By ANGELA REEVES

angie@du2.byu.edu

An animatronic robot of Thomas Edison dropped by the Crabtree Technology Building yesterday to help kick off the birth of BYU's new School of Technology.

"As of 12:01 we became an official administrative unit," Thomas Erekson, Director of the new School of the Technology, said at yesterday's cake-cutting ceremony.

The former Dean of Technology from Bowling Green State University came to BYU with high hopes that the school would prove to be a huge success.

"I'm convinced BYU's School of Technology will be the best in the nation if not the world within a year or two," Erekson said.

Erekson said BYU's outstanding College of Engineering and Technology, and the university's enthusiasm for the new school made for an attractive offer.

"The resources and commitment of the faculty and the board are some of the things that attracted me to BYU."

The departments of Construction Management, Electronics Engineering Technology, Facilities Management, and Manufacturing Engineering Technology formerly belonged to the School of Engineering.

These programs along with the addition of a new Technology Teacher Education Department have branched off to comprise the new School of Technology.

"Some say technology is low-class engineering," Erekson said. "But I believe it's like apple pie and cherry pie. Both are deserts. Both are delicious, but they both have different flavors."

Assistant EET professor Earl Owen said he is excited for the opportunity for his program to be what the students and faculty would like it to be.

"We have the chance to do what the students of technology want to do instead of just traditional engineering. We are free to just be ourselves," Owen said.

Capstone students recruited from high schools and universities all over the country will construct their own animatronic robot for BYU, Erekson said. It will be as life-like as Edison who moved and talked and even snored during yesterday's ceremony.

Enrollment in the once small technology programs at BYU are increasing. The Department of Construction Management recently put a cap on it's enrollment because student interest surpassed resources available.

Some students said that although they appreciate all the publicity for the new school, they fear some of the technology programs will cease to be the small, close knit classes they have come to appreciate.

"Right now we are really small. I'm glad I did it with small numbers," said Shane Billings, 23, a senior from Florida majoring in EET. "I guess it's better that I will graduate with a few people but still get all this publicity."

However, department chairs and faculty are hopeful that the creation of the new school will enhance and strengthen technology programs as well as increasing its status and publicity.

"This marks the beginning of a new era," said Doug Chabries, Dean of the College of Engineering and Technology. "We are looking forward to good things."



Copyright Brigham Young University 1 Sep 1998