Annual Report Year 2009 - Civil and Environmental Engineering

DEPARTMENT HEAD’S MESSAGE
Changing times
Future filled with challenges and opportunities
Fifteen Years
A lot has changed within the Via Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering
during this time.
The past 15 years have seen over 3500
degrees conferred to undergraduate and
graduate civil engineers. Over 50 percent of
the current faculty and over 60 percent of the
current staff in CEE were hired.
External funded research has seen a fivefold
increase; and our national reputation
as measured by the U.S. News and World
Report rankings have reached collective alltime
highs with a 2009 undergraduate ranking
of 10th, a graduate CEE ranking of 7th
and a graduate environmental ranking of 9th.
The English Geotechnical Laboratory, the
Baker Environmental Hydraulics Laboratory
and a major addition to the Thomas M. Murray
Structural Engineering Laboratory were
completed through private fund raising from
many alumni and friends of the department.
These are but a few of the many accomplishments
and changes that have occurred
in the past 15 years.
Up until August 9th of this year, there has
been one constant in the presence of all
the change represented in the tremendous
growth and progress. That constant has
been the leadership of Bill Knocke as head
of the Via Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering.
Professor Knocke will be the first one to
tell you that the success is a direct result
of the hard work and dedication shown by
our faculty, staff and students, as well as
the loyal support of our alumni and friends.
However, it is my firm belief that the department
has reached the position that we have
because of the exceptional leadership and
unyielding commitment that Bill Knocke
has shown to our department, college and
university. No one exemplifies the university
motto Ut Prosim – That I May Serve any
more than Professor Knocke.
You can read more about Bill’s service
and plans for the future as he returns to a
role of full time teaching and research on
page 13.
Bill, on behalf of the faculty, staff, students,
alumni and friends of the Via Department
of Civil and Environmental Engineering,
let me simply say thank you and we are
deeply indebted to your service.
Now To The Future
When I wrote this message, I was beginning
my second day on the job as the department
head. First, let me offer a collective
thank you for the overwhelming support that
I’ve received from all parts of the Virginia
Tech family – alumni and friends of the department,
faculty, staff and students. I cannot
imagine that anyone entering this position
could have had a stronger show of support –
as I say it has been overwhelming.
Certainly the future is filled with both challenges
and opportunities. The financial situation
in which we find ourselves in the midst
of is certainly a challenge. Levels of state
support continue to fall and higher education
is carrying a significant portion of the budget
reductions.
I tend to be an optimist, and so I say to
you that as bad as things are, I believe that
Virginia is in better shape than many other
states and that Virginia Tech is better positioned
to cope than most universities.
Regardless of how well prepared we may
be, the economic downturn has and is affecting
our program. We, like many others,
will get through it and make every effort to
maintain the high quality program that you
and we have come to expect.
Opportunities exist on many fronts and I
am excited about what they offer. This fall
semester we once again welcomed an academically
talented and excited group of students
to campus. The opportunity to interact
with high caliber undergraduate and graduate
students is what fundamentally drives the
faculty and staff.
I also continue to be thrilled with the opportunity
to work with so many enthusiastic
and dedicated alumni. The strong support of
our alumni is not only inspiring but is a big
part of the success of the department.
The engagement and generosity of our
alumni and friends enable us to fund scholarships,
build laboratories such as those I
mentioned earlier, support student field trips,
recruit and recognize faculty through named
professorships and in many other ways.
While this support helps us in critical ways
during the tough
economy, what it
is really doing is
taking your department
to great
places. One of
the aspects of
my new job that
I’m looking forward
to the most
is continuing to
meet and work
with more of
our alumni and
EASTERLING friends.
The last opportunity
that I’ll mention is on the funded
research front, an area in which our faculty
continues to have great success. This success
tends to feed on itself and attract additional
research and visibility for our program.
One measure of the success is the annual
ranking by the National Science Foundation.
The most recent NSF rankings, which were
based on FY 2007 expenditures, show CEE
as the leading department in the College of
Engineering. This is a great accomplishment
and directly attributable to efforts of our faculty
and supporting staff.
Although he has not yet joined us, we
are looking forward to welcoming Dr. Adrian
Rodriguez-Marek to Blacksburg as a member
of our faculty beginning in August 2010.
Dr. Rodriguez-Marek will be a member of our
geotechnical program area and joins us from
Washington State University. Adrian brings
great strength to an already strong group
of faculty, with his research largely focused
in the geotechnical earthquake engineering
area.
In closing, let me reiterate my appreciation
for the opportunity to serve as the head of
such a great department. I’m excited about
what lies ahead!
With kind regards,
2009 | VIA REPORT | 1