• About SEAS
  • Overview & Facts
  • Mission
  • Administration
  • Faculty
  • History
  • Board of Visitors
• Academics
  • Departments and Programs
  • Undergraduate Education
  • Graduate Education
  • CVN Distance Learning
• Research
  • Research Centers
  • Undergraduate Research
  • Labs & Facilities
  • Industry Partnerships
• Student Services
  • Bulletin
  • Admissions
  • Financial Aid
• Related Sites
  • Botwinick Lab
  • Faculty Development
  • HKSM
  • CTICE
  • SEAS Oracle
  • Marconi Society
  • SEAS Room Reservation

Faculty News and Notes

Koberstein Speaks at NYAS on April 9
Jeffrey T. Koberstein, Percy K. and Vida L.W. Hudson Professor of Chemical Engineering, will be guest speaker at the New York Academy of Sciences Soft Materials Discussion Group’s program on April 9 from 5-7 p.m. at the Academy’s new headquarters at 7 World Trade Center near Wall Street. His topic is “Shedding Light on Material Surfaces.” “This presentation will describe a practically feasible framework we have developed for the molecular design and fabrication of polymer/material surfaces that enable nanoscale manipulation of the chemical groups that reside there,” says Professor Koberstein. See: http://www.nyas.org/events/eventDetail.asp?eventID=10400&date=4/9/2008%205:00:00%20PM.

SEAS Research Featured in Columbia Magazine
The work of two SEAS professors is highlighted in the Winter issue of Columbia Magazine. Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Nabil Simaan is developing tiny, snake-like, flexible robotic arms to hold tools that will allow surgeons to operate precisely in formerly inaccessible areas. See: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Winter2008/ScienceMedTech.html#science1. Professor Ben O’Shaughnessy’s work on understanding the final stage of cell division, cytokinesis, is at: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Winter2008/ScienceMedTech.html#science3. Another story on this research is at: http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/announcements/2008/cell_division_BenOShaughnessy/index.html and you can watch time-resolved confocal microscopy movies of the formation of the contractile ring at: http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/1151086/DC1.

Shepard, Wang Elected to IEEE
Two professors in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Associate Professor Ken Shepard and Associate Professor Xiaodong Wang were elected Fellows of the IEEE. The distinctions are given in recognition of Professor Shepard’s contributions to computer-aided design of digital integrated circuits and Professor Wang’s contributions to signal processing for wireless communications. Alumnus Dr. Fernando Guarin PhD’95, who worked in Professor Wen Wang’s group in the Electrical Engineering Department, was also elected a Fellow of IEEE and was recognized for contributions to semiconductor materials and reliability. He is now with IBM Microelectronics.

Cont Organizes Quantitative Finance Workshop in Paris
The Center for Financial Engineering, which organizes the New York Quantitative Finance seminar jointly with NYU Courant Institute, is co-sponsor of a forthcoming French-American Workshop on NEW DIRECTIONS IN QUANTITATIVE FINANCE in Paris from May 19-21. Associate Professor Rama Cont of IEOR is one of the three organizers. The workshop will bring together leading international researchers, including PhD students, to discuss state-of-the-art results in quantitative finance related to emerging issues in derivatives modeling, portfolio optimization and risk management. For more information, see:
http://www.cfe.columbia.edu/announcements/New_Directions_in_QF_Workshop/index.html and http://www.ise.ufl.edu/rmfe/events/qf2008/.
Supporters of the Center for Financial Engineering, founded in 2007, include JP Morgan and Credit Suisse.