Agostino Capponi Receives Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers

Agostino Capponi, professor of industrial engineering and operations research at Columbia Engineering, has been recognized with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), announced Jan. 15 by the Biden Administration. The PECASE, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers, recognizes those working on innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology. 

Capponi is an internationally renowned researcher who has developed groundbreaking frameworks and tools to mitigate risks and enhance the resilience of engineering, financial, energy, and supply chain networked systems. In recent years, his work has leveraged advancements in AI and technology to design digital networks and automated platforms that reduce costs, enhance efficiency, and democratize access to financial services. Capponi is the director of the Center for Digital Finance and Technologies (CDFT) and a member of Columbia’s Data Science Institute. CDFT leverages multi-disciplinary expertise at Columbia in diverse domains such as computer science, engineering, data science, finance, law, and economics and is focused on creating new tools for financial services and novel designs of welfare-enhancing financial technologies.

“I am incredibly honored to receive this award. This achievement would not have been possible without the unwavering support of my home department, the School of Engineering, the Data Science Institute, and the brilliant students, postdocs, and collaborators I have had the privilege to work with over the years,” says Capponi. “This recognition marks a significant milestone for my research and serves as a driving force for pursuing new and exciting directions, particularly in advancing the integration of AI into decision-making processes to tackle critical challenges at the intersection of engineering, finance, and technology.”

This year’s PECASE awardees, nearly 400 recipients, are employed or funded by 14 participating agencies within the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Interior, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs and the Environmental Protection Agency, the intelligence community, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the National Science Foundation, and the Smithsonian Institution.

Capponi, who joined Columbia Engineering in 2014, joins fellow PECASE winners on the faculty, including Kristin Myers (Mechanical Engineering) in 2019, Christine Hendon (Electrical Engineering) in 2017, and Ton Dieker (Industrial Engineering and Operations Research) in 2016. This year, Lorenzo Sironi, associate professor of astronomy at Columbia University, has also earned the award.