2018: A Year in Review
2018 was an exciting year for us.
In addition to graduating another cohort of accomplished MS&E students, we started this academic year with 97 doctoral candidates, 199 master’s students and 188 declared undergraduate majors. More than 30 faculty teach and mentor those students, assisted by a dedicated team of lecturers and consultants.
We also hired two new professors in 2018, who will join MS&E this coming fall: Irene Lo (PhD, Columbia Industrial Engineering and Operations Research) and Guillaume Basse (PhD, Harvard Statistics).
Here are a few other things we’ve been thinking about as we look back at last year:
We love reunion weekend!
Favorite time of year? That’s easy. Reunion! When alums come back to campus to mingle with one another, reconnect with faculty and attend MS&E reunion lectures. Our graduates are a lively bunch with a diverse set of career paths, making them an especially fun and interesting group.
In case you missed it, we posted videos of all of the reunion speakers, as well as a photo gallery from the weekend.
It’s the people who make MS&E amazing.
Last year we introduced Spotlights, a new series where you can get to know the accomplished faculty, students, alumni and staff of MS&E.
For example, did you know that Professor Emeritus Robert McGinn pioneered the engineering ethics curriculum at Stanford? For many years, all undergraduate engineering majors have been required to take “Technology in Society” ethics courses, and many of them have had Professor McGinn as their teacher. He has taught Ethical Issues in Engineering (E131) for 25 years. Read more about McGinn and engineering ethics in his 2018 Spotlight.
Photos of our beautiful campus are inspiring.
If you’re connected with us on Facebook, you’ll know that what started as a few pictures of the Stanford campus on a sunny day has turned into an ongoing stream of beautiful photos. We hope you’ll connect with us on Facebook. You can find the photos using #MSandEViews.
The work of MS&E faculty and students is changing the world.
Our broad research areas produced critical work last year that will have impact on our world.
For example, Professor Sharad Goel launched the Stanford Computational Policy Lab (CPL) in 2018. His goal is to create a place where faculty, students, data scientists, engineers and journalists could collaborate on solutions for criminal justice, education, voting rights and beyond.
Last year, CPL worked with the state of Illinois to investigate allegations of racial bias in police traffic stops. They also began a collaboration with the city of St. Louis to reduce the local jail population. We wrote about this new venture when it launched, and can’t wait to see the results from some of their efforts in the coming year.
Here’s another example. Last year, Professor Margaret Brandeau and Allison Pitt (PhD '18) built a mathematical model to calculate the best set of policies to reduce opioid overdose deaths in this country. Their work will assist public health officials in making the best interventions to save as many lives as possible. Read the article about their work here.
Stanford MS&E graduates are everywhere.
Because our research areas are diverse, MS&E graduates pursue varied career paths. Check out the results from the latest MS&E Career Collaborative Program survey to see where last year’s graduates landed.
More FRICTION may lead to a better workplace.
Last year saw the release of season two of the FRICTION podcast, described as “part organizational design and part therapy.” With episodes such as “Dear Micro-Manager, Control Yourself” and “The Emperor Has No Clue,” listeners can grimace knowingly, while learning skills for success in the face of many workplace difficulties.
MS&E Professor Bob Sutton hosts the podcast and has featured Professors Kathleen Eisenhardt and Melissa Valentine as guests. You can subscribe here.
The future looks bright.
The intellectual energy of our students is truly breathtaking. While we often hear of news from our graduate students, we especially enjoyed sitting in on last year’s MS&E senior projects. We are excited to see the growth in our students in 2019 and beyond!
For more news about MS&E, go to our website.
