Columbia Engineering Alumni

The Columbia Engineering Alumni Association (CEAA) and Columbia Engineering Young Alumni (CEYA) hosted a Pi Day Blue and White Party on March 14. Alumni of all decades gathered at Allure Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge to connect with one another, celebrate the Engineering School, and promote Pi Day. The highlight of the night was the presentation of the 2024 Le Marteleur Award for distinguished service to Columbia Engineering Young Alumni to Ashley Regazzi BS’08. 🥧⚒️🥂🩵

Graduating classes of 2013-2023:

The Columbia Engineering Young Alumni (CEYA) board is excited to invite you to the 2024 Blue and White Party at Allure Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge in NYC! 🍾 🥂

Join us this Pi Day, March 14, from 8-11 pm for an elevated evening of reconnecting with classmates, making new friends, and dancing the night away!

The event will feature a premium open bar, a wide selection of delicious hors d’oeuvres, and a silent auction! The 2024 Le Marteleur Award for distinguished service to CEYA will be presented to Ashley Regazzi ‘08SEAS.

Tickets and entry are restricted to alumni and guests 21+.
Dress to impress.

Use the promo code PiDay for a $10 discount when you register through March 8 at 5pm!

Get your tickets here:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-ceya-blue-and-white-party-tickets-851078387367?utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing&utm-source=cp&aff=ebdsshcopyurl

Highlights from Graduate Engineers Connect last month! ✨🤝👨‍🎓🦁

This successful event provided over 150 graduate students the opportunity to network with and receive career advice from our wonderful alumni. The students then heard insights from Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group, Ralph Izzo BS'78, MS'79, PhD'81 (Mech E).

Bahram Jalali aims to encourage next generation of innovators. That's why he established a new scholarship at Columbia Engineering: the Jalali Ruminate Scholarship. Manasa (Hari) Bhimaraju was named the first scholar during the 2022-2023 academic year!

Jalali finds inspiration for his scientific and entrepreneurial endeavors in a quote attributed to Mark Twain: “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Learn more about Jalali, Bhimaraju, and the new scholarship at https://magazine.engineering.columbia.edu/fall-2023/alumnus-establishes-new-scholarship-undergraduates-tech-entrepreneurship.

Tomorrow: Join the Columbia Space Initiative to watch astronauts, Woody Hoburg and Mike Massimino take on Columbia students in a trivia showdown! Open to alumni. Register now at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdwsMPP68I0YW6EX4Ocw7xkDch7hDXhAy1HiEBl5kgFyao6wQ/viewform

Introducing our Alumni Leader Spotlight Series, where you'll learn about how our alumni leaders got involved and why you should too! To kick it off, here's your Columbia Engineering Alumni Association President, Alex Potulicki, MS'10! 🦁⚒

Wondering how to get more involved? Alex's advice is to "attend events, meet alumni, and find ways to give back to students." Email [email protected] to learn more!

At EngineeringConnect, 30+ alumni talked to 170+ sophomores and juniors about their career paths, gave networking advice, and provided insight into how Columbia Engineering shaped their lives after college.

Our alumni network is valuable on campus and beyond! Comment your own tips and tricks to share with current SEAS students!

We had lots of CEAA members join us for a fun baseball game at Yankee Stadium last week!

Interested in more events like this? Join the CEAA aboard La Cantina Barca on July 12th to enjoy tacos, drinks, and panoramic views of the city! There are only a couple tickets left, so snag them quickly at the registration link in our bio!

Please remember to sign up for the Class Day alumni parade and/or share words of wisdom with the Class of 2023 if you have not done so already! Check your email for more information from [email protected].

🎓 Register for the Parade of Classes at bit.ly/3LERO52

Your participation is appreciated as we welcome the new graduates into the Columbia Engineering alumni community!

Prompt: Write a social media post inviting Columbia Engineering alumni to a virtual panel next Tuesday 4/25 on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Panelists include the dean of the school (one of the most influential experts in multimedia, computer vision, and AI whose research has led to the development of innovative image search tools used by major media companies and law enforcement agencies in fighting online human trafficking crimes, and who has also launched AI tools for online disinformation detection and attribution), a lecturer in the areas of math, artificial intelligence, and robotics (who recently created a new interdisciplinary course in data-driven decision making and who is the faculty director of the school's online executive education certificate program in artificial intelligence, as well as the faculty director of the school's CS "bridge" program for students and professionals pursuing computer science-oriented careers), and four graduates of the school who are now working in the AI and machine learning fields.

Alumni can register via Zoom at this link: bit.ly/3AgGkzx

We want to hear YOUR Columbia stories in our new "Alumni Moments" series! Tell us in the comments what made Columbia special to you and pass along your favorite experiences!

We're warming up here in NYC this week and want to hear what your favorite spot on campus is to hang out in the sun!

Watch 60 Minutes: Rocco Commisso: The 60 Minutes Interview - Full show on CBS Sharyn Alfonsi speaks with billionaire Rocco Commisso about his journey from building cable TV empire Mediacom to owning an Italian soccer club ACF Fiorentina.

*Alumni enjoy discounted admission!* 🎟 Meet with next-generation researchers in , , and this Data Science Day on Wednesday, April 19, featuring keynotes, lightning talks, and 50+ interactive posters and tech demos. Reserve your spot today!

Data Science Day 2023 Join the flagship annual event at the Data Science Institute, Columbia University.

🥧 Today is the day! 🥧

What SEAS instructor made a lasting impact on your education? What classmate or colleague did Columbia connect you with, either as a student or as an alum, for whom you remain grateful? Join the Pi Day Challenge by to Columbia Engineering in the name of a fellow today. 🤝

https://engineering.givenow.columbia.edu/?ac=UJMT #

Areas to Support Join the Pi Day challenge by contributing toward a Columbia Engineering support fund before March 14, 2023.

Join Dean Shih-Fu Chang and Professor Sam Sia for an in-person talk on "The Future of Engineering" next Saturday, March 18, at Worktalk Yeoksam. Check email for more details and register at bit.ly/columbia-seoul-2023.

It was a pleasure to host Columbia Engineering alumni at this virtual panel on with featured alumni and industry experts Dr. Mark Jackson PhD'04SEAS, Pierre Minssen MS'20SEAS, and Bengisu Gerdan MS'22SEAS.

If you missed the live panel or simply want to revisit the insightful discussion, you can now access the recording on demand! 💻▶ http://bit.ly/3ZxvMGL

We had such a blast! Thanks to the Columbia Engineering Alumni Association (CEAA) and Columbia Engineering Young Alumni (CEYA) for hosting. ⛸🏒

Hope you'll join us for a fascinating virtual discussion panel on quantum computing! Register here:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtf-qqpzosHNIhmpx9c09PccGyFWPtyDPd

So nice to see this huge Columbia Alumni wedding reunion! ❤️

During the early days of COVID, Bilun Boyner ‘09SEAS (IEOR) and Julien Dumoulin-Smith ‘07SEAS (APAM), ‘17BUS left their NYC apartment to Nevada, embarking together on a two-year, 50-state, 40,000-mile road trip. They got engaged at the end of their travels, and finally moved to Austin. They reunited 40+ Columbia alumni at their wedding in 2022.

Looking back on your time at Columbia Engineering, who made a lasting impact on your journey? Whether it was an instructor who challenged you to think differently, a mentor who supported you through a tough project, a partner who helped bring your ideas to life, or a classmate who became a lifelong friend -
we want to hear your story!

Share your experiences using the hashtag and celebrate the Pi Day challenge this year by appreciating the
connections and opportunities that make Columbia Engineering NYC's top engineering school in the Ivy League 🦁

We’re proud to announce that three of our professors - Dean Shih-Fu Chang, Donald Goldfarb, and Christopher H. Sholtz - have all been elected to the U.S National Academy of Engineering, the highest professional distinctions awarded to an engineer.

Academy membership honors recipients who have made outstanding contributions to engineering research, practice, or education.

The newly elected will be formally inducted during the NAE’s annual meeting on October 1, 2023. Congratulations!!

read more on their achievements here: https://bit.ly/3xIMHdP

We mourn Burak Firik, a 2018 graduate of the Master’s program in computer science who was killed in the catastrophic earthquake in Turkey along with his wife Kimberly and two young children.

Firik was a promising professional and engaged community member residing in Corona, Queens. After graduating from Columbia Engineering, he worked as a software engineer and then as CEO of PashtunFund. He and his family were visiting relatives in Elbistan, Turkey when the earthquake struck.

Firik’s father-in-law, Edwin Salazar, has set up a GoFundMe to help extended family members in Turkey rebuild their homes and assist with living expenses and education.

We are deeply saddened by this loss and the continuing devastation in Turkey and Syria. Please keep the Firik family in your thoughts.

Further reading and resources are available at:
https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/news/in-memoriam-burak-firik-ms-18

If you enjoyed last month's fintech overview presented by the Columbia Engineering Alumni Association (CEAA) and Columbia Engineering Young Alumni (CEYA) with Professor Agostino Capponi, you might want to take a deeper dive in exploring CRYPTOCURRENCY IN INDUSTRY with fellow Columbia Engineering students and alumni next Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7PM. Register for this exclusive Zoom meeting today!

RSVP for the Crypto in Industry Panel: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMoc-yqpzwqGdOFdmnKqrMDu-xhZ5p3Wcs8

Review a comprehensive fintech overview (on demand): https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/cztxuKA6f0PiIjz7DNpXmskO5VrUDqp6SdEaRYdnGknpV3wFXLZJKzlMF9Xkz4ks.dO6J6wbtIwpGI_wR

🕖 In the summer of 1945, alumnus Robert Schaffer and his classmates filled into the room in Pupin Hall. The day was unbearably hot.

Like Robert, many of the students were attending Columbia University on the V-12 Navy College Training Program. On active duty, they sweated stoically in full uniforms.

Their professor, Theodore Baumeister, conjectured that turning off the lights would help ease the students' discomfort. Baumeister had a good-natured curiosity about him; he was a Columbia Engineering graduate himself.

“What are the dimensions of this room?” he continued.

Read more: https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/what-was-columbia-engineering-classroom-mid-twentieth-century

Hundreds of students and alumni ice skating at Wollman Rink this past Thursday! ⛸❄️🗽🦁💙

Alumni in Israel! Join Columbia University and Microsoft next week for a fireside chat with Shih-Fu Chang, Dean of Columbia Engineering, and alumna Michal Braverman-Blumenstyk '87SEAS. Reserve your spot(s): bit.ly/3kpdpES

As a prospective master’s student, Priyank Lathwal '17SEAS was drawn to Columbia University by its diversity and by the rigor of its joint Columbia Engineering and Columbia Business School program in management science and engineering (MS&E). Today, he applies the lenses of business, research, and policy he acquired at Columbia to work on clean energy innovation, decarbonization, and climate change.

Priyank shares key takeaways from his time at Columbia and pieces of advice for current students in this web story: www.engineering.columbia.edu/alumni-spotlight-priyank-lathwal-ms17