Alumni Milestones & Memories
With a global network of more than 50,000 alumni making transformative impacts across industries and technical fields, Columbia Engineers continue to innovate, inspire, and lead in their communities and beyond.
Undergraduate Class Notes
1957
Robert Paaswell, BS '57 (Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics), '56CC writes: Robert Paaswell was named by City and State as a "Transportation Trailblazer."
1958
Robert Drucker, BS '58 (Chemical Engineering) writes: Proud to share that my grandson, Maxwell Reid Drucker, is a member of the Engineering Class of 2027. Michael Drucker, dad, is also an Engineering School graduate. Brian Ross Albert, nephew, is also an Engineering School graduate and Bonilla Award Recipient.
1964
Neil Marmor, BS '64, MS '68 (Electrical Engineering) writes: I have volunteered with a dance group, a shelter providing situationally homeless people with housing, and weekly reading aloud to elementary school kids, and had the good fortune to travel and enjoy a variety of cultural events.
1965
Allan Kamer, BS '65 (Electrical Engineering) writes: I designed electro-optical cameras at Fairchild Camera.
1966
John Anselmo, BS '66 (Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics) writes: During the latter part of my 52-year civil engineering career, I ventured into writing novels. My pen name is JJ Anselmo.
1967
Bill Quirk, BS '67 (Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics), '70GSAS writes: After retiring from the California State Legislature in 2022, I’m enjoying my new life at the Acacia Creek Retirement Community, where I serve as president of our Resident Council.
1968
Steve Nahmias, BS '68 (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research) writes: It has been 3 years since I took full retirement from Santa Clara University, where I was on the faculty for 43 years. Now I spend my time pursuing my primary hobbies: jazz and golf.
Steven Bachenheimer, BS '68 (Mechanical Engineering) writes: I retired after 50+ years in the engineering business, 9 at the late Bethlehem Steel Corporation and over 40 years with three major engagements in consulting, where I concentrated on heavy industrial projects. I am now living in Scottsdale, Arizona.
1973
George So, BS '73 (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research), '78BUS writes: After 43 years of working in the banking and wealth management industry in Hong Kong and Singapore, I retired in January 2022. I now provide live music (guitar instrumental) entertainment ful- time, performing weekly at The Foreign Correspondents Club HK Bert’s Jazz Bar in Hong Kong and Blu Jazz Cafe in Singapore.
1977
Joel Rosenblatt, BS '77 (Electrical Engineering) writes: I was hired by Columbia the day I graduated, working for CUCCA (Columbia University Center for Computing Activities) and have been in the CU IT department for the last 48 years. I am currently the Director of Computer & Network Security. I moved to Delaware from New Jersey, June 2025 and am planning to retire in December 2025.
Robert Zimmerman, BS '77, MS '79 (Mechanical Engineering) writes: I have held the Chair in Rock Mechanics at Imperial College London since 2007. I teach courses in rock mechanics, fluid flow in porous media, and geodynamics. I was recently elected as a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK). Last year, Wiley published my latest book, "Fluid Flow in Fractured Rocks."
1978
Albert McGovern, BS '78 (Mechanical Engineering) writes: Al and Mary Jo McGovern spent some quality time with all 5 of their grandchildren when their youngest grandson joined his 4 cousins in Colorado for 2 weeks.
1980
Steven Wiezbicki, BS '80 (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research) writes: I retired in Europe in 2020 after a 40-year career as a management consultant and corporate executive in IT and professional services, focusing on strategy and transformation at Capgemini, PRC Inc., Price Waterhouse, Coopers & Lybrand, and EDS Corp., among others. I live in Budapest, writing histories on the 169th N.Y. Infantry (Civil War) and Austro-Hungarian 57th Infantry (WWI).
1982
Mike Farmer, BS '82 (Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics) writes: I am now the Dean of the School of Computing and Data Science at Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston.
Asjad Iqbal, BS '82 (Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics), CC'82 writes: After graduating from Columbia, I went to MIT and earned an SM degree in Nuclear Science and Engineering, and MIT News gave me honorable mention in the November/December 2023 issue.
1983
Greg Morea, BS '83 (Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics), '82CC writes: I finally retired after 42 continuous years at Electric Boat. In July, we welcomed our first grandchild, Grant Wesley Morea.
Matthew Samarel, BS '83 (Mechanical Engineering) writes: I practice pediatrics in Charlotte, NC, and I enjoy spending time with my beautiful wife, Fran, 3 sons, and 3 granddaughters.
Raul Ruiz, BS '83 (Electrical Engineering) writes: I worked in the technology field for decades but only recently pivoted to pursuits in oil painting.
1984
Andrew Akers, BS '84, MS '94 (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research) writes: Preparing to launch a new real estate fund with the firm I’ve been advising for the last 8 years, since “retiring” from banking and investing.
1987
Janice Warner, BS '87, MS '89 (Electrical Engineering) writes: Marina Schreiber and Janice (Iwachow) Warner, both SEAS 1987 graduates, had a surprise reunion on the alumni-sponsored trip to Africa.
1988
Tom Cocotos, BS '88 (Electrical Engineering) writes: I’m a fine artist specializing in large-scale, painterly collages exploring themes of power dynamics in both humans and nature, while borrowing compositional elements from the masters. In September, I was granted an artist residency at the Vermont Studio Center.
1991
Edward Paik, BS '91, MS '95 (Earth and Environmental Engineering), '96BUS and Naxin Jiang Paik BS ‘91 MS ‘94, write: Our daughter Allison Paik ‘24CC, qualified for the 2025 USGA Women’s Amateur at Bandon Dunes, Oregon. After her year as a graduate transfer at Clemson University, we were thankful for one more competitive event through her qualification by 1 shot.
1993
James Feuerborn, BS’93, MS’94, (Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics) '93CC was featured in the TIME Magazine film “Engineers at Ground Zero,” a documentary examining the crucial role structural engineers played following the 9/11 attacks.
1994
Aaron Wininger, BS '94 (Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics) writes: I have completed my 3-year term as chair of the American Intellectual Property Law Association's China Committee this October 2025.
1996
Jamil Changlee, BS '96 (Mechanical Engineering) writes: The Changlee Family is happy to announce that our eldest has completed her first degree with honors in Environmental Studies and has been accepted into the Master’s Program at her University.
Enrico Marini Fichera, BS '96 (Mechanical Engineering), '95GS writes: Co-founded a highly technical venture capital fund, Apertu Capital (www.apertucapital.com), with fellow Columbia University alum Donald Sheu.
2000
Daryl Delos Reyes, BS '00 (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research) writes: You can find me in the SF East Bay Area parenting, coaching, and driving the kiddos Jaylen (12) and Jara (9). When Jennifer (CC’00) is not working in the ER you can find her training for her next iron - “woman” race. I’m still at Genentech, currently focused on population health analytics.
John Mullervy, BS '00 (Electrical Engineering) writes: John Mullervy (EE), SEAS 2000, (pictured with his wife Stephanie and Dean Shih-Fu Chang) was awarded an Alumni Medal, the highest honor awarded by the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA), at the 2025 Commencement. John has been volunteering with the Boston alumni club for over two decades and served on the Columbia Alumni Association Board of Directors from 2017 to 2023.
2002
Santosh Sekar, BS '02 (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research), '08CBS writes: Still living here in NYC with my wife, Jyoti Menon (BC '01, SIPA '06) after all these years! Currently the Founder/CEO of Eleven Homes, a property investing service with a presence in over 23 cities across the US. Would be happy to connect with fellow entrepreneurs, and anyone else interested in chatting with someone that's a bit too preoccupied with real estate.
2003
Jarvis Buckman, BS '03 (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research), ‘03CC, ‘11CBS writes: Jarvis Buckman was named in the 2025 Lawdragon “100 Global Leaders in Litigation Finance.” This is the second year in a row he has earned this honor.
2004
Brian Pellegrini, BS '04 (Computer Science), '16BUS writes: Brian Pellegrini has launched a financial advisory practice focused on serving the Columbia community.
2010
Austin Brauser, BS '10 (Mechanical Engineering) writes: I married my wife, Victoria, on April 26, 2025! We celebrated with many friends and family including SEAS alumni Nick Tucker (MechE) BS'08, Erin Tucker (MechE) BS'10, Albert Lee (ChemE) BS'10, and Matt Poss (MechE BS'11).
2014
Shannon Sullivan, BS '14 (Biomedical Engineering) writes: I’m excited to have recently moved back to NYC for Neuroradiology fellowship at NYU Langone Health.
2015
Caleb Solomon, BS '15 (Chemical Engineering) writes: I'm the Co-founder of Jara Capital, a multifamily real estate investment firm.
Zijian Zeng, BS '15, MS '16 (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research) writes: I became an assistant professor of operations management in the business school of Gonzaga University.
2017
Aparajita Maitra, BS '17 (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research) writes: I'm enjoying life on the West Coast — both in my role as a Product Support Manager on Google's hardware team and as an aunt, getting to spend lots of time with my niece (5) and nephew (1) who live nearby! My next big adventure begins this fall, as I'll be starting the part-time MBA program at NYU Stern.
2019
Angela Qiao, BS '19 (Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics) writes: My husband and I are thrilled to share that we got married in June 2025! Both of us graduated in 2019 as Applied Math majors—we first met during our freshman year in Calculus III and lived in Furnald Hall.
2020
Kelsey Gray, BS '20 (Biomedical Engineering) writes: Graduated with my PhD in August 2025. None of this would have been possible without Dr. Clark Huang, Dr. Tal Danino (and his entire lab - especially Dr. Tetsuhiro Harimoto, Columbia PhD ‘22), Dr. Aaron Kyle and the support of the BME department.
2021
Jaidev Shah, BS '21, MS '23 (Computer Science) writes: I’ve been working in AI x search/ recommendations: first in Seattle as an Applied Scientist at Microsoft AI, and now in San Francisco with Prime Video.
2022
Ozgenur Celik, BS '22, MS '23 (Biomedical Engineering) writes: I’m a rising third-year PhD student in the joint biomedical engineering program between Emory Medicine and Georgia Tech, developing protein-engineering tools to study neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. This past winter, I was honored to be featured on CNN Türk’s live news and in the national newspaper Hürriyet, where I spoke about science, the importance of girls’ education, and “Engineering for Humanity”—the motto of Columbia Engineering.
2023
Katherine O’Reilly, BS '23 (Mechanical Engineering) writes: I’ve been working towards a Master’s at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign since graduation in 2023, completed internships at some of my dream jobs at Apple, and am now working on my thesis! I’m happy to share I’ve continued with my passion for Motorsport after years of FSAE involvement and started as a Mechanical Engineering Placement on the Engine Systems team at Aston Martin Formula One.
Kennedi Wade, BS'23 (Mechanical Engineering), served as the Eartip EPM (engineering program manager) for the new Apple AirPods Pro 3, driving the execution of the brand-new, foam-infused eartips. This technology increases noise cancellation for the world’s best in-ear Active Noise Cancellation. Her brother, Joshua Wade, is a member of the Columbia Engineering Class of 2027!
2025
Gwendolyn Seto, BS '25 (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research) writes: I have started a new full-time position as a Capital Markets Analyst at Bank of America in New York City.
Graduate Program Notes
Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics
Sicen Du (MS'17) writes: I'm now an NLP Algorithm Researcher at Kunlun Tech in Beijing, working on role-playing large language models.
Yanhua Liu (PhD'97) writes: As a regional Columbia Alumni Association (CAA ), and alumni leader (CAA Shenzhen Co-President), I attended the Engineering School 2025 reunion dinner and the next day’s reunion events. I visited the Fusion Lab where I did my PHD thesis experiment, and I found my Graduation PhD name tag on the wall.
Barin Moghimi (MS'14) writes: I recently completed an MS in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech and worked several internships in the space domain before finally securing a position in the satellite industry with a small startup in southern California.
Biomedical Engineering
Lawrence Kuznetz (BS'64, MS'65) writes: Writing Cli-tech screen play based on my Amazon novel, CASI’s Guess.
Michael Moussourakis (BS'99, MS'01) writes: Michael Moussourakis is Vice President of Strategy at Alconox, LLC, in White Plains, NY, and is responsible for marketing & technical support, and for corporate strategy.
Sona Shah (MS'16) writes: This past year the med-tech company I co-founded, Nopenda, secured a patent in Kenya, expanded to 45+ hospital customers in five countries, and launched a Community Round on Wefunder.
Chemical Engineering
Yue Kuo (MS'78, EngScD'80) writes: Yue Kuo, Life Chair Professor in NYCU’s Photonics Department and Yushan Scholar, is also Emeritus Professor at Texas A&M University. A Columbia-trained chemical engineer, he worked at IBM, Data General, and Bayer before entering academia.
Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics
Marc Adwan (MS'12) writes: CEO of Adwan Real Estate - Developing Affordable Luxury Homes.
Samira Ayati (MS'14) writes: I founded IVY Engineering Group, based in New York, providing civil engineering, design support, and construction management services. IVY has secured major contracts with Amtrak, MTA, and Nassau County Department of Public Works.
Jeremy Edmunds (MS'09) writes: After years of managing major infrastructure projects nationwide, I’ve settled in New Haven, where I’m leading Yale University’s $541M capital program.
Michael Heil (MS'76) writes: I retired from the US Air Force and the Ohio Aerospace Institute and continue volunteer service. I am board chair of the National Aviation Heritage Area and serve on aerospace industry advisory boards at the University of Cincinnati and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide. I serve on the boards of the Cleveland Engineering Society and the Air Force Institute of Technology Foundation.
Ahmed Jaddi (MS'61) writes: Finally, I retired from engineering practice this year after reaching age 90. We spent the last two summers in Columbia, SC. I am getting my summer house built in Bolingbrook, IL. We will spend winters in Phoenix, AZ. This year I became a great grandfather. Brooks was born in January this year to my youngest child, Salman's daughter Hanna. They live in Orlando, FL.
Lechen Li (MS'20, PhD'23) writes: I have been an Assistant Professor for 2 years.
Alok Kumar Vidyarthi (MS'24) writes: Alok is serving as a Construction Management Professional at CDM Smith in New York, where he manages a $350 million EPA Superfund project in Brooklyn. He recently earned the PfMP credential, completing the PMI “trifecta” of PMP, PgMP, and PfMP, and also achieved the ENV SP designation.
Computer Science
Feroz Ahmad (MS'22) writes: I was recently granted a U.S. Patent for a voice-first system that lets doctors search clinical knowledge.
Pranay Dharmale (MS'11) writes: In August, I moved from Bloomberg to the Bquant organization to build and lead a new engineering team dedicated to improving our clients' data experience. It was great to get away after a busy few months with a Labor Day weekend camping and hiking trip in Upstate New York with Leighton Minor (MS '11), who just started his 10th year at Google.
Deepakraj Dharmapuri Selvakumar (MS'22) writes: I am a Senior Software Engineer at Audible, an Amazon company, where I drive large-scale improvements in metadata publishing and Generative AI.
Adam Hastings (PhD'25) writes: After finishing my PhD, I moved all the way to the faraway land of 60th Street, where I am now an assistant professor of computer science at Fordham University (Lincoln Center campus).
Pranay Jain (MS'06) writes: After an incredible 18-year journey at Goldman Sachs, I have recently taken on a new role at JPMorganChase as Managing Director & Global Head of Corporate Treasury/CIO Technology in New York.
Nader Karayanni (MS'24) writes: I completed my Master’s in CS as a Fulbright Scholar, publishing research on AI systems. After graduation, I founded NewCase.ai an AI platform for insurance litigation. We secured a $1.15M pre-seed round from leading investors in the field.
Maria Pratyusha (MS'24) writes: I had the privilege of judging an AI Hackathon at the University of Texas.
Faisal Qureshi (MS'06) writes: I am currently a lead engineer at Nintendo. Before this, I worked as an engineer at HBO and Amazon. I am also a cofounder and CTO of my startup, Hourglass Software, and have developed key IP in technology.
Rafi Saar (MS'96) writes: After working for many years in the corporate world, I became an indie developer, and this past year, I had the fortune to get my first app on the App Store. It's a fun AR game called RealMaze AR.
Samanway Sadhu (MS'23) writes: Apart from my day job at Intel, I have answered my long-time calling for aviation. I had been training to be a pilot for a while and recently received my VFR license.
Vishal Vyas (MS'16) writes: I'm honored to share that our industry-changing paper, “Managed Resource Scaling in Amazon EMR,” has been accepted for presentation at ACM SIGMOD 2025 in Berlin!
Electrical Engineering
Richard Gitlin (MS'65, EngScD'69) writes: Richard D. Gitlin, EngScD’69, in Electrical Engineering and Senior Vice President of Communication Sciences Research at Bell Labs (retired), and Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at USF, was honored with the 2025 IEEE Alexander Graham Bell Medal.
Muneer Khan (MS'22) writes: I founded Cadre Tech to develop assistive technologies, including Vision-Pro AI Glasses that enhance mobility for the visually impaired. I received the Young Scientist Award (India), Young Innovator Award (Oxford), and the Engineering for Humanity Award 2025 in New York. I’ll present at Cambridge University’s Wearable Innovation Launch Forum this September.
Tom Koch (PhD’25) was named the runner-up for the prestigious ACM SIGCOMM Doctoral Dissertation Award for his research on optimizing Internet routing to meet the demands of today’s and future applications.
Perry Lea (EngScD'10) writes: Perry is now a Fellow, Video President and Chief Architect at HP Inc., specializing in advanced computing, machine learning at scale, and human-like intelligent systems.
Binh Nguyen (BS'82, MS'84) writes: I retired earlier this year. Enjoying my free time, travelling, gardening, golf, and reading. I recently met up with an old classmate, Olivier ('83SEAS), and we walked down memory lane on campus.
Fermi Wang (MS’89, PhD’91, Trustee) and Columbia Engineering professor Dimitris Anastassiou received the inaugural 2026 IEEE Arun N. Netravali Video Analytics, Technology, and Systems Award. They were selected “for pioneering contributions to the development and implementation of digital video compression and processing technologies.”
Industrial Engineering and Operations Research
Alexander Berenbeim (MS'12, '11CC) writes: Finally married Jewish Theological Seminary Alum Hannah Hoffman in June. Continuing on as a Senior AI and Machine Learning Researcher at the United States Military Academy, West Point.
Jason Bylsma (MS'18) writes: After 10 years building my dream business to help reduce global methane emissions, in June we successfully sold Kuva Systems to Sensirion AG in Switzerland.
Vishal Reddy C (MS'22) writes: I came back to India after graduation to work on a startup where we are trying to build reusable satellites to enable zero-gravity research in space.
Alexandre Duhamel (MS'25) writes: I joined LGT Capital Partners in Pfäffikon SZ (near Zurich) as a Quantitative Research Intern in the QIS team.
Nesrine Gharbi Ferradji (MS'09) writes: After 2 years working in Investor Relations in Zurich, Switzerland, I have decided to move to Algiers, Algeria, where I will be leading the M&A department of Holcim Al Djazair.
Arkin Gupta (MS'23) writes: Arkin Gupta MSOR ’22 was named to Crain’s New York Business 2025 “40 Under 40” list. He is a Vice President at Morgan Stanley, where he leads AI-driven research efforts in trading and risk modeling.
Bruce Jacobs (MS'73, '72CC) writes: In the CFA Institute’s Financial Analysts Journal Fourth Quarter 2025 issue, Ken Levy and I, published “The First 80 Years of the Financial Analysts Journal: Prolific Contributors and Major Ideas and Innovations.”
Vinit Juneja (MS'24) writes: I graduated in December 2024 with no internships, entering one of the toughest job markets. After 1,075 applications, I landed an offer at Amazon.
Pooja Sahney (MS'24) writes: I work as a Program Manager at Lenovo.
Phil Shpilberg (MS'02) writes: I’m based in San Mateo, CA. I sold GameChangerSF, the company I founded in 2022, took some time to recharge, and recently launched 83A Labs, a podcast intelligence company that helps clients understand political influence and public narratives.
Antoine Treuille (MS'74, '74BUS) writes: After a career in fund management, retailing, and venture capital, I am now happily running a B&B in the Loire Valley in France.
Ziao Yan (MS'20) writes: Ziao Yan is excited to share that he started to be an adjunct lecturer of the MBA program at one of China's top universities from Spring 2025 semester.
Libo Zhu (MS'21) writes: I have been working at a leading securities firm in China, specializing in margin financing services.
Mechanical Engineering
Marvin Bennett (MS'23) writes: Just completed 2+ years as a Senior Business Analyst at McKinsey. This month I am starting my MBA at the MIT Sloan School of Management
Jimmy Wu (MS'09) writes: Jimmy Wu MS'09 wants to welcome his son to matriculating at SEAS class of 2029! Hopes he will have fun with Applied Physics!