Welcome to Fall Semester of 2025 at The Cooper Union. Thank you for joining me virtually on Shoop’s Stoop as I share some of the activities and accomplishments in the Albert Nerken School of Engineering since the last newsletter and foreshadow some that will come this academic year. On the first day of classes at our Convocation ceremony on Tuesday, September 2, in a packed Great Hall, we heard from President Steve McLaughlin, a panel of faculty from across Cooper Union, and from students. It was truly an electrifying moment and start to the academic year!

I'll begin with the really big news: on Thursday, August 28, we received our 2025 ABET Final Program Accreditation Actions and Statement of Accreditation. All four of our engineering programs are reaccredited! All concerns were resolved, and the School of Engineering was commended for its strong support of undergraduate research.

During Welcome Week, I had the opportunity to engage with our incoming class. The first-year class is an 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. Like our returning students, they have a voracious appetite for learning and are anxious to engage with our community. We had 129 entering engineering first-year students join our ranks with 25 ChE, 29 CE, 25 EE, 32 ME, and 18 CS. Women comprise 38% of this class, 22% self-identify as the first in their family to attend college, and 9% are international. Additionally, even though our admissions process is test-optional, over 88% submitted SAT scores with an average SAT score of nearly 1500/1600 and average Math SAT score of nearly 770/800.

Over the summer, we had six full-time faculty members from our ABET departments assess the interdisciplinary capstone design experience to see if it is meeting the original goals and make recommendations for improvement. In July, we had two full-time faculty members, Professor of Physics Emily Palmer and Professor of Chemical Engineering Abhishek Sharma, attend the three-day Project Catalyst: How to Engineer Engineering Education workshop at Bucknell University.

At the start of Fall Semester, we welcomed a total of five new full-time faculty to our ranks. Please forgive me for repeating some of these details from the June newsletter but the new faculty have truly transformed the School of Engineering. In electrical engineering, we welcome Dr. Stella Banou, who received a Ph.D. from Northeastern University and was most recently a postdoctoral fellow at NYU. Her research areas include novel wireless communications for remote health monitoring and diagnosis. In chemistry, we welcome Dr. Tommy George who most recently completed a Ph.D. from Harvard University and whose research areas include electrochemistry, electroanalytical experimental methods, and decarbonization toward climate sustainability. In civil engineering, we welcome Dr. David Kim who received a Ph.D. from Yale University and was most recently a postdoctoral fellow at MIT. His research areas are in electrochemical methods for water and wastewater treatment. In mechanical engineering, we welcome Dr. Martin Lawless ME’13 who received a Ph.D. from Penn State University and was most recently an assistant professor at SUNY Maritime. His research areas are in acoustics, psychoacoustics, and architectural acoustics. And finally in physics, we welcome Dr. Emily Palmer, who received a Ph.D. from Caltech, and she served as a postdoctoral fellow at Cornell University. Her research areas include insect flight, fluid dynamics governing wind and ocean energy, the biomechanics underlying human walking, and the electrochemistry of neuronal communication. For those keeping track, since arriving at Cooper, I have hired 16 new tenure-track faculty in the School of Engineering. With the new Computer Science Program, this number is quickly approaching 50% of the tenured and tenure-track faculty. In 2013, the composition of the tenured and tenure-track faculty in the School of Engineering was 6.3% women, and in Fall 2025 it remains 42% women! This academic year we will be hiring four new full-time faculty members – two in electrical engineering and two in computer science.

Another addition to the Dean’s staff is Subalekha Udayasankar, who joins us as the new Director of Student Success. She has a Master of Science degree in computer science and a Master of Fine Arts in design and technology from the Parsons School of Design. She will oversee the Academic Resource Center (ARC) for tutoring, the Cooper’s Help for Engineering Student Success (CHESS) summer bridge program, and support for the First Year Seminar Series. She will assess student progress and success that includes the data gathering and analysis to track retention, persistence, graduation rate and overall success of the program and provide a data-driven methodology to adjust individual elements and initiatives to improve student success. In addition to student success elements that support disciplinary expertise, she will also facilitate initiatives that develop student study techniques, test-taking strategies, critical thinking, and time management skills necessary to succeed in the rigorous Cooper curriculum.

Another staff update: because of his amazing work proactively driving down purchasing costs, identifying alternative vendors, and enhancing supply chain suppliers, we have promoted Donald Etheridge to finance analyst and senior purchasing associate.

The beginning of the academic year also brings several new appointments: Amanda Simson, associate professor of chemical engineering, was appointed the C.V. Starr Distinguished Professor of Engineering. This named professorship goes to mid-career, tenured, associate, or full professor faculty members with documented research accomplishments including peer-reviewed journals, conference papers, and presentations as well as evidence of scholarly collaboration with other institutions and/or corporations. The distinction lasts for two years and comes with a $20,000 annual stipend for research activities such as travel, research assistants, equipment, and supplies. Jennifer Wieser, associate professor of chemical engineering, was appointed Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering. This named professorship goes to mid-career, tenured, associate, or full professor faculty members with documented research accomplishments including peer-reviewed journal, conference papers, and presentations as well as evidence of scholarly collaboration with other institutions and/or corporations. The distinction lasts for three years and comes with a $20,000 annual stipend for research activities such as travel, research assistants, equipment, and supplies. Finally, Melody Baglione was appointed the inaugural IDC Foundation Distinguished Professor. This named professorship goes to mid-career, tenured, associate, or full professor faculty members with documented research accomplishments in the interdisciplinary building, design, and construction field, as well as evidence of collaborations with other institutions and/or corporations. The distinction lasts for three years and comes with a $20,000 annual stipend for research activities such as travel, research assistants, equipment, and supplies.

In the area of foreshadowing, I want to share that this will be my last year as the dean of the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. At the end of this year, I will have served as Dean of Engineering for seven-and-a-half years. A Dean of Engineering Faculty Search Committee has been formed, which is being led by Professor Melody Baglione. I wanted to share this information with this community, as I have already shared it with the faculty and students here at Cooper and the advertisement and other search activities will begin in earnest in the fall semester. For this last year, you should not expect any change in my commitment to either Cooper Union or the Albert Nerken School of Engineering. I will continue to drive educational innovation, leading-edge pedagogies, experimentation in the curriculum, and foster a positive culture for students and faculty. In the words of Bruno Mars from Uptown Funk– “Don’t believe me, just watch!”

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