2009–2010 The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science Bulletin 2009–2010 The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science 500 West 120th Street New York, New York 10027 160-0450_Bulletin0910PRINT.indd 1 6/25/09 10:50:23 AM 160-0450_Bulletin0910REV.qxd 7/23/09 12:05 PM Page ii Mission of the Engineering School The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, as part of a 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. Recognizing that engineers are problem solvers and inventors, students are encouraged to pursue entrepreneurship, a blending of business and new technology. 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. SEAS 2009–2010 160-0450_Bulletin0910REV.qxd 7/23/09 12:05 PM Page iii A MESSAGE FROM THE DEANS s students of the Columbia Fu through a minor, or your involvement in entre- Foundation School of Engineering preneurship initiatives, research opportunities, A and Applied Science, you are among and community-based service learning. The the select few who have joined our community overarching connector of these two founda- for an education that will enable you to become tions, the crossbeam of the π, is Columbia’s the next leaders in the fields of engineering famed liberal arts Core Curriculum, the and applied science. You, too, will become umbrella that positions engineering and part of the history of this School, which is applied science within the context of the larg- inextricably entwined with Columbia University’s er society, for the betterment of the human and with that of the City of New York. condition and the sustainability of our planet. Sir Isaac Newton said: “If I have seen far- Some of the most exciting work in engi- ther, it is by standing on the shoulders of neering and applied science today takes place giants.” Some of Columbia’s early giants at the intersection of disciplines. Research in include John Stevens, Class of 1768, whose materials science, bioengineering, and nano- technology made early steamboats and loco- technology are but a few examples of where motives possible. His work provided inspira- the biological, physical, and digital worlds tion for William Barclay Parsons, Class of intersect and where you have the opportunity 1882, the chief engineer of New York City’s to have a profound impact on society. first subway system and the first Columbia Engineering is not just crunching numbers engineer to have a global presence, going or solving problems; it is seeing how problems to Shanghai in 1898 to become a primary affect society and how society actually changes surveyor for China’s 1,000-mile-long railway because of the solutions you provide. You route. Later Columbia inventors who fostered have an opportunity here as students to a shrinking globe were Michael Pupin, the become involved in the community, so that, developer of the transatlantic undersea tele- as you move into your professional life, you graph cable, and Edwin Armstrong, who will become a leader who has an impact on revolutionized modern radio communications. the human condition and the sustainability of Just this May, our alumnus-astronaut Michael our planet, whether it is locally, nationally, or Massimino ’84, on an eleven-day mission to globally. service Hubble Space Telescope, became the You are part of a school that offers great first person in space to use Twitter. We are opportunities for learning and advancement excited that you have seized the opportunity within a premier research university that is to join this list of very notable engineers and situated in the laboratory of the City of New applied scientists. York. We look forward to your becoming part Now, our School is meeting the challenge of the Columbia SEAS family as you embark of educating you as a leader of the next wave on making your mark on society at large. of engineers and applied scientists by foster- ing an engineering education paradigm that is symbolized by the Greek letter π. The first Feniosky Peña-Mora foundation, or support column, of the π is the Dean depth of knowledge you gain in your engi- neering or applied science major. The second Morton B. Friedman foundation is the knowledge you acquire Vice Dean SEAS 2009–2010 160-0450_Bulletin0910REV.qxd 7/23/09 12:05 PM Page iv TABLE OF CONTENTS About the School and 1 Graduate School Departmental 42 Humanities and Social Sciences 200 University Funding Mathematics 200 HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL 2 Alternative Funding Sources 42 Physics 201 RESOURCES AND FACILITIES 5 Other Financial Aid—Federal, 43 Statistics 203 State, and Private Programs Undergraduate Studies 9 Employment 44 Campus and Student Life 205 Contact Information 44 THE UNDERGRADUATE 10 CAMPUS LIFE 206 PROGRAMS STUDENT SERVICES 212 Policy on Degree Requirements 10 Faculty and Administration 45 The First Year–Sophomore Program 10 Departments and Academic 53 Scholarships, Fellowships, 215 Study Abroad 14 Awards, and Prizes Combined Plan Programs 15 Programs The Junior–Senior Programs 16 KEY TO COURSE LISTINGS 54 University and School 227 Programs in Preparation for 18 APPLIED PHYSICS AND 56 Policies, Procedures, and Other Professions APPLIED MATHEMATICS Regulations Joint Programs 19 Registered Programs 19 BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING 69 ACADEMIC PROCEDURES 228 AND STANDARDS UNDERGRADUATE ADMISSIONS 21 CHEMICAL ENGINEERING 81 Admission as a First-Year Student 21 ACADEMIC STANDING 232 CIVIL ENGINEERING AND 92 Applicants with Advanced Standing 22 ENGINEERING MECHANICS POLICY ON CONDUCT AND 234 Campus Visits and Interviews 23 DISCIPLINE COMPUTER ENGINEERING 103 UNDERGRADUATE TUITION, 24 PROGRAM OFFICIAL UNIVERSITY 238 FEES, AND PAYMENTS REGULATIONS COMPUTER SCIENCE 108 FINANCIAL AID FOR 26 STUDENT GRIEVANCES, 242 UNDERGRADUATE STUDY EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL 120 ACADEMIC CONCERNS, AND Determining Eligibility 26 ENGINEERING COMPLAINTS Financial Aid Awards 27 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING 134 How to Apply for Financial Aid 28 Directory of University 245 Tax Withholding for Nonresident 29 INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING 151 Resources Alien Scholarship and AND OPERATIONS RESEARCH COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 246 Fellowship Recipients RESOURCE LIST MATERIALS SCIENCE AND 167 Graduate Studies 31 ENGINEERING PROGRAM MAPS 252 THE GRADUATE PROGRAMS 32 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 174 INDEX 254 The Master of Science Degree 32 The Professional Degree 34 Undergraduate Minors 187 Academic Calendar (see inside back Doctoral Degrees: Eng.Sc.D. 34 cover) and Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Courses 195 Special Nondegree Students 35 and Courses in Other COLUMBIA VIDEO NETWORK 36 Divisions of the University INTERDISCIPLINARY 196 GRADUATE ADMISSIONS 37 ENGINEERING COURSES GRADUATE TUITION, FEES, 39 COURSES IN OTHER DIVISIONS 197 AND PAYMENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY FINANCIAL AID FOR GRADUATE 41 Biological Sciences 197 STUDY Business 197 Financing Graduate Education 41 Chemistry 197 Instructions for Financial Aid 41 Earth and Environmental Sciences 198 Applicants 160-0450_Bulletin0910REV.qxd 7/23/09 12:05 PM Page 1 About the School and University 160-0450_Bulletin0910REV.qxd 7/23/09 12:05 PM Page 2 2 HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL A COLONIAL CHARTER their mark both at home and abroad. monolayering and surface chemistry, Since its founding in 1754, as King’s Working around the globe, William which led to a Nobel Prize in chemistry College, Columbia University has always Barclay Parsons, Class of 1882, was in 1932. been an institution both of and for the an engineer on the Chinese railway and But early work on radio vacuum city of New York. And with an original the Cape Cod and Panama Canals, tubes was not restricted to private charter directing it to teach, among and, most importantly for New York, industry. Working with Pupin, an engi- other things, “the arts of Number and chief engineer of the city’s first subway. neering student named Edwin Howard Measuring, of Surveying and Navigation Opened in 1904, the subway’s electric Armstrong was conducting experiments . the knowledge of . various kinds cars took passengers from City Hall with the Audion tube in the basement of Meteors, Stones, Mines and Minerals, to Brooklyn, the Bronx, and the newly of Philosophy Hall when he discovered Plants and Animals, and everything use- renamed and relocated Columbia how to amplify radio signals through ful for the Comfort, the Convenience University in Morningside Heights, its regenerative circuits. Graduating a year and Elegance of Life,” it has also always present location on the Upper West later, in the Class of 1913, Armstrong been an institution of and for engineers. Side of Manhattan. was stationed in France during the First World War, where he invented the superheterodyne circuit to tune in and ENGINEERS FOR AN A MODERN SCHOOL FOR THE detect the frequencies of enemy aircraft INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION MODERN ERA ignition systems. After the war Armstrong The School of Mines became the School An early and influential graduate from improved his method of frequency mod- of Mines, Engineering, and Chemistry in the school was John Stevens, Class of ulation (FM) and by 1931 had both elimi- 1896, and its professors—now called 1768. Instrumental in the establishment nated the static and improved the fidelity the Faculty of Engineering and Applied of U.S. patent law, Stevens procured of radio broadcasting forever. The his- Science—included Michael Idvorsky many patents in early steamboat tech- toric significance of Armstrong’s contri- Pupin, a graduate of the Class of 1883.