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The Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Engineering’s (SOE) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the electrical engineering program in September.

As part of SIUE’s Homecoming events being held Wednesday-Saturday, Sept. 21-24, faculty, industry partners and alumni are invited to join for the golden anniversary celebration from 2-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24 in the Engineering Building’s Enterprise Holdings Foundation Atrium.

“Every academic year for the past 50 years, we have welcomed enthusiastic students who are eager to become electrical engineers,” said SOE Dean Cem Karacal, PhD. “Each year, they graduate and go out into the industry or become researchers who will forever shape our changing world.”

More than 2,600 electrical engineering students have graduated since the beginning of the program in 1972. At the start of the program, there were just two faculty and eight graduates. Now, 50 years later, there are nine faculty and an average of 70 program graduates each year.

“The 50th anniversary is a milestone where our past, present and future constituents can come together to celebrate,” said Jon Klingensmith, PhD, chair of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “We are marking this milestone with a fundraising goal to raise $50,000 for electrical engineering scholarships to honor 50 years of engineering excellence at SIUE.”
 
This event is being made possible by the generosity of sponsors. Gold sponsors include BHMG Engineers, J.F. Electric, Leidos, and Sachs Electric. Alumni Jason & Cathleen Gotsch are silver sponsors. Bronze sponsors include Burns & McDonnell, FASTechnology Group and Nidec Motor Corporation.

Attendees will enjoy student design projects on display, showcasing the innovative, hands-on creations of current electrical engineering students. These will include:

• Finger Tracking Gloves for VR Applications: A cost-effective and comfortable glove that can track the movement of fingers using a non-intrusive 3D printed design and convey the motion in a 3D virtual model
• Impact-location Sensing Tennis Racquet: A tennis racquet that can sense the location of ball strikes and record and display them in a smart-phone app
• Heads-up Car Windshield Display: A third party system that can read and monitor car dashboard information and project it onto the windshield for convenient heads-up viewing

The commemorative event will also include entertainment, appetizers, and drinks, with a program sharing the program’s many memories and accomplishments from the past five decades.

Attendees are also invited to participate in on-campus Homecoming activities following the event, including the SIUE Men’s Soccer game at Korte Stadium and the 2022 SIUE Homecoming Fan Zone.

For more information and to register for the event, visit siue-ee-50.eventbrite.com.

Photo: SIUE School of Engineering’s 50th anniversary celebration of the electrical engineering program.