Twenty-seven external advisory council members gathered for the bi-annual meeting to discuss the future initiatives of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
Council members represented numerous industry leading companies and agencies, including astronaut Steve Swanson '98. During the meeting, members engaged in dialog about a wide array of topics, including continued development of the Aggie Computer Science and Engineering (ACE) scholars program and TAMUHack, an innovative new student organization that hosts hackathons to showcase the nation’s top technical talent to recruiters.
Additionally, advisory council members discussed plans for hiring additional faculty to meet the growth potential of the department. Due to increased activity by the advisory council, additional endowments were formed to fund departmental student scholarships. The advisory council members also donated funds for the acquisition of a golf cart to aid with departmental recruiting and events.
During the meeting, Dr. M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor and dean of engineering, met with the council to discuss key points related to the College.
"Our interaction with the CSE external advisory council gives us a unique opportunity to get direct feedback on our department's continuing path towards excellence, and on our strategy for growth,” said Dr. Dilma Da Silva, head of the department. "The council members not only have expertise on industry trends and needs, but also have been engaged on assessing our strengths and weakness. They are helping us to find ways to increase the visibility of the great research and education results we already achieved. The discussion with the council also helps us prioritize our efforts for improvement. This was my first council meeting, and I was very impressed with the level of engagement and energy in the meeting. I’m looking forward the next meeting in the spring.”
This fall meeting also provided student leaders and ACE scholars the opportunity to interact with advisory council members during the meeting and luncheon. Students received insightful industry related advice and were given the opportunity to share their thoughts about the future of computer science with the council members.
“The Fall Advisory Council Meeting was a great opportunity to communicate some of our concerns about the department, but it was also an excellent opportunity to show our appreciation for it,” said Upsilon Pi Epsilon president, Ricardo Zavala. “It was remarkable to see that the advisory council is very attentive to our feedback and is willing to go the extra mile in offering a helping hand to increase awareness of the field to the University, in general, and the College of Engineering, in particular. Furthermore, their personal stories were really entertaining and inspirational. I hope we get a chance to meet up with them more often.”
With the success of the Fall Advisory Council Meeting, CSE looks forward to another successful meeting and student-council interaction opportunity this coming spring.