Dr. Chris Taylor, vice chair of MSOE’s Dwight and Dian Diercks School of Advanced Computing, professor and software engineering program director, has assumed the role of chair of the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC). The EAC is a non-governmental organization that accredits postsecondary engineering programs worldwide to ensure they meet rigorous professional standards and quality. This accreditation signifies that a program prepares graduates for entry into the engineering profession and is often a prerequisite for professional licensure and many graduate programs. Taylor has been involved with ABET for 14 years, serving as a program evaluator for software engineering and computer engineering programs, EAC commissioner, EAC executive committee member, EAC team chair, and EAC vice chair of operations.

Taylor also received the Computing Sciences Accreditation Board (CSAB) Fellow Award, which recognizes those who have given sustained quality service to the computing profession and to computing education through the activities of CSAB. He has been a board member for the organization since 2019. CSAB Inc. is a federation of several of the world’s largest technical, educational and scientific societies in computing and statistics: the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the American Statistical Association (ASA), the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS), and the Institute for Operations Research and Management Sciences (INFORMS). Founded as an accreditation board for computing sciences in 1985, CSAB now serves as the lead ABET member society for accreditation of degree programs in computer science, cybersecurity, data science, information systems, information technology, artificial intelligence / machine learning, and software engineering.

Taylor is the first member of the MSOE faculty to receive these distinctions. He has taught at MSOE for 27 years and has industry experience as a software engineer for Mitra Corp and Johnson Controls; as a consultant for Vision III Imaging Inc. and Foley and Lardner LLP; and as a visiting researcher for Direct Supply. He holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from South Dakota State University; and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, both from Purdue University.