Dear Friends,

For more than a decade, the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering has been ramping up enrollment, faculty and facilities. According to the most recent American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Profiles, the Price College of Engineering is 61st in the U.S in the size of our undergraduate enrollment and 58th in graduate enrollment. The number of tenure-track faculty has increased by nearly 93 percent since 2002.

Working closely with University of Utah, state and industry leaders, the College has a clear vision of its role as a leader of innovation, technology commercialization, and production of engineers and computer scientists. We must continue to provide outstanding talent for companies engaged in fiercely competitive global markets.

The Price College of Engineering has increased the number of degrees awarded by nearly 196 percent since 1999, fueling Utah’s growing high-tech economy by providing greater numbers of engineering and computer science graduates. In 2021, the college awarded 1,146 degrees – 708 bachelor’s, 345 master’s and 93 doctoral degrees.

And that tremendous growth is expected to continue. Thanks to the Engineering Initiative that began during Gov. Michael Leavitt’s administration, 2019 provided an additional $5 million in ongoing funds to the state’s schools, and we have taken on the challenge of tripling the number of engineering graduates to feed Utah’s rising technology sector.

In addition to the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering’s contribution to developing an outstanding workforce, the faculty has increased engineering-related research to more than $89 million per year (up from $56 million a decade ago). University research is a major source of technology innovation that benefits companies seeking to maintain a competitive advantage and leads to spin-off companies that create new jobs. The College is ranked among the top 50 U.S. engineering schools in total annual research expenditures by ASEE.

Driven by interdisciplinary collaboration and entrepreneurial spirit, our students and faculty form ventures that keep society productive, healthy and entertained. We continue to successfully commercialize intellectual property through invention disclosures, patents, and ultimately, startup companies. Since 2010, College of Engineering-associated faculty and grad students have filed 1,113 invention disclosures, which have contributed to 115 executed licenses. And the college’s research has been licensed to 98 startup companies.

As one of the fastest rising engineering programs in the nation, the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering looks to the future with a tremendous sense of optimism and anticipation to advance even further.

Richard B. Brown

Dean, John and Marcia Price College of Engineering at the University of Utah
Faculty Profile