Fall 2020 Newsletter
Fall 2020 - APAM Department Newsletter, Columbia Engineering
Message from the Chair
Dear APAM Family,
We have just finished a fall term under the unusual conditions made necessary by the COVID-19 situation. Most teaching has been remote, but some classes have had an in-classroom component. Research has largely returned to the pre-COVID normal level of activity. Our campus life has been very productive, but the campus has still been unusually “quiet.” I thank the wonderful efforts of our faculty, staff and students for making this fall term, one that we can be proud of.
APAM has much to be proud of! This term has seen our faculty being awarded new honors (Mike Mauel and Michal Lipson), winning many new grants-including Center grants (on quantum science, chemistry with electric fields, “green” data, and power grid risk), and making breakthroughs in research (on single-molecule devices, in plasma physics, and in modeling coastal regions and the seasonal frequency of major storms, controlling the flow of disinformation, and making 3D nanosuperconductors with DNA). Our alumni and students continue to achieve and to win honors, and we are honored to highlight their remarkable accomplishments in this issue.
We are very proud to welcome our new Chu Assistant Professor of Applied Mathematics, Lu Zhang, and Prof. Carlos Paz-Soldan who joined APAM (and our plasma physics program) on January 1, 2021.
We enter the Spring 2021 term largely following the same health and safety protocols as in the fall, but we are very hopeful that the situation will approach a healthy normal quite soon.
Stay well,
Irving P. Herman
Chair, APAM
Student & Alumni News
- Columbia Scientists Present Latest Results at APS Division of Plasma Physics Meeting
- Lee Wins 2020 Korean Honor Scholarship
- Master of Science Specialization & Concentration
- Alumni Featured in Career Services Events
- Isabel Baransky ‘16 Named One of Forbes 30 Under 30
- Alumni Reports
Faculty News
- Harnessing Quantum Properties to Create Single-Molecule Devices
- Carlos Paz-Soldan Joins APAM as Associate Professor
- Columbia Wins $1.8M NSF Grant for CCI Phase 1 Center for Chemistry with Electric Fields
- New Faculty Member: Lu Zhang
- Holding Back The Tide
- A Less Hazy Forecast
- Columbia Researchers Team with Global Firm to Enhance Hurricane Risk Scenarios
- From The Top Down
- Drowning in Disinformation
- Wiggins on Disrupting Disinformation
- Mauel Receives Fusion Power Associates 2020 Leadership Award
- Is Nuclear Fusion Finally Within Reach?
- Gang Makes 3-D Nanosuperconductors with DNA
- Lipson Named 2021 John Tyndall Award Recipient
- Lipson Elected 2021 Vice President of The Optical Society (OSA)
- Lipson Wins 2020 Hamburger Prize
- Crunching The Numbers
- Lipson on All Things Photonics
- Lipson Named a 2020 Highly Cited Researcher
- Top Most Cited Optics Express Article
- New ARPA-E $6M Grant Supports Research on “Green” Data Centers
- Columbia Partners in National Effort to Spur Advancements in Quantum Science
- Gaeta & Yu Receive NSF Grant for Quantum Computing
- NSF Expands Funding for I-CORPS Award
- $2M DOE Award to Develop PowerGrid Risk Dashboard
- Du's CM3 Group Publications Among SIAM Journals Most Cited Papers
- Gang Paper Featured on Cover of Nature Materials
- Billinge Applies Data Science to Scientific Domains
- Scant evidence for a volcanically forced winter warming over Eurasia following the Krakatau eruption of August 1883
APAM in the News
- What science and democracy have in common: us, hopefully | Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
- Sobel on Climate Change | CNN Newsroom
- Our focus has to be on the victims of Hurricane Laura | CNN Opinion
- Assembly begins on ITER, a massive scientific project that seeks to replicate the sun's fusion power here on Earth | CBS News
- Does global warming create more hurricanes in the Atlantic? | The New York Times
- Sobel Discusses Hurricane Isaias | Bryan Norcross Podcast
- Hurricane Makes Landfall in North Carolina | The New York Times
Department News
- Okawachi Elected Optical Society Fellow
- Marvel is Faculty Member in New Columbia Climate & Society MA Program
- Gentine Named Worzel Professor of Geophysics
Contact Us
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