2009-2010 Bulletin – PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University

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around the world, in particular from the
developing world, where the need for
modern management of wastes is most
acute. The Earth Engineering Center, in
collaboration with the Department of
Earth and Environmental Engineering, has
already been engaged in this role, and
some of our alumni are working in various
parts of the waste management industry.
There have been more than twenty theses
written on various aspects of waste
management, including in-depth studies
of implementing advanced processes
and methodologies in Chile, China,
Greece, and India. For more information:
www.surcenter.org
Earth Engineering Center. The mission
of the Earth Engineering Center is to
develop and promote engineering methodologies
that provide essential material to
humanity in ways that maintain the overall
balance between the constantly increasing
demand for materials, the finite
resources of the Earth, and the need for
clean water, soil, and air. The Center is
dedicated to the advancement of industrial
ecology, i.e., the reconfiguring of
industrial activities and products with full
knowledge of the environmental consequences.
Research is being conducted
on a variety of geoenvironmental issues
with the intent to quantify, assess, and
ultimately manage adverse human effects
on the environment. Research areas include
management of water and energy resources,
hydrology and hydrogeology, numerical
modeling of estuarine flow and transport
processes, and integrated waste
management. For more information:
www.columbia.edu/cu/earth
Environmental Tracer Group. The
Environmental Tracer Group uses natural
and anthropogenic (frequently transient)
tracers, as well as deliberately released
tracers, to investigate the physics and
chemistry of transport in environmental
systems. The tracers include natural or
anthropogenically produced isotopes
(e.g., tritium or radioactive hydrogen,
helium and oxygen isotopes, or radiocarbon),
as well as noble gases and chemical
compounds (e.g., CFCs and SF6).
The ETG analytical facilities include four
mass spectrometric systems that can be
used in the analysis of tritium and noble
gases in water, sediments, and rocks.
In addition to the mass spectrometric
systems, there are several gas chromatographic
systems equipped with electron
capture detectors that are used for
measurements of SF6 in continental
waters and CFCs and SF6 in the atmosphere.
GC/MS capability is being added
to the spectrum of analytical capabilities.
For more information: www.ldeo.columbia.
edu/~noblegas
Industry/University Cooperative
Research Center for Advanced
Studies in Novel Surfactants (IUCS).
IUCS was established in 1998 by the
Henry Krumb School of Mines,
Department of Chemical Engineering,
and Department of Chemistry at
Columbia University. The Center encompasses
detailed structure-property
assessment of several classes of surface-active
molecules, including
oligomeric, polymeric, and bio-molecules.
The aim of IUCS is to develop
and characterize novel surfactants for
industrial applications such as coatings,
dispersions, deposition, gas hydrate
control, personal care products, soil
decontamination, waste treatment, corrosion
prevention, flotation, and controlled
chemical reactions. The proposed
research thus focuses on the design and
development of specialty surfactants,
characterization of their solution and
interfacial behavior, and identification of
suitable industrial applications for these
materials.
The goals of IUCS are to perform
industrially relevant research to address
the technological needs in commercial
surfactant and polymer systems; develop
new and more efficient surface-active
reagents for specific applications in the
industry and methodologies for optimizing
their performance; promote the use
of environmentally benign surfactants in
a wide array of technological processes;
and build a resource center to perform
and provide state-of-the-art facilities for
characterization of surface-active
reagents. For more information:
www.columbia.edu/cu/iucrc
International Research Institute for
Climate Prediction (IRI). The IRI is the
world’s leading institute for the development
and application of seasonal to
interannual climate forecasts. The mission
of the IRI is to enhance society’s
capability to understand, anticipate, and
manage the impacts of seasonal climate
fluctuations, in order to improve human
welfare and the environment, especially
in developing countries. This mission is
to be conducted through strategic and
applied research, education and capacity
building, and provision of forecast and
information products, with an emphasis
on practical and verifiable utility and
partnerships. For more information:
iri.columbia.edu
Langmuir Center for Colloids and
Interfaces (LCCI). This Center brings
together experts from mineral engineering,
applied chemistry, chemical engineering,
biological sciences, and chemistry to
probe complex interactions of colloids
and interfaces with surfactants and
macromolecules. LCCI activities involve
significant interaction with industrial
sponsors and adopt an interdisciplinary
approach toward state-of-the-art research
on interfacial phenomena. Major areas of
research at LCCI are thin films, surfactant
and polymer adsorption, environmental
problems, enhanced oil recovery,
computer tomography, corrosion and
catalysis mechanisms, membrane technology,
novel separations of minerals,
biocolloids, microbial surfaces, and
interfacial spectroscopy.
Lenfest Center for Sustainable
Energy. The mission of the Lenfest
Center for Sustainable Energy is to
develop technologies and institutions to
ensure a sufficient supply of environmentally
sustainable energy for all
humanity. To meet this goal, the Center
supports research programs in energy
science, engineering, and policy across
Columbia University to develop technical
and policy solutions that will satisfy the
world’s future energy needs without
threatening to destabilize the Earth’s
natural systems.
The mission of the Lenfest Center is
shaped by two global challenges. First,
the Center seeks to reduce the emission
of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
and to forestall a disruption of global climate
systems that would impose negative
consequences for human welfare.
Second, the Center seeks to create
energy options that will meet the legitimate
energy demands of a larger and
increasingly wealthy world population. In
order to meet these two challenges, the
SEAS 2009–2010