As the new academic year begins for the
School of Engineering and Textiles at Philadelphia
University and I begin my 13th year as dean, I am
pleased to send you my annual “Letter from the Dean” which
outlines last year’s accomplishments and this year’s plans
for the future.
Last year our first class of 14
students enrolled in the BS in Industrial and Systems
Engineering (www.philau.edu/ise)
joined us. And this year they will be joined by another
class of new engineering students who can choose from the
following BS Engineering Programs (mechanical
engineering, industrial and systems engineering and
engineering (with minor concentrations in either
architectural, environmental, mechanical, industrial or
textile engineering). For the latter engineering program
students will take 4 courses in their minor concentration. (www.philau.edu/engineering).
We also revamped our legacy BS in textile engineering
program and have developed a new and relevant program
leading to a BS in Textile Engineering Technology.
During the summer, we outfitted a new
and state-of-the-art Fundamentals of Engineering
Classroom/Laboratory where all of our engineering
students will have access to a teaching environment wherein
each student has access to a MAC computer that also runs
Windows programs and engineering systems learning modules to
enhance their classroom experience.
This year our faculty is preparing
proposals for new engineering programs leading to a BS in
Architectural Engineering, a dual degree with the School
of Science and Health leading to a BS in Environmental
Science/ BS in Environmental Engineering and a BS in
Quality Assurance Technology (with emphasis of fashion,
fabrics and consumer products). All of our undergraduate
engineering curricula are responsive to the recent National
Academy of Engineering study “Engineering Education for
2020”,
Our funded research programs
associated with textile engineering and science continue to
flourish. Last month we signed a contract for our third
year of funding from the U.S. Department of Defense for the
Laboratory for Engineered Human Protection (LEHP).
Our total funding now approaches $4,000,000. LEHP has as
its primary mission research and development associated with
the confluence of protection and comfort for chemical
warfare protection uniforms. Areas of study include textile
engineering, apparel design, artificial neural network
analysis, and computational chemistry. Faculty from the
School of Engineering and Textiles, School of Science and
Health and School of Business Administration along with MS
and PhD graduate students are involved with the program. Our
research associated with the National Textile Center
(NTC) is in its 7th year. The NTC is a federally
funded research consortium that includes Philadelphia
University, Georgia Tech, North Carolina State, Auburn,
Clemson, Cornell, UMASS-Dartmouth and UCAL-Davis. Each year
Philadelphia University receives approximately $1,000,000
from the NTC to support research and graduate students.
To support LEHP we have established a
state-of-the art thermo-mechanical evaluation facility
for fabrics and garments. The centerpiece of this
facility is a “Walking Sweating Manikin’ and an
environmental chamber to house it. This $450,000 investment
(funded by the DoD) will provide our researchers and
students the ability to analyze the thermo-mechanical
factors which determine biophysical comfort.
This year we will be adding a new
Fashion Design Studio to our facilities. This new
studio will give our relatively large class of fashion
design students much needed to space to learn and create
their superlative designs. Philadelphia University’s
Fashion Design students showcased their fabulous, creative
and innovative designs at the University’s annual Fashion
Show held May 6 at the historic Academy of Music. Nearly
2,200 students and their families, faculty members,
designers and fashion and apparel industry professionals
turned out for the event, which featured the best of this
year’s student-fashion designs.The show is the culmination
of years of study and hands on, practical work for fashion
design students and is produced by the campus chapter of the
Fashion Industries Association (FIA), which includes
students in the Fashion Design, Fashion Merchandising and
Fashion Industry Management programs. A highlight of the
night was a taped message from Carson Kressley, a star of
Bravo TV’s hit show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, who
welcomed guests and congratulated the winners of the show.
On a sad note I regret to inform you that Nora Aponte,
a beloved teacher who oversaw the fashion design/ study
abroad program at American University of Rome since its
inception in 1999, passed away in Rome in May 2006.
With financial support of Cotton,
Incorporated, Philadelphia University challenged an
interdisciplinary group of students to develop a promotional
campaign for a technologically-enhanced cotton product. The
student teams designed campaigns around aromatherapy-infused
cotton sheeting, a water resistant denim promotion in South
America using television as the primary medium and stain
resistant cotton footwear. Our Fashion Industry
Management program continues to see enrollment growth
and has recently been endorsed by the American Apparel and
Footwear Association. To merit the Association’s
endorsement, each institution’s curriculum is reviewed by an
appointed group of industry professionals and peers from
other schools. These institutions complete a comprehensive
self-analysis of the competencies they deliver in such areas
as textiles, marketing, merchandising, product development,
material utilization, spreading, cutting, work measurement,
assembly, finishing, technology, costing, production
scheduling, quality management, sourcing and MIS.
Former textile industry executive
Marcia Weiss, M.F.A., has joined Philadelphia University
this past spring as a visiting assistant professor of
Textile Design. Weiss started her professional career at
Burlington Industries as a stylist in the House division.
She held a variety of increasingly senior positions there,
rising to vice president of design. She later assisted in
the transition of the Burlington House Window Division to
Springs Industries. Teaching at Philadelphia University is
a homecoming of sorts for Weiss, who earned a B.S. in
Textile Design (’83) from the University. More recently,
she earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Savannah
College of Art and Design and taught courses in fashion,
fiber and foundation studies there.
As part of the University’s ongoing assessment initiative, the
faculty in Textile Design have completed an Employer
Survey (55 responses) that will serve as the basis for our
first Advisory Board meeting during the Fall 06 semester.
The Spring BS/MS Textile Design Exhibition was held at the
Philadelphia University Research Center.
As the institution that
founded Phi Psi 100 years ago (Alpha Chapter), we
will be hosting the 100th Annual Meeting on
February 22-25, 2007. Phi Psi Fraternity is a professional
co-ed textile fraternity whose mission is to capture,
nurture, and mutually benefit, from the efforts of a select
group of students, focusing on professionalism, teamwork,
and brotherhood.
Hitoshi Ujiie, associate
professor of Textile Design, edited the book Digital
Printing of Textiles, published by Woodhead Publishing. In
addition, he authored the chapter Design and Workflow in
Digital Inkjet Printing. Another chapter, Integration of
Fabric Formation and Coloration Processes, was authored by
Brian George, associate professor of Textile
Engineering, Muthu Govindaraj, professor of
engineering, and Professor Ujiie. Philadelphia
University students and graduates Deanna Wood, Monica
Fruscello, Alexa Tremere and Swapnil Nandedkar also
co-authored this chapter. Assistant Professor of Biology
Anne Bockarie and Associate Professor of Textile Engineering
Brian George authored the chapter Textile Products
Produced from Alternative Fibers as part of the book
Recycling in Textiles, which was published by Woodhead
Publishing. Jerry Rosenau , Associate Professor of
Fashion Industry Management co-wrote a new textbook, -
Apparel Merchandising Management: The Line Starts Here,
second edition. The book was coauthored by David Wilson and
published by Fairchild Books.
Finally, the University will be holding
the Annual Homecoming Weekend on the last weekend of
September, 2006 and the highlight will be the dedication and
opening of the new Kanbar Campus Center. Homecoming
information can be found at
http://www.philau.edu/alumni/homecoming.html
All of us hope you can come to this
exciting event.
On behalf of our faculty and students I
would like to thank all of our friends and alums who gave us
support this past year. We all look forward to another
exciting and productive year.
Dave
Brookstein
Dean –
School of Engineering & Textiles
brooksteind@philau.edu
