Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department split

The Engineering School recently divided the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) department into two separate departments and created an entirely new Department of Biomedical Engineering. The change will allow the departments to serve students more efficiently while still sharing resources, professors say.

"The Dean and the faculty thought that having separate departments would be more efficient and would get us closer to the students," said Professor Robert Gonsalves, who now chairs the Electrical Engineering Department.

EECS has functioned as one department, sharing resources and faculty since 1994. That changed at the meeting of the Board of Trustees' Academic Affairs Committee on Sept. 26, when the division of the departments was officially approved.

In the eight years that the two subjects were combined, they experienced remarkable growth. In 1994, Computer Science graduated 20 students, and Electrical Engineering graduated 50 students. The year before the split, the combined departments graduated 120 students.

The Computer Science department's growth correlated with the technology boom of the late 1990s, which changed the focus of the department. "We're encouraging the importance between culture and technology," Dean of the Colleges Charles Inouye said.

The separate Department of Biomedical Engineering was created in response to an increased emphasis on innovation in medicine. "The Dean and the faculty thought that having the Biomedical Engineering program would be a good compliment to the Engineering School and the medical program," Gonsalves said.

The new department, created because of increased student demand, will include faculty from the Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Chemistry departments. Since Tufts only has a graduate program in Biomedical Engineering, "it's going to take several years for the undergraduate program to develop," according to Gonsalves.

Despite the split, undergraduate students will not notice much of a difference, aside from the names of the departments. However, on the administrative level, promotions and tenure issues will be handled separately. Each department will be "judged by a different cohort," Gonsalves said.

"Personally, I don't really feel the effects of the split," Computer Engineering junior Marco Enriquez said. "I think the departments want to be distinguishable."

Gonsalves doesn't see the split affecting faculty attraction and retention. "Tufts is an outstanding place to teach and work, and I think that will far outweigh any administrative changes," he said.

Of all the resources the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science departments still share, the most important is Halligan Hall. They share computer labs, a main office, and the staff serves both departments. Space in Halligan is very limited, as the building also houses the Athletics Department.

" We will need new space simply because we're growing so big," Gonslaves said. "We're pleading for new space."

However, at least in Electrical Engineering, the undergraduate programs are not expected to expand anymore because there is a cap on the number of students let into the engineering program. The Electrical Engineering Department expects to continue graduating about 60 students a year, according to Gonsalves. The only expansion that could occur is at the graduate level.

The Department of Computer Science is now chaired by Professor Diane Souvaine. The new Department of Biomedical Engineering will be chaired by Professor David Kaplan, who is also the director of the University's Bioengineering Center.