As we end the fall semester and anticipate a much-needed winter break, I wanted to share a few of the activities in the Albert Nerken School of Engineering since our last newsletter in October.

We continue to innovate and improve our curriculum and enhance our students’ experience. On October 22, the Engineering Curriculum Committee met to consider several curricular changes including the addition of several courses. The Department of Physics proposed the addition of a new elective course — Ph342 Quantum Entanglement: Theory and Application. The Department of Chemistry proposed the addition of a new elective course — Ch435 Organometallic Chemistry. The Department of Electrical Engineering proposed the addition of a new elective course — ECE458 Quantum Computing. And the Department of Chemical Engineering proposed the addition of two new elective courses — ChE432 Phase Transitions: Simulations and Applications, and ChE444 Computational Modeling of Materials and Molecules. The addition of these elective courses provides our students with the opportunity to engage in important emerging areas and to deepen their understanding of important concepts.

On September 24, 2024, we published a request for proposals (RFP) for the 2024 Dean’s Innovation Grants. A total of 26 Innovation Grant proposals were received from faculty, students, staff, and combinations of these groups. While all of the proposals were creative and supported the strategic plan, new interdisciplinary courses, or student success, the ones that received funding had broad and lasting impact — many across multiple departments and schools — and included combinations of faculty, staff, and students. Nine of these projects were funded through the Dean’s Innovation Grant, for a total of $30,000. There were an additional five proposals that were requests for equipment purchases or faculty professional development totaling over $12k. Overall, 14 of the 26 projects were funded for a total of over $42k. Among the funded proposals was one that will integrate augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) enhanced learning into a civil engineering materials course, another that will transform a traditional classroom into a reconfigurable classroom to improve teaching pedagogy, and yet another that will create a new civil engineering elective course focused on data analytics for mitigating disaster risk in New York City. Another proposal that received funding was one that will create a series of workshops across architecture, art, and engineering on creative coding where the goal is to create something expressive rather than purely functional. We are excited to see all of these funded proposals come to fruition. The Dean’s Innovation Grant Program has enlisted the creativity and innovation of our faculty, students, and staff, resulting in substantive and lasting contributions to our curriculum and the foundational principles and goals that are guiding our organization.

Since our last newsletter, the Cooper Union received a three-year grant from the IDC Foundation for nearly $1M over three years. This grant will support activities at the intersection of engineering and architecture focused on the built environment. Among other things, this grant will support two new IDC Foundation Distinguished Professors, one in the School of Engineering and one in the School of Architecture. These Distinguished Professors will elevate and inspire exceptional faculty leaders to advance the building and construction fields.

Thank you again for sharing your valuable time with me on Shoop’s Stoop! You should know that these are just a few of the highlights – the tips of the waves – of activities in a vibrant educational ecosystem. There are many more great things happening in the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. I look forward to sharing additional updates in future editions of Shoop’s Stoop!

As we come to the close of 2024, I would like to remind you of the United for Cooper campaign to raise $1.1 million by December 31 which is fueled by three generous donors where every dollar will be matched. Please consider a matched gift today!

On behalf of the entire faculty and staff of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering, we wish you a joyous holiday season and a peaceful and prosperous New Year!

Barry L. Shoop, Ph.D., P.E.  |  Dean of Engineering  |  Albert Nerken School of Engineering 

It’s that time again when I usher you back to New York City and the East Village for a chat about the Albert Nerken School of Engineering on Shoop’s Stoop! The start of a new academic year marks a renewal, a continuation of a journey of learning, exploration and growth. On the first day of Fall Semester, at our Convocation in a packed Great Hall, outgoing President Laura Sparks surprised the community with the news that, for the next four years, all graduating seniors will be tuition free! It was truly an electrifying moment and start to the academic year!

The first-year class is yet another amazing group of talented individuals who will bring diverse lived experiences, contribute to the richness of our learning environment, and add to the vibrancy of our community. We had 112 entering engineering first-year students join our ranks with 18 ChE, 29 CE, 30 EE, 24 ME, and 11 BSE. Women comprise 44% of this class, 10% identify as underrepresented minorities, 21% self-identify as the first in their family to attend college and 10% are international.  Additionally, even though our admissions process is test-optional, over 80% submitted SAT scores, with an average SAT score of nearly 1500/1600 and average Math SAT score of 770/800. Qualitatively, the class includes individuals who have already conducted research in a diverse range of fields, from developing cancer-fighting nanoparticles to investigating the effects of sleep deprivation on therapy and replicating the energy efficiency of penguins in robotic designs. Among them are also accomplished artists in piano, ballet, ceramics, jazz, sculpture, and painting.

From September 29 through October 1, we hosted an onsite visit of a five-member ABET Team to complete our reaccreditation process. The team toured our lab facilities, spoke with the administration, faculty, students, alumni, and members of our Engineering Advisory Council (EAC), and reviewed student work. Although the visit ended on October 1, ABET has a lengthy review process, culminating in their annual meeting in mid-July. We are confident that we will receive notification of reaccreditation in August 2025. It has been over a year-and-a-half of heavy work, and I want to publicly acknowledge the team effort that made this reaccreditation a success. Associate Dean Lisa Shay led the effort and applied her expertise of the ABET reaccreditation process from years of being an ABET Program Evaluator (PEV). Our ABET Department Chairs deserve special recognition for leading the development of their individual self-studies and answering individual PEV questions – Ben Davis for ChE, Cosmas Tzavelis for CE, Fred Fontaine for EE, and Melody Baglione for ME.  

The ABET Team was impressed by how strongly the Albert Nerken School of Engineering supports undergraduate research. It is well known that undergraduate research is a high-impact practice that has been demonstrated to benefit student learning, persistence, and career preparation. As part of my overview presentation to the ABET Team, we collected some data that identified our commitment to undergraduate research and academic excellence. The average number of students taking a research independent study course averages 60/semester – this is 12% of the engineering student body! Additionally, in 2019 when I arrived at Cooper Union, the amount of funding allocated to student travel to conferences was less than $5,000. In 2024, that number rose to nearly $50,000!  

At the start of Fall Semester, we welcomed Abhishek Sharma to the Albert Nerken School of Engineering and the Department of Chemical Engineering. Abhishek received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2021 and since that time has been a postdoctoral scholar at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. His areas of academic interest include thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, molecular simulations, chemical kinetics, and statistical mechanics-derived molecular simulation of phase transitions.  Over the past four-years, I have now hired 11 new tenure-track faculty, nearly one-third of the tenured and tenure-track faculty in the School of Engineering. In 2013, the composition of the tenured and tenure-track faculty in the School of Engineering was 6.3% women and in Fall 2024 it is 42% women! This academic year we will be hiring five new full-time faculty members – two in electrical engineering, one in civil engineering, and two in computer science.

Finally, I encourage you to take some time to read the articles included in this newsletter. You will find inspiring articles highlighting the accomplishments of students, faculty and staff, and a sampling of the vibrancy of all that is going on in the School of Engineering.

Thank you for sharing a seat and some time with me on Shoop’s Stoop! It continues to be an exciting time to be part of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. I look forward to sharing additional updates in future editions.

Barry L. Shoop, Ph.D., P.E.  |  Dean of Engineering  |  Albert Nerken School of Engineering 

Welcome back to the East Village, 41 Cooper Square, and Shoop’s Stoop! We successfully completed yet another academic year and I want to share just a few of the exciting things that happened in the Albert Nerken School of Engineering since my last update.

Late in the semester, we learned the sad news of the passing of Lincoln Williams, a class of 2027 mechanical engineering student. On May 2, we held a very touching celebration of his life on the Alumni Terrace with his family, faculty, staff, classmates, and friends. To commemorate and honor his life, his friends and family are establishing a fund in his name. If you would like to contribute, please do so via this link: https://cooper.edu/giving/lincoln-williams-memorial-fund and designate the gift in memory of Lincoln. His parents, Susan Scandrett and Michael Williams, will be notified of your contribution. If you have any questions, you can reach out directly to Terri Coopersmith/VP of Development at Cooper Union at 212-353-4136.

The Cooper Union’s 164th Commencement on May 22, 2024, was a wonderful celebration of our amazing graduates. This year we had a total of 122 undergraduate students and 26 graduate students graduate from the School of Engineering. For our undergraduates, this included 17 Chemical Engineers, 27 Civil Engineers, 32 Electrical Engineers, 21 Mechanical Engineers, and 5 General Engineers. In addition to the undergraduate degrees, members of this graduating class were awarded 60 minors: 7 Mathematics Minors, 32 Computer Science Minors, 9 Bioengineering Minors, 5 Chemistry Minors, and 5 HSS Minors.

Our fall 2024 incoming first-year class is again very strong. We admitted 114 students into the Class of 2027. There will be 22 students majoring in Chemical Engineering, 28 in Civil, 29 in Electrical, 30 in Mechanical, and 5 in General Engineering. Women comprise 44% of this class. Additionally, 10% of this class identify as underrepresented minorities, 21% self-identified as the first in their family to attend college and 9% of the class is international. This year we have 43 entering Master of Engineering students. 81% of these admitted students submitted standardized test scores with an average SAT score of 1478 and an average Math SAT score of 765.  By all measures, this is yet another very strong entering class!

This fall, we will add a new tenure-track faculty to our Chemical Engineering Department ranks. Abhishek Sharma received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2021 and since then has been a postdoctoral scholar at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. His areas of academic interest include thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, molecular simulations, chemical kinetics, and statistical mechanics-derived molecular simulation of phase transitions. Over the past four years, I have hired 11 new tenure-track faculty, nearly one-third of the tenured and tenure-track faculty in the School of Engineering. In 2013, the composition of the tenured and tenure-track faculty in the School of Engineering was 6.3% women and in Fall 2024 it will be 42% women!

As you will recall, this academic year is our ABET Record Year. We submitted our request for evaluation to ABET on January 31, 2024, and that initiated our reaccreditation. We are currently in the final stages of completing one Self-Study Report for each of the four ABET accredited programs – think of each being a 300-400-page report – needless to say, a tremendous amount of work! These self-studies will be submitted to ABET by July 1, 2024. The reaccreditation evaluation will be a comprehensive general review with an on-site visit of four Program Evaluators (PEVs) and a Team Chair that will occur on September 29 – October 1, 2024. By all measures, we are in good shape for this reaccreditation.

Our students and faculty continue to do amazing things. I encourage you to read about their accomplishments in this newsletter's articles!

Thank you again for sharing your valuable time with me on Shoop’s Stoop! It continues to be an exciting time to be part of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. I look forward to sharing additional updates in future editions of Shoop’s Stoop! From all of us at Cooper, enjoy your summer! 

Barry L. Shoop, Ph.D., P.E.  |  Dean of Engineering  |  Albert Nerken School of Engineering

Greetings from the East Village and welcome to the latest Shoop’s Stoop!

Our students and faculty continue to do amazing things! I encourage you to take the time to read all the articles in this newsletter. They include student activities and successes, faculty contributions and accomplishments, curricular initiatives, and alumni activities.

At the beginning of this academic year, we advertised for a tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Chemical Engineering. I am pleased to announce that we have successfully hired Abhishek Sharma to fill this position. Abhishek received his Ph.D. from Cornell University in 2021, and since that time, has been a postdoctoral scholar at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. His areas of academic interest include thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, molecular simulations, chemical kinetics, and statistical mechanics-derived molecular simulation of phase transitions. We very much look forward to having Abhishek join us in August!

Earlier this year, Nori Perez, the Dean’s Office Manager, and Elizabeth Waters, our Director of STEM Outreach, were both offered amazing opportunities elsewhere that allowed them to further their professional careers. So, in a relatively short time we were able to hire replacements that allowed continuity of operations. On April 1, Lizbeth (Liz) Soto joined our team as the new Dean’s Office Manager. Liz was previously the Administrative Coordinator at Columbia University Medical Center and most recently the Senior Administrative Manager at Weill Cornell Medicine. On March 18, Yvonne Thevenot joined our team as the new Director of STEM Outreach. She is a Ph.D. candidate in Mathematics, Science, & Technology, at the Teachers College at Columbia University and is the Founder of STEM Kids NYC. She focuses on curriculum and instruction design with culturally responsive pedagogy and approaches. We welcome these two amazing individuals and look forward in anticipation to the great things they will do for Cooper!

Our faculty continue to do amazing things. Professor Jennifer Weiser, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, received a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program award in biomedical sciences from the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. She will join the faculty of Graz Technical University (TU Graz) in Austria. She will be a Visiting Professor in the Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Biobased Systems (IBioSys) during the spring semester of Academic Year 2025.

Our students also continue to do amazing things. Ubaidullah Hassan ChE'25 was named a Goldwater Scholar. Hassan is working with Professor Robert Topper in the Department of Chemistry on research that applies computational chemistry methods to the area of atmospheric chemistry. Our Solar Decathlon Team secured a place as a finalist under the Multifamily Building Division. Among twenty teams competing in the multifamily division, only ten advanced to compete in the finals that will be held at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden, CO. We also had seven other students receive scholarships from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE), and the American Society for Civil Engineers (ASCE) Metropolitan Section. I encourage you to read about these amazing student achievements in this newsletter.

Our Summer Study Abroad Program continues to thrive. This summer we will send 11 engineering students abroad. This includes Technische Universitat Dresden and Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, both in Germany, Reykjavik University in Iceland, the National University of Singapore, Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid in Spain, the Barbara Ford Peace Building Center in Guatemala, Universidad de Burgos in Spain, and Bar-Ilan University in Israel.  

Finally, on March 29, we notified next year’s first-year applicants of our admissions decisions. This year’s applications were very strong. Including early decision, regular decision, and deferrals, we have admitted a total of 254 students to the School of Engineering. Even though we continue to be test optional, 84% of the admitted class submitted standardized test scores, and the average SAT score for Math is 770 and 730 Verbal. 76% of this admitted class will graduate with Calculus B/C, multivariate calculus, or linear algebra and 74% will graduate with AP Physics. Of this year’s admitted students, the total number of women was 40% and the percentage of first-generation is 15%. By all accounts, this admitted student class is very strong!

Thank you again for sharing your valuable time with me on Shoop’s Stoop! It continues to be an exciting time to be part of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. I look forward to sharing additional updates in future editions.

Barry L. Shoop, Ph.D., P.E.  |  Dean of Engineering  |  Albert Nerken School of Engineering