AE Newsletter - Fall/Winter 2003

This has been an exciting year for the Architectural Engineering Department.  Since the beginning of our fiscal year in July 2003, the AE Department has been awarded nearly two million dollars in new grants and contracts from important and highly competitive funding sources such as the National Science Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security, the Construction Industry Institute, and the U.S. General Services Administration.  These new grants and contracts represent significant opportunities for the faculty in this department to lead multi-disciplinary efforts to advance the state of the art in architectural engineering, and to support high-quality graduate students in the pursuit of their M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.  These new grants and contracts also represent significant responsibilities that we must now discharge in a fully competent manner.  Moreover, we must discharge these new R&D responsibilities without undermining the topflight Bachelor of Architectural Engineering undergraduate degree program, which is the strong foundation of this department.

From the perspective of an AE Department at Penn State University in 2004, having a significant research presence is crucial for the reputation of the Department, for the professional success of our faculty in terms of their promotion and tenure, and for alignment of this department with the strategic vision of Penn State: to be one of the nation’s finest universities and lead others in the integration of teaching, research and outreach.  The AE Department is in alignment with this Penn State vision.  This is where we need to be.

 Best wishes to you and your families.

Yours truly,

Richard A. Behr, Ph.D., P.E.
Department Head