The department is home to such diverse research activities as biomechanics, mechanics of materials, fluid mechanics, heat transfer, control and robotics, manufacturing, energy systems, MEMS, and nanotechnology. Our faculty members have distinguished themselves internationally through a wide-ranging array of groundbreaking research areas and activities, including: robotics, smart machines, nanomaterials, morphogenesis and tissue development, and sustainable systems.

Our vision—Columbia Engineering for Humanity—sets a bold path for a sustainable, healthy, secure, connected, and creative humanity. It is exemplified by the pioneering work our faculty and students are doing across departments and disciplines, in partnership with sister schools, institutes, government, and industry. We have never been more optimistic about the role engineering can play in the service of society and in bringing those advances to the many challenges facing our world. See the impact Columbia Engineering is having today. Soundtrack by $3.33

In the first year, Columbia Engineering students take The Art of Engineering, a hands-on design course that introduces scientific concepts re-framed in engineering terms and introduces them to five major areas of technical inquiry: engineering, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and computer science. In this course, students see how their high school science and math knowledge can be applied in an engineering context to solve real world problems through classroom presentations and participation in an in-depth, hands-on project. Along the way, guest lecturers discuss social implications of technology, entrepreneurship, project management, and other important nontechnical issues affecting the practicing engineer.

Karen Kasza, Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, won the prestigeous NSF Early Career award for her proposal on “Biophysical Mechanisms Underlying the Generation of Tissue Structure and Mechanics during Drosophila Development.” Kasza, who joined the School in 2016, uses approaches from engineering, biology, and physics to understand and control how cells self-organize into functional tissues with precise mechanical and structural properties. She is particularly focused on discovering fundamental physical and biological mechanisms that underlie tissue morphogenesis—how shape and form are generated in biological materials. Because many genes and cell behaviors are shared by fruit flies and humans, she is using Drosophila (the fruit fly) as the model organism in these studies.