Numbers show significant growth in CEE department

Professor Youssef Hashash teaches the first class in the Khachaturian classroom in the M.T. Geoffrey Yeh Student Center in fall 2011.

CEE at Illinois has undergone significant growth in recent years in faculty size, research expenditures and enrollment. The department also has seen meaningful improvement in a number of other areas, including diversity, student quality and more.

 “We were not deterred by the economic downturn of 2008-2009—quite the opposite,” said Amr S. Elnashai, Professor and Head. “We took advantage of the crisis and became more creative and strategic—academically, administratively and fiscally.”

New reports generated by the department provide a snapshot view of gains made in recent years. Since 2011 CEE Illinois has:

• hired 12 new faculty members, bringing the total to 56, with more searches in progress.
• increased the diversity of the faculty by more than 80 percent.
• seen a considerable boost in the number of applicants to the graduate program, and a 25 percent increase in offers of admission.
• averaged a 26 percent women-to-men ratio in the undergraduate program, currently among the highest within the College of Engineering.
• increased the number of minority students entering the graduate program by 10 percent and doubled the number of international students accepting offers.
• seen a rise in ACT scores, with a composite score of 32.02 for the incoming freshman class.
• achieved a 99 percent pass rate for the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, required for professional licensure in the United States, surpassing the national average of 80 percent.

Although top rankings grab headlines, Elnashai said, the underlying strength of the department is what ultimately attracts students.

“Students come to Illinois because of our exceptional faculty and unparalleled education and research infrastructure,” he said.

Funding for research is on the rise, with sponsored research up 16 percent in the past year, totaling $21.25 million and overall expenditures up 17 percent to $38.03 million.

“Research expenditure means we are working on discoveries and supporting more Ph.D. students, who graduate and change the world in academe and industry,” he said.

Elnashai is confident that CEE will build on its successes and that advancements will continue to be clearly reflected in future data.

“We are uniquely managed according to an intricate academic business plan that couples our goals to budget investments,” he said. “This coupled academic business construct underpins our lead and renders our progress totally quantifiable.”