Columbia In California

Columbia SEAS in California featured receptions in San Francisco and Los Angeles for nearly 300 alumni and incoming members of the Class of 2013. At receptions at Yoshi's in San Francisco and Spago in Beverly Hills, alumni gathered to welcome early admission students from these areas to the SEAS family. Click photo at left to watch photo gallery of the event.

 

Interim Dean Gerald Navratil gave a short update on the progress of the School and Professor Patricia Culligan of the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics spoke about Urban Sustainability, Can We Engineer It? Incoming students were presented with their first SEAS T-shirt as Dean Navratil told guests that they were among the most select group of students ever admitted to SEAS.

 

Culligan highlighted the role of SEAS civil engineering faculty in tackling urban problems. “By 2030, two out of three people will live in an urban environment, with most of the explosive growth occurring in developing countries,” says Culligan. New York City is ranked fifth in the world’s megacities, and SEAS faculty is working to solve the challenges of decaying infrastructure, restoring the environment, and forestalling an energy crisis.

 

“The amount of electricity consumed by Columbia University is comparable to that of a medium sized town,” says Culligan. Columbia has pledged to decrease its carbon dioxide emissions 30 percent by 2017. One way is through the green roofs projects started by Culligan while another is aimed at reducing consumption of electricity on campus.