RIT Names Director of Multidisciplinary Engineering Design Program

Rochester Institute of Technology's Kate Gleason College of Engineering, which is among the nation's top-ranked engineering colleges, named Paul Stiebitz its director of a new multidisciplinary engineering design program meant to highlight synergies among various engineering disciplines with emphasis on real-life problem solving.

“This program is a direct extension of the excellent discipline-specific, design-based educational elements that have been cornerstones of the educational programs at RIT for many years,” says Harvey Palmer, dean. “It's a distinctive feature of the RIT engineering education that further differentiates the college in the marketplace, complementing and leveraging its strong co-op program, its commitment to engineering practice and its philosophy of 'learning by doing.'”

In the past two years, nearly 300 students completed 52 multidisciplinary capstone design projects supported by RIT and industry sponsors. This year, through expanded course sections, as many as 280 students are expected to participate in up to 45 projects.

“Skills from several traditional engineering majors are necessary for the development of competitive products and systems. The ability to effectively work in teams is a necessary ingredient,” says Stiebitz, associate professor of industrial and systems engineering and associate professor of microsystems engineering.

Stiebitz, of Irondequoit, has been a member of the RIT faculty since 1984. Prior to joining RIT, he was a supervising engineer with Xerox Corp. and Eastman Kodak Co. He earned a B.S. in physics and an M.E. in systems engineering, both from RIT, and an M.S. in industrial engineering from SUNY Buffalo. He is an industry consultant on simulation, facilities design, production systems design and reliability.

“Paul brings to this new position a broad spectrum of knowledge, talents and experience,” Palmer adds. “Creation of this program is a logical extension of the progress the engineering college has made over the past two years toward crafting and implementing a comprehensive, interdisciplinary capstone design initiative as a key element of its core curriculum.”

Note: RIT's Kate Gleason College of Engineering is among the nation's top-ranked engineering colleges. The college offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in applied statistics, engineering science, and computer, electrical, industrial and systems, mechanical, and microelectronic engineering and a doctoral degree in microsystems engineering. RIT was the first university to offer undergraduate degrees in microelectronic and software engineering. Founded in 1829, RIT enrolls 15,500 students in more than 340 undergraduate and graduate programs. RIT has one of the nation's oldest and largest cooperative education programs.