Education
Engineering students at Mizzou are among the nation’s best, with average ACT scores of 28.4. There are currently 54 Dean’s Scholars with ACT scores greater than 32, and other scholars who qualify for that award but the program lacks sufficient scholarship funding for all. The COE enrollment of extraordinary students continues to grow about 8% annually with a cumulative increase of 50% in 10 years. There are currently over 3300 total students in its 9 degree programs, and over 600 graduate students.
Opportunities to get involved outside the classroom and lab include more than 50 engineering student organizations and design teams. These teams allow practical application of the engineering concepts mastered in class, and potential lifetime connections with like-minded students at Mizzou and other universities. Funds to support these clubs and competitive teams are always welcome donations from the UMCOE Foundation and our alumni.
To support the many engineering students in their studies, the Foundation and its donors have contributed over $330K in scholarship grants since its 2009 origination. (2022 data) This includes both undergraduate and graduate students, often in designated disciplines. In 2022, the Foundation made a special award of $50K per the Dean’s priority request toward graduate student financial needs, through the Dean’s Fund for Excellence account.
In 2014, the Foundation received a grant proposal from the COE on behalf of student organizations requesting funds for a new Student/Staff Activities van. The Board evaluated this proposal and granted the funds in 2015 to the COE activities sponsor to purchase a new, 15-passenger Ford van with greatly improved safety features.
Research
Mizzou’s Engineering research has grown even more dramatically than its student enrollment. College research expenditures have grown from about $2M per year to about $30M per year in the past decade. Research programs are high impact and interdisciplinary — taking advantage of Mizzou’s medical, veterinary, agriculture and business schools, as well as specialized facilities such as the NextGen Precision Health Center opened in October 2021 and the legacy, unique Nuclear Research Reactor. Research is no longer limited to graduate students: high-achieving undergraduate students have the opportunity to stretch their science and technology training through research with faculty members.
Using unrestricted donations, the Foundation provided funds for the Dean’s Excellence in Research awards ($25K in 2018) to recognize high performing research faculty and staff. In 2020, the Foundation awarded a memorial grant “Dr James R. Fischer Undergraduate Research Grant” to support three undergraduate students to participate in research on sustainable energy — his field of interest.
Funding raised by the UMCOE Foundation can be applied to many phases of research. Often to compete for national grants, the University must have matching funds for the project and the Foundation could provide that match. Additionally, the lag in the award processes for grants often means that the researchers and their facilities can go unfunded for many months to a year until the next phase is awarded. Transition funds from the Foundation could be applied to keep that team productive during that gap. Taking a project from proven research to tested application to commercialization also benefits from external funds from alumni and friends of the Foundation.
Entrepreneurship
The UMCOE Foundation supports resourcing the economic growth engine of new technologies and start-up businesses that come from Mizzou research. In that vein, the College of Engineering has just announced a “Interdisciplinary Minor In Entrepreneurship” for its Engineering students. This minor provides in-depth education, training, and practice in:
- Management of Entrepreneurial Organizations and Enterprises
- Development of Creativity
- Organizational and Business Fundamentals
- Opportunity for Innovative Experience and Action
- Practicum-Capstone
Working with the Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC), our students are exposed and mentored by experienced entrepreneurs and encouraged to develop startup companies. Friends of the UMCOE Foundation can support this activity through contributions or special programs to award these student/faculty entrepreneurs much needed startup funding. The long-term goal is for these entrepreneurial companies to be successful and return that investment back to the COE in license fees or profits.
