The City As Seen by Its Workers

Civic Views, a public art installation by Emilio Martínez Poppe A’16, offers a glimpse through the office windows of Philadelphia’s municipal workers.

Mayoral Candidates Forum in the Great Hall

Earlier this month, The Cooper Union, the NAACP New York State Conference, and the New York Civil Liberties Union came together to host a forum with New York City's candidates for the upcoming mayoral election.

Benjamin Aranda Appointed Acting Dean

In Memoriam: Professor Melvin Sandler

Remembering longtime faculty member Melvin Sandler, the Jesse Sherman Professor of Electrical Engineering Emeritus.

And Just Like That...

Class of 2025: In Their Own Words

Each year, we ask graduating students a few questions about their time at Cooper and any plans they might have for the future.

School of Art Student Juliana Woods Unveils Work in Astor Place

Woods, a first-year student, won the Village Alliance's inaugural Student Art Competition

Feltman Chair Nominated for Tony Award

Marsha Ginsberg A’83, this year's Feltman Chair in Architecture, was nominated for a 2025 Tony Award for Best Scenic Design of a Play.

Professor Sidebotham Performs Farewell Concert

To mark his retirement from The Cooper Union, Professor George Sidebotham is giving a series of concerts, performing just a few of the many song he’s written over the years, including some inspired by his teaching career.

In Their Own Words: Agnieszka Gasparska A’99

A School of Art alumna shares her journey as an artist and graphic designer.

Hidden Brain Podcast Host Shankar Vedantam to Give The Cooper Union’s 165th Commencement Address

The ceremony will take place in Cooper’s historic Great Hall on Thursday, May 29, 2025 at 10:30 a.m.

Bridging the Gap: Women in Engineering

This month marks the 75th anniversary of the Society of Women Engineers, which held its inaugural meeting at Cooper's Green Camp and has maintained close ties to the school of engineering ever since.

Steel Bridge Team Excels at ASCE Competition

Cooper's Steel Bridge team placed first in numerous categories and third overall among a field of 15 schools participating in the 2025 regional competition.

Professors Luchtenburg and Yecko Awarded Fellowships at Ben-Gurion University’s Summer Research Retreat

Women in STEM: Sculptures and Biographies on Display for SWE’s 75th Anniversary

The short biographies in this booklet celebrate the lives and legacies of twenty prominent women in STEM. They accompany a set of busts sculpted by Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya and normally on display in the engineering section of The Cooper Union’s academic building at 41 Cooper Square. For the 75^th Anniversary celebration of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) on May 6^th, 2025, the busts were put on public display outside the Great Hall.

Solar Decathlon Team Earns Top Honor at 2025 Showcase

As part of the 2025 BuildingsNEXT Team Showcase, the Cooper team was recognized for their “Integrated Design” of an education building.

Earth Day Film Features Public Art by Cooper Faculty

In honor of Earth Day, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs debuted a new short film about adjunct instructor Carlos Irijalba's public art.

Cooper Union Names Next President

Steven W. McLaughlin, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been selected to serve as the 14th president of The Cooper Union, effective July 1, 2025.

Podcasts Recorded in the Great Hall

Kara Swisher talks with The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson and Preet Bharara interviews Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer in two recent episodes of their respective podcasts, both recorded live in the Great Hall.

Agrest and Gandelsonas: Fabric Object II Opens on April 10

The exhibition is on view in the Arthur A. Houghton Jr. Gallery from Thursday, April 10 through Friday, May 2

Engineering Students Win Award for Disabilities Invention

$1 Million Grant Takes Innovation to the Next Level

The IDC Foundation has awarded Cooper a $1 million grant establishing two new distinguished professorships and supporting continued innovation in architecture, engineering, and building construction.

The Cooper Union Joins NORDTECH as an Initial Member

The Cooper Union is excited to announce its participation as an initial member of the Northeast Regional Defense Technology Hub (NORDTECH). This collaboration positions the institution within a dynamic network of academia, government organizations, and industry partners, fostering innovation and workforce development in the semiconductor sector.

Angelica Baburova Presents Research at the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) Annual Meeting

Senior mechanical engineering student Angelica Baburova presented their abstract at the Orthopaedic Research Society (ORS) 2025 Annual Meeting in Phoenix, Arizona. The five-day meeting featured a diverse program of scientific sessions, interactive workshops, networking events, exhibits, and poster presentations. 

Abduhla Ali Co-Published in the APS Physical Review Journals

Senior electrical engineering student, Abduhla Ali, has co-published in the American Physical Society’s Physical Review Journals (Vol. 111, Iss.12 – 15 March, 2025).

Michael Young Receives Arts & Letters Architecture Award

In Memoriam: Ricardo Scofidio AR’55

In Memoriam: Anson Rabinbach

Coco Fusco Elected to American Academy of Arts & Letters

Coco Fusco, professor in the School of Art, has been elected a member of the American Academy of the Arts.

NEA Grant for Myths and Migrations

The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA) was selected to receive a National Endowment for Arts Grants for Arts Projects award in support of a new solo-exhibition of work by Professor William Villalongo A'99.

Introducing our Newest Staff Members

Civil Engineering Students Receive 2024 Moles Scholarship

Senior civil engineering students, Georgios Stathopoulos and Matviy Zhachek, were both awarded a scholarship from The Moles Charitable Fund, Inc. 

Center for Writing and Learning Debuts New Journal

The Cooper Union's Center for Writing & Learning debuts the first issue of its new eponymous, biannual journal, an online space for the community—faculty, staff, and students—to share and discuss the difficult and inspiring work of teaching and learning.

Professor Robert Q. Topper Receives Teaching Award from the New York American Chemical Society

The chemistry professor received the 2024 Outstanding Four-Year Undergraduate College and University Chemistry Faculty Teaching Award

Alumnus Awarded Prize for Immigrant Artists

Mexican-born artist Felipe Baeza, a 2009 graduate of The Cooper Union School of Art, has been awarded a 2025 Vilcek Foundation Prize for Creative Promise in Visual Arts.

Predicting Wildfires with Machine Learning

For his master's thesis in the school of engineering, Michael Bentivegna EE’23 developed a model designed to predict and map short-term wildfire risks in California.

Cooper Union Alumnus Brandon Bunt Named 2024 SJA Fellow

Brandon Bunt BSE’22 MEng’24 has been selected as a recipient of the 2024 Steve Jobs Archives (SJA) Fellowship, a program dedicated to supporting young creators working at the intersection of technology and the liberal arts.

Cooper Exhibition Celebrates Paul Gardère A’67

A new exhibition at The Cooper Union celebrates the life and work of the late Haitian, New York City-based artist and School of Art alumnus Paul Gardère.

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Student Life's Dynamic Fall Semester

New Research on How Ammonium Nitrate Forms Atmospheric Aerosols

A paper describing research led by Professor of Chemistry Robert Topper has been published online in the Journal of Physical Chemistry A. The first author of the paper is undergraduate chemical engineering student Ubaidullah Hassan ChE’25, and the work included a collaboration with chemical engineering alumnus Miguel Amat ChE’01.

Cooper Tau Beta Pi Chapter Holds Annual Induction Ceremony

The Cooper Union Tau Beta Pi (TBP) chapter held a memorable induction ceremony, welcoming the largest number of new inductees in the past five years.

George Kwiecinski Presents Research at BioMaP Consortium Fall 2024 Industry Day

In October, Cooper engineering students George Kwiecinski and Zephaniah Odidika attended the Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Preparedness (BioMaP) Consortium Fall 2024 Industry Day held in Bethesda, Maryland. The event was notable for showcasing innovative research and providing opportunities for collaboration across the drug and vaccine manufacturing supply chain.

Cooper Awarded $20,000 from NYSCA

Typographics and The Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture Archive were each awarded grants this year by the New York State Council on the Arts.

Assistant Professor Michelle Rosen Presents Innovative Soft Robotic Actuator Design at IROS'24

Last month, Michelle Rosen, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, presented research at the 2024 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS) in Abu Dhabi. The paper, “A Circular Soft Pneumatic Actuator with Bi-Directional Bending Behavior,” was co-authored with senior electrical engineering students, Isaiah Rivera and Ani Vardanyan, alumni Jeannette Circe ME’22 M.Eng’24 and Brandon Bunt BSE’22 M.Eng’24, and Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Lab Technician, Michael Giglia. 

Cooper Engineering Students Attend 13th Naval Academy Science and Engineering Conference

Four Cooper Union engineering students Allen Rakhamimov ChE’26, Sreevarshini Karthikeyan CE’25, Abduhla Ali EE’25, and Amelia Roopnarine ME’25, and assistant professor of civil engineering, Cynthia Lee, attended the 13th Annual Naval Academy Science and Engineering Conference (NASEC) held at the United States Naval Academy (USNA) in Annapolis, Maryland. 

Transformation in the Making

To mark five years of progress toward the Plan to Return to Full-Tuition Scholarships, we spoke with various community members who have contributed to Cooper's positive transformation.

Cooper Awarded Teagle Grant to Reimagine HSS Core

The Cooper Union receives a $25,000 grant to reimagine the HSS curriculum as part of the Teagle Foundation's Cornerstone initiative.

In Memoriam: Bruce Degen A'66

The Cooper community mourns the passing of Bruce Degen, a 1966 graduate of the School of Art and celebrated illustrator, painter, writer, and printmaker best known for the Magic School Bus series.

Chemical Engineering Students and Faculty Present at the 2024 AIChE Annual Meeting

Great Hall Ledgers Added to Digital Culture of Metro New York

Thanks to a METRO grant, digitized ledgers of the Great Hall from 1858 to 1956 have been made publicly accessible through the DCMNY online portal.

Alex Katz A’49 Awarded National Medal of Arts

The Cooper alumnus was honored during a White House ceremony with the highest award given to artists.

Honoring Professor Fred Fontaine's Elevation to IEEE Senior Member

Jesse Sherman Professor and Chair of Electrical Engineering, Fred Fontaine, has been elevated to the rank of IEEE Senior Member. This significant honor is held by only eight percent of the IEEE’s approximately 428,000 members worldwide.

Three Questions for the New VP for Enrollment

Troy Cogburn joins Cooper as the new vice president for enrollment, overseeing admissions, financial aid, international student management, and the registrar’s office.

Collaboration Takes Root

With funding from the Cooper Union Grant Program, students behind the CU Garden Project have revitalized a rooftop garden as a community space for research and collaboration.

2024 Summer Study Abroad

Each summer, the Albert Nerken School of Engineering offers a 6–8-week study abroad experience to students in their second or third year at Cooper. This summer, eleven students joined programs in Germany, Guatemala, Iceland, Singapore, and Spain.

Students Participate in Major Engineering Conferences

This summer, students from the Albert Nerken School of Engineering had the opportunity to attend the ASTM Exo Games, the 2024 Bridges Conference, and FSAE Michigan.

In Memoriam: Professor Constantine Yapijakis

The Cooper community mourns the passing of Constantine Yapijakis, a beloved professor of environmental engineering in the Civil Engineering Department who taught at the institution since 1986.

Meet the Deans: Adriana Farmiga and Yuri Masnyj

Faculty Collaboration Explores Algorithms in Creative Practice

A new article by professors Benjamin Aranda and Sam Keene presents a teaching model for exploring creative practice through generative algorithms.

Brooklyn Museum Features Cooper Alumni

Robert Topper and Andrew Kim Receive Grant for Next-Gen Battery Research

Andrew Kim, a dual-degree chemical engineering student, and Professor Robert Topper crafted and submitted a proposal to the ACCESS program, successfully securing an initial allocation known as an "Explore Project."

New Appointments in the School of Architecture

Cooper Union Team Takes Second Place at Pfizer’s First Digital Hackathon

Engineering students Lizelle Ocfemia EE’25, Lei Chi EE’25, Aaryan Mahipal ME’25, Lamiah Khan EE’26 and Jaehyeon Park ME’26 earned second place at Pfizer’s inaugural Digital Hackathon, competing against teams from Yale, Cornell, and Princeton.

Programmed for Cooper

The Albert Nerken School of Engineering launches a new computer science degree program custom-tailored to The Cooper Union learning experience.

Coco Fusco Video Debuts in Union Square

Coco Fusco's Everyone Who Lives Here is a New Yorker, a video that engages public perception of migrants in New York City, will be featured on select LinkNYC screens leading up to this year's presidential election.

Meet Emily Palmer, Visiting Professor, Physics

Joining the Albert Nerken School of Engineering this fall is Emily Palmer, a visiting professor in the Department of Physics.

Cooper Makes Tuition Free for All Seniors

All seniors to be tuition free through the 2027-28 academic year, accelerating Cooper's Plan to Restore Full-Tuition Scholarships.
 

The Architecture Summer Program: An Update

Incoming 2024

Get to know a few of this year's newest Cooper students.

Prof. Sam Keene to Lead New Computer Science Department

Professor Keene will serve as the first chair of Cooper's new computer science program. We asked him to weigh in on his plans for the department. 

Writing Associate Liza St. James Receives NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship

She is one of 15 recipients for fiction

Cooper–Wegmans Collab to Fight Hunger

The supermarket chain Wegmans is teaming up with the School of Art to help combat food insecurity in the Cooper community.

Meet Abhishek Sharma, Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering

Assistant Professor Ja-Beom Koo Presents Research at NORDTECH

Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering, Ja-beom Koo, recently participated in the NORDTECH Workforce Development Summit held in Troy, NY. At the summit, he presented his research titled “Developing Microelectronics and VLSI Field Education for the Potential Workforce,” which was published in the 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. 

Yuri Masnyj Named Asst Dean of School of Art