Many FIC projects have been honored with awards for excellence and innovation.
Polaris: The Online Portfolio Center (Website)
2004 Silver Award for Resource Development
Innovative Instructional Technology Awards Program
Pressure Volume Temperature Simulation (CD-ROM)
2004 Silver Award for Teaching with Technology
Innovative Instructional Technology Awards Program
EOE: Engineering Diversity (Video)
2004 Bronze Medal
Circle of Excellence Awards: Council for the Advancement and Support of Engineering
WEP: Engineering 109 (Video)
2004 Silver Addy
Austin Addy Competition
UTMB Physical Diagnosis Self-Teaching System (CD-ROM)
2003 Texas Interactive Media Award
Outstanding Achievement in Education
ME 205, Computers and Programming (Website)
2001 IITAP First Prize
Innovative Instructional Technology Awards Program
GE Foundation: AIM for Engineering
In 2002, the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin received a grant of $483,000 over three years from the GE Foundation to focus on the math pipeline starting at the middle school level. The project, entitled Achieve ment in Mathematics for Engineering ( AIM for Engineering), addresses the need to better prepare underserved pre-college students for the rigorous mathematics required in undergraduate engineering programs and to improve retention of undergraduate women and minorities engineering students. The organizations within the Cockrell School of Engineering that have been involved in AIM for Engineering are the Faculty Innovation Center ( FIC), IT Group (ITG), Equal Opportunity in Engineering (EOE), Women in Engineering Program (WEP), and Design Engineering and Technology for America’s Children (DTEACh).
HP Equipment Grant
In March of 2001, the FIC was awarded a $395, 442 equipment grant from HP’s University Grant Program. With this funding, the FIC was able to open a center to promote enhanced teaching and learning. In the FIC, the faculty have a place, support, and the tools to learn to become innovative instructors.
HP: Mobility I
During the summer and fall of 2001, the FIC was awarded an HP Mobility grant for phase one of a mobility initiative. This phase focused on two aspects: the building of a College-wide wireless network using HP access points to establish the necessary infrastructure and the integration of mobile technology into the teaching and learning environments for two undergraduate electrical engineering courses taught by Dr. Archie Holmes and Professor Bill Bard.
HP: Mobility II
In responses to HP’s interest in mobility, the FIC submitted a second proposal and received an award in March of 2002 to address three challenges in fulfilling the vision of developing a Campus-wide mobile environment for UT-Austin students. The three challenges were: to accelerate the rate of change by providing Faculty Incentive Grants; developing technology for the classroom by creating a wireless protocol; and refining the wireless environment and developing management tools.
HP: Mobility 2003 Extension Grant
With this awarded grant, the FIC demonstrated that Wi-Fi technology enables existing multimedia classrooms to offer a superior learning environment via shared interactive simulations and employ modern engineering automated design and presentation tools. This grant provided laptops on mobile carts for student usage in their classrooms.