A new academic year has begun and the campus has come back to life again with students pouring into Ann Arbor. It is a time of excitement and optimism.

I am pleased that the demand for both our graduate and undergraduate programs continues to be exceptionally strong. Applications for our undergraduate programs rose 12 percent over the 2001 level, which was already at an all-time high. And the quality of incoming students continues to improve; students in our entering class had a median 3.9 high school grade-point average—an exceptional figure and the highest of any of the University of Michigan’s 19 schools and colleges. But perhaps more important than their academic accomplishments are the diverse interests and broad achievements of our entering class. Our new first-year students are filmmakers and environmental activists. They are volunteers at camps for children with brain injuries. They are hospital volunteers working in pediatric wards and in homes for the elderly. They are symphony musicians and concert choristers. They are young innovators. In short, they are not only brilliant students; they are deeply concerned with complex human issues and activities that transcend scholastic achievement. This diversity of backgrounds allows these students to approach the solution of problems from a variety of directions and bodes well for the educational experience they will have.

It has been our experience that coming at a problem in different ways, through collaboration of individuals with varied backgrounds, often leads to superior insight and solutions. This was illustrated in a previous issue of Michigan Engineer in which we highlighted the interdisciplinary activities of our large centers, e.g., the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, the Automotive Research Center and our two National Science Foundation Engineering Research Centers. In this issue, we report on some of the interdisciplinary work that is taking place at the individual project level. For example, one of the articles describes the collaborative work that went into creating new devices to detect toxic agents—a subject of great importance in these troubled times. And another article describes the remarkable shared effort that has led to the development of special materials that enable doctors to grow customized bone and flesh to replace a person’s damaged tissue. In addition, there is a story that recounts an interdisciplinary project in which researchers strengthened common concrete to create a “super concrete” that could help skyscrapers withstand tremendous forces. This issue of Michigan Engineer also continues our tradition of describing the work that some of our alumni have done and which has made a significant difference.

I hope you find the issue informative and interesting.
 
We are also committed to making sure we are reporting on the kinds of activities that you are most interested in learning about. In this vein, we would very much like to hear from you. If you wish to share your thoughts with us, please send an email to claytonb@engin.umich.edu with “Thoughts about Michigan Engineer” in the subject line. And if you are interested in the latest news and information about Michigan Engineering, I invite you to visit us on the Web at www.engin.umich.edu.

Sincerely,

Stephen W. Director
Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering