Pratt School of Engineering
 | |
| Established | 1939 |
|---|---|
Parent institution | Duke University |
| Dean | Ravi V. Bellamkonda, PhD |
Academic staff | 139[2] |
| Undergraduates | 1,265[2] |
| Postgraduates | 1,107[2] |
| Location | |
| Website | pratt.duke.edu |
The Pratt School of Engineering[2] is located at Duke University in the United States.
The school's associated research, education, alumni and community-service efforts are collectively known as Duke Engineering.[3]
The Pratt School of Engineering is ranked No. 26 in the United States for graduate study and No. 20 for undergraduate study by U.S. News and World Report.[4] With research expenditures over $70 million per year, its faculty is ranked No. 11 in research productivity among U.S. engineering schools by Academic Analytics.[5]
The school was among the first to create an academic Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME).[6] Duke BME is ranked #3 in the United States. The Pratt School of Engineering also maintains departments of Civil & Environmental Engineering (ranked 10th nationally), Electrical & Computer Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science.
Its faculty and alumni have been responsible for a number of important high-impact technologies, including clinical ultrasound imaging, restoration of hearing by cochlear implant, mega-pixel photography and metamaterials.
The school, created by Duke's Board of Trustees in 1939, was named in 1999 following a $35 million gift by Edmund T. Pratt Jr., a 1947 graduate and former chief executive of Pfizer.[7] The Duke University Pratt School of Engineering celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2014–2015.[6]
The school is headed by Vinik Dean of Engineering Ravi V. Bellamkonda.[8]
Education
Undergraduate
Duke awards undergraduate degrees in biomedical, civil, environmental, electrical & computer, and mechanical engineering.
Master's
In engineering, Duke awards Master of Science and Master of Engineering degrees in biomedical, civil & environmental engineering, electrical & computer, and mechanical engineering, materials science and photonics.
A Master of Engineering Management degree, which combines engineering training with law and business courses, and an industry internship, is offered through campus and online programs.
Doctorate
PhDs are awarded in biomedical, civil & environmental, and electrical & computer engineering, and in mechanical engineering & materials science.
Student Body
As of the fall 2018 semester, Pratt's student body consists of 1,265 undergraduates and 1,107 master's and doctoral students.[9]
Rankings
In 2006, the Pratt School's graduate program was ranked as the second best engineering graduate program in the country by The Princeton Review.[10]
Research and Innovation
Faculty
The school's faculty research laboratories have played major roles in the development of many high-impact technologies,[11] including:
- Real-time ultrasound imaging in clinical practice (1976)
- Continuous interleaved sampling strategy for cochlear implants (1991)
- First working "invisibility cloak" using metamaterials (2006)
- World's first gigapixel camera (2012)
Duke Engineering faculty research is grouped into four signature themes[12]:
- Data Science, Advanced Computing and Intelligent Systems
- Materials Discovery and Development
- Personal, Environmental & Population Health
- Resilient Systems and the Environment
Student
Since July 2018, Duke Engineering students have held the Guinness World Record for inventing the world's most fuel-efficient vehicle—powered by a fuel cell, it achieved 14,573 miles per gallon equivalent.[13] In 2019, Duke Engineering students earned a second Guinness World Record for the world's most efficient all-electric vehicle—797 miles per kilowatt-hour.[14]
Leadership
Ravi V. Bellamkonda, became the Vinik Dean of Engineering on August 1, 2016.[15]
Former Deans
- William H. Hall, 1939-1953
- Walter J. Seeley, 1953-1962
- James L. Meriam, 1962-1969
- George Pearsall, 1969-1974
- Aleksandar Vesic, 1974-1982
- George Pearsall, 1982-1983
- Earl Dowell, 1983-1999
- Kristina M. Johnson, 1999-2007
- Robert L. Clark, 2007-2008
- Thomas C. Katsouleas, 2008–2015
- George Truskey, 2015-2016
History
The precursor to the school of engineering dates back to 1851, when Duke was known as Normal College and located in Randolph County, North Carolina. At that time, engineering was included in a classical course for seniors. A course in engineering was introduced in 1887, eventually becoming a regular course offering in 1903. At that time, engineering courses were limited to such fields as architecture and surveying until 1924, when Trinity College was renamed Duke University. Engineering was taught in the new separate departments of civil and electrical engineering. In 1931, a mechanical engineering department was created. Duke's Board of Trustees created the College of Engineering in 1939, with William H. Hall its first dean.
The College of Engineering graduated its first female graduates in 1946. The next year, the three departments moved from East Campus to West Campus. It became the Duke School of Engineering in 1966. Two years later the school's first black students graduated. The Division of Biomedical Engineering was created in 1967 — the first accredited biomedical engineering department at a U.S. university — in September 1972.[16]
In 1997, the Master of Engineering Management was established.
The school was renamed the Edmund T. Pratt Jr. School of Engineering in 1999, in honor of the 1947 graduate and former CEO of Pfizer.
Facilities
| Hudson Hall | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Former names | Old Red |
| General information | |
| Type | University Hall |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| Location | West Campus, Duke University |
| Current tenants | Engineering school |
| Named for | Fitzgerald S. "Jerry" Hudson |
| Opened | 1948 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Office of Horace Trumbauer[17] |
Pratt's faculty, labs, and courses can be found in Hudson Hall, the Nello L. Teer Engineering Building, the Fitzpatrick Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences (also known as FCIEMAS), Gross Hall, the North Building, the Levine Science Research Center (also known as the LSRC) and in The Chesterfield, a former cigarette factory near downtown Durham that has been redeveloped into academic and industry research space.[18]
Hudson Hall is the oldest engineering building at Duke, constructed in 1948. It was renamed to honor Fitzgerald S. "Jerry" Hudson (E'46) in 1992.[19]
The Nello L. Teer Library Building opened in 1984. Located adjacent to Hudson Hall,it is now called the Nello L. Teer Building, and houses the Dean's offices, a computing lab, a circuits lab, an auditorium and a student lounge.[19]
The Fitzpatrick Center for Interdisciplinary Engineering, Medicine and Applied Sciences - also known as FCIEMAS - opened in August 2004. Research facilities focus on the fields of photonics, bioengineering, communications, and materials science and materials engineering. The aim of the building was to emphasize interdisciplinary activities and encourage cross-departmental interactions. The building houses numerous wet bench laboratories (highlighted by a world-class nanotechnology research wing), offices, teaching spaces, and a café.[19] FCIEMAS is also home to the Master of Engineering Management Program offices. The construction of FCIEMAS took more than three years and cost more than $97 million.
The Levine Science Research Center (LSRC) is a 341,000-square-foot (31,700 m2) facility. When it was opened in 1994, the LSRC was the largest single-site interdisciplinary research facility in the U.S.. Its classrooms are shared by several departments, but the majority of its offices and laboratories are utilized by the Nicholas School of the Environment, the Pratt School of Engineering, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and Developmental and the departments of Computer Science, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology and Cell and Molecular Biology.[20] The building was named for Leon Levine, the CEO of Family Dollar Stores.[19]
New Engineering Building
A 150,000-square-foot building will open during 2020 with new spaces for education and research related to interdisciplinary themes of improving human health, advancing computing and intelligent systems, and sustainability.[21]
The building, located at Research Drive and Telcom Drive next to Bostock Library, will also house Duke Engineering's entrepreneurship initiatives.
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Notable alumni
Notable Duke Engineering alumni include:[22]
- Blake S. Wilson—Engineering development of the cochlear implant
- M. Katherine Banks—Phytoremediation of petroleum contamination
- Robert L. Cook—Standard motion picture rendering tool
- Robert E. Fischell—Leadership and innovation in bringing aerospace technology to implantable medical devices[23]
Notes
- ^ "Duke Engineering - Duke Pratt School of Engineering".
- ^ a b c d "Duke Engineering at a Glance - Duke Pratt School of Engineering".
- ^ "Duke Engineering (@DukeEngineering) | Twitter". twitter.com. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
- ^ "Best Engineering Schools". U.S. News & World Report.
- ^ "Duke Engineering Facts & Stats". Duke Pratt School of Engineering. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ a b "Our History". Duke Pratt School of Engineering. 2014-01-23. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
- ^ "Distinguished Alumnus, Edmund Pratt | Duke magazine". dukemagazine.duke.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
- ^ "Dean's Welcome". Duke Pratt School of Engineering. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
- ^ "About Pratt School of Engineering". Duke University. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
- ^ The Princeton Review Releases Its First-Ever Ranking of the Nation's Top Graduate Engineering Programs, Marketwire
- ^ "Research Timeline". Duke Pratt School of Engineering. 2014-10-17. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
- ^ "High-Impact Research". Duke University Pratt School of Engineering. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
- ^ "Duke students make Guinness record for world's most efficient vehicle". newsobserver. Retrieved 2018-11-16.
- ^ . ABC 11 WTVD. 11 July 2019 https://abc11.com/technology/duke-students-set-world-record-with-electric-vehicle/5389201/. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
{{cite news}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "Duke University Names New Engineering School Dean - Duke Pratt School of Engineering".
- ^ Biomedical Engineering Celebrates 30 Years, Pratt School of Engineering, November 2001
- ^ Engineering News-Record 1946: 148.
- ^ "The Chesterfield Re-Engineered: Collaborative Space for High-Impact Discovery and Entrepreneurship Opens". Duke University. Retrieved November 9, 2018.
- ^ a b c d About Pratt Facilities
- ^ "Duke University Maps".
- ^ "Duke Engineering New Building". Retrieved 2019-05-23.
- ^ "Duke Engineering Members of the National Academy of Engineering". Duke Pratt School of Engineering. 2015-05-08. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
- ^ "Citation for Dr. Robert E. Fischell, member, National Academy of Engineering". National Academy of Engineering. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- Lewis M. Branscomb—National and international science and technology leadership
External links
- "Official website". Retrieved 23 May 2019.
- "Duke Engineering New Building website". Retrieved 23 May 2019.
