Wichita State got a look at the two finalists for the College of Engineering last week.

Atam Dhawan and Royce Bowden came on seperate visits to meet with the Engineering Student Group, the President’s Executive Team, the Engineering Department, deans and other committees.

The visits are an opportunity for the candidates to present their vision for WSU if they are selected as the next Dean of the WSU College of Engineering.

Both candidates have several professional accomplishments, recognitions in the field of engineering and value diversity on campus. But they are different in philosophies and approaches to solving problems.

Atam Dhawan was born and raised in India, where he earned his bachelor’s and master‘s degrees in electrical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology. His doctorate is from the University of Manitoba in Canada. He is the associate and interim dean of the Albert Dorman Honors College at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Dhawan said his personal philosophy is, “a successful strategic plan starts from the right assessment – professional, unbiased [and] data driven,”

Dhawan’s goal is to “educate the leaders of tomorrow in technology and to make a global impact on our society.” He also said that universities need to be competitive to address the challenges and needs of a global market.

“I am going to take an entrepreneurial perspective, which I think is very suited to WSU in the middle of all the industries around and in the state of Kansas,” he said.

Dhawan said this prepares students for the future because it exposes them to the business world.

To put business into the engineering curriculum, Dhawan would encourage students to have a minor in relation and entrepreneurship (classes that will be beneficial for both engineering and business). He also plans to work cooperatively with other faculty members on the business model.

The second candidate is Royce Bowden. He earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate in industrial engineering at Mississippi State University. He is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Bagley College of Engineering at MSU and Director of the Simulation and Advanced Computation Laboratory.

“I measure success based on success of others,” Bowden said about his philosophy.

From his experiences as a department head and associate dean, Bowden believes in cooperation and communication.

In addition to promoting “two-way” communication, Bowden also plans to “add attention and resources for increased student retention and graduation,” and “balance between teaching, research, and service.”

His goal is to help WSU be recognized as a top tier undergraduate and graduate engineering program in the U.S.

“You [the College of Engineering] already lead the nation in undergraduate engineering education through your ‘Engineering 2020’ program, the nation just doesn’t know it yet,” Bowden said.

To accomplish this, Bowden suggests WSU add more faculty and staff members, secure more endowment for faculty, protect and expand the undergraduate program and increase graduate students selectivity and production.

Both candidates ended their campus visits with a meeting with Anthony Vizzini, WSU Vice President of Academic Affairs. The university will host a visit for the final candidate, Arup Maji, from Aug. 25 to Aug. 27.