Dr. Kraig Olejniczak, dean of Valparaiso University's College of Engineering, recently was named by the Indiana Society of Professional Engineers as winner of its 2009 Engineer of the Year Award in honor of his dedication to advancing the profession through engineering education.
Dr. Olejniczak, a recipient of numerous honors for his research, teaching and service to the engineering profession, received the award at the ISPE's annual convention.
A Valpo alumnus, Dr. Olejniczak has served as dean of the College of Engineering since 2002. Under his leadership, the college has been recognized annually by U.S. News and World Report as one of the nation's best primarily undergraduate engineering programs.
During Dr. Olejniczak's tenure as dean, the College of Engineering has been cited as a leading innovator in engineering education. Those efforts include the establishment of the Valparaiso International Engineering Program, which provides engineering students an opportunity to study and work in Germany and France and develop the technical, cultural and language skills needed for leadership in the international marketplace.
The college also has launched a humanitarian engineering minor program to give students the understanding and opportunity to apply engineering concepts to improve the welfare of the less advantaged, and a master's of engineering management program that equips engineers with the skills to assume leadership roles.
In 2006, Valpo's College of Engineering became perhaps the first engineering school in the country to offer its students the opportunity to take the renowned Dale Carnegie Training program for academic credit. The program allows Valpo's engineering students to develop their interpersonal communication and human relations skills.
"Engineering students who augment their technical abilities with leadership skills and the ability to communicate effectively bring a lot of added value to their employers," he said. "We expect Valpo engineers to be prepared for the future and the Dale Carnegie experience helps them be more productive engineers when they get into the workplace."
For the fourth time in the past five years, a Valpo engineering student was named this spring to USA Today's All-USA College Academic Team, which recognizes the nation's most outstanding students. Also this spring, Valpo's College of Engineering became the only engineering school in the United States to have multiple students in both 2008 and 2009 selected to receive prestigious Tau Beta Pi Fellowships in recognition of their exemplary scholarship, campus leadership and service, and promise of future contributions to the engineering profession.
Dr. Olejniczak, himself an entrepreneur, founded Arkansas Power Electronics International Inc. while serving on the faculty of the University of Arkansas. The company, which he currently serves as chairman of its board of directors, creates advanced electronics, with a focus on power-electronics that can withstand high-temperature environments (greater than 250 degrees Celsius).
Dr. Olejniczak was recipient of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power Engineering Society's Outstanding Young Engineer Award in 1999 and has won several awards from the IEEE for papers on power engineering and power engineering education.