University of Virginia School of Engineering & Applied Science | Page 2
Welcome from the dean
W
e are very proud of our students at the Engineering School
— and with good reason. Our undergraduate students are
the most outstanding group we have ever seen. In fact, judged
by their combined SAT scores and their record of community
service, they are the best group of students to have enrolled at
the University of Virginia.
Our responsibility — and it’s one that we feel deeply — is to
provide an education that’s equal to their talents. As part
of our strategic plan, we committed to providing students
with sustained, high-impact educational experiences that
complement and extend the learning that goes on in our
classrooms. With support from alumni and friends as well as
from the University, we are meeting this goal.
In this issue of UNBOUND, we explore the growing range of
these experiences. As you’ll read, our undergraduates have the
opportunity to test lifesaving products in developing countries,
organize and present their own one-credit courses, design
and build vehicles for national competitions and conduct
meaningful research alongside our graduate students. Our
exciting new teaching internship program for graduate students
is helping prepare them for careers in higher education.
The rationale for these initiatives is straightforward. When
students take responsibility for applying knowledge in realworld situations, they grow and mature both as engineers and
as individuals. It’s a powerful experience that adds a completely
new dimension to engineering education — and it’s clearly one
that is very attractive. Our applications for admission increased
15 percent over the past year alone.
J a m e s H. Ay l o r
Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science
Louis T. Rader Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
U.Va. Engineering
UNBOUND
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Editors
Charlie Feigenoff
Josie Pipkin
Art Director
Travis Searcy,
Mountain High Media
Photography
Tom Cogill
(unless otherwise noted)
U.Va. Engineering UNBOUND is published
by the School of Engineering and Applied
Science at the University of Virginia. An
online version of the magazine is available
at www.seas.virginia.edu/pubs/unbound.
Address corrections to U.Va. Engineering
Foundation, P.O. Box 400256, University of
Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4256, or
email to [email protected].
Cover
Members of the Hoos Flying
team at work in Lacy Hall.
The team took second
place in the 2013 SAE Aero
Design® East competition,
beating teams from colleges
in the United States and
around the world.