The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering welcomed seven distinguished individuals from industry and academia to a newly formed ECE department advisory board in 2006. "The department has a high national ranking, research expenditures are growing, and the faculty is quite active and visible, nationally and internationally," said Behnaam Aazhang, ECE department chair. "Our challenge is to break into the upper tier of the top-10 ranking and to position the department for the future growth that President Leebron anticipates for Rice University. The newly renamed Advancement Committee is an outstanding group of accomplished individuals with a particular affinity for Rice ECE. With the committee's guidance, we can take an already great department to the next level."