iFoundry is pleased to give an Illinois welcome to a special delegation from one of the most innovative undergraduate engineering programs on the planet, the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering. The team is led by Olin President, Richard K. Miller, and he is accompanied by Olin Founding VP for Innovation & Research, Sherra E. Kerns and Olin EE & Physics faculty member, Mark Somerville. On the agenda are meetings to discuss the possibility of cooperation been Olin and Illinois on a variety of matters.

“The study of engineering and technology from the philosophical, historical, cultural, behavioral, and sociological perspectives is essential to address important contemporary problems at the interface of technology and society,” explained Ilesanmi Adesida, dean of the College of Engineering. “Although we have been extraordinarily successful at educating students to become the best engineers in the world, we must continually adapt, to strengthen the creative capacity of our students and to preserve their strong technical skills while emphasizing the elements of design, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility.

Dean Ilesanmi Adesida adds his endorsement to the agreement. “Olin College has one of the most innovative programs in the design and implementation of a creative engineering curriculum appropriate to our times, and we’re happy to partner with them,” Adesida added. The impetus for Olin College started in the late 1980’s, when the National Science Foundation, the National Academy of Engineering, and engineering community at-large began calling for reform in engineering education. In order to serve the needs of the growing global economy, it was clear that engineers needed to have business and entrepreneurship skills, creativity, and an understanding of the social, political, and economic contexts of engineering.

Representatives from one of the world’s newest and most innovative engineering colleges and one of the largest and strongest research powerhouses are joining together to help transform engineering education. On September 12, Richard K. Miller, president of the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering, and Richard H. Herman, chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, signed a memorandum of understanding that creates the Olin-Illinois Partnership (OIP) agreeing to work together “to improve engineering education in matters such as content, curriculum, pedagogy, and organizational change.”

“Too often academic institutions work in isolation, but the pivotal role of engineering education in a technological age, and the challenges of accelerating times demand a more collaborative approach, and today Olin and Illinois have taken an important first step along that path,” Herman remarked.

Although the schools are very different in age, size, and mission, the arrangement combines the complementary strengths of the two institutions in a way that should benefit engineering education around the world. Olin was founded with a primary mission of reforming undergraduate engineering in 1997 through a substantial gift from the F. W. Olin Foundation, and its doors opened to its inaugural class of first-year students in 2002.

The College of Engineering at Illinois continues to be one of the top-ranked engineering programs in the nation. Its 12 departments and 15 degree programs cover the full range of engineering disciplines. Established in 1870, Engineering at Illinois provides its 5,500-plus undergraduates with a broad base of science and fundamentals as well as specialized training and research within the various disciplines.

“The study of engineering and technology from the philosophical, historical, cultural, behavioral, and sociological perspectives is essential to address important contemporary problems at the interface of technology and society,” explained Ilesanmi Adesida, dean of the College of Engineering. “Although we have been extraordinarily successful at educating students to become the best engineers in the world, we must continually adapt, to strengthen the creative capacity of our students and to preserve their strong technical skills while emphasizing the elements of design, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility.