“In her speech, titled “Transforming Engineering: Industry’s Role in Improving the Landscape,” Adams cited “The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century,” a National Academy of Engineering report that emphasizes the need for students to be creative and use critical thinking skills. She highlighted UT Dallas’ UTDesign Senior Capstone Program as an example of the type of industry-university partnership that helps students develop those skills. UTDesign gives teams of senior engineering students the opportunity to develop, test and implement concepts to solve real-world problems for business sponsors.
UTDesign teams are working on more than 200 projects, with more than 80% sponsored by companies. The students have won eight national first-place awards since 2014. Tech Titans honored UTDesign with its
2013 Tech Titans of the Future Award. The UTDesign Studio features the Texas Instruments Innovation Lab, a facility for student and faculty engineers and computer scientists, as well as a campus workspace for students who participate in a State Farm internship program.” —
The University of Texas at Dallas News Center
Photos from the March event:


From left to right: Don Proeschel, Director of Corporate Relations;
Dr. Theresa Williams, Plano ISD Chief Operating Officer;
Dr. Stephanie Adams, Dean of The Erik Jonsson School of Engineering;
Tammy Richards, Plano ISD Board President;
Lily Bao, Plano City Councilwoman

From left to right: Barbara Baffer, Vice President, Government & Industry Relations, North America, Ericsson;
Deb Sawyer, Managing Director, ZRG Partners; Dr. Stephanie Adams, Dean of The Erik Jonsson School of Engineering;
Paul Bendel, Senior Vice President, Tech Titans