From the dean

Welcome to the School of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. Graduate and undergraduate enrollments are growing significantly as we begin to offer innovative new programs in business and engineering, and in medicine and engineering. The new da Vinci Center for Innovation in Product Design and Development provides cross-disciplinary educational opportunities for arts, business and engineering students to prepare them for management roles in the global, technology-driven workplace of the 21st century.

A magnificent new Business-Engineering facility is enabling engineering and business departments, their faculty and students to be connected, in every sense of that word. A new residential college for art, business and engineering undergraduate students located adjacent to the academic building gives a real-time application of the fusion between these disciplines. Together, these facilities will enable us to create a unique learning and living environment that immerses students and professors in the culture and practice of these complementary disciplines. We intend for VCU to be the national leader in developing innovative approaches to business and engineering education.

Our programs that link Engineering to Life Sciences and the School of Medicine at VCU will expand significantly and offer students intimate exposure to vital issues of human health. By its very nature this requires an interdisciplinary approach among engineering, medicine, and the life sciences. These collaborations will be fostered in our new Health and Life Sciences Engineering building.  At VCU you will master your chosen discipline within the School of Engineering and learn a “second language” of medicine, life sciences, or business. The combination of engineering knowledge and the hands-on, team-based experience you will receive at VCU will prepare you to excel in the complex, dynamic environment that exists in successful organizations today.

The School of Engineering itself is a remarkable example of the power of partnerships between the public and private sectors. Beginning in the early 1990s, a group of visionary Richmond business executives and leaders of Virginia Commonwealth University envisioned and then created together an engineering school that would serve the growing regional demand for engineering graduates. An Engineering Foundation Board, comprised of many of these senior executives from major companies, continues to provide guidance and support to the School of Engineering. They have provided more than $100 million in private funding that, combined with generous funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia and other sources, has created a school enrolling more than 1100 undergraduate and 200 graduate students in five departments.

All undergraduate degree programs are ABET-accredited. All departments offer M.S. and Ph.D. degrees. Undergraduate students in most departments in the School of Engineering are required to complete an internship as part of their degree program. These internships provide valuable experience in the technical practice of engineering and direct engagement in the team-based, interdisciplinary, and global culture of modern companies.

Our graduates typically move into industry or continue their studies in graduate or professional schools. World-class, full-time faculty members teach our engineering courses and provide our students opportunities to become engaged in their research as undergraduates. The primary mission of the staff and faculty of the School is to provide a personal, rewarding experience to each of our students beginning on the first day they arrive at VCU. Students are not just a number here. Our high retention and graduation rates attest to that fact. Your success is our success, and we work at that every day.  I invite you to learn more about us, and to experience for yourself the student-focused environment here by visiting VCU and meeting our current students and faculty.

Thank you for your interest in engineering at VCU. I hope that you will explore this site and find the opportunities that excite you. I encourage you to contact the departments that appeal to you to get more information about what we do and what we can offer you. Please feel free to contact me as well. I will be delighted to share with prospective students and their parents our vision for the School of Engineering for the next ten years. We want you to be part of our future . . . and we want VCU to be part of yours.

Russell D. Jamison, Ph.D.
Dean