Homecoming 2025 highlights department strengths
Alumni rally Bear Down spirit ahead of the football game at the annual College of Engineering Homecoming tailgate, where families share food and laughs with old friends.
University of Arizona faculty and alumni spoke at the College of Engineering's 62nd Engineers Breakfast on Nov. 7., celebrating how the college's departments have adapted well to meet national demands.
Engineering includes several disciplines historically aligned with priorities in the Office of Research and Partnerships: fusion energy, AI-integrated health care, critical mineral mining, and space and national security.
Speakers echoed the college's commitment to defense initiatives. U of A Foundation President and CEO JP Roczniak and keynote speaker Jessica Schafer emphasized Engineering’s rapid response to military partnerships.
A 2002 aerospace engineering alum with more than 20 years of Air Force service, Schafer directs staff in the Department of Defense’s U.S. Space Command. The college was the first partner in the division’s Academic Engagement Enterprise, focused on workforce training and research in national security and space exploration.
“The vital research happening at the UA makes it a valuable partner,” said Schafer, adding, “The Space4 Center is working on novel AI techniques to improve space traffic.”
Space4 Center is a $7.5 million Air Force-funded, international endeavor tracking objects in space between Earth and the moon. SIE professor Roberto Furfaro is the center’s deputy director of engineering.
“It’s crucial we protect and preserve space for continued use,” Schafer said.