Dean's Community Message

September 29, 2020

Dear College of Engineering Community,

I hope you are having an excellent start to the week. Recently, I asked for suggestions of tactics to battle the fatigue we’re all dealing with during these strange times. We’ve received multiple submissions and I encourage you to send your ideas, too.

A suggestion from Rudy Haluza, one of the student organizers of our Engineering Research Symposium, speaks to the power of innovation. The event organizers needed a platform more suited to virtual socializing and networking. That led them to investigate potential solutions like Gathertown and Remo, which they are now planning to try out in their upcoming Call for Abstracts event in November. Thanks for the tip, Rudy, and for seeking out new ways to facilitate connections in our virtual environment.

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

Here are today’s updates:

On-Demand Testing: Employees

University Park employees who have direct, in-person interaction with students and wish to be tested can now do so on campus. Employee-only testing will be conducted in the basement level of the HUB Parking Deck from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. through at least Thursday (Oct. 1). At the same location, employees and students can be tested from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Additionally, it is expected that this testing availability will continue, with schedule/location to be announced. Please note that testing is only available to those employees performing on-campus work (i.e. not fully remote).

Reminder: Sept. 30 Staff Discussion and Q&A

From 11 a.m. to noon tomorrow, the college will host a virtual open-ended discussion and Q&A session for all staff. I will be joined virtually by other members of the college’s leadership team, including Anthony Atchley, Peter Butler, George Lesieutre, Tonya Peeples, and Chris Rahn. If you are planning to attend, please complete the brief RSVP and check your email for access information.

Pennsylvania COVID Alert App

Penn State is asking members of the community to utilize the new COVID Alert PA app to help support existing virus monitoring and contact tracing efforts at the University. The app, which also helps users track potential COVID-19 symptoms and provides statewide virus statistics from the Department of Health’s COVID-19 data dashboard, is available on smartphones from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Penn State also offers a symptom checker tool via the Penn State Go app.

Teaching Tip #45 – New digital equation editor tool available

Penn State has purchased a license for the accessible EquatIO equation editor and digital math toolset. The app is Windows/Mac and can be downloaded by faculty, staff and students. For more information, see the Quickstart Guide.

And finally today, I wanted to let you know that the college’s facilities master plan implementation will take an important step forward next week as mobilization and site preparation is slated to begin for the construction of West 2 Building on West Campus. Here’s to forward progress!

Be well!

Justin Schwartz
Harold and Inge Marcus Dean, College of Engineering