University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science
Encyclopedia
The University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), established in 1836, is the oldest engineering school in the United States associated with a university.
. It is the second-largest school at U.Va. and is home to 1,993 undergraduate
s and 654 graduate student
s. Twenty-six percent of its undergraduates are women, and 24 percent are minorities. For the class of 2008, the average SAT score of matriculating students was 1353 out of a possible 1600; 76 percent graduated in the top ten percent of their high school class. Forty percent of SEAS students pursue a minor; 10 percent choose economics as a minor.
In 2005, engineering students placed first in Phase One of a national competition for computer chip design. The team bested teams from 27 other universities. U.Va.'s entry, "An SRAD Image Processor as a Reconfigurable, Temperature-Aware SoC Designed for Low-Power Operation", won a small cash prize for the school. The contest was sponsored by the semiconductor
industry to improve the design of integrated computer circuits.
The Aerospace Engineering fourth-year class entered and won the 2005 NASA
Vehicle Systems Student Design Competition with their unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) Mars flyer design. They received a small cash prize for the Aerospace Engineering Department, as well as the opportunity to present their design at an industry conference held in Columbus, Ohio
during the summer of 2005.
Also in the summer of 2005, an undergraduate SEAS student drove 13,000 miles round-trip from Virginia
to Alaska
in a vegetable oil powered 1976 Mercedes 240D. For the year, the school was awarded $50 million in new research contracts by the United States government.
In November 2006, a new academic building, Wilsdorf Hall, was dedicated. The new structure is for collaborative research in materials science
and materials engineering, chemical engineering
, and nanotechnology
. It also features a snack bar and coffee shop with an associated student lounge.
In March 2009, the school received a $10 million grant from NASA
and the United States Air Force
to develop the engines of new hypersonic
aircraft that could fly at Mach
12 and at altitudes of up to 100,000 feet. Other aspects of the craft will be designed by two other centers receiving similar grants at Texas A&M
and Teledyne
.
Professor Dana Elzey currently chairs the program.
. The department has 21 faculty members and divides its research
into five fields. Students are admitted at the end of their first year, after a rigorous application process that not all engineering departments require.
Companies which the graduates of this program work for include; Accenture
, Booz Allen Hamilton
, Deloitte, McKinsey, Kurt Salmon Associates
, Northrop Grumman
, Capgemini
, KPMG
, Fair Isaac
, IBM
, and Science Applications International Corporation
. Students also go on to graduate programs including UC Berkeley School of Information
and Princeton University
's Center for Information Technology Policy.
Recent Ph.D.
recipients have taken positions at, among other institutions, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
, the Johns Hopkins University
Applied Physics Laboratory
, the United States Military Academy
, and Old Dominion University
.
The school
SEAS is one of 10 schools and colleges at the University of VirginiaUniversity of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
. It is the second-largest school at U.Va. and is home to 1,993 undergraduate
Undergraduate education
Undergraduate education is an education level taken prior to gaining a first degree . Hence, in many subjects in many educational systems, undergraduate education is post-secondary education up to the level of a bachelor's degree, such as in the United States, where a university entry level is...
s and 654 graduate student
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
s. Twenty-six percent of its undergraduates are women, and 24 percent are minorities. For the class of 2008, the average SAT score of matriculating students was 1353 out of a possible 1600; 76 percent graduated in the top ten percent of their high school class. Forty percent of SEAS students pursue a minor; 10 percent choose economics as a minor.
Semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material with electrical conductivity due to electron flow intermediate in magnitude between that of a conductor and an insulator. This means a conductivity roughly in the range of 103 to 10−8 siemens per centimeter...
industry to improve the design of integrated computer circuits.
The Aerospace Engineering fourth-year class entered and won the 2005 NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
Vehicle Systems Student Design Competition with their unmanned aerial vehicle
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
(UAV) Mars flyer design. They received a small cash prize for the Aerospace Engineering Department, as well as the opportunity to present their design at an industry conference held in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
during the summer of 2005.
Also in the summer of 2005, an undergraduate SEAS student drove 13,000 miles round-trip from Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
in a vegetable oil powered 1976 Mercedes 240D. For the year, the school was awarded $50 million in new research contracts by the United States government.
In November 2006, a new academic building, Wilsdorf Hall, was dedicated. The new structure is for collaborative research in materials science
Materials science
Materials science is an interdisciplinary field applying the properties of matter to various areas of science and engineering. This scientific field investigates the relationship between the structure of materials at atomic or molecular scales and their macroscopic properties. It incorporates...
and materials engineering, chemical engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
, and nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
. It also features a snack bar and coffee shop with an associated student lounge.
In March 2009, the school received a $10 million grant from NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
and the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
to develop the engines of new hypersonic
Hypersonic
In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that is highly supersonic. Since the 1970s, the term has generally been assumed to refer to speeds of Mach 5 and above...
aircraft that could fly at Mach
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...
12 and at altitudes of up to 100,000 feet. Other aspects of the craft will be designed by two other centers receiving similar grants at Texas A&M
Dwight Look College of Engineering
The Dwight Look College of Engineering is the engineering school of Texas A&M University in College Station and is home to more than 10,700 engineering students in 12 departments....
and Teledyne
Teledyne
Teledyne Technologies Incorporated is an industrial conglomerate primarily based in the United States but with global operations. It was founded in 1960, as Teledyne, Inc., by Henry Singleton and George Kozmetsky....
.
Rodman Scholars Program
Founded in 1979, the Rodman Scholars Program (named for Walter Sheldon Rodman, former professor and dean of the engineering school) consists of the top 5-6 percent of each class of engineering students. There are many benefits for Rodman Scholars, which include living in the honors dorms first year, exclusive versions of common first-year courses, and priority registration. While most are selected automatically by the admissions office, some may apply during their first semester. Rodmans are expected to maintain at least a 3.0 GPA throughout their entire academic career.Professor Dana Elzey currently chairs the program.
Departments
- Biomedical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Computer Science
- Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- Science, Technology, and Society
- Systems and Information Engineering
Systems and Information Engineering
The Systems and Information Engineering department is located in Olsson Hall in Charlottesville, VirginiaCharlottesville, Virginia
Charlottesville is an independent city geographically surrounded by but separate from Albemarle County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States, and named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the queen consort of King George III of the United Kingdom.The official population estimate for...
. The department has 21 faculty members and divides its research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
into five fields. Students are admitted at the end of their first year, after a rigorous application process that not all engineering departments require.
Research
- Computational statisticsComputational statisticsComputational statistics, or statistical computing, is the interface between statistics and computer science. It is the area of computational science specific to the mathematical science of statistics....
and Simulation - Human Factors
- Risk and Decision AnalysisRisk analysis (engineering)Risk analysis is the science of risks and their probability and evaluation.Probabilistic risk assessment is one analysis strategy usually employed in science and engineering.-Risk analysis and the risk workshop:...
- Systems Integration
- Optimization and Control
Alumni
Companies which the graduates of this program work for include; Accenture
Accenture
Accenture plc is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company headquartered in Dublin, Republic of Ireland. It is the largest consulting firm in the world and is a Fortune Global 500 company. As of September 2011, the company had more than 236,000 employees across...
, Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. , or more commonly Booz Allen, is an American public consulting firm headquartered in McLean, Fairfax County, Virginia, with 80 other offices throughout the United States. Ralph Shrader is its Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The firm was founded by Edwin Booz in...
, Deloitte, McKinsey, Kurt Salmon Associates
Kurt Salmon Associates
Kurt Salmon is a global management consulting firm specializing in the retail, consumer goods and health care sectors. The firm was among the first consulting firms established in the United States and remains among only a small handful in continuous operation since being founded in the early...
, Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman
Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American global aerospace and defense technology company formed by the 1994 purchase of Grumman by Northrop. The company was the fourth-largest defense contractor in the world as of 2010, and the largest builder of naval vessels. Northrop Grumman employs over...
, Capgemini
Capgemini
Capgemini is a French global IT services company, one of the world's largest management consulting, outsourcing and professional services companies with a staff of 114,274 operating in 40 countries. It is headquartered in Paris and was founded in 1967 by Serge Kampf, the current chairman, in...
, KPMG
KPMG
KPMG is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the Big Four auditors, along with Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PwC. Its global headquarters is located in Amstelveen, Netherlands....
, Fair Isaac
Fair Isaac
Fair Isaac Corporation is a public company that provides analytics and decision making services—including credit scoring—intended to help financial services companies make complex, high-volume decisions.- History :...
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, and Science Applications International Corporation
Science Applications International Corporation
SAIC is a FORTUNE 500 scientific, engineering and technology applications company headquartered in the United States with numerous federal, state, and private sector clients...
. Students also go on to graduate programs including UC Berkeley School of Information
UC Berkeley School of Information
The UC Berkeley School of Information or the iSchool is a graduate school offering both a professional master's degree and a research-oriented Ph.D. degree at the University of California, Berkeley. The school was created in 1994 and was known as the School of Information Management and Systems ...
and Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
's Center for Information Technology Policy.
Recent Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
recipients have taken positions at, among other institutions, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
, the Johns Hopkins University
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...
Applied Physics Laboratory
Applied Physics Laboratory
The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory , located in Howard County, Maryland near Laurel and Columbia, is a not-for-profit, university-affiliated research center employing 4,500 people. APL is primarily a defense contractor. It serves as a technical resource for the Department of...
, the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
, and Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University
Old Dominion University is a state university located in Norfolk, Virginia, United States, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools...
.
External links
- The School of Engineering & Applied Science at the University of VirginiaUniversity of VirginiaThe University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
- The Rodman Scholars Program