A Letter From the Department Head

Dear fellow alumni,

As I write this at the beginning of August 2020, the far-reaching effects of the global pandemic cannot be ignored. I greatly sympathize with all those who have suffered in so many ways, involving family and friends, plans and dreams, health and welfare. Not only are individuals directly affected, but institutions may also suffer long term, even existential, consequences.  The situation is changing rapidly in unpredictable ways, so I will not be too presumptive about outcomes.  But as I've observed the faculty, staff, students, and alumni leaning in to overcome the pandemic, I am confident that the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in general, and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering specifically, will weather the storm, and it will also provide help and hope to many others for the duration and beyond.

The University of Illinois has taken a prudent wait-and-see approach to the pandemic.  We are cautiously preparing for some in-person classroom experiences for our students and also cautiously pursuing in-person research. Researchers at the University developed a saliva test for the coronavirus such that the results can be processed quickly, locally, and testing is already available in tents set up all over campus. Every student, faculty, and staff member who chooses to participate in on-campus activities will be required to test twice weekly..  The University, with a large part of the team consisting of ECE graduates, alumni, and faculty, is also developing an app to help with contact tracing.  Students and faculty can opt in to in-person instruction. The default is set at online instruction.  Moreover, we are prepared to transition immediately to all-remote learning if local health conditions should worsen.

The ECE laboratory staff have been very busy throughout the summer, getting prepared for off-campus laboratory experiences.  For example, over 1,800 kits have been prepared for six of the largest lab courses, to be purchased by students, shipped as needed, and reused in multiple courses. This was no small feat for purchasing, either. Staff in facilities, electronics shop, and machine shop have been busy preparing the building for instruction in classrooms with physical distancing.  Faculty and graduate students have been busy developing online instruction materials and pursuing research to fight the virus. Offices for advising, human resources, grants and contracts, and advancement have been busy dealing with implications of travel restrictions, disruptions in the supply of teaching assistants, dislocations of students, and sorting out piles of directives and plans. It's an amazing process that we can't even fully see. Everyone is working amazingly well together while apart.

The influenza pandemic of 1918-1919 was in many ways much worse than our current situation. It was particularly virulent for younger people, aged 20-40, and 0.5% of the US population lost their lives to the virus.  The University was among the few that stayed open, with no online courses. It apparently managed the catastrophe better than most others.  The entire Champaign-Urbana community leaned in. For example, the local hospital capacity was quickly increased and distancing measures were implemented.

The field of Electrical and Computer Engineering is the most international of all fields in engineering.  Our department relies very heavily on being able to recruit the best and brightest students and faculty from all over the world.  Travel restrictions and closures of consulates and embassies have already been particularly challenging for us.  A bright spot is that we have a young faculty, with over 35 faculty members hired in the past five years, and we have the strong senior faculty members to mentor them. This class of outstanding researchers and instructors will put the department in excellent stead for years to come, building a strong, inclusive stream of outstanding alumni, who continue to transform the world for the better.

Another bright spot, which I am reminded of daily, is the contributions of our generous alumni. Your donations of scholarship funds have helped us increase our diversity through recruiting and retaining outstanding students.  Your donations have helped us recognize and retain our world class faculty. Your donations led to our wonderful new building, with wide hallways, ample labs, and a non-recirculating ventilation system important in these times. And your donations have supplied funds for important student activities and research projects. Your help contributes greatly to the confidence we have in our ability to be world leaders in innovation and transformation. You can read about some of those contributions elsewhere in this newsletter.

We are truly in this together!

Sincerely, 

Bruce Hajek, Department Head and MS ECE Class of '77