Swartz calls the Science Center computers "inadequate," and says that HSE has asked the University for funds to purchase 10 to 15 machines exclusively for use by concentrators. Thus far the administration has not responded to the request, he says.

Brockett acknowledges that conditions in the Science Center can be crowded, but he notes that there are 15 work stations available for engineering use in one of the other science buildings.

"It's a continuing thing to get new computing facilities and up-to-date supplies, but I think overall we're doing a fine job keeping our students supplied with the best equipment," Brockett says.

A Small But Acclaimed Program

Ironically, these concerns about the department's ability to attract students arise annually despite nearly universal acclaim for the academic merits of the engineering program here. Many of its members are famous for their pioneering research, according to Martin.

Martin acknowledges that the engineering department is small in comparison with those of other major national universities, but he says that in specific areas Harvard ranks among the best in the nation.

"Harvard has 20 people in the field and other institutions have 100, but given the number of resources and people available, we do an outstanding job," he says.

Dibadj agrees and says that there are many advantages to studying engineering here, one of which is the quality of the faculty. "There are a lot of excellent professors here who have managed to attain great respect in their fields," he says.

In addition to the faculty members at Harvard, students also have access to professors at MIT. The opportunity to cross-register is widely perceived as one of the greatest strengths of the department.

Both Swartz and Dibadj call cross-registration an excellent chance to sample MIT's famed program while still enjoying all the benefits of a liberal arts education.

And the liberal-arts emphasis here is seen by many as another of the strongest aspects of the program. "Harvard prepares a student to interact with a much broader environment and people who graduate from our department normally have incredible interpersonal skills," says R. Victor Jones, Wallace professor of applied physics, who is also an advisor to HSE.

Jones says that the environment here attracts "different kinds of people" from those who would attend MIT, but he says that over the long run their communications skills help Harvard graduates to achieve as much as or more success than their MIT counterparts.

Also sharing this view is Brockett, who says that "what one often finds is that an overly specialized education serves you well for the first few years but sooner or later engineers reach a point where poor communications abilities begin to hinder the development of their careers."

"One can document that Harvard engineers go farther because of their broad education and the fact that they didn't over-specialize," Brockett adds.

Harvard engineers thus get the best of both worlds, students and faculty say. The strong Harvard department is supplemented by MIT without sacrificing the benefits of a broad education.

And, after the coming fundraising campaign, the engineering program should be able to expand its faculty and equipment. So for now, students say, HSE is attempting to focus attention on a program which is growing stronger.

Dibadj says that HSA has already brought more publicity to the department and adds that he hopes this will convince the University to devote even more effort to building on its solid foundations.

"What it fundamentally comes down to is that there's no reason with such resources a great university like Harvard shouldn't be one of the leaders of its field," Dibadj says.