Dean's Message DR. MARK HORSTEMEYER 08 Creationeering Football Helmets

A MESSAGE FROM THE

DEAN

In my second year as dean of Liberty University School of Engineering (LUSE), significant progress has been made toward our vision for Creationeering™, which synthesizes science, engineering, entrepreneurship, and business into one coordinated effort. This concept arises from the Dominion Mandate of Genesis 1:26-28 where the Creator commanded us to “rule” and “reign” over the earth. Even with COVID-19 constraints, this past year we: ► achieved high job placement for our LUSE students. Of alumni surveyed, 95% of those employed were employed within six months of graduation and also reported a median salary of $70k. ► grew our SACSCOC-approved graduate program (M.S./Ph.D.) from six students in Spring 2020 to 20 students in Fall 2020. ► grew to the largest number of LUSE residential undergraduates by the end of 2020 with 600 students. ► began our first online engineering program in Fall 2020 with 200 students.

► brought on new faculty: Drs. Heechen Cho (Mechanical Engineering) and Matt Ricks (Civil Engineering). ► incorporated several world-renowned engineers and scholars as research affiliates into our program: Drs. Jesse Sherburn (Army

ERDC Lab), Nathaniel Morgan (Los Alamos National Laboratory), Andy

McIntosh (Leeds University, England), Stuart Burgess (Bristol University,

England), and Seong Jin Park (Posco Steel, South Korea). Several faculty members won awards: ► Drs. Tom Eldredge and Hector Medina won the Department of

Energy's FAST Pumped-Storage Hydropower Prize (one of four grand prize winners). ► Drs. Hector Medina and Ephraim Zegeye each won an LU Center for Research & Scholarship Faculty Research Project Award. ► Dr. Wayne Strasser won the LU Provost Award for Excellence in

Research Mentorship. ► Dr. Mark Atwater won the LU School of Engineering Research

Award for Excellence in Research.

► The students and I came in second place in the NFL’s 1st and Future

Pitch Competition for our new football helmet design. I look forward to working with our faculty, staff, and students to continue our growth and impact in the realm of engineering. Sincerely,

Dr. Mark Horstemeyer

Dean