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USD ENGINEERING

he year 2023 marks the 10-year anniversary of USD’s Shiley-Marcos School T A Toast to the Present

“Nearly 10% of engineering students come from the GCC,” says Elisa Lurkis, senior director of development and alumni relations. “A few years ago, we decided we needed to do better at supporting these students while they are study ing at USD and to reconnect with them after they graduate.” In 2020, USD engineering launched its Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Action (IDEA) Committee. “The IDEA committee was created as a dedicated effort by the school to ensure that equity and inclusion issues are addressed systematically and consistently across the engineering school,” says Assistant Dean of Student Engagement and Inclusive Excel lence Rhonda Harley, PhD, who serves as chair of the committee. “This cultural shift that the IDEA committee seeks to impact will support the entire engineering school community and contribute to long-term sustainable change.” With engineering societies and organizations, like the National Society of Black Engineers, Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and Society of Women Engineers, the school ensures students have access to peer mentorship, networking opportunities and community at USD. For Olson, the school may have grown over the past decade, but some things remain the same. “We still have a student-centric, hands-on approach in everything we do,” he says. “I think that’s the essence of the experience that students have here. That hasn’t changed.”

aving begun her journey at the Univer sity of San Diego nearly 15 years ago, Truc up outside the United States. I’d like to think these differing experiences help make the school a reflection of what we think the profession can look like and that students can see themselves in their faculty.” As more students have pursued engineering degrees, enrollment figures at the undergraduate levels have nearly doubled. In its first year, the school enrolled more than 400 undergraduate students. Today, those numbers have grown exponentially, with more than 700 undergraduate students enrolled. Since 2016, the school has grown to include six new master’s degrees — five of which are offered online. In Fall 2023, the school launched its master’s program in Engineering Management and Leadership. It also collaborated in the launch of the new interdisciplinary minor in cognitive sciences, a cross-campus partnership bringing together faculty from all three undergraduate schools at USD. With anticipated changes in en rollment, the engineering school has proactively addressed ways to better serve its student body, includ ing outreach efforts to the Gulf Coast Countries (GCC). there were three full-time women faculty members. Since then, the number has grown to 15, making up 40% of tenured positions. “We’re a much more diverse faculty than we were 10 years ago. Back then, most people were approxi mately the same age. Now we [have] people who are starting their careers and others who have been at USD for 30 years,” says Associate Dean Rick Olson, PhD. “We’ve added more faculty members who grew

of Engineering. From its humble beginnings to the City of San Diego’s proclamation of May 4, 2023, as Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering Day, the school’s progress and impact is abundantly clear. The growth in student population and the programs offered has skyrocketed, the engi neering degree programs offered at USD are all now ABET accredited; and the ranking of USD’s engineer ing programs has consistently been included among the country’s top 15 undergraduate nondoctoral pro grams. An impressive decade, indeed. Throughout the year, anniversary celebrations were in full swing, hon oring the benefactress and the dedi cated individuals involved in the school’s proliferating success — from faculty and staff members who built the school and its programs to alum ni, donors, industry partners, campus community members and advisory board representatives who have supported the growth along the way. Marcos Shiley's pride in the school and its students was on full display in March 2023 at the anniversary campus celebration. Within Donald’s Garage, her “favorite space” at USD, she was greeted by engaged engineering and computer science students donning matching USD Shiley-Marcos T-shirts for the occasion. For this charismatic benefactress, connecting directly with the students was an op portunity to witness firsthand the impact her founding donation has had on USD engineering. The school has seen a lot of change over the past decade. In 2013,