Dean's Engineering Council Members, Spring 2005

Sanjiv Ahuja ’79 M.S., CEO of Orange, former CEO of Comstellar Technologies and president of Telcordia Technologies, formerly Bellcore. Ahuja received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Delhi University, India, and holds an M.S. in computer science from Columbia.

Armen Avanessians ’83 M.S., director of Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Strategies, Credit Research, Equity Strategies, and Financing Strategies at Goldman Sachs and serves on the FICC Operating Committee. He is vice chair of the Engineering Council and, in honor of his parents, he has endowed the Theodore and Hermine Avanessians Professorship in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research.

“At Columbia, I was encouraged to branch out, even at the graduate level.... By gaining exposure to a variety of disciplines, I learned how to apply scientific rigor to a range of problems, which has proven invaluable in helping me tackle challenges throughout my career.”

Michael Bykhovsky ’83, founder, president and CEO of Applied Financial Technology, Inc. formerly known as Espiel, Inc. He holds an M.S. in Physics from the University of California at Los Angeles and pursued his Ph.D. in Physics at CERN in Geneva and at Columbia.

“It was the Core Curriculum that allowed for wide exploration at the point of my life when I could use it most. I was encouraged to explore areas that otherwise I wouldn’t have. The breadth of education is as important as the excellent training in a chosen field.”

Allan Cytryn ’72, ’75 ARCH, Director at Deloitte and a member of the CIO Leadership Team responsible for the development and implementation of the firm’s IT strategy. Following 9/11, Cytryn led the IT recovery efforts for Deloitte’s 5,000-person professional service tri-state practice.

“Mario Salvadori provided two insights. One was that you should find out what you enjoy, and then what you are good at, and, if they are the same thing, money will take care of itself. The second was that you can be both an architect and an engineer. There is a need for people who can speak the languages of both architecture and engineering.”

David Dibner ’50, Chairman, The Dibner Fund, a private philanthropic foundation supporting institutions that advance science and technology. He was Chairman of the Board of Burndy Corp. before his retirement. A longtime supporter of the School, he has funded labs in CEPSR and research in EEE.

“My Columbia engineering education provided me with an effective balance of technical academic skills and the necessary imagination, discipline and communicative skills to fulfill my career needs.”

James Down ’73, retired as Vice Chairman and member of the Board of Directors of Mercer Management Consulting. Down presently spends much of his time now advising non-profit and public sector organizations including the Centers for Disease Control and Oxfam Americas, where he is on the board of directors. He holds an M.B.A. from Wharton and has endowed the James and Donna Down Scholarship at Columbia Engineering.

Daniel Ebenstein ’64, Managing Partner of Amster, Rothstein & Ebenstein LLP, a mid-size New York law firm engaged in intellectual property law. He has litigated cases in the federal courts and counseled clients in the evaluation of patent and trademark disputes for the past 30 years. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he began his career as a member of the patent staff of Bell Telephone Laboratories.

“I got to know and care for Professor Mort Klein (IEOR), who guided me into law school and, specifically, to Harvard. He was a wonderful teacher and a valued advisor. One of the pleasures of my profession is that I get to dabble in the most interesting and successful R&D projects, after they are commercially important enough for big companies to argue about.”

Gary Elzweig, P.E., ’77, President and CEO of CAPRI Engineering, has had a history of success building and operating regional and national engineering firms with an emphasis on construction QA/QC. Two years ago, Elzweig founded CAPRI Engineering and has grown the new firm into a 10-office, 150-person State of Florida operation.

“As a student, I worked hard and built life-long relationships. I appreciate having both the knowledge and prestige that is part and parcel of a Columbia Engineering education.”

Gerard Forlenza ’43, B.S., ’48 ChE, ’43 CC, founder and President of Forge, Inc., a ventures and consulting firm; formerly president of American Cyanamid’s chemical division and president of Beker Industries.

“While my degrees are in Chemical Engineering, I was required to attend two years at Columbia College and also take courses in substantially all engineering disciplines. That combination of educational experiences allowed me to move easily into various positions of responsibility with understanding, from technical to planning and management.”

Andrew Gaspar ’69, is Chairman of SV Investment Partners, a New York based private equity fund that targets mid-market growth investments in technology, media, marketing and business services. A co-founder of Lauder Gaspar Funds and former partner of Warburg Pincus & Co., he has served on the Boards of Directors of 22 public and private companies. He holds an M.S. in computer science from Northeastern and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. He was the recipient of the 2004 Alumni Federation Medal for Service to the University.

Gregg A. Gonsalves ’89, a Managing Director of Goldman Sachs & Company, is sector head of Goldman Sachs’ Aerospace & Defense Group in the Investment Banking Division. In 2004, he was among Black Enterprise magazine’s “50 Best and Brightest under 40.” Prior to joining GS, he was a Sales Engineer at Mobil Oil. He also holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Gonsalves credits his SEAS experience with giving him the work ethic, discipline, and logical reasoning skills to be successful in investment banking and business.

Joshua Hauser ’66, ’68 M.S., principal, JKD Associates, management consultants.

“The analytic and logical thought processes learned at Columbia Engineering have been broadly applicable to all phases of my career, both technical and non-technical. The breadth of the experience was essential in helping to effectively apply those skills to a variety of problems across a wide range of international cultures.”

Richard Hunter ’67 M.S., President and CEO of Hunter Industries, Inc., one of the world’s leading manufacturers of irrigation equipment for turf, landscape and golf courses. He worked at Bell Labs on the Apollo Program and later joined the company founded by his father. He holds a B.A. in math/physics from Whitman College. He and his wife have established the Richard and Janet Hunter Endowed Scholarship at Columbia Engineering.

Marylee Jenkins ’88, a partner at the law firm of Arent Fox PLLC, heads its New York Intellectual Property Group. She holds a B.S. in physics from Centre College of Kentucky and a J.D. from New York Law School.

“My engineering background allows me to speak on the same level as my clients and makes them comfortable in my understanding of their technology.”

Jennifer Johnson ’90, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of the North American region of 141XM (XM), an end-user focused e-marketing firm. “Columbia Engineering taught me how to think and solve complicated problems even if they were not related to my field of engineering study.... The Columbia name opens doors and sets you apart from all the rest.”

James M. Li, ’68, ’70 M.S., ’76 P.D. is CEO of JML Partners LLC, a consulting firm he founded after retiring from American Express as Executive Vice President of Global Six Sigma Performance Group. He is chair of the Engineering Council, long-time chair of the Engineering Annual Fund, an active member of the Alumni Representative Committee for recruiting students, and the parent of a member of the Class of 2006. He is a 2005 Alumni Federation Medal winner for service to Columbia University.

“Columbia Engineering was a combination of a demanding curriculum, the camaraderie of getting through it with fellow students, and the bonding that took place. . . . Columbia credentializes you so others see you in a different light. It opens doors; you have to meet the expectations, but it creates opportunity.”

K. Daniel Libby ’82, ’84 M.S., Senior Portfolio Manager and Principal of Select Access Management LLC and former Director of BlackRock Inc. As President of the Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association, he is an ex officio member of the Engineering Council. “In business, and life in general, the greatest opportunity usually lies in not following the path more widely traveled. Columbia always challenged me to think abstractly and to look at issues from many different perspectives.”

Bruce Lister ’43, ’47 M.S., retired Vice President of Corporate Affairs at Nestle Foods, has been chairman of the Nassau Board of Health for more than 30 years. He holds an honorary doctorate from Hofstra University and is chair of its Industrial Engineering Board. He has created the Bruce and Doris Lister Endowed Scholarship Fund for needy and deserving undergraduates at the Engineering School.

Kyle Loudermilk ’89, ’90 M.S., Vice President of the Engineering Business for Aspen Technology, Inc., a $130 million per year portfolio. He also completed The General Management Program at Harvard Business School.

“People that I encountered while at Columbia were multinational, bright, articulate, passionate about the world, and believing that, in some way, we could make the world a better place though our efforts. By working with classmates from all over the world, learning a variety of topics both theoretical and applied, and by being exposed to the wonderful influences of New York City, I felt I left Columbia with a broad, yet deep understanding of what the world could offer.”

Elaine Zackarakis Loumbas ’88, an attorney, has her own practice specializing in health care, corporate and intellectual property matters. Former corporate counsel at Baxter Health Care, she is a part-time professor at Loyola Law School. She received her law degree from the University of Notre Dame.

“I value the breadth of the educational experience at Columbia Engineering — from the core curriculum to the technical classes.”

David Novick ’48,’54 M.S., Forensic Engineer, Adjunct Professor, Northwestern University, Director of Research on Life-Cycle Cost of Bridges. Founder-President of Westenhoff and Novick, Inc., Chicago, New York and Atlanta, and retired Senior VP of Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc., he was responsible for the plan, design and management of major infrastructure projects.

“My strongest memories are of being in small classes and learning from a faculty really dedicated to the students. I was grateful for the exposure to the liberal arts and the high quality teaching of engineering fundamentals.”

Thomas J. Sands ’86, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Mallet Capital Management, LLC, an investment management company focused on arbitrage strategies, and former Managing Director at Credit Suisse First Boston. He is a graduate of NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Peter K. Scaturro ’82, ’85 M.S., former CEO of The Citigroup Private Bank and member of Citigroup’s Manage-ment Committee. A trustee of Caramoor and Inner-City Scholarship, on the board of the Foreign Policy Association and American Museum of Natural History, he has endowed the Peter K. Scaturro Interschool Scholarship.

“The world we live in today relies on our ability to understand everything from geopolitical issues to cultural issues and demographic issues in order to be successful... The analytical and diagnostic skills of engineering curriculum are things that you carry with you through life.”

Alva Matthews Solomon ’55, ’57 M.S., and ’65 Eng.Sc.D., research engineer and consultant at Paul Weidlinger Associates until her retirement, was also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Rochester in the Department of Aerospace Sciences. She attended Middlebury and Barnard prior to Columbia Engineering.

“The superb technical grounding allowed me to proceed with advanced degree work which defined my career. The professional associations with the faculty were a highlight and provided a path for my professional development.”

Steve Tak-Shu Tai ’80, is senior director of Essbase Development at Hyperion Solution Inc., the business performance management software company. He also holds an M.S. from the University of California at Berkeley. At Columbia Engineering, he created the Steve Tai and Kin-Ching Wu Endowed Scholarship Fund for a deserving undergraduate student. He and his wife are the proud parents of a member of the Class of 2006 and the Class of 2008.

Marjorie L. Torres ’91, Founder and CEO of Concrete Stories(CS), a commercial real estate advisory firm. She also holds a certificate in Corporate Governance from Harvard Business School. Ms. Torres is the recipient of the 2004 Philanthropy Award in Human Capital given by the New America Alliance.

“Columbia taught me that by effectively analyzing the issues and strategically focusing my efforts, any task could be accomplished efficiently. It also gave me the privilege to learn from a distinguished and experienced faculty.”

Theodore Tsung ’82, ’83 M.S., chief technology advisor of Thomson Financial, Global Transaction Services Group (GTS). Tsung was the founder of digiTRADE and held the position of CTO at the time it was acquired by Thomson Financial.

“The Columbia education does make me believe that I can do anything if I put my mind into it.”

Christian Raymond Viros ’75 M.S., ’77 BU, former President and Chief Executive Officer of TAG Heuer International Watch Company before its sale to Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. He is a graduate of Ecole Centrale de Paris with a bachelor’s degree in engineering. He has created the Christian R. Viros Fellowships in Engineering at SEAS.

“Columbia Engineering gave me a frame of mind which is at ease with both quantitative analysis and conceptual things, the ability to ‘modelize’ business situations in a convincing manner.”

Lauren L. Wong ’76, Executive Vice President of Tandem Capital Management, Inc., is a Chartered Financial Analyst. She is formerly a securities analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. and a financial and investment analyst at AT&T and holds an M.B.A. from NYU.

“Columbia Engineering taught me how to think analytically and logically. Having the technical background was very helpful in getting into finance and business careers, where relevant experience might otherwise be a key criterion.”