Awareness of College Excellence

What is ACE?

The ACE webpage is designed as a one-stop site to celebrate the excellent faculty, students, alumni, research, and education at the University of Massachusetts College of Engineering. By visiting this site, you can get a good overview of the quality, achievements, and productivity of the college community at all levels. By following the links on this page, you can also read the details that demonstrate the College of Engineering’s overall excellence.

Dean's Message: The ACE Campaign

One of my primary goals as the Dean at the College of Engineering is to draw more attention to the obvious excellence that exists here. What better way to accomplish this goal than to launch a campaign? So welcome to the webpage for our Awareness of College Excellence campaign, ACE for short. During the last year I have been trying to distill and articulate the essence of the UMass Amherst College of Engineering educational experience. What I see is that students come to the college with a strong desire to succeed. They are smart, motivated, and able. Many come from backgrounds with limited resources, and some are the first from their families to attend college. Their experience here in the College of Engineering is transformational in that it enables them to realize a "high delta" in outcomes. For countless alumni (including me), the UMass Amherst experience has been a "game changer."
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Dean Djaferis Wins IEEE CSS Distinguished Member Award

On December 14, College of Engineering Dean Ted Djaferis was recognized with a 2011 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Control Systems Society (CSS) Distinguished Member Award. This was one of two Distinguished Member Awards given in 2011 and one of only 86 that have been given out since the formation of CSS in 1954. The award was presented during the CSS Awards Ceremony at the 2011 IEEE Conference on Decision and Control, held in conjunction with the 2011 European Control Conference in Orlando, Florida.

Sneakers 4 Success Inspires City Kids to Aim High

A feature story in the January 3 Springfield Republican looked at the Sneakers 4 Success program started by mechanical engineering undergrad Samuel Del Pilar at the Renaissance School in Springfield to teach urban children about real-world business through what he calls “sneaker culture.” Del Pilar developed Sneakers 4 Success as an educational program that teaches city students real-life marketing, design, and business skills through their affinity for basketball sneakers. Sneakers 4 Success recently won $1,750 in the Executive Summary & Elevator Pitch phase of the University of Massachusetts Innovation Challenge.

CEE Alum Receives Legends of the Industry Award

James E. Walsh, who earned his Doctorate in Civil Engineering from the college in 1977, was recently selected by the Home Builders Association of Massachusetts (HBAM) to receive its Legends of the Industry Award. Dr. Walsh is a partner at Valley Planning, Inc., and the owner of WLC Consultants, Inc. This prestigious award is presented to a member or retired member of the association who has significantly contributed to the progress of both the association and building industry during the course of his or her career. The award is presented to one member from each of the local associations across the state.

Engineers Make “Building Blocks of Chemical Industry” From Wood While Boosting Production by 40 Percent

Chemical engineers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, using their own licensed catalytic fast pyrolysis process for transforming renewable non-food biomass into petrochemicals, have developed a new catalyst that boosts the yield for five key “building blocks of the chemical industry” by a remarkable 40 percent over previous catalysts. This sustainable production process, which promises to be competitive and compatible with the current petroleum refinery infrastructure, has been tested and proven in a laboratory reactor, using wood as the feedstock.