Faculty Milestones

Several members of the faculty at Columbia Engineering have recently been recognized for their scholarship and research achievements.

Alfred Aho, Lawrence Gussman Professor of Computer Science, was elected chair of the computer science and engineering section of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE). In 1999, Aho was elected to the NAE, which is one of the highest professional honors accorded an engineer, and was cited for his contributions to the fields of algorithms and programming tools. As section chair, he will lead a group of eminent computer scientists and engineers who will provide independent advice to the federal government on matters involving engineering and technology.

Luca Carloni, associate professor of computer science, has won the Early Career Award from IEEE's Council on Electronic Design Automation for his seminal contributions to system-level design, including latency-insensitive design, on-chip communications synthesis and compositional design-space exploration. The award honors an individual who has made innovative and substantial technical contributions to the area of electronic design automation in the early stages of his or her career. Contributions are measured by technical merit and creativity in performing research and assessed on the published record of the individual and the references accompanying the nomination.

Biomedical Engineering Professor Clark Hung was nominated to serve a four-year term as a member of the Skeletal Biology Structure and Regeneration Study Section of the Center for Scientific Review with the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Members are chosen on the basis of their demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors.

Feniosky Peña-Mora, Edward Howard Armstrong Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, and professor of earth and environmental engineering and of computer science, will receive the Pioneer Award in Education at the HENNAC Conference in October. The annual conference is sponsored by Hispanics in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, and was established in 1989 to identify, honor, and document the contributions of outstanding Hispanic American science and engineering professionals.

Joseph Traub, Edwin Howard Armstrong Professor of Computer Science, was interviewed by the Computer History Museum, which is dedicated to the preservation of computing history and houses one of the largest international collections of computing artifacts in the world. In the video, Traub discusses his emigration to the United States as a young boy, his early knack for numbers and chess, and the eye-opening experience he had as a student at the Bronx High School of Science.

The Biomedical Engineering Society has named Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic a fellow. The society honored Vunjak-Novakovic, The Mikati Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering and professor of medical sciences, for her research efforts to engineer tissue grafts for application in regenerative medicine, develop enabling technologies for stem cell research, and design high-fidelity models for studies of tissue development, remodeling and disease.