Near Term Plans & Challenges for the MAE Department

2010 2011 2012 2013 20140

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

BSAE Headcount; 269

BSME Headcount; 333

BSCE Headcount; 224

BSChE Headcount; 188

BSCpE Headcount; 105

BSEE Headcount; 113

BSCS Headcount; 186

BSIE Headcount; 287

BSMinE Headcount; 92

BSPNGE Headcount; 336

Undergraduate Enrolment Trends in the Statler College in the Fall Semesters of the Last Five Years

2010 2011 2012 2013 20140

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

BSAE Headcount; 52

BSME Headcount; 100

BSCE Headcount; 75

BSChE Headcount; 37

BSCpE Headcount; 28

BSEE Headcount; 43

BSCS Headcount; 33

BSIE Headcount; 87

BSMinE Headcount; 24

BSPNGE Headcount; 62

Trends of Undergraduate Degrees Awarded in the Statler College Over the Last Five Years

Num

ber o

f Deg

rees

Aw

arde

d

State Allocation26%

Additional Release5%

Sponsored Research62%

Overhead3%

College Tuition3% Summer School

2%

Main SOURCES of $16.3 MILLIONS in REVENUES in FY 2014-MAE

Personnel45%

Personnel- Grad Assistants11%General

Expense7%

Less Faculty Overhead Expense

1%

Benefits11%

Travel3%

Equipment9%

F&A Paid to Univeristy

13%

Distribution of $15.74 million in expenses in FY 2014 -MAE department

Over 500 SCH

400-500 SCH

300-400 SCH

200-300 SCH

100-200 SCH

50- 100 SCH

Less than 50 SCH

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Histograms of Number of Faculty by Student Credit Hours (SCH) Taught in the Spring 2015 Semester MAE TT MAE NT, GTA CEEChE

Ranges of Student Credit Hours Taught

Num

ber o

f Fac

ulty

or I

nstr

ucto

rs

100 -140 80-100 60-80 40-60 20-40 Less than 20

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

Histogram of Number of Spring 2015 Classes by En-rolment

MAE CEE

Number of Students in the Course

Num

ber o

f Cla

sses

48%

30%

22%

Percentage Distributions of SCH per Faculty for Three Different Departments in the Spring 2015 Semester

Ave. No. of SCH per Faculty Taught by 30 MAE TT FacultyAve. No. of SCH per Faculty Taught by 13 ChE TT FacultyAve. No. of SCH per Faculty Taught by 18 CEE TT Faculty