Frieder Seible

It was with great pleasure that I assumed the duties of Interim Dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering in July. This is a truly remarkable period in the School's history and it is an honor to be part of it. Computer Science and Engineering Professor Jeanne Ferrante, our new Associate
Dean, is partnering with me in steering the Jacobs School through the transition period until the ongoing national search for a new Dean is concluded.

From its physical infrastructure to its faculty and students, the Jacobs School is continuing its
fast trajectory forward. This summer, we welcomed 15 new faculty, making this the most successful recruiting season in the School’s recent history.

I’m impressed by the extraordinary quality of the new faculty who are adding to our strengths
in fields critical for future innovation. Much of their work will be focused on important application areas such as healthcare, critical infrastructure and environmental monitoring, telecommunications and mobile computing, and enhancements to the Internet.

At the same time, student interest soared and graduate applications for Fall 2002 admission
increased by 71% to 5,255, following a 42% increase last year when applications rose to 3,072. We offered admission to only the best, and expect to enroll 315 new graduate students this fall. At the undergraduate level, we received 8,877 applications, and expect to enroll 1,300 new freshmen and transfer students this fall.

Making room for continued growth, the School dedicated the Powell-Focht Bioengineering Hall on August 12, opening the doors to UCSD’s first academic facility funded almost entirely through private support. You can read more about the dedication on page 8. Together with other ongoing construction projects, we’ll add close to 500,000 square feet to our engineering campus in the next two to three years.

Our partnerships with industry are going strong and we welcomed three companies to our Corporate Affiliates Program and three companies to the Center for Wireless Communications in the past few months. We appreciate the continued industry support for the Jacobs School, especially as we all are experiencing a difficult economic climate.

Let me close by remembering the anniversary of September 11, 2001. We at the Jacobs School, like others across the country and throughout the world, took time out on the anniversary date to remember those who lost their lives. As a School, we are now looking
towards how we can apply our research in the fight against terror. This summer, we inventoried some 40 ongoing research projects in the Jacobs School that have direct relevance to homeland security. You can read more about many of these projects in our cover story, and we’ll be sure to update you on continuing progress in future issues of the newsletter on our expansion of knowledge and innovation in this important area. As our UCSD Chancellor Robert Dynes so eloquently stated: “Knowledge and innovation are the best weapons against terrorism.”