I’m pleased to let you know that at the recent spring Campaign Committee meeting we announced that we are raising our internal campaign goal to $450M. This new total will not affect the overall UW “Be Boundless” campaign goal. It will serve as an ongoing inspiration as we continue to raise support for college priorities, with a particular focus on the Campaign for Students, which comprises fundraising for facilities, scholarships (particularly for our new Direct-to-College student cohort), student diversity and leadership programming.

We had all hands on deck at our recent Engineering Discovery Days, which brought over 10,000 K-8 students to campus to learn more about the exciting field of engineering. It’s an honor to host these (potential) future engineers, just as it’s an honor to host the awardees at our upcoming Diamond Awards event (May 10). I hope to see you there!

Mike Bragg, Ph.D.
Frank & Julie Jungers Dean of Engineering

In 2017, the college received a surprise $5.2 million bequest from Olga McEwing in honor of her husband and UW alumnus, James M. McEwing (’41 B.S. in Civil Engineering), to support undergraduate engineering students with financial need. The Olga and James McEwing Endowed Scholarship Fund represents the lead gift for the college’s Campaign for Students scholarship drive, and has already distributed $200K in scholarships for the first cohort of Direct-to-College students.

The college is deeply grateful for this support, which will impact future engineers in perpetuity. According to an obituary on the West Seattle Blog, Olga emigrated to the United States from England with her parents Joshua and Ellen, and a younger brother, John, in 1927. The statement by her loved ones that Olga “was a very generous person and cared a lot for others” is evidenced by her generous gift to the college.

Established: 1906

About: Mechanical Engineering (ME) is the broadest of all engineering disciplines, and interdisciplinary work is key to the ME department’s success. ME students and faculty work together collaboratively, forging partnerships across campus and with government agencies and industry. UW ME has a rich history of advancements in biomechanics and health technologies, advanced manufacturing and robotics. It is also a campus leader in new materials, machine learning and energy research.

Chair: Per Reinhall

Highlights:

• Research areas: health technology, novel and automated manufacturing, clean and alternative energy, micro and nanotechnology, biomechanics, robotics, machine learning and advanced manufacturing and materials.
• ME’s faculty includes 3 National Academy of Engineering members, 5 Washington State Academy of Sciences members and 3 UW Presidential Entrepreneurial Faculty Fellows.
• ME has 338 undergraduates and 270 graduate students.
• ME is home to the Engineering Innovation in Health (EIH) program, in which engineering students and faculty partner with clinicians to design medical devices aimed toward improving care.
• ME is ranked 3rd at the UW in terms of faculty and student startup companies. Since 2012, ME researchers have been responsible for 14% of all UW startups and have filed more than 360 patents.

James J. Riley, Holder of the PACCAR Professorship of Engineering
Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Funds from the PACCAR Professorship have helped support my research on a wide variety of problems in fluid mechanics, especially those related to turbulent flows. Some of my research has focused on turbulence in the oceans, as it has much relevance to ocean dynamics and the earth’s climate. The overall ‘heat engine’ of the oceans depends, for example, on how well the deep cold water issuing out of the Arctic region mixes due to turbulence with the warmer water at mid-latitudes in the Atlantic Ocean. On the other hand, turbulent mixing near the ocean-atmosphere interface can have a profound effect on the levels of dissolved oxygen in the upper ocean, which is important to living organisms. I am proud of what my students and I have accomplished, and thankful for the PACCAR Professorship’s role in making it possible.