Dr. Gary S. May assumes the position of Dean on July 1, 2011. As May begins his tenure, he discusses some of the issues and challenges for the College of Engineering. Below is the first in a series of discussions with Dean May as he outlines CoE goals and objectives for the future.

Q - In the NAE publications, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm" and "The Gathering Storm Revisited", there has been an expressed concern that the U.S. government and industry are letting the crucial strategic issues of U.S. competitiveness slip below the surface. As the largest college of engineering in the U.S., how can Georgia Tech help address the issues of competitiveness and innovation?

May - "The U.S. faces a daunting set of challenges to its historical dominance and competitiveness. Capital, technology, and talent are readily available in other parts of the world, which has resulted in an increase in the number of nations able to compete in the global economy. In addition to these challenges, the nature of innovation itself is also changing. It is more global, more interdisciplinary, and more transformational than ever before. The nation's priorities — discovering new sources of energy, new cures for disease, and new ways of protecting the environment — demand new innovation strategies. 

At Georgia Tech, we are uniquely positioned to address these challenges.  As a community of use-inspired engineering scholars and educators of the highest order, we are capable of the deep, broad, and concerted translational research and education activities that will be required to maintain U.S. leadership in innovation. In fact, this is the very mission for which Georgia Tech was founded."