Savoie College of Engineering

Dean's Lecture Series continued...
University of New Orleans emerita civil engineering professor Norma Jane Mattei kicked off the new Dr. Robert A. Savoie College of Engineering Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series on October 29 with her discussion of the ethical use of AI in engineering education and practice. 
Dr. Mattei began her presentation with a history of AI and transitioned to the pros and cons of AI in general and a discussion on its ethical use in engineering education and engineering practice. She also addressed the future of AI and some artificial intelligence tools that we may use in the coming years.

Timmy Couvillion '04

Our second event in the Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series featured alumnus and College Distinguished Alumni for 2024 Timmy Couvillion '04, who spoke about his path from UNO engineering student to president and CEO of The Couvillion Group.

He and his collaborator Kevin Kennelley, Ph.D. introduced attendees to their business. The Couvillion Group specializes in marine construction and salvage, port and vessel maintenance services, emergency response, and disaster recovery for the oil, gas and marine industries. Clients include BP, the US Coast Guard, National Park Services and local governments.

The two also discussed their partnership, including their recovery work on the Taylor Energy Oil Spill of 2004, the longest continuous oil spill in US history. To find out more about their research, watch the 60 MINUTES interview HERE.

Dr. Robert A. "Bobby" Savoie '09

Dr. Robert A. Savoie, for whom our college is named, presented the final Dean's Distinguished Lecture Series for the fall semester. Dr. Savoie's talk was entitled, "The Art of Entrepreneurship: An Engineer's Approach." 
Having founded the technology company that eventually merged with Science & Engineering Associates, Inc. (SEA) in the 1990s, Savoie built it into a substantial primary federal contracting business before he sold it in a merger. In 2008, he and his business partner combined a data systems business and an engineering firm to form Geocent. Geocent, a multi-million dollar provider of innovation technology and high-end engineering services intended for the United States government agencies, merged with Sev1Tech in 2021. 
Certainly an expert on entrepreneurship, Savoie gave students invaluable information about starting a business and discussed all the lessons he's learned throughout his career as an entrepreneur, engineer, and business leader.