Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science
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| Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science | |
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| Established | 1863 as the Columbia University School of Mines |
| School type | Private |
| Dean | Zvi Galil |
| Location | New York, New York, USA |
| Enrollment | ~1,870 |
| Homepage | http://www.engineering.columbia.edu/ |
The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (popularly known as SEAS) is a school of Columbia University which awards degrees in engineering, applied physics and applied mathematics. Columbia, originally chartered as King's College in 1754, is the fifth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science was founded as the School of Mines in 1863 and then the School of Mines, Engineering and Chemistry before becoming the School of Engineering and Applied Science. It was the country's first such institution. On October 1, 1997, the school was renamed in honor of Chinese businessman Z. Y. Fu, who had donated $26 million. Today, the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science is an exclusive and intimate engineering school. A student to faculty ratio of 10 to 1 allows SEAS to offer numerous research opportunities. The small engineering school also draws upon Columbia University's endowment, in excess of $5.94 billion dollars, and maintains close links with all of the university's graduate schools, as well as Columbia College.
Today the school is known for its ongoing research and numerous patents. For example, it is the only academic institution to hold a share of the patents for MPEG-2.
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[edit] History
[edit] Original charter of 1754 and the establishing of a school of engineering
Included in the original charter for Columbia University was the direction to teach "the arts of Number and Measuring, of Surveying and Navigation [...] the knowledge of [...] various kinds of Meteors, Stones, Mines and Minerals, Plants and Animals, and everything useful for the Comfort, the Convenience and Elegance of Life." Engineering has always been a part of Columbia, even before the establishment of any separate school of engineering. From this charter, those established within the Columbia University gave birth to what is now known as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.
An early and influential graduate from the school was John Stevens, Class of 1768. Instrumental in the establishment of U.S. patent law, Stevens procured many patents in early steamboat technology, operated the first steam ferry between New York and New Jersey, received the first railroad charter in the U.S., built a pioneer locomotive, and amassed a fortune, which allowed his sons to found the Stevens Institute of Technology. (Excerpt from SEAS website.)
When Columbia University first resided on Wall Street, engineering did not have a school under the Columbia umbrella. After Columbia outgrew its space on Wall Street, it relocated to what is now Midtown Manhattan in 1857. The Columbia University School of Mines was originally approved in 1863 in the Columbia College School of Mines, as a plan to establish a School of Mines and Metallurgy with a three-year program open to professionally-motivated students with or without prior undergraduate training. It was officially founded in 1864 and specialized in mining and mineralogical engineering. An example of work from a student at the School of Mines was William Barclay Parsons, Class of 1882. He was an engineer on the Chinese railway and the Cape Cod and Panama Canals. Most importantly he worked for New York, as a chief engineer of the city's first subway. Opened in 1904, the subway’s electric cars took passengers from City Hall to Brooklyn, the Bronx, and the newly renamed and relocated Columbia University in Morningside Heights, its present location on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
[edit] Renaming to the School of Mines, Engineering and Chemistry
In 1896, the school was renamed to the "School of Mines, Engineering and Chemistry". During this time, the University was offering more than the previous name had implied, thus the change of name.
The faculty during this time included Michael Idvorsky Pupin, after whom Pupin Hall is named. Pupin himself was a graduate of the Class of 1883 and the inventor of the "Pupin coil," a device that extended the range of long-distance telephones. Students of his included Irving Langmuir, Nobel laureate in Chemistry (1932), inventor of the gas-filled tungsten lamp and a contributor to the development of the radio vacuum tube. Another student to work with Pupin was Edwin Howard Armstrong, inventor of FM radio. After graduating in 1913 Armstrong was stationed in France during the First World War. There he developed the superheterodyne circuit to detect the frequency of enemy aircraft ignition systems.
[edit] The Fu Foundation and the 20th century
The university continued to evolve and expand as the United States became a major political power during the 20th century. In 1926, the newly renamed School of Engineering prepared students for the nuclear age.
Graduating with a master's degree, Hyman George Rickover, working with the Navy's Bureau of Ships, directed the development of the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the Nautilus, which was launched in 1954. The first nuclear-powered submarine spawned an era that increased the Navy's ability to defend the homeland.
After a substantial grant of $26 million from Chinese businessman Z. Y. Fu, the engineering school was renamed again in 1997. The new name, as it is known today is the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. SEAS continues to be a world-class teaching and research institution, now with a large endownment of $350 million, and sits under the Columbia umbrella endowment of $5.2 billion. It is the only university to hold a share in the MPEG-2 patent. The school continues research into nuclear science with the Robert A. Gross Plasma Physics Lab. The school is also home to Columbia's High-Beta Tokamak (HBT-EP), and conducts further research into plasma physics with the Collisionless Terrella Experiment (CTX), and the Columbia Non-Neutral Torus (CNT) experiment.
New groundbreaking research that holds great promise is a laser-based method to create a single crystal film for a variety of devices, from solar cells to thin-film transistors for flat panel displays and for computers. Columbia also holds a patent in that technology. Also, within a short time, it may be possible to put an entire computer on a sheet of glass or plastic, thanks to the innovations taking place in Engineering School labs.
[edit] Admissions
[edit] Columbia SEAS regular decision
- Class of 2010 SEAS undergraduate students were admitted at a rate of 22.7%: Hernandez College Consulting. This is a school record low: many applied, but only 614 were selected.
- Class of 2011 SEAS undergraduate applications rose 20.3% over the class of 2010, according to the Columbia University Office of Undergraduate Admissions, raising the number of applicants for the fifth straight year. Fu Foundation SEAS is more competitive to get into than ever.
According to the statistics from the Class of 2009, 50% of those admitted to Columbia SEAS enrolled. The size of that class of incoming freshmen was about 320, allowing for a student:faculty ratio of 10:1 or less: Columbia Admissions Statistics.
The middle 50% of the Class of 2009 SEAS freshmen's SAT scores is 1440 – 1530 out of 1600 (old SAT) This is comparable to MIT's interquartile range, consisting of (1430-1570). Additionally, of schools that provided Columbia with a class rank, approximately 93% of accepted students were in the top 10% of their graduating class; 99% were in the top 20% of their class. 58% of admitted students attended high schools that do not rank.
SEAS students within the Columbia University community are given credit for raising the SAT statistics for the overall undergraduate university, as SEAS students tend to do particularly well on standardized tests. However, non-statistically speaking, Columbia University admits those who have well-rounded academic and social lives, a penchant for tough challenges, and the ability to handle Columbia's rigors. As a result, highly qualified students are continually approaching SEAS for admission. Trends suggest that SEAS is getting much harder to get into: according to the Office of Planning and Institutional Research, the admission rate is going down. SEAS prospective students are accepted through the Office of Undergraduate Affairs alongside many other qualified prospective Columbians.
Typical prospective students apply to Columbia SEAS because the school offers exceptional training for leadership in engineering. Those accepting enrollment at Columbia SEAS typically apply their knowledge of engineering from undergraduate school and go on to professional graduate school, like business, law, or medical school, so as to become what Columbia terms "engineering leaders." Engineering leaders are those who pioneer or define engineering: patent lawyers, doctors with specialties in biophysics, and financial engineers. SEAS also encourages many of its students to pursue graduate Master's and Ph.D. engineering programs. SEAS students live at the forefront of scientific inquiry, but ultimately understand and remember the human implications of their work.
[edit] Columbia University overall
- Columbia University's total undergraduate admissions rate was 11.42% for the Class of 2010. Columbia College had a 9.64% acceptance rate.
[edit] Early decision
- Overall Early Decision applicants to Columbia's Class of 2010 (both Columbia College and Fu Foundation SEAS) totalled 2,275 applicants.
582 were accepted for an ED acceptance rate of 25.6%.
In recent news, on November 18th, 2006, Dean Zvi Galil sent current SEAS students an email stating that SEAS early decision applicants rose 51% for class of 2011 applicants.
[edit] Academics
SEAS focuses on leadership development. Many classes, perhaps exceedingly, revolve around societal awareness and responsibility in lieu of demanding expectations. Undergraduates are required to participate in professional level opportunities.
Similar to the Columbia College requirements, there is a rigorous set of required "core classes". The core classes typically consist of a semester or more of classes in each of these disciplines:
- Calculus
- Chemistry
- Physics
- Computer Science
- Economics
- Writing
- Physical Education
Beyond these particular disciplines, all engineers are required to take a class entitled "Design Fundamentals Using Advanced Computer Technologies," usually just called the "Gateway Lab," which is intended to prepare young engineers in their first year for public service. Engineers are also required to take a selection of the classes from Columbia College's Core Curriculum. These may include classes in literature, philosophy, major cultures, art history or music history.
In addition to having technical required classes, engineers are required to take 29 credits of "non-technical" classes. There is usually a high degree of freedom in choosing one's non-technical classes, but the number of required credits is often much more than other comparable engineering schools require.
Inside the engineering school, all classes (including introductory first-year classes) are taught by professors. While graduate students may teach recitation sections, all credited classes are taught by faculty. On average, the student to professor ratio in SEAS is 10:1.
Many students participate in collegiate design competitions. For example, 30% of the mechanical engineering students are in either Solar Splash (Solar Boating) or the Formula-One SAE competition.
[edit] Facilities
Columbia's Plasma Physics Laboratory is part of the School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS), in which the HBT and Columbia Non-Neutral Torus are housed.
The school also has two wind tunnels, a machine shop, a nanotechnology laboratory, a General Electric TRIGA III nuclear fission reactor, a large scale centrifuge for geotechnical testing, and an axial tester commonly used for testing New York City bridge cables. Each department has numerous laboratories on the Morningside Heights campus; however, other departments have holdings throughout the world. For example, the Applied Physics department has reactors at Nevis Labs in Irvington, NY and conducts work with CERN in Geneva.
[edit] Mission and new objectives
Current SEAS Dean Zvi Galil proclaims that engineering is the new Liberal Arts; SEAS students are educated to make an impact in the world with what they make, learn, teach, define, and explore.
[edit] Directions for the new century
As an integral part to Columbia's beliefs for the future engineer, the liberal arts curriculum is celebrated and remains a central object of a SEAS student's education. The liberal arts curriculum provides the surest chart with which an engineer can navigate the future; all undergraduates must complete a modified rigorous version of Columbia College’s celebrated Core Curriculum. It is these courses in Western Civilization and other major cultures that best prepare a student for advanced course work; a wide range of eventual professions; and a continuing, life-long pursuit of knowledge, understanding, and social perspective. It is also these Core courses that most closely tie today’s student to the alumni of centuries past. Through a shared exposure to the nontechnical arts, all Columbia engineering students—past, present, and future—gain the humanistic tools needed to build lives not solely as technical innovators, but as social and political ones as well.
[edit] Practicing practical engineering, expanding the scope of engineering
- This excerpt is taken from the Columbia Engineering website:
- "The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, as a part of the world-class teaching and research university, strives to provide the best in both undergraduate and graduate education. We are preparing engineering leaders who will solve the problems of the new century, fostering scientific inquiry but never losing sight of its human implications. The School's programs are designed to produce well-educated engineers who can put their knowledge to work for society. This broad educational thrust takes advantage of the School's links to a great liberal arts college and to distinguished graduate programs in law, business, and medicine. Through a synergy of teaching and research, we seek to educate a distinguished cadre of leaders in engineering and applied science who will thrive in an atmosphere of recently emerging technologies."
At Columbia, innovative approaches, including computer-assisted design, the use of "smart" materials, and collaborations with other Columbia departments and schools are opening frontiers in an expanding host of fields: from financial engineering to corrosion control, cryogenic manufacturing to biomedical engineering.
The engineering school reworked its curriculum scheme years ago, which mandates freshmen to take the novel Gateway Lab course. The goal is to immerse students in engineering design, practice, and philosophy at the earliest possible point in an engineer's education. This is a cutting edge implementation of this new educational method.
[edit] Notable alumni
- Herman Hollerith (1879), Founder of IBM
- William Parsons (1882), Chief Engineer of New York City's subway system
- Irving Langmuir (1903), winner of the 1932 Nobel Prize in Chemistry
- Edwin Armstrong (1913), inventor of the FM transmission method
- Langston Hughes (dropped out 1922), poet of the Harlem Renaissance
- Hyman Rickover, (1929) father of the nuclear U.S. Navy
- Joseph Engelberger (1946), father of modern robotics
- Robert C. Merton (1966), winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Economics and co-author of the Black-Scholes pricing model
- Pete Slosberg (1972), founder of the product line Pete's Wicked Ale
- Michael Massimino (1984), engineer and astronaut—mission specialist, STS-109
- Ted Rall (dropped out 1984), political cartoonist
[edit] Programs
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Program in the Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, sharing teaching and research with the faculty from Henry Krumb School of Mines.
- APAM Webpage
- Program Webpage
- Computer Engineering
- Administered by both the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Departments through a joint Computer Engineering Committee.
- Webpage
- The Combined Plan Programs
- The 3-2, B.A./B.S., is designed to provide students with the opportunity to receive both a B.A. degree from an affiliated liberal arts college and a B.S. degree from SEAS within five years. Students complete the requirements for the liberal arts degree along with a pre-engineering course of study in three years at their college and then complete two years at Columbia.
- The 4-2 M.S. program is designed to allow students to complete an M.S. degree at SEAS in two years after completion of a B.A. degree at one of the affiliated schools. This program will allow students the opportunity to take undergraduate engineering courses if necessary.
- Webpage
[edit] Departments
[edit] Specialized centers
- Center for Advanced Technology
- Center For Applied Probability
- Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
- Center for Integrated Science Engineering
- Columbia Center for Electron Transport in Molecular Nanostructures
- Columbia University Materials Research Science and Engineering
- Computational Optimization Research Center
- Earth Engineering Center
- Environmental Molecular Sciences Institute
- Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Studies in Novel Surfactants
[edit] See also
- Ivy League
- List of Columbia University people
- Clubs and Organizations of Columbia University
- Education in New York City
- Columbia University
[edit] External links
- Engineering School Home Page
- Engineering Student Council
- A Brief History of the Engineering School
- CUSJ - Columbia Undergraduate "Science" Journal
- 1997 Columbia University Record article
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