Columbia University Courses

Biomedical Engineering

The Master of Science program in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) provides world-class education with opportunities for innovation and research. The department also has a partnership with the Columbia University Medical Center for interdisciplinary collaborations.Apart from Masters, the department also offers undergraduate and Ph.D. programs.

Applications for admissions are taken online. Applicants need to submit official transcript copies from every post-secondary institution attended, three recommendation letters, the GRE General Test Scores, Language test score, a Personal Statement, and the resumé or Curriculum Vitae. Please note that an interview may be requested.

Areas of Expertise: Biomechanics; Biosignals and Biomedical Imaging; Cell and Tissue Engineering

Chemical

The Chemical Engineering Master of Science (MS) program offered by the Chemical Engineering department ensures that the students study the newest and most important chemical engineering topics in depth. The department offers MS with a Concentration in Biotechnology and Biopharmaceuticals. Applicants must have B-average or better in a science or engineering undergraduate curriculum.

All MS applicants are expected to have completed General Chemistry I and II, Calculus I, Calculus II, Calculus III (multivariable calculus), and an Ordinary Differential Equations Course. Applicants who have undergraduate degrees in chemistry, polymer science, physics, materials science, or any engineering discipline can also apply, but they should keep the minimum 16 years clause of US universities in mind.

This program connects students with developments in biotechnology and biopharmaceuticals with a focus on engineering applications and approaches. In addition, it also offers an MS with a Concentration in Electrochemical Energy. The concentration provides students with an understanding of the fundamentals and technologies associated with batteries and fuel cells. In addition to the Master programs, the department also offers BS and PhD programs.

Areas of Expertise:

• Biophysics and Soft Matter Physics
• Polymers and Soft Materials
• Bioinductive and Biomimetic Materials
• Chemical Engineering
• Genomic Engineering
• Interfacial Engineering and Electrochemistry

List of labs: Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Advanced Studies in Novel Surfactants

Civil and Engineering Mechanics

The Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics offers BS, Master of Science (MS) in Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics, EngScD (Doctor of Engineering Science), and PhD program. 

The MS program includes concentrations in:

• construction engineering and management
• engineering mechanics
• environmental engineering and water resources
• forensic (structural) engineering
• geotechnical engineering, 
• structural engineering, or combinations of these areas.

An MS applicant without any undergraduate course in Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics will need to take certain undergraduate courses before proceeding to graduate studies.

Applications are accepted online. Applicants need to submit official transcript copies from every post-secondary institution attended, three recommendation letters, language test scores, the GRE General Test Scores, a Personal statement and the resumé or Curriculum Vitae. Please note that an interview may be requested.

Areas  of Expertise:

• Environmental Engineering and Water Resources
• Civil Engineering
• Construction Engineering and Management
• Engineering Mechanics
• Geotechnical Engineering

Computer Science

The program is intended for students looking forward to deepening their understanding of computer science.

The department currently offers concentration tracks covering eight disciplines -

• Computational Biology
• Computer Security
• Foundations of Computer Science
• Machine Learning
• Natural Language Processing
• Network Systems
• Software Systems
• Vision
• Graphics
• Interaction
• Robotics
• MS Personalized
• MS Thesis.

The department offers the following undergraduate courses -

• BS in Computer Science
• Computer Engineering
• BA in Computer Science
• BA in Computer Science and Mathematics
• BA in Data Science 
• BA in Information Science.

The Master programs offered are MS in Computer Science, MS in Computer Engineering, Dual MS in Journalism and Computer Science. The department also offers Ph.D. and EngScd (Doctor of Engineering Science) programs for different fields.

Applications are taken online. Applicants need to submit official transcript copies from every post-secondary institution attended, Three recommendation letters, Language test scores, the GRE General Test Scores, a Personal Statement, and the resumé or Curriculum Vitae. Please note that an interview may be requested.

Areas of Expertise:

• Software Testing
• Wireless Networks and Network Security
• Security
• Embedded & Reconfigurable Systems
• Graphics; Networking & Distributed Systems
• Digital Image Processing & Computer Vision
• Software Process
• High Performance Computing
• Digital Integrated Circuit Design
• Artificial Intelligence & Security
• Computer Architecture
• Software Engineering Pedagogy
• Pervasive and Mobile Computing
• Vision/Pattern Recognition
• Signal Processing & Control
• Empirical Software Engineering
• Software Design
• User-centered Software Design
• Theory
• Data Management/Data Mining
• Programming Languages & Tools
• Secure Software

List of labs: Data Science Institute

Electrical

The Electrical Engineering program allows students to pursue the discipline in depth. Students can study topics like physical devices, circuits and systems, communications and networking, signal, information and data processing, computer engineering, smart electric energy, and systems biology or neuroengineering. The programs offered are Bachelor of Science, integrated BS/MS program, MS Electrical Engineering honors, MS and Ph.D.

The concentrations for MS will be from amongst:

• Data-Driven Analysis and Computation
• Networking
• Wireless and Mobile Communications
• Integrated Circuits and Systems
• Smart Electric Energy
• Systems Biology and Neuroengineering
• Lightwave (Photonics) Engineering
• Microelectronic Devices.

Applicants need to submit official transcript copies from every post-secondary institution attended three recommendation letters, the GRE General Test Scores, a Personal Statement, and the resumé or Curriculum Vitae. Please note that an interview may be requested.

Areas of Expertise:

• Power Systems
• Control Systems and Robotics
• Signal & Image Processing
• Microelectromechanical Sensors & Systems
• Digital Systems
• Integrated Circuit Fabrication
• Communications
• Subquarter-micron Lithography
• Integrated Electronics
• Biomedical Systems

Earth and Environmental Engineering

The department offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Earth and Environmental Engineering (B.S.-EEE); a 3-2 Combined Plan B.A./B.S; a 4-2 program bachelor's degree at an affiliated liberal arts college; a two-year engineering program leading to a master's degree; an MS in Earth Resources Engineering (MS-ERE) with concentrations in Water Resources and Climate Risks, Sustainable Energy, ​Sustainable Waste Management; and PhD/Eng.Sc.D.

Industrial Engineering

The Department of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research offers Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering; Operations Research; Operations Research: Analytics; Operations Research: Engineering Management Systems; Operations Research: Financial Engineering.
MS programs are offered in five core disciplines: MS in 

1. Financial Engineering: It is a multidisciplinary field involving financial theory, engineering methods, mathematical tools, and programming. It involves full-time training in the application of engineering methodologies and quantitative methods in finance.

2. Business Analytics: Columbia Engineering and Columbia Business Schools offer a full-time Master of Science in Business Analytics degree with a three-semester curriculum including modeling techniques and data science tools which help businesses to use data and make better decisions. A key element is a capstone project that provides an intense consulting engagement with clients and their real-world business problems using real data sets.

3. Operations Research: The Master of Science in Operations Research (MSOR) ensures that students can focus on areas such as mathematical programming, stochastic models, and simulation through domain-specific courses in logistics, supply chain management, revenue management, financial engineering, risk management, entrepreneurship, and general management.

4. Industrial Engineering: The Master of Science in Industrial Engineering is for students with an undergraduate engineering degree. The focus is on special fields such as scheduling, production planning, inventory control, and industrial economics. The MSIE Program offers three specialized concentrations:

• Healthcare Management: Focuses on applying the methodology of operations research and industrial engineering to healthcare systems.
• Regulated Industries: For students with an undergraduate engineering degree with a focus on industrial engineering problems in regulated industries.
• Systems Engineering Provides a holistic view of engineering and focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed.

5. Master of Science in Management Science and Engineering degree (36 credit degree program is offered in four concentrations; Operations & Analytics, Pricing & Revenue Management, Entrepreneurship & Innovations, and Logistics & Supply Chain Management. 

Applications are taken online. Applicants need to submit official transcript copies from every post-secondary institution attended Three recommendation letters, the GRE General Test Scores, a Personal Statement, and the resumé or Curriculum Vitae. Please note that an interview may be requested.

Areas of Expertise:

• Lean Production Systems
• 3d Printing / Additive Manufacturing; Ergonomics/Human Factors/Safety Engr
• Data Mining/Data Analytics
• Operations Research/Simulation/Logistics
• Systems Engineering
• Engineering Design
• Applied Statistics / Experimental Design
• Manufacturing Engineering
• Sustainable Engineering

List of labs: Additive Manufacturing and Multi-Functional Printing (AMPrint) Center

Mechanical

The Master of Science program offered by The Department of Mechanical Engineering provides an opportunity through which students can enrich their knowledge in the latest and most important topics in mechanical engineering. Students can choose courses from several suggested specialized elective concentrations, including Biomechanics, Energy Systems, Micro/Nanoscale Engineering, and Robotics and Control.

The MechTech Laboratory provides an opportunity to students for hands-on experience with microcomputer-embedded control of electromechanical systems. Facilities for the construction and testing of analog and digital electronic circuits aid the students in learning the basic components of the microcomputer architecture. 

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering with an Elective Concentration in Biomechanics provides foundations of fluid and solid mechanics applicable to biomechanics, as well as applications of mechanics to a specific cell, tissue and organ systems. The higher-level courses provide deeper foundations on theoretical and computational approaches relevant to biomechanics. 

The currently available concentrations are listed below:

• Biomechanics: This elective concentration provides foundations of fluid and solid mechanics applicable to biomechanics, as well as applications of mechanics to a specific cell, tissue and organ systems.
• Energy Systems: The program provides advanced thermofluidic knowledge and is related to energy and environmental policy. This elective concentration helps students prepare for careers in energy production and energy consultation.
• Micro/Nanoscale Engineering: The program prepares students for careers in diverse and rapidly expanding areas that span energy harvesting, ultrafast information processing, biometrics and theranostics.
• Robotics and Control: This elective concentration prepares students to join established companies, information-age dominant players investing heavily in this field, or the new wave of Robotics start-ups aiming to provide disruptive innovations.

Areas of Expertise:

• Healthcare Systems
• Microsystems
• Gear Design
• Thermo-fluid Systems
• Systems And Controls
• Energy Systems
• Transportation Systems
• Nanofluids

List of labs: Fuel Cell/Micro Channel Research

Pure Sciences

The Department of Chemistry at Columbia University offers the following programs:

• Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
• Organic Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Biological Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry.

The Department of Physics has about 35 faculty who teach and carry out research in the fields of astrophysics, condensed matter physics, high energy nuclear physics, high energy particle physics, and atomic, molecular, and optical physics.The Mathematics Department offers courses in mathematics at all levels through various degree programs at Barnard College.

The core mathematics subjects in the graduate course are the following:

• Analysis and Probability
• Modern Geometry
• Lie Groups
• Representation
• Algebraic Topology
• Complex Analysis,
• Riemann Surfaces
• Algebraic Geometry
• Number Theory.

Chemistry, Physics, and Mathematics only offer doctoral programs and no separate masters degree.

The Mathematics department offers a Master of Arts program in Mathematics with a specialization in Mathematics of Finance (MAFN). It draws on the diverse strengths of the university in mathematics, statistics, stochastic processes, numerical methods, and financial applications.

The M.S. Program in Applied Physics lays emphasis on basic physics while allowing many options in applied physics specialties. Students usually take it as an additional course beyond the bachelor’s level, or as a stepping stone to doctoral studies in the applied physics fields of plasma physics, laser physics, or solid-state physics. The M.S. Program in Applied Mathematics leads to a Master of Science degree after the students complete five core courses and five electives.

The CAMPEP-Accredited Medical Physics M.S. Program ensures students are prepared for professional careers in the field of Medical Physics. The program covers the application of the concepts and methods of physics to the diagnosis and treatment of human disease.

Specializations covered include:

• Radiation Therapy
•  Diagnostic Radiology
•  Nuclear Medicine
•  Medical Health

List of Labs: NanoPower Research Lab