Florida Institute of Technology
High Tech with a Human Touch
Deans' Priorities
Leading the Way
Florida Tech's deans state their cases for support for each of their areas. Click below to learn more:
Tell us about the College of Engineering
Thomas D. Waite, Ph.D. P.E.
The College of Engineering was Florida Tech’s first college, and is still the university’s largest, with more than one-third of all enrollees in a College of Engineering program. We offer programs at all levels, from baccalaureate through postdoctoral, and work hard to serve the greater good through a dynamic approach to higher education that merges traditional values in teaching, research and professional service.
How can a donor best serve the needs of undergraduate students in the college?
We’d like to build a state-of-the-art student design fabrication facility. The current support facilities for the senior design projects limit our students’ ability to create high caliber projects that can be nationally competitive. That’s the bottom line, really, on all of these things. We’re looking to take the next step for our students and our faculty. With the help of our alumni and friends, I know we’ll succeed.
Are there also plans to help build opportunities for graduate students?
Absolutely. The primary limitation to growth in graduate student enrollment is lack of fellowship support. For the college to continue to develop its status as a world-class research center, it’s important to build the fellowship endowment. In this way, we can continue to attract the best and brightest engineering minds to Florida Tech.
As you finalize the campaign, what do you see as the strengths of the college?
While that’s like being asked to name your favorite children, I’d say that our departments of mechanical engineering and electrical engineering are really strong. That’s why we will continue to raise money for endowed chairs in these departments after the Golden Anniversary Campaign. Creating these chairs will elevate these departments to an elite academic status.