Dear friends and partners of Marquette Engineering,
I am excited to share another digest of inspirational stories from our Marquette engineering students, faculty, staff, alumni and collaborators.
As I connect with our newest students this fall, I am impressed by the depth of big-picture questions they seem to have on their minds. The questions are almost all about navigating change: how the technology landscape is changing with AI; where their future disciplines and
industries are heading; and, most importantly, how they’re advancing in their own personal development on campus. As their dean, I encourage them to harness this curiosity as their education unfolds while also giving them reassurance that they do not need to chart life’s entire roadmap with any certainty. As they look inward, I challenge them to also look to those around them for inspiration, and these stories offer perfect examples of how a Marquette engineer ought to tackle change.
In our first story, we meet a dynamic group of students, alumni and professionals who gather annually to unlock new skills, ideas and opportunities in imaging informatics. Marquette students have become mainstays at the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) hackathon each summer. More than just giving our students hands-on experience in imaging informatics, the hackathon exposes them to a wider community of problem-solvers with whom they can connect. Some of our students’ projects are truly novel and innovative, but it is their spark for future work and ideas that is most valuable.
In another story, we dive into Dr. Andy Sen’s work to study new structural designs and materials for earthquake resilience. In this story, we see how one professional’s passions and skills can contribute to a wider field in service of our communities. Humanity has a long history of refining how we live alongside the environment, and Sen’s work represents how engineers can continue that history with new knowledge and care. As tragic headlines related to earthquakes come out far too often, I am grateful for rising faculty experts like Dr. Sen.
In our final story, we learn how Marquette faculty approach uncertainty in collaboration. As AI continues to influence how we live, learn and work, I am grateful for the curiosity exhibited by my colleagues to answer the call of how to thoughtfully navigate AI in research and education. I encourage anyone with a curiosity about AI’s future to learn how experts in the field are actively grappling with what the right path forward looks like for Marquette engineers.
I encourage you to take a reflective pause with these stories and consider what they spark in your own work and the many big-picture questions that follow us throughout life. We all have an opportunity and responsibility to Be The Difference and use our gifts to serve others.
With gratitude,
Dr. Kristina Ropella
Opus Dean
Opus College of Engineering
