On April 10, 2018, Dr. Emmanuel Collins, chair of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering's department of Mechanical Engineering announced he accepted the position of Dean of the Speed School of Engineering at the University of Louisville beginning in July.
He took a few minutes to share his thoughts with the College and his department today.
This will be my last chair’s message . Hence, I have decided to reminisce on my 24 years in the Department of Mechanical Engineering with 7 years as chair.
I remember that when I interviewed here, the PhD program had only existed for 6 years. Due to the overall youth of the College of Engineering, I was extremely skeptical that I could accomplish world class research at this institution. However, when I was shown what was then the Fluid Mechanics Research Lab (FMRL), I observed world class research in experimental aerodynamics and was convinced that I could build a strong program in controls and robotics here. One of the pleasures I have experienced is observing the FMRL morph (with considerable effort on the part of key faculty) into the Florida Center for Advanced Aero-Propulsion (FCAAP), a State of Florida Center of Excellence.
We now have many strong research programs, including Advanced Manufacturing, Applied Superconductivity, Computational Fluid Dynamics, Cryogenics, Mobile Robotics, and Sustainable Energy. In fact, another pleasure I have had is to see our PhD program ranked 27th by Phds.org using the National Research Council S-Rankings, a recognition of the strength of our research and its ability to produced quality PhDs. This is a remarkable achievement for such a young program and we have a base of young researchers that should lead to future growth in our research and graduate programs.
I am very glad that despite our emphasis on research, teaching in our department is very strong. Most of our teaching specialists excel in the classroom and are frequent winners of teaching awards. But some of our most prolific researchers also receive exceptional student evaluations and have also received teaching awards. My hope is that this dual emphasis on excellence in both teaching and research continues as the department continues to advance.
I would be remiss by not mentioning the outstanding alumni that have been produced by this department. We recently began formally recognizing our outstanding alumni in an awards banquet. They are the most visible hallmark of the quality of our program and we should continue to highlight their successes.
Finally, I would like to remark that we have an excellent staff. We have lost some good ones recently, but have been able to replace them with equally qualified and productive staff members. Many of our staff and faculty members have remarked on the cordial environment we have developed in this high achieving department. I am confident that the next chair will preserve and improve upon this atmosphere.
It has not always been an easy 7 years as Chair, but it has been rewarding. Although I will see it from a distance, I expect to observe a program that continues along the path of excellence.