Fall 2020 news from ISE chair

Dr. Paquet.

Published September 3, 2020

A message from the chair

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Dear Alumni and Friends,

In spite of the significant challenges that we have endured and continue to face in 2020, I remain encouraged by UB ISE’s resilience and character. After moving to remote classes, work offices and research labs this past March, our department’s students, staff and faculty remained positive and productive.  Our staff and faculty worked tirelessly to ensure that the students had an exceptional experience inside and outside of the classroom. Students adapted extremely well to remote course offerings, and continued to participate enthusiastically in virtual club meetings, social media contests, alumni panels, awards ceremonies, and our end of year celebrations. 

This past year we also launched new important initiatives to enhance our relationships with alumni, expanded our research footprint in healthcare, defense and transportation systems, developed new course material and programs to increase student entrepreneurship opportunities, and lead university initiatives that support best practices in digital education. Our faculty and student research productivity has remained high this year, and many of our faculty were awarded significant grants.

The UB SOAR (Structure for Outdoor Autonomy Research), a facility made possible by a Defense University Instrumentation Program grant awarded to ISE faculty, is in now in the final stages of construction. This structure will be the main focal point of an unmanned vehicle proving grounds focused on drone deployment optimization, autonomous vehicle fleet management and prototype testing research to support applications in agriculture, homeland security, product service delivery, wildfire monitoring, and bridge/building inspections.

This year has also brought a significant call to action in response to centuries of intolerance, oppression and violence against members of the American black community. Members of our department have taken leading roles within our school to address issues of racial disparity and injustice that exist at UB. Throughout this academic year, we will work actively with our UB community to make substantial changes that address the racial inequities experienced by faculty, staff and students.

Lastly, we are very excited about celebrating our 75th Anniversary in 2021. We will host a number of virtual events, and hope to host several live-on campus activities in the late spring, summer and fall to celebrate our past achievements and look towards the opportunities that will ensure our continued success.

Aside from our anniversary activities, there are many ways in which you can engage with our students and faculty.  Please visit ise.buffalo.edu and click on the “Connect with Us” tab or contact me directly. Thank you for your continued interest and support of UB ISE.

Wishing you good health and happiness in the months ahead!

Sincerely,

Victor Paquet

Professor and Chair, Department of Industrial and Systems

vpaquet@buffalo.edu

(716) 645-4712