Vijay Dhir appointed new interim dean of engineering school
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 27, 2002 9:00 p.m.
 EDWARD LIN/ Daily Bruin Senior Staff Vijay
Dhir is the interim dean for the Henry Samueli School of
Engineering and Applied Sciences.
By Jennifer Vargas
Daily Bruin Contributor
Vijay Dhir accepted his new position as the interim dean of the
Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Feb.
21.
“It is a great honor to lead the school with its
outstanding faculty and staff,” Dhir said.
While holding the position of interim dean, Dhir continues to
take on the responsibilities of associate dean and mechanical and
aerospace engineering professor.
As associate dean, he deals with the management of personnel and
faculty. Now he is in charge of the academic and administrative
operation of the school which includes planning and supervision of
the school budget, allocation of resources, and the development and
administration of academic research programs.
As interim dean, Dhir already has some plans set into
motion.
“My key goal is to improve the ranking (of the School of
Engineering),” Dhir said. “It is ranked 22nd according
to last year’s U.S. News and World Report. I want to improve
it several notches.”
One major concern for Dhir is to prevent the possibility of a
cut in school funding. Due to the poor economy, the funding for the
School of Engineering may be reduced. The campus was warned by top
administrators in February to prepare for eight percent cuts in
2002-03.
Dhir hopes to show how important money is to maintain the
quality of the ever-growing School of Engineering.
“I need to convince the Chancellor’s Office that the
number of students are growing,” Dhir said.
From 1998-99 to 2000-01, the number of students in the School of
Engineering rose from 3,095 to 3,668 students.
Additionally, Dhir plans to recruit more faculty and publicize
the school’s endeavors, especially research projects.
Two programs that he wants to address are the biomedical
engineering program and a partnership with the California
NanoSystems Institute.
The biomedical engineering program is an interdepartmental
program in which engineers work with the medical school to design
new replacement biomaterials, such as artificial limbs.
Dhir hopes to see the program gain departmental status. In order
to do so, he plans to increase the number of faculty, which
currently consists of two to three professors, to about 10.
The School of Engineering established a partnership with the
California NanoSystems Institute, which deals with nanotechnology
and biotechnology. Nanotechnology involves research at
nanomolecular levels. Nanometers are about one million times
smaller than one millimeter, and may be used to minimize the amount
of space needed in computers. With this technology, it may
eventually be possible to watch movies on a palm pilot.
He plans to pass out brochures or newsletters to all the
departments in hopes that the research will “be appreciated
more.”
The search for a permanent dean is ongoing. The search started
last year after Dean Frank Wazzan stepped down June 30, 2001.
Walter Karplus, a computer science professor, was appointed as
interim dean, however he passed away from cancer in November.
The search resumed in January. life sciences dean, Frederick
Eiserling, is leading a search committee, which consists of six
engineering professors, an associate dean from the School of
Medicine and a member of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering
and Applied Science Industry Advisory Council.
The vice chancellor and dean of the College of Engineering at UC
Santa Barbara are also helping out with the search.
“We are searching nationally and internationally,”
Eiserling said.
