Earlier this month the Woodruff School’s Advisory Board met on campus to discuss the challenge of the massive enrollment tsunami that has enveloped the program. We currently enroll 2,100 undergraduate students (1,930 in ME and 170 in NE) with a record-setting 444 freshmen and a senior class of over 600 students. The most immediate critical issue remains having enough space to safely allow for student learning in laboratories and design studios. The Advisory Board toured our ever-expanding “Invention Studio” and provided valuable feedback and encouragement. Our proposed “flexible” curriculum goes before the Georgia Board of Regents for final approval on November 13, 2012.  We have already been conducting sessions for our students on each of the new concentration areas. We are excited about the new curriculum and the many opportunities that it will afford our students.

The all-new NRE-MP website is live, mimicking the format of our recently launched ME website. Historically, the Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics websites stood alone. However, with as many parallels as the programs share, we thought it best to communicate their news and successes on one site.

We're deep into the beginning of the academic year and as with every Fall, many events are upon us. Be sure to mark the following in your calendar to attend in the coming months.

> NE50 - Georgia Tech will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the School of Nuclear Engineering on November 1-2, 2012 with a Reunion which features a "Symposium on the Future of Nuclear Energy" and a "Colloquium on the History and Contributions of NE at Georgia Tech."  For more information about the celebration, visit the event's website.

> Gegenheimer Lecture - The Woodruff School's annual Harold W. Gegenheimer Lecture will held on December 6  at 11 a.m. and will be given by Floyd Nation (BME '68), a partner at Winston & Strawn, LLC who has more than 35 years of experience as a patent trial lawyer. An e-invitation is forthcoming.

> Capstone Design Expo - If you've attended the Capstone Design Expo in the past, you haven't seen anything yet! If you've never been before, this is an event you do not want to miss. For the first time, the Expo will showcase the culmination of all senior design student projects from the Schools of ME, BME, ECE and ID!  This fun event is a chance to see what 70 design teams across the different disciplines have done for prototyping and analysis to solve real-world problems. Some of these projects have real commercialization potential! RSVP to attend on December 6 at 6 p.m.

> 125th Anniversary - Looking way ahead, next Fall marks the 125th anniversary of the School of Mechanical Engineering. Be on the look out for more details about the events surrounding the celebration. You will surely want to participate in this monumental occasion.

William J. Wepfer
Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. School Chair