Professor Ling Traces Impact of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Alumni on Academia
08/16/2009
Professor Hoe Ling recently caught up with PhD alumnus Huabei Liu and discussed Liu's academic career path following his graduation from Columbia. Dr. Liu (http://www- ce.engr.ccny.cuny.edu/ People/Liu.htm), who graduated with a PhD from Columbia Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics in 2002, worked as a lecturer and then associate professor at Tsinghua University in China after completing his PhD. Recently he took up an assistant professorship at City University of New York. Reflecting on his time as a PhD student at Columbia, Liu told Ling that "I entered academia because I like working creatively and also like enlightening others with what I can offer. I started to have this idea for my future after I entered college, but the decision was made during my PhD days at Columbia."
Liu continued to describe the rich intellectual tradition of the Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics Department and how it benefited him during his studies at Columbia and later in his academic career. This led Professor Ling to do some research on our intellectual heritage. Professor Ling has identified 45 Columbia Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics PhD graduates who have gone on to successful academic careers, and the list is still growing. "I believe this is an important effort," Ling described, "we should be proud of the impact our department has had on other universities and on the intellectual heritage of civil engineering and engineering mechanics." Professor Ling's growing list of department alumni who have pursued careers as professors is available on the department web site at http://www.civil.columbia.edu/ling/phd/.