Campus has been quiet in the last couple of months in summer, with only the sound of birds in the trees and bees buzzing around the late spring flowers, and the occasional noise of construction equipment breaking the rhythm of the calmness in the air. But the quietude belies the excitement of all things in store for the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and WSU in an exciting new academic year that starts this month. Soon waves of students, both new and returning, will fill the hallways of EME and Sloan, making noise and knocking on doors. EECS enrollments are continuing to trend up and suggest a strong recovery from the doldrums of the pandemic years.
The new year brings new landmarks for EECS, new opportunities for students, and new faces among the faculty. We are looking forward to graduating our first cohort of cybersecurity majors from EECS. New opportunities for workshops, seminars, hackathons and other extracurricular opportunities await our incoming students. Various centers housed in EECS, including the Energy Systems Innovation Center, the Department of Defense-funded Northwest Cybersecurity Education and Research (CySER) Institute, and NSF-USDA funded AgAID AI Institute, as well as the WSU-Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Advanced Grid Institute will offer students in-house opportunities to do undergraduate research in interdisciplinary topics grounded in real-world applications, attend workshops and seminars, compete in hackathons, and attend regional and international conferences.
Our research program is flourishing with faculty and student excellence in various areas including AI and machine learning, architecture and electronic design automation, power systems, cybersecurity, software engineering, high-performance computing, and interdisciplinary data sciences.
Two of our PhD graduates, Aryan Deshwal and Wen Li, are going on to take tenure-track faculty positions at leading institutions in the areas of AI and machine learning, and cybersecurity. PhD student Dina Hossein has been selected to attend the Heidelberg Laureate Forum. Numerous student-led publications have been recognized at leading international venues with best paper awards.
With over $11 million annual research expenditure in 2023, our faculty continue to secure competitive extramural funding and build research programs that are acquiring world-class recognition. Rankings and reputation are starting to climb in various areas of computer science and electrical engineering.
EECS is also home to over 16 CAREER and young investigator awardees and several endowed faculty title holders. Interim Dean Partha Pande’s induction into the 2024-25 Washington State Academy of Sciences caps a significant year of research accomplishments and leadership for the school.
In the coming year, EECS will add six new faculty members in various areas including in power systems and power electronics, machine learning and natural language processing, optimization and signal processing, and programming languages and high-performance computing.
With growth in the program size, reputation, as well as the breadth of course offerings across majors, comes new challenges and growing pains. Our scholarship funds need more resources to be able to offer competitive scholarships to well-deserving students, particularly within various growing areas of computer science. Improved lab infrastructure including computing resources and collaborative spaces are needed to support experiential learning experiences for our students as they convene within our classrooms, lab spaces, and corridors.
Furthering ties and partnerships with industry will be key to advancing mentorship and career opportunities for our students and to provide real opportunities for professional development and career preparedness. Diversifying the student body and promoting inclusiveness among all majors continue to be high priority. I call upon all those who are interested to contribute or to share ideas.
As I look forward to this new year with excitement, I feel proud of all our faculty, students, and staff, and of all the things they have accomplished in the recent years. I am equally proud of our industry partners, executive council members, and our alumni network for extending their continuous and enthusiastic support and ambassadorship for our program. I feel upbeat!
Ananth Kalyanaraman
Interim Director