Dayton Engineer

The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) is a collaborative organization of United States universities that endeavor to instill an entrepreneurial mindset within current undergraduate engineering and technology students. The University of Dayton has been a part of this fantastic network since 2008 and is one of twenty-two schools dedicated to building a better tomorrow through educational opportunities for today's students majoring in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

At the 2016 KEEN Winter Conference in Tempe, Arizona, January 4-6, our very own, Dean Eddy Rojas, Dean of the School of Engineering, was selected to be the recipient of the 2015 KEEN Outstanding Dean Award!

Born and raised in Costa Rica, he was the first in his family to graduate from college. Dean Rojas holds a licentiate in civil engineering (five-year professional degree) from the University of Costa Rica and three degrees from the University of Colorado at Boulder: M.S., civil engineering; M.A., economics; and Ph.D., civil engineering.

Before joining the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, he served as executive director at Pacific Northwest Center for Construction Research and Education and graduate program coordinator at the University of Washington. Prior to these appointments, he served as faculty and graduate program coordinator for construction engineering and management in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at the State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY).

Dean Rojas holds a Professional Engineer (PE) license from the state of Michigan. He has also received a number of honors and awards including the 2011 Thomas Fitch Rowland Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers and faculty awards for research, scholarship and service from the University of Washington.

Named dean of the University of Dayton School of Engineering in July 2014 following a national search, he brought to the University a background in administration, teaching and research.

Thor S. Misko, program director and team leader of KEEN, states, "We want to publicly acknowledge Dean Rojas' exceptional leadership at the University of Dayton and within KEEN. We hope others will be inspired by his successes and his commitment to building a strong network dedicated to instilling the entrepreneurial mindset in engineering students."

Congratulations, once again, to Dean Eddy Rojas! We are proud to have you as a significant member of our community here at UD.