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