Penn Engineering
Penn Engineering is entering a pivotal era of challenge and opportunity. By embracing this strategic plan, the School commits to a bold vision grounded in excellence, agility and community.
Penn Engineering 2030 is aligned with the University’s In Principle and Practice framework, which strengthens Penn as an Inventive University of bold ideas, an Engaged University with societal reach, an Anchored University committed to operational excellence and an Interwoven University powered by cross-disciplinary collaboration.
Penn Engineering has made remarkable strides since the release of its last strategic plan during the 2020 – 21 academic year. The School has grown its faculty and staff by 20%, increased student enrollment (including online) by 40%, expanded its facilities by 30%, increased its research productivity by 35% and solidified its reputation as a leading school of engineering. But the world of engineering education continues to shift dramatically: AI is transforming every discipline, there are more constraints on federal research funding and higher education must adapt to changing expectations and new forms of learning.
Penn Engineering is at an inflection point. As we look ahead to 2030 and beyond, the School must boldly adapt and innovate as leaders in the future of engineering education and research. In doing so, Penn Engineering is propelled forward by the following vision:
In service of solving humanity’s greatest challenges, Penn Engineering will attract top talent from all backgrounds to advance knowledge and innovation for all.
In accordance with this vision, Penn Engineering’s mission is to leverage knowledge and transform it into real-world solutions through innovative research and education, preparing global leaders in academia, industry and technology while expanding access and amplifying impact.
To be successful in this mission, the School relies upon its established core values, which include:
Penn Engineering 2030 provides the roadmap for the School to navigate this pivotal moment, guiding the formation and execution of strategic priorities, collaborations and programs that will shape the future of engineering at Penn.
Penn Engineering 2030 builds on past achievements and embraces innovation, community and institutional resilience as the School defines the future of engineering and considers how Penn Engineering can expand its impact.
As part of the strategic planning process, Penn Engineering underwent a comprehensive self-study via subcommittees, which both affirmed the School’s many strengths, including faculty excellence, a highly selective student body, and thriving on-campus and online programs, while identifying key vulnerabilities, which include reliance on federal funding, limited faculty size and dependence on global graduate talent. The School also considered how national policy changes threaten funding streams and visa access, further motivating the need for bold adaptation.
In addition to being grounded in Penn Engineering’s vision, mission and values, subcommittees also ensured that this strategic plan aligns with Penn’s In Principle and Practice framework, which outlines the University’s strategic vision as an Inventive, Engaged, Interwoven and Anchored University, advancing knowledge, societal impact and institutional excellence through community-driven, collaborative and future-focused efforts.
Penn Engineering 2030 fulfills this vision by fostering cross-disciplinary innovation, deepening local and global engagement, operationalizing core values, and aligning the School’s academic and research initiatives with the broader goals of societal impact and institutional agility.
The strategic planning process for Penn Engineering 2030 yielded a framework of four Strategic Pillars: Reinventing Engineering Education, Advancing Research Excellence and Impact, Strengthening Community and Culture, and Reimagining Organizational Agility and Sustainability. Each Pillar includes five goals for members of the Penn Engineering community to use as guideposts throughout the next five years.
Aligned with Penn’s emphasis on the Inventive University and Engaged University, Penn Engineering must lead the transformation of engineering education for the AI era and beyond. As technologies evolve rapidly, so must methods for preparing our students to become responsible, adaptable and creative problem solvers. The School’s approach is centered on innovation in curricula, pedagogy and learning environments, leveraging global partnerships with a focus on relevance, inclusion and lifelong impact. This Pillar’s five key goals include:
Equip all students, from undergraduate to doctoral students, to become responsible innovators with the capacity to adapt to and lead in a rapidly evolving world by offering flexible academic pathways to yet-to-be-identified disciplines and integrating AI tools and data-centric thinking across the core curriculum.
Redefine how students learn by combining AI-enhanced instruction, hands-on, project-based experiences with real- world partners, and hybrid pedagogies that blend the best of online and in-person education.
Create an integrated educational experience by expanding research opportunities, strengthening entrepreneurship pathways and enabling students to apply their skills to real-world challenges.
Prepare our students for diverse career paths by reimagining training and development to include translational and industrial research tracks, experiential industry partnerships and essential skills in teamwork, project management and communication, while ensuring all academic programs are more agile and industry-relevant.
Expand Penn Engineering’s global reach and lifelong learning opportunities by developing new online degrees, building modular credential pathways and investing in personalized, technology-enhanced student support and engagement tools.
As the pace and scale of global challenges increase, Penn Engineering is committed to leading transformative research that addresses society’s most urgent needs, from human health and sustainable systems to trustworthy AI and resilience. This is aligned with Penn’s vision of an Inventive University. As part of an Interwoven University, the School will invest in areas where it has a competitive advantage across the University, catalyze interdisciplinary collaboration and build infrastructure to support discovery, translation and scale. The five key goals for this Pillar include:
Champion a bold portfolio of new interdisciplinary centers and initiatives that leverage big ideas to address humanity’s most pressing challenges in human health, climate and sustainability, and emerging technologies.
Grow a dynamic, campus-wide innovation ecosystem by leveraging strategic alliances across Penn, launching collaborative initiatives that unite faculty across schools, and fostering partnerships that connect academic research with the broader Philadelphia ecosystem.
Sustain the strategic growth of the faculty and empower ambitious research projects through facilitation of large-scale grant development and targeted funding programs that encourage collaboration and translational breakthroughs.
Accelerate innovation and translational impact by creating a centralized corporate engagement office, cultivating flexible academic-industry partnerships, and forming multi- organization consortia in high-demand fields to drive co- investment in research and talent development.
Augment existing research capacity by building and modernizing physical and digital infrastructure, including re- search facilities, shared labs and high-performance computing platforms.
A thriving community is a foundational element for excellence in education and research. Penn Engineering is committed to fostering a culture where all students, faculty and staff are supported and empowered to do their best work. As the School grows and evolves, it will build stronger collaborations, promote equity and well-being, and ensure that Penn Engineering’s values guide our daily practices. As an Anchored University, the School will drive five key goals:
Integrate the School’s core values into institutional processes and culture, and develop a system at the school level for reporting on values in practice and the recognition of individual and team contributions to these values.
Create a regular, visible forum that encourages open, respectful conversations across roles, disciplines and lived experiences, with opportunities to build empathy, trust and openness.
Support faculty and staff success through formal mentoring, growth and well-being programs and provide community-building activities such as retreats, roundtables and workshops.
Promote holistic student well-being by transforming advising to include personalized pathways to success and cam- pus-wide resource awareness.
Broaden civic engagement opportunities by scaling outreach programs, facilitating collaborative local initiatives and recognizing participation in performance and funding processes.
In a time of rapid change and constrained resources, institutional agility is essential. As a school in an Inventive University, Penn Engineering must modernize its organizational structures and decision-making processes to better support its academic mission, respond to evolving challenges and operate more efficiently. This pillar focuses on long-term sustainability across financial, operational and cultural dimensions, grounded in smart strategy, data-driven management and future-ready thinking. The five key goals for this Pillar are:
Drive transformative change by rethinking academic programs and structures from first principles, enabling departments to propose new programs while phasing out outdated or duplicative programs to prioritize high-impact growth.
Enable organizational efficiency through data-driven approaches to administration and redesign services using real-time analytics to inform decision making.
Shape a future-ready campus by aligning academic space usage with strategic priorities, investing in sustainable infrastructure and building modular environments that adapt to the evolving needs of the students, staff and faculty.
Establish the Penn Engineering Futures Fund as a flexible platform combining general and donor-aligned funds in support of big ideas, while engaging philanthropists through governance roles, transparent impact reporting and advisory opportunities.
Foster long-term financial strength and resilience by diversifying revenue while modernizing budgeting practices and establishing reserves to buffer against uncertainty.
Penn Engineering is entering a pivotal era of challenge and opportunity. By embracing this strategic plan, the School commits to a bold vision grounded in excellence, agility and community. Penn Engineering will prepare students to lead in a rapidly changing world, accelerate the translation of research into impact, and foster a culture that reflects our values in both words and actions. The School moves forward not merely to adapt, but to lead with intention, courage and an unwavering commitment to shaping a better future through engineering.
