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| Tuesday, October 2, 2001 WRITER: Eric Dahl, (706) 583-0450, edahl@arches.uga.edu CONTACT: Dale Threadgill, (706) 542-1653, tgill@engr.uga.edu DIRECTOR NAMED FOR UGA FACULTY OF ENGINEERING ATHENS, Ga. — Dale Threadgill has been named director of the University of Georgia Faculty of Engineering by Provost Karen Holbrook. Threadgill is currently head of the department of biological and agricultural engineering at UGA and will continue in that role. The Faculty of Engineering includes faculty from units across the UGA campus who are either engineers or who have strong commitments to engineering because of its importance to their research, teaching and outreach programs. A symposium last spring identified interested faculty and discussed areas of opportunity to be encompassed in a comprehensive engineering program at UGA. “We need to go forward with ideas from the spring symposium aimed at building stronger interactions among our scientists and engineers,” said Holbrook. “Engineering is a necessary part of the mix in any quality research university, and Dr. Threadgill understands the importance of this linkage.” Threadgill took the lead in adding biological engineering to the agricultural engineering program in 1990. He also previously directed UGA’s engineering research at the Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton. While at Tifton he coordinated an interdisciplinary research team involving scientists from eight different disciplines. The team was awarded a $2.69 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, which at the time was the largest private research grant in the university's history. “We have more engineering capability spread across this campus than many people realize, and our symposium last spring identified several initiatives in engineering that have the potential to strengthen research overall at UGA,” Threadgill said. The Faculty of Engineering is developing potential interdisciplinary courses and programs as well as symposia in the coming year focused on industry partnerships and federal funding opportunities. Open forums will be held at UGA’s Tate Student Center on Oct. 30 and 31 from 2:30 to 5 p.m. to present the goals of the Faculty of Engineering, to describe programs being developed, and to invite additional faculty to participate as members. |