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View from the top: Prof. Subra Suresh, Dean of MIT School of Engineering
Professor Subra Suresh is one of five School Deans at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and is the newest in his position as head of one of the most prestigious higher education institutions focusing on engineering anywhere in the world. Formerly the Ford Professor of Engineering in the Department of Materials Science, Prof. Suresh’s successful teaching and research career has been driven by his own dedication to high-level academic discovery and contributions to a better understanding of such critical issues as the behaviour of cancer cells and the fight to combat malaria.
An internationally acclaimed researcher in the areas of nano and micro-scale mechanical properties of engineered materials, Prof. Suresh has had a varied and compelling international education career. Originally from India and a graduate from one of the most competitive universities in the world, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chennai, Prof. Suresh recalls his mother’s advice on making his first steps in an academic career: “She did not go to college but insisted that I qualify for a place at IIT even though, at the time, she did not know much about it. It was something cultural that she believed – that studying science and engineering is seen as a ticket to success.”
Prof. Suresh’s journey to the top has undoubtedly been based on an exemplary academic career. Having graduated from IIT Chennai in 1977 with a BSc in engineering he received a Masters degree from Iowa State University in 1979 before beginning his PhD program at MIT. With remarkable focus and tenacity, Prof. Suresh was awarded his PhD in 1983 and then embarked on his research career, first as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California at Berkeley and then as a Professor of Engineering at Brown University in Rhode Island, US.
MIT is one of the most internationally diverse universities in the US.
An international recruit himself, Prof. Suresh reflects the approach of MIT to be as internationally engaged as possible. The School of Engineering in particular has, for many years, targeted the recruitment of talented international students through a number of channels, not least their generous provision of financial aid and scholarships and offers of teaching and research assistantships for PhD applicants. The impact is clear – MIT is one of the most internationally diverse universities in the US. In the current academic year, 2,883 of the 10,220 students enrolled at MIT are from countries outside of the US, with close to 2,500 students registered on Masters or PhD programs, half of who come from Asia. Similarly international in character, MIT hosts 1,654 scholars from 82 different countries contributing to the teaching and research mission of the institution.
Adapting content to reflect other academic areas is one of the most important issues facing engineering now and in the future.
Even with an increasing internationalization, the way in which engineering is taught, however, is in a state of flux all around the world. Prof. Suresh recognizes that, even for an institution as prestigious as MIT, such innovation needs to be reflected in both the structure and content of teaching and research programs to ensure that graduates remain relevant to the demands of the international labour market. He believes that adapting content to reflect other academic areas is one of the most important issues facing engineering now and in the future: “There are areas within engineering that play a major role in interdisciplinary activities at MIT. The Schools of Engineering and Science have partnered with the MIT Energy Initiative and I don’t think we can separate the environment from the energy discussion. We also have the BP Academy and BP Project Academy, which are joint activities between the Sloan School of Management and the School of Engineering and we want to expand such activities in the coming year through our professional educational program.”
Responding to the needs of employers and students is also important to Prof. Suresh, ensuring that graduates, particular those from overseas, have the greatest possible impact in their careers: “A few months ago, we established a new program in the school called the Bernard Gordon Program for Educational Leadership - the purpose of the program is to provide our students an opportunity for much greater hands-on experience, for learning through teamwork and for leadership training. In an increasingly virtual, software-controlled world, the real hardcore, hands-on experience in engineering should not be overlooked and one of the purposes of this program is to create much greater opportunities for our students to experiment, explore and to learn by working with real systems and components.”
