Dean Cherry Murray
Academic Year 2010–2011

Admissions

Academic year 2010–2011 saw a continuation of the trend of growing undergraduate interest in engineering. Of the College Class of 2015, 14.5 percent expressed interest in engineering and/or computer science, up by 60 percent from five years ago. Undergraduate enrollments were at record levels, with 465 total concentrators and 10 percent of the sophomore class having declared a SEAS concentration. Applications to SEAS graduate programs were also at record levels, with 1,993 applications for the 2010–2011 academic year, and an admittance rate of 8.6 percent, the lowest in SEAS history.

Enhanced recruitment activities were organized for both undergraduate and graduate students for the 2010–2011 academic year. A science and engineering tour for accepted undergraduate students during Visitas, the weekend in April when prospective students visit campus to participate in a range of weekend activities, was organized by Assistant Dean Marie Dahleh and physics faculty member Amir Yacoby. Graduate students also enjoyed enhanced open house activities organized around the SEAS key teaching and learning areas established at the end of the previous academic year as a part of Dean Murray’s strategic planning process: Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, Applied Physics, Bioengineering, Electrical Engineering, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, and Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering.

Curriculum

Enhancing the Undergraduate Experience

The primary focus of the 2010–2011 academic year was the continuing enhancement of the existing undergraduate curriculum, which resulted in a number of new and noteworthy efforts. Nearly 5,000 students across Harvard, a record high, were enrolled in a SEAS course over the past academic year.

The new biomedical engineering undergraduate concentration debuted in the fall of 2010. Biomedical engineering lies at the intersection of the physical and life sciences, incorporating principles from physics and chemistry to understand the operation of living systems. The objectives of the concentration include providing students a solid foundation in engineering, particularly as applied to the life sciences, within the setting of a liberal arts education. The concentration is flexibly structured for a diversity of educational and professional objectives and enables the acquisition of a broad range of skills and attitudes drawn from the humanities, social sciences, and sciences, in addition to engineering, which enhance engineering knowledge and which will contribute to future leadership and technical success. Plans are under way for dedicated concentrations in electrical engineering and materials and mechanical engineering.

Computer Science 50 (CS50) reached an all-time enrollment high (nearly 500), becoming the fifth most popular course in Harvard College; the CS50 Fair attracted over 1,000 members of the Harvard community to view students’ innovative projects developed over the semester.

“Science and Cooking,” a course in the Program in General Education, was the most popular course in the program this year, enrolling nearly 300 students, winnowed down from an initial waiting list of over 700. It was perhaps the most talked about course of recent years, garnering international media attention and offering a series of popular public lectures.

A combined effort led by Rob Howe, Abbott and James Lawrence Professor of Engineering and associate dean for academic programs; Anas Chalah, director of the teaching labs; and Barry Griffin ’71, visiting lecturer, resulted in more design-based experiences in courses such as ES 96 (Problem Solving and Design Project); ES 100 (Design Project); ES 50 (Introduction to Electrical Engineering); ES 165 (Water Engineering); and ES 227 (Medical Device Design).

Some courses even had a direct impact on campus life. Students in ES 96 made recommendations for expanding the geothermal energy project (efficient heating and cooling system) in Radcliffe Yard.

Building New Academic Support

To enhance advising and student services, two undergraduate studies directors were appointed in 2010–2011. Margo Levine, PhD was appointed assistant director for undergraduate studies in applied mathematics. Levine, previously a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard Medical School and a postdoctoral research associate at Massachusetts General Hospital, received her BS from Cornell University and MS and PhD from Northwestern University. Sujata Bhatia, MD, PhD was appointed assistant director for undergraduate studies in biomedical engineering. Bhatia joined Harvard from the DuPont Company in Wilmington, Delaware, where she was a research associate in the Biochemical Sciences and Engineering Division. She earned three bachelor’s degrees and a master of chemical engineering from the University of Delaware, as well as an MD and a PhD in bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Enhancing the Graduate Experience

Developed and situated at SEAS, a graduate-level secondary concentration in Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) for graduate students in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) was approved and will be offered in the fall of 2011. An exciting and rapidly evolving field, CSE exploits the power of computation as an approach to major challenges on the frontiers of natural and social science and engineering. The secondary field in CSE will be available to any student enrolled in a PhD program in GSAS upon approval of a plan of study by the CSE Program Committee and the director of graduate studies in the student’s home department. The requirements include newly developed core courses in applied mathematics and computer science.

The area structure at SEAS supported community-building activities such as the BioExpo, Applied Physics Fest, and the Materials Science and Mechanical Engineering open house. Through community-building funds, an increasing number of graduate community-building activities took place during 2010–2011, such as the successful series of faculty talks to introduce G1s and G2s to various areas of research at SEAS, and a student-led “Science Soiree.”

New and Enhanced Programs for Students

Academic year 2010–2011 was the second year of Winter Break, a month-long break between the fall and spring semesters created by the adoption of a common University calendar. SEAS sponsored a wide range of activities for undergraduate and graduate students, including:

• Brazil Field Study: Harvard students and Brazilian students participated in field studies in Brazil from January 6–21. The short course, organized in collaboration with Universidade de São Paulo (and other local Brazilian institutions), focused on energy, water, and the environment and was supported by the Harvard University David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies.
• ComputeFest: Matlab and Mathematica workshops (four presentations and four hands-on events over four days)
• Machine shop class taught by Stan Cotreau, machine shop manager and instructor, for graduate students
• 3-D printing and rapid prototyping workshop taught by Anas Chalah
• Teaching fellow training for the spring offered by the Bok Center for Teaching and Learning
• “Writing Science,” a three-week January short course for graduate students taught by New York Times reporter Cornelia Dean (co-sponsored by the Harvard University Center for the Environment)
• Electron microscopy workshop organized by the Center for Nanoscale Systems’ David Bell and offered to both the Harvard and broader research community

In January, SEAS presented an alumni panel to connect current students with recent alumni, including Alissa Cooperman ’10, Anjuli Kannan ’09, John Thorlin ’09, Brad Diephuis ’08, and Jeffrey Adam Traina ’08. A Green Activity Fair, which highlighted opportunities in “green tech,” was held in April.

SEAS will host nearly 70 National Science Foundation–sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates in the summer of 2011, a record number up from 50 in past years. New laboratories and institutions participating include RoboBees, the Wyss Institute, and the Rowland Institute.

Major Events

• Twelve “Science and Cooking” public talks (August–December 2010)
• Two “All Hands” meetings led by Dean Murray (September 2010 and April 2011)
• Dean’s Advisory Group in Palo Alto, California, and Cambridge, Massachusetts (October 2010 and April 2011)
• “Science and Cooking” Student Fair (December 2010)
• CS50 Fair (December 2010)
• ComputeFest! and HackHarvard (January 2011)
• Student Brazil Field Study Trip (January 2011)
• SEAS Alumni Panel (January 2011)
• Harvard College Innovation Challenge Awards (March 2011)
• “In Deep Water” with Dean Murray and Rich Sears (April 2011)
• Triple Academies Symposium on Privacy, Autonomy, and Personal Genetic Information in the Digital Age (April 2011)
• Cambridge Public Schools Science Fair (May 2011)
• BioExpo, Applied Physics Fest, and Mech&Mat area events (May 2011)
• Kavli Foundation visit (May 2011)
• Kickoff Kavli Lecture Series (May 2011)
• Networks SEAS alumni event (May 2011)

Student Activities/Innovation

Newsle is a web application that aggregates news and status updates from friends or public figures on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sites. Developed by Axel Hansen ’13 and Jonah Varon ’13, both concentrating in computer science at SEAS, the app uses an algorithm that can distinguish between people with the same name and prioritize the most important news.

Hollre is an application that helps people connect online to manage their activities in the real world. Focused on action rather than just location, the app is designed to help users find new things to do, whether they’re interested in parties, knitting, protests, or study groups. The duo behind the social networking site is Ryan Neff ’13 and Yasha Iravantchi ’13.

Aid Aide is a website that guides prospective college students through the process of applying for federal financial aid. The site, created by first-year Zachary Hamed ‘14, is designed to work like tax software, simplifying the questions on the FAFSA and PROFILE application forms. It can also translate the content for students or parents who don’t read English, and it can support live chats with financial advisers.

In-mouth water filter. Freshman Celestine Warren, senior Aisha Townes, and sophomore Ryan Neff worked on the project I Am My Filter. This and other projects were developed through Engineering Sciences 20: “How to Create Things & Have Them Matter,” a course co-taught by Professors David Edwards and Rob Howe.

Raising the bar on disaster relief. The powerful earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, devastated a country that was already among the poorest in the world. The catastrophe took more than 200,000 lives and left more than a million people homeless. In 2010–2011, Harvard undergraduates and faculty from SEAS looked to an old technology for new ways of providing shelter to disaster victims, exploring the feasibility of using large balloons to support lightweight tents and to lift and move objects. Barry Griffin, a visiting lecturer at SEAS, was co-leader of this effort to develop a rapid deployment disaster relief shelter.

SEAS graduate students and recent alumni won first, second, and third prizes at the 2010 Collegiate Inventors awards for their innovations in tissue engineering, genomics, and intracellular probing.

Three SEAS graduates students were selected to present new technology at the University Research and Entrepreneurship Symposium. Among the advances were the “Cathbot,” a multi-core voltage regulator, and a new biosensor.