Dr. Eduardo Glandt, Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) treated Kent to a most engaging address.
Dean Glandt spoke to the entire School in Mattison Auditorium. He captivated the students with his enthusiasm, engaging manner and his extraordinary breadth of knowledge. Dr. Glandt made engineering exciting. He brought "miracles" of engineering by undergraduates at Penn to Kent students in a most accessible way. Whether it's their study of genetics and bio-engineering enabling undergrads to briefly glow with bioluminescence or computer chips students have worked on to help people with failing memories, Dr. Glandt's examples were relevant, fascinating and brought the engineering field to life.
The evening was enjoyed by all. Even our distinguished visitor, Dr. Glandt, who said, “The faculty are unanimously impressive and the students were very sharp and very engaged. What a pleasure!" He went on to say, "You should be very proud of the Pre-Engineering program, a highly visible asset that distinguishes Kent from its peers. It resonates with me because I am an engineer but also because it speaks to the balance that Kent tries to impart. Ben Franklin (who founded Penn) wrote that young people ought to be taught 'everything that is useful and everything that is ornamental.' This is what we are talking about!”
Dr. Glandt expressed enthusiasm for Kent's Pre-Engineering Program. He highlighted the fact that technology is everywhere around us and behind everything we do, wear, and eat. He also encouraged women to go into engineering and cited Penn's efforts to include women that have brought the percentage of women in Penn Engineering to nearly 40% (much higher than most engineering institutions). He also brought his decades of experience to Kent students in advice about college selections, applying to schools and emphasized majors that are time-tested such as Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering.
Dr. Glandt also spoke about unique opportunities at Penn, like Market and Social Systems Engineering, the first program of its kind in the world. This program prepares students to shape the technologies that underpin Internet-based search and electronic commerce, financial networks, social networks, and even such exchanges as the power grid. He gave examples and anecdotes of what some Engineering students at U. Penn. are doing in these majors. After taking questions from the audience, he finished with a Q&A session, where an impressive number of students gathered and peppered Dean Glandt with queries about college, engineering and their futures.
Eduardo D. Glandt is Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science and Robert D. Bent Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University of Buenos Aires in 1968 and earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from University of Pennsylvania in 1977. Since joining the faculty, he has served Penn in many capacities, including that of department Chairman between 1990 and 1994. Dr. Glandt is an expert in thermodynamics and statistical mechanics and has worked extensively on the properties of liquids. He serves on the boards of many organizations.
Thanks to Dr. Ben Nadire for information for this article.
