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The COST community gathered for the 5th Annual Open House: Alumni and Partnership luncheon Thursday October 17, 2013 The atrium of the TSU Science Center was brightly decorated in the spirit of Homecoming for the gathering of alumni, partners, friends, students, faculty and staff for our annual College Show and Tell program. Guests reviewed research posters and networked with students, faculty, and alumni before settling down to Lunch.
Dr. Oscar H. Criner opened the program with a talk on the theme of the program, “Creating the Successful STEM Student,” where he discussed the activities of the College in helping students adjust to college life. There was a major orientation for freshmen, pointing out to students the challenges and pitfalls for those attending college for the first time. The Student enhancement activities were described including COST 101 mandatory meeting of freshmen, the Mid-Term Madness and Finals Frenzy study sessions sponsored by the Office of Student Services. These were the innovations this year intended to help students succeed.
Dean Lei Yu gave a “State of the College of Science and Technology” presentation that was a report of annual activities. He highlighted the new building that will soon be occupied.
This year the Partner of the Year was the Houston Airport System (HAS), which has been actively involved in the COST Airway Science program for many years. In the 1985-1986 academic year, the College of Science and Technology established the Airway Science program with the assistance of a grant from the Federal Aviation Agency. The primary thrust of the programs was to provide skilled persons to the workforce that manages the airport systems of the nation. The environment of airports has its own operating modality that exists in no other part of the transportation sector. Hence, there existed a very specialized area of education and training that TSU sought to satisfy.
36 students have participated in the HAS-TSU internship program up to the present. Many TSU students worked as interns at HAS. At the present time 16 graduates have professional positions with HAS.
The major success of our internship program with HAS is the
appointment of one of our graduates, Perry
Miller, as General Manager of William P. Hobby Airport. Mario Diaz, the director of HAS, accepted the College’s Partner of the Year Award on behalf of the HAS.
Faculty and students provided a perspective on life and work in COST.
Cost students described their personal experiences as to the path that led them to study in the College.
The COST Board of Advisors perspective was delivered by the Chairman, Mr. Paul Simmons, who gave remarks as to the activities of the Board of Advisors in its advocacy for the College. Similarly, the COST Alumni Association Chapter’s activities were described by their Acting President, Mr. Perry Miller.
Dean Yu introduced the Keynote speaker Dr. Mark Dean, who is Fisher Distinguished Professor at the University of Tennessee, College of Engineering. Dr. Dean was formerly Chief Technology Officer of the Middle East and Africa for IBM and an IBM Fellow. His presentation surveyed “Emerging Areas of Innovation and Opportunity.”