H2CU Program
05/01/2008
The current crop of Italian visitors in the department on the H2CU program.
From left: Professor Nicola Chiara, Roberta Pelligrino (front), Professor Raimondo Betti (rear), Matteo Minno, Nicolò Girelli, Francesco Cavalieri, Filippo Ubertini, Francesca Ceccarini, Francesca Brando.
What is H2CU you ask? It's a thriving exchange with a select group of Universities in Italy based on an agreement with the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics since 2003 and ever expanding and growing. Under the program, Italian students who would be in their fifth year of studies can be admitted to Columbia for that fifth year which, at the same time, serves to complete an MS program at Columbia. The program has expanded to host fifth year Italian students as they write a thesis for the "seconda laurea" and to doctoral students as well. Most of the Italian students have come from the University of Rome, "la Sapienza.” Professor Lucio Ubertini and Professor Salvatore Grimaldi are the Italian coordinators of the H2CU program in Italy, while Professors Raimondo Betti, Rene Testa, Hoe Ling and Nicola Chiara manage the exchange program on behalf of the Department. Other departments are now also participating in the program, although the Civil Engineering graduate program is still the focus. The program has been growing yearly and in future, it is planned to encourage Columbia students to spend a portion of their time at a university in Italy.