From the Dean

This past May, the Francis College of Engineering graduated the largest class in its 128-year history, with 587 bachelor’s, 257 master’s and 36 doctoral students.

The large number of bachelor’s degree graduates is the result of the combination of our largest-ever freshman class entering in fall 2019 and the student-centered programs that we provide to support student success. These students were looking forward to having the “full college experience”—that is, pursuing an engineering education that is taught by world-class faculty, learning from the many hands-on experiences throughout the program and participating in summer internships, co-op opportunities and a wide choice of vibrant social experiences, as well as making new friends and just hanging out with other people.

That full college experience was dashed when the campus moved to remote learning in March 2020 and did not resume in-person classes until fall 2021. Despite that 18-month gap, we maintained high-quality teaching and support services through remote learning and virtual meetings. The students found ways to get together online. The result was students graduating in record time and in record numbers.

We are currently working to get our newest bachelor’s degree programs accredited by ABET. We were notified in October that our Biomedical Engineering program is now fully accredited, and this accreditation is effective for those who graduated in the program from December 2021 onward. In September, ABET was on-site to review our Environmental Engineering program, and in fall 2024, our newest program, Industrial Engineering, will be evaluated.

In September, the university opened the Lowell Advanced Robotics Institute (LARI) on the fourth floor of Southwick Hall on North Campus. This lab complements the New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation (NERVE) Center at 110 Canal St. in downtown Lowell. LARI is a collaboration among faculty in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, and mechanical engineering. Its 16-foot-high ceiling can accommodate flying drones while robots walk and roll about on the floor. This floor space was once home to a basketball court, circa the 1930s, and then to classrooms—with the basketball court floor lines still visible. I recall vividly walking into one of the classrooms to teach in 1994 and seeing what looked like markings on the floor denoting the free-throw line. I will be on the lookout for any basketball-playing robots—swish!

I continue to be a strong advocate for our engineering co-op program by encouraging every undergraduate engineering student to do at least one six-month co-op. Our co-op program aligns with the Enrollment and Student Success priority in the university’s 2028 Strategic Plan, which was developed under the leadership of Chancellor Julie Chen. Earlier this year, the chancellor pledged that every UMass Lowell undergraduate student will have the opportunity for at least one paid career-connected work experience while they are a student.

Our co-op program aligns perfectly with this priority. Our engineering students continue to be in high demand by companies, as evidenced by the fact that our Office of Career Services and Cooperative Education Center has more co-op jobs than students to fill them, and amazing experiences await our students. Recently, I talked with Bridget Jackson, who completed a spring 2023 semester co-op with NASA at the Kennedy Space Center on Cape Canaveral, Florida. Her experience was incredible—not only did she get to design and test hardware for sending astronauts to the moon and beyond, but she also got to visit the Astronaut Beach House, where every astronaut since 1963 has celebrated before going into space. This house is not on any NASA tour. The lesson here is that a co-op experience is more than just a job.

The theme for this issue of Engineering Solutions is HEROES, which stands for Harnessing Emerging Research Opportunities to Empower Soldiers. HEROES is a partnership between UMass Lowell and the U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center in Natick, Massachusetts, where UML faculty and students work cooperatively with Army researchers.

The HEROES initiative started in 2013, and since then, it has taken advantage of the synergy of the collaboration of researchers in academia, the military, the Department of Defense and the private sector. My own research team has participated in three projects—the forming of textile-reinforced composite combat helmets, the development of insect-bite-resistant lightweight uniform fabrics for tropical climates and the modeling of material behavior of parachute suspension lines and canopy fabrics. Note that each one of these has a textile thread (pun intended). Thus, each of these projects and many other fabric-based projects continue the textile theme upon which UML’s predecessor, the Lowell Textile School, was founded in 1895.

In the ever-evolving landscape of soldier technological challenges, it is the passion, dedication and commitment of the staff of the HEROES initiative that serves as an example for enabling collective excellence. The HEROES team combines the efforts of world-class scientists and engineers at UMass Lowell and the U.S. Army with industry leaders to create novel products for the U.S. soldier. The research not only scales new heights in defense technology and strategies but also fortifies our soldiers’ combat protection, sustainment and effectiveness. We are profoundly grateful for their contributions and are proud to have them represent the very best at UMass Lowell.

Feel free to contact me (James_Sherwood@uml.edu, 978-934-3313 or via LinkedIn) if you have a story to share or would like to partner with the Francis College of Engineering. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

James A. Sherwood, Ph.D., P.E.
Dean, Francis College of Engineering
University of Massachusetts Lowell