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U.A. WHITAKER COLLEGE of Engineering
Amplifies Computing Education and Opportunities in SWFL
In its approximately thirteen year journey as a According to a recent analysis, the expected 5-
standalone unit at FGCU, the college initially year job growth in SW Florida is 9%; median
developed programs in the engineering annual earnings for many occupations related to
disciplines. Driven by the needs of our Computer Science range from $50,000 to
communities, we then added Construction $110,000; and the total number of jobs
Management. The focus has now shifted to associated with these occupations is expected
enhancing the educational, scholarship, and to be 10,525 by 2027. The U.S. Bureau of
outreach footprints in Computing vis-à-vis the Labor Statistics projects overall employment in
programs in Computer Science. The vision and computer and information technology
its implementation began about three years ago, occupations to grow much faster than average
which was reinforced by the incoming new for all occupations from 2022 to 2032 and the
leadership then at the university and college median annual wage for this group was
levels. Once again, it was rooted in the best $104,420 in May 2023, which was higher than
interests of our citizens, businesses, the median annual wage of $48,060 for all
government agencies, and the community at occupations. Popular job titles include software
large. It was evidently clear that Computer engineers/developers, project managers,
Science was the right and strategic choice, and systems engineers, network engineers, and data
the time was more than apt to add it to our scientists. Arthrex, The Hertz Corporation, Herc
portfolio. Rentals, Collier County, Lee Health,
We started with hiring a cluster of faculty with Neogenomics, Chico’s, and CallMiner are among
Article By: individual and collective expertise in Artificial the frequent employers in our region. To
Intelligence, Cybersecurity, and Data Science. surmise, the employment prospects are quite
Huzefa Kagdi, Ph.D. Their contributions are expected not only in the bright.
core discipline of Computer Science but also in Computing is at the epicenter of the Fifth
its interdisciplinary applications across Business, Industrial Revolution (5IR) and it fueled the
I am thrilled to share with you Education, Health, and other sectors of our Fourth Industrial revolution. It has already
several exciting opportunities economy pertinent to Southwest Florida. achieved great heights of automation and
autonomy for tedious tasks, and we continue to
that the U.A. Whitaker College make big strides for intelligent tasks. It is hard to
of Engineering at Florida Gulf imagine any sectors untouched by Computing in
Coast University (FGCU) brings improving the quality of life, safety, security,
in higher education to the and service. The beneficiaries range from
Southwest Florida community individuals to companies to nation states. Tools
and beyond. Its primary such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are
offerings are in the fields of slowly becoming ubiquitous and are replacing
Computing, Construction, and the go-to “web search” engines for us.
Autonomous vehicles, smart homes and
Engineering. The college communities, blended work environments, and
continues to grow in The resulting outcomes are the bachelor’s and AI-driven health are among the dispersions from
prominence and expand its array master’s degree programs in computer science the prism of today’s reality. We live in exciting
and the impending launch of a multidisciplinary
of impactful contributions. institute on Artificial Intelligence and Data times and the future holds great promise. We
FGCU is a regional Science, which was recently approved by the are grateful to enjoy the support from local
comprehensive university. It is FGCU leadership. These programs supplement industry and other agencies in these endeavors.
intrinsic in the college’s mission our bachelor’s in software engineering and FGCU with its roles and responsibilities is ready
to serve our communities complement other programs in Construction to partner. Let us collectively shape the future
with all the opportunities and challenges in its
broadly and meaningfully. We and Engineering. Computer Science is one of glory!
take immense pride in the the fastest growing majors in the country with For now, we remain fully committed and
people, programs, processes, specialization in Artificial Intelligence, leading completely immersed in welcoming students to
the way in our state and nation. The Integrated
and partnerships harmonizing Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) our Computer Science programs beginning in
together to create a culture of suggests the annual growth in the number of August and other synergistic activities at FGCU
academic excellence, student degrees between 2016 and 2020 was 9.5% and in our communities. I invite you to connect
success, and community nationally and 9.1% in Florida. with the U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering,
enrichment. if you are not already. 65
