| Henry Samueli School of Engineering | |
| Type: | Academic unit |
| Affiliation: | University of California, Irvine |
| Dean: | Magnus Egerstedt |
Henry Samueli School of Engineering should not be confused with UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science.
The Henry Samueli School of Engineering (HSSoE) is the academic unit of the University of California, Irvine (UC Irvine) that oversees academic research and teaching in disciplines of the field of engineering. Established when the campus opened in 1965, the school consists of five departments, each of which is involved in academic research in its specific field, as well as several interdisciplinary fields. The school confers Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.
According to the UC Irvine academic catalogue, HSSoE research areas include: biochemical and bioreactor engineering, earthquake engineering, water resources, transportation, parallel and distributed computer systems, intelligent systems and neural networks, image and signal processing, opto-electronic devices and materials, high-frequency devices and systems, integrated micro and nanoscale systems, fuel cell technology, fluid mechanics, combustion and jet propulsion, materials processing, robotics, and modern control theory.[1]
In 2000, the school, along with its counterpart at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), were renamed in honor of Henry Samueli, co-founder of Irvine-based Broadcom Corporation, for his 1999 donations of $20 million and $30 million to the schools of engineering at UC Irvine and UCLA, respectively.[2] [3]
The most recent permanent Dean of the HSSoE was Gregory Washington, who held the position from August 1, 2011 until July 1, 2020 when he resigned in order to accept appointment as President of George Mason University. Magnus Egerstedt will took over as dean in July 2021.[4]
Each of the five departments confers Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees. The School of Engineering also offers a general B.S. degree in Engineering to upper-division students who wish to pursue an interdisciplinary program of study spanning more than one of the engineering departments, or a program not offered by one of the departments such as hydrology or project management.[8]
The School of Engineering offers interdisciplinary degrees in conjunction with the Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences: a B.S. in computer science and engineering, and M.S. and Ph.D. in Networked Systems.
Most, but not all, undergraduate degree programs are accredited by ABET.[9] The first program to receive accreditation was Electrical Engineering in 1968; the most recent was Biomedical Engineering in 2008. Programs not accredited include two of the aforementioned interdisciplinary degrees (general Engineering, Networked Systems).
In keeping with the University of California's primary mission as a research institution, all of the HSSoE's departments are involved in academic research. Additionally, HSSoE faculty and students are involved with several interdisciplinary research centers affiliated with UCI, other academic, research, or medical institutions, government agencies, and private industry. These research centers include:[10]
See also: University of California, Irvine campus. Most of the school's facilities occupy one of the "spokes" of the UC Irvine campus' "Ring Road", its main 1miles circular pedestrian mall on which the university's academic schools (except for Arts, Business, and Medicine) are situated. This includes department offices, faculty offices, laboratories, classrooms and lecture halls, and a number of research facilities. Architecturally speaking, the school consists of a buildings ranging from brutalist to postmodern.
The brutalist Engineering Tower, designed by the Los Angeles firm Kistner, Wright & Wright and constructed in 1969-1970 during the campus' original building boom, is the tallest building on the main campus. It is noted for its cantilevered design which makes it nearly twice as wide at the top than at the base. Most of the remaining buildings, including the postmodern Engineering Gateway and flagship Calit2 facility, were built during the campus building boom that has lasted from the late 1980s until the present. The school also has portable classroom buildings that house classrooms, laboratories, and offices.
For many years Engineering shared some facilities with the Department of Information and Computer Science (ICS), including the Frank Gehry-designed ICS/Engineering Research Facility (IERF). However, following ICS' 2002 elevation to school status, as well as its 2004 endowment from Orange County real estate mogul Donald Bren, ICS moved many of its laboratories and offices out of shared space into the newly constructed Bren Hall located between Engineering and the Physical Sciences. IERF was demolished in 2007 and Engineering Hall was built in its place.
Founded as the School of Engineering in 1965 with just two faculty members and 75 students declaring engineering majors; the school today serves more than 4,500 students (3,598 undergraduates and 951 graduates) enrolled in 12 undergraduate degree majors and 13 graduate degree programs. The school was renamed The Henry Samueli School of Engineering in 1999 after Samueli, co-founder, chairman and chief technical officer of Broadcom Inc., made a generous donation.
Private support from the community, alumni and corporations grew to $35.8 million in 2016–17. Gifts to the Samueli School help fund scholarships and fellowships for students, exciting research activities being conducted by faculty and graduate students, STEM outreach and critical academic programs.[11]