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AE Mission, Vision and Goals

The primary mission of the department is to prepare students for successful careers in professional practice and to conduct research in the design, engineering, and construction of buildings with special emphasis on high performance green buildings. High performance green buildings are energy efficient, healthy, productive, and safe facilities that reduce the environmental impact of the built environment through the use of integrated systems and appropriate materials. To accomplish this mission, the scope of the department’s teaching, research and service efforts includes:

Designing all building systems on principles of safety and serviceability;
Creating high quality, healthy, safe, energy efficient, and productive indoor environments;
Designing lighting and electrical systems that are highly functional and make appropriate use of daylight;
Integrating building systems within a design to optimize overall building performance;
Constructing these facilities using the most functional project delivery methods, building information modeling practices, and efficient construction systems; and,
Promoting leadership and positive influence on the education, design and practice of architectural engineering.

Our vision is to educate world-class architectural engineers capable of excelling in the creation of high performance buildings – addressing both new and existing building stock – and to continue to be recognized as the premier academic program in the integration of teaching, research, and service in architectural engineering. World-class architectural engineers are: (1) Solidly grounded with high professional ethics to handle real life problems elegantly; (2) competent with breadth and depth in engineering fundamentals and building systems; (3) aware of the world and sensitive to the environment and international cultures; (4) versatile and flexible in providing professional services and understanding entrepreneurship; (5) effective in team operation and cooperation skills; (6) effective in communication skills and leadership roles. Crucial to our vision is the promotion of continued leadership of architectural engineers in creating positive influences on the education, design, and practice of architecture besides the engineering of building systems.

To accomplish our mission and approach our vision, the Architectural Engineering Department has identified the following goals:

Provide students with the best cross-disciplinary education available for successful careers in the building professions of high performance building design and construction;
Promote effective and efficient graduate programs by developing the resources and programs to attract an outstanding and diverse body of graduate students. Grow external and internal student interest in the Department’s graduate program;
Enhance the AE Department’s leading position in high performance green building research through existing and new initiatives to advance the state-of-the-art in the Architectural Engineering field, particularly related in sustainability and energy efficiency;
Enhance academic excellence through the effective support of faculty, students, and staff including acquiring the necessary human and physical resources to assure expanded success in the Department’s teaching and research goals; and,
Develop and implement a department governance structure that promotes collaboration and cooperation among the Department Head, faculty, and staff.