Video: CFE Media sits down with the OPUS Dean of Engineering at Marquette University

CFE Media’s Jim Langhenry sat down with OPUS Dean of Engineering Dr. Robert Bishop to discuss the current state of engineering education at Marquette University. Dr. Bishop and Langhenry discussed the importance of the new engineering facility and how it will be used, the definition of discovery learning, and what skills engineers will need in the upcoming “Creative Age”.

Patrick Lynch

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During a visit to Milwaukee, CFE Media’s Jim Langhenry sat down with OPUS Dean of Engineering Dr. Robert Bishop to discuss the current state of engineering education at Marquette University along with where the engineering program is going in the future.

Dr. Bishop and Langhenry discussed the importance of the new engineering facility and how it will be used, the definition of discovery learning, and what skills engineers will need in the upcoming “Creative Age” America is entering into. Currently under construction at the College of Engineering at Marquette is the brand new, Discovery Learning Complex, which will be the future home of the College of Engineering program.

The $35-million project known as the Discovery Learning Complex will involve building a five story, 115,000-sq-ft facility. The initial structure will include an innovative Discovery Learning Laboratory and a two-story engineering materials and structural testing laboratory. It will also include other new teaching and research laboratories, common areas for students, and office space. The first phase will be linked to a future 150,000 square foot building that will include classrooms, offices, and additional laboratories.

The university broke ground on Friday, March 5, 2010 and plans initial occupancy for August 2011.

Prior to Marquette University, Dr. Bishop was a faculty member for twenty years in the Department of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at The University of Texas at Austin where he served as Department Chairman for six years. He held the Joe. J. King Professorship and was a Distinguished Teaching Professor. Previously, Dr. Bishop was a practicing engineer on the technical staff at the MIT Charles Stark Draper Laboratory.

Dr. Bishop is a specialist in the area of guidance, navigation and control. His research sponsors have included the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Johnson Space Center, Oerlikon-Contraves of Switzerland, NEC Corporation of Japan, National Instruments, Air Force Research Laboratory, Emergent Space Technologies, Lockheed Martin, and the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory.

Dr. Bishop co-authored one of the world's leading undergraduate textbooks in control theory, and has authored two other textbooks, edited two handbooks, and authored/co-authored over one hundred and fifteen journal and conference papers. His undergraduate textbook Modern Control Systems (co-authored with R. C. Dorf) has been adopted worldwide and has been translated into Russian, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, German, and Portuguese. His book on graphical programming entitled Learning with LabVIEW was a collaborative effort between the author and National Instruments and was recently released in the 5th Edition. Dr. Bishop developed the Mechatronics Handbook, now in its 2nd Edition and the spin-off book Mechatronics: An Introduction.