Dean's Message

As the engineering and applied sciences college at a large university, part of our mission is pursuing important research and facilitating development of engineering models, innovations and technology. Our expert faculty bring intense dedication to this mission, resulting in advancing their fields and educating future researchers—something that is apparent in the work and success of our alumni.

This all begins in Floyd Hall, the cornerstone of WMU’s Parkview Campus. The 343,000-square-foot facility was built around the evolving needs of our students and faculty researchers. From transportation and construction research to advanced automotive design to printed electronics and human design, our 75+ labs offer the latest technological tools to support faculty and student research. Sharing our campus with the Business and Technology Research Park provides tremendous opportunities for interactions among private-sector businesses and our faculty and students. 

You can read about many of our ongoing research projects in the latest research edition of our magazine INSPIRE. From advanced wind tunnels to construction research in the face of environmental threats to buildings and so much more, you will discover the innovative work our team pursues, including the excitement surrounding the Aurrigo Auto-Pod donation that is elevating the energy efficient and autonomous vehicle research taking place within our doors. Read on to explore highlights from our research, including:

• Dr. Kristina Lemmer continues to support NASA’s propulsion efforts.
• Dr. Valerian Kwigizile is using data to address urban transportation goals and micro-mobility safety issues.
• Dr. Shameek Bhattacharjee partnered with Missouri University of Science and Technology to develop a novel anomaly detection framework—and is applying it in Nashville, Tennessee. He looks to a time when the framework can be applied to an electric grid.
• Dr. Sinan Sonmez has produced important insights into sustainability and recycling research for the paper and inks industry.

I hope you will enjoy learning about the extensive research happening on our campus and will contact me for more information—either to partner with us or to learn more.