Engineering at 50

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As spirits ran high in the decades following World War II, a palpable feeling of optimism pulsed through the nation. Technology held vast promises for a better future, from transistors that revolutionized radio and other telecommunications to the early computer networks that would become the present-day internet.On the West Coast, twin senses of curiosity and possibility took hold, and it was in this climate of discovery and innovation that engineering at UCSB came into being.
And now, with curiosity and possibility still prevailing, the UCSB College of Engineering celebrates 50 years of discovery and innovation.
A College is Born
Albert Conrad, the first dean of the College of Engineering

Ohio-born Albert G. Conrad landed at UCSB by way of Yale University in 1962,  An electrical engineering professor and sometime violinmaker, Conrad became the inaugural dean of UCSB’s newly established School of Engineering.
At that time, electrical engineering was the fastest-growing engineering discipline in California and on the West Coast. And it was the first department at UCSB’s fledgling engineering school, followed shortly thereafter by departments of mechanical and chemical in 1964 and 1965, respectively  
But Conrad had even bigger plans. Seeing the potential of engineering education at UCSB, he lobbied then-Chancellor Vernon Cheadle in 1966 to grow the school into a College of Engineering.
“This would place it in a category with Berkeley, UCLA and Davis,” Conrad wrote in a letter to Cheadle. His request was granted and in four months the school of engineering was transformed into its own college.
“Dean Conrad was an iconic figure,” said Hua Lee, UCSB professor of electrical and computer engineering. “Students regarded him as an institution.” . Often sporting green — his favorite color, Lee noted — Conrad was the kind of person who would take the time to visit with the junior members of faculty and the students.
According to Lee, such collegiality was important in the ...

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