January 2009

On behalf of all the faculty and administrators at Columbia's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, best wishes for the New Year! We hope you enjoy the digest of news, research and information about the School that is contained below and we invite you to The faculty and administrators at Columbia's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science wish you all the best for the New Year. We hope you enjoy the digest of news, research and information about the School that is contained below and we invite you to send us your comments. send us your comments.

ALUMNI NEWS

ARCHIMEDES SOCIETY LAUNCHED
At a gala gathering at the W Hotel hosted by Armen A. Avanessians MS '83, University Trustee and SEAS Board of Visitors Chair Emeritus, the School launched its new lifetime giving group, The Archimedes Society. Nearly 300 alumni, faculty and student leaders celebrated and recognized the more than 180 inaugural members of The Archimedes Society for Lifetime Giving who have contributed $50,000 or more to the School. "Archimedes needed a little help to move the earth," said Interim Dean Gerald A. Navratil, "and his tool was a lever. We consider The Archimedes Society the School's lever. The significant gifts of its members have supported complete renewals of departments, provided professorships, fellowships and scholarships, and have even moved the School, both higher in the rankings and into the center of the University's research efforts." See photos from the event.

NEW ALUMNI WELCOME CENTER
Columbia alumni can now enjoy some of the comforts of home while visiting the Morningside campus. A new Welcome Center at 622 West 113th Street, between Broadway and Riverside, will open its doors to alumni on February 2. The Welcome Center, on the first floor of the Columbia Alumni Center, will offer you an opportunity to have a cup of coffee, check e-mail, get help with alumni benefits, peruse a yearbook, catch up on the latest University news, or get information on upcoming events. Staff will be available to help you access campus services and provide information about neighborhood resources. The Welcome Center will be open to alumni Mondays through Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The University's Office of Alumni and Development (formerly known as UDAR) and the Columbia College Office of Alumni Affairs and Development, along with their respective magazines, Columbia and Columbia College Today, moved into the new Alumni Center on Jan. 5. Read more about the Center.

FEATURED VIDEO

SEAS Students Work With Middle Schoolers
Graduate student Christian Aucoin and undergrad Hilary Schneidmiller '09 are working with students from several Harlem middle-schools to help them design robots using Lego® robotics kits to compete in contests with other schools. Columbia SEAS, through the Center for Technology, Innovation and Community Engagement, established the Harlem Robotics League in the fall of 2007 to give local public school students a chance to experience engineering first hand. See the students in action.

NEWS

Bridge Cable Testing Project Launches
Leaders of the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics have launched a unique corrosion-testing project on one of the largest cables ever built in a laboratory. Housed in the Carleton Laboratory in the Mudd Building, the cable mock-up is 20 feet long, 20 inches thick and made of nearly 10,000 galvanized bridge wires, with two strands pre-corroded for blind tests and 76 sensors embedded inside. Professor Raimondo Betti called the project the beginning of a new era of infrastructure testing. Read more.

SEAS Programs Highly Ranked
SEAS programs in applied physics, environmental engineering, engineering mechanics, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering and operations research have been ranked in the top 10 for faculty productivity in 2007 by The Chronicle of Higher Education. "The School is pleased that 6 of our 15 programs are ranked in the top 10," said Gerald A. Navratil, Interim Dean. "It is one objective measure that our efforts to recruit and retain faculty of the highest caliber are succeeding." Read more.

Engineering Annual Fund Sponsors Lecture
Tony Jebara, associate professor of computer science, spoke recently about his novel research that uses real-time GPS data to locate the places where people are congregating. The event was sponsored by the Engineering Annual Fund at The New York Academy of Sciences. Read more and see the lecture.

New Books by SEAS Faculty
Several SEAS faculty members have had books published within the past six months on topics that reflect their specific area of expertise. Whether the subject matter is cyber security, tractability, wastewater management, quantitative finance, physics of the human body or vehicle dynamics, SEAS faculty experts provide insight into their respective disciplines. Read more.

RESEARCH

Chandran Receives NSF CAREER AWARD
Kartik Chandran, assistant professor of earth and environmental engineering, has been awarded an NSF CAREER Award for $400,000 to study "Molecular mechanisms and metabolic modeling of N2O and NO emission fluxes from biological nitrogen removal reactors." The CAREER Award is the NSF's most prestigious award to junior faculty, given to teacher-scholars who have shown leadership in integrating outstanding research with exceptional educational skills. Read more.

YOUNG ALUMNI EVENT

Welcome 2009 With Fellow Ivy Alums
Come celebrate the New Year 2009 with alumni from Brown, Columbia, MIT, and Yale for a New Year's Ivy Mixer at Slate on Tuesday, Jan. 27 from 6-10 pm. Stop by after work to enjoy cocktail specials and an alumni DJ with your fellow Ivy alums! The $5 early registration fee ends Jan. 20. From Jan. 21-26, the event cost will be the late registration fee of $10. RSVP early to reserve your spot! Reservations are on a first-come, first-served basis. There will be a strict guest list at the door, so please RSVP in advance. Sign up now.

VOLUNTEERS STILL NEEDED

Join The Alumni Representative Committee!
The Alumni Representative Committee (ARC) is still looking for SEAS alumni to volunteer to be part of its network of 5,000 loyal Columbians worldwide who support the outreach and recruitment efforts of the Office of Undergraduate Admissions by interviewing applicants, representing Columbia at local college fairs, and hosting regional programs for admitted students. YOUNG ALUMNI AND INTERNATIONAL ALUMNI ARE ESPECIALLY NEEDED. For more information or to volunteer, visit The Office of Undergraduate Admissions Website.

CAREER CONNECTIONS

The Center for Career Education's Alumni Career Development Department offers career assistance to support alumni as they navigate and plan careers throughout their lives. Through individual career counseling, career development programs and workshops, and career information and resources, the Alumni Career Development team helps alumni with career transitions, self-assessment, job search skills and tools, and career planning. Read more.

Alumni Walk-in Night
Wednesday, Jan. 21, 5-8 pm
The Center for Career Education
Do you have a career-related question or concern that you'd like to discuss with a Center for Career Education counselor? Register here to meet with a CCE career counselor for 15 minutes between the times of 5 pm and 6 pm, 6 pm and 7 pm, or 7 pm and 8 pm. You will be contacted in advance for your exact 15 minute time slot. Sign up for a
5 pm Time Slot; 6 pm Time Slot, or 7 pm Time Slot.

Alumni Career Development Tele-Seminar (access by phone)
Take Control of Your Work-Life Fit, Even in an Economic Downturn
Thursday, Jan. 29, 1-2 pm (ET)
Cali Williams Yost, Internationally-recognized work+life flexibility strategy expert
In a 24/7, increasingly "do-more-with-less," work reality, how do you flexibly fit your life (social, family, recreation) into your work, especially in the current economic environment? How do you direct your work+life fit day-to-day, and throughout your career, in order to bring the best of yourself to your job and your life outside of work? Whether you are in your first position after college or wanting to work in retirement, what should you consider looking for or asking for to find work+life flexibility? Read more.

Join COLUMBIA CAREER CONNECTIONS, Columbia University's online career network. Create a profile.

REUNION 2009 IS JUNE 4 - 7

Mark Your Calendars Now for Reunion 2009!
SEAS and College alumni whose graduation years end in '4 or '9 have a special invitation back to campus for Reunion this year, while all SEAS alumni are invited to join in academic and social events scheduled for Friday and Saturday, June 5 and 6. Reunion Weekend events begin for some classes on Thursday, June 4, and continue through Sunday, June 7. Individual classes are planning special events. To volunteer for your class committee, contact Elizabeth Sparkman, by e-mail at es2867@columbia.edu or call her at 212-854-6370.

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We want to hear from you. Please send your comments or questions to: Margaret Kelly, Associate Director of Communications, at mk321@columbia.edu.