Dean’s Message

A Message from the Case School of Engineering

Dear Alumni and Friends of the Case School of Engineering,

Spring is one of my favorite times of year on campus. We’ll celebrate commencement and graduate a whole class of newly minted Case engineers. It’s a proud day for me as dean—watching new graduates prepare to take the skills and talents they’ve honed out into the world. I feel particularly confident that our students will thrive beyond campus because we provide ample opportunities to bring their academic lessons to life outside the classroom as students. For many, the “real world” is no different from the student world—they’ve been engineering in it for years.

Often, this valuable experience comes via the numerous design competitions open to student participants. These contests are unique ways for students to get a feel for how engineering is really applied. Out here, you’re always in competition: it’s your innovation against a competitive product, your company vs. an industry rival, your eureka idea facing a room full of naysayers. Design competitions give students a chance to work within that framework safely. Business plan pitch contests teach students how the market works, what it means to truly understand consumer needs, evaluate costs and determine the best strategy to market—all in a low-risk environment.

Practice, after all, makes perfect. Popular theory holds that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to develop expertise. When it comes to launching businesses or building a career, it can be tough to take risks, as failure comes with serious consequences. In a design contest, students can experiment, take new approaches and safely learn from failures as well as successes. Their pride might be on the line, but they stand to win real opportunities in terms of valuable lessons, mentoring and, in many cases, actual funding.

We had a stellar year for outstanding showings at national competitions this year, with students taking home prizes from business pitch contests at South by Southwest, the Clean Energy Challenge and the Autonomous Snowplow Contest, as well as great success stories in our campus contests. I can’t wait to see what next academic year has in store.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey L. Duerk PhD ’87

Dean and Leonard Case Professor of Engineering