2011-2012 Bulletin – PDF - SEAS Bulletin - Columbia University

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with particular emphasis on interfacial
properties and materials with important
related applications. Synthetic polymers
are by far the most important material in
this class.
CHEE E4252: Introduction to surface and colloid
chemistry
CHEN E4620: Introduction to polymers and soft
materials
CHEN E4640: Polymer surfaces and interfaces
CHEN E6620y: Physical chemistry of macromolecules
CHEN E6910: Theoretical methods in polymer
physics
CHEN E6920: Physics of soft matter
Biophysics and Soft Matter Physics.
Soft matter denotes polymers, gels,
self-assembled surfactant structures,
colloidal suspensions, and many other
complex fluids. These are strongly
fluctuating, floppy, fluid-like materials that
can nonetheless exhibit diverse phases
with remarkable long-range order. In the
last few decades, statistical physics has
achieved a sound understanding of the
scaling and universality characterizing
large length scale properties of much
synthetic soft condensed matter. More
recently, ideas and techniques from soft
condensed matter physics have been
applied to biological soft matter such
as DNA, RNA, proteins, cell membrane
surfactant assemblies, actin and tubulin
structures, and many others. The aim is
to shed light on (1) fundamental cellular
processes such as gene expression
or the function of cellular motors and
(2) physical mechanisms central to
the exploding field of biotechnology
involving systems such as DNA
microarrays and methods such as
genetic engineering. The practitioners in
this highly interdisciplinary field include
physicists, chemical engineers, biologists,
biochemists, and chemists.
The “Biophysics and Soft Matter”
concentration is closely related to the
“Science and Engineering of Polymers
and Soft Materials” concentration,
but here greater emphasis is placed
on biological materials and cellular
biophysics. Both theory and experiment
are catered to. Students will be
introduced to statistical mechanics and
its application to soft matter research
and to cellular biophysics. In parallel,
the student will learn about genomics
and cellular biology to develop an
understanding of what the central and
fascinating biological issues are.
CHAP E4120: Statistical mechanics
CHEN E6920: Physics of soft matter
BIOC G6300: Biochemistry/molecular biology—
eukaryotes, I
BIOC G6301: Biochemistry/molecular biology—
eukaryotes, II
CHEN E4750: The genome and the cell
CMBS G4350: Cellular molecular biophysics
Genomic Engineering. Genomic
engineering may be defined as the
development and application of
novel technologies for identifying and
evaluating the significance of both
selected and all nucleotide sequences
in the genomes of organisms. An
interdisciplinary course concentration
in genomic engineering is available to
graduate students, and to selected
undergraduate students. The National
Science Foundation is sponsoring the
development of this concentration,
which is believed to be the first of its
kind. Courses in the concentration equip
students in engineering and computer
science to help solve technical problems
encountered in the discovery, assembly,
organization, and application of genomic
information. The courses impart an
understanding of the fundamental goals
and problems of genomic science and
gene-related intracellular processes;
elucidate the physical, chemical, and
instrumental principles available to
extract sequence information from the
genome; and teach the concepts used
to organize, manipulate, and interrogate
the genomic database.
The concentration consists of five
courses that address the principal areas
of genomic technology: sequencing
and other means of acquiring genomic
information; bioinformatics as a means
of assembling and providing structured
access to genomic information;
and methods of elucidating how
genomic information interacts with the
developmental state and environment
of cells in order to determine their
behavior. Professor E. F. Leonard
directs the program and teaches CHEN
E4750. The other instructors are Profs.
D. Anastassiou (ECBM E4060), Jingyue
Ju (CHEN E4700, E4730), and C. Leslie
(CBMF W4761). The departments of
Chemical, Biomedical, and Electrical
Engineering and of Computer
Science credit these courses toward
requirements for their doctorates.
Students may take individual courses
so long as they satisfy prerequisite
requirements or have the instructor’s
permission. All lecture courses in the
program are available through the
Columbia Video Network, which offers a
certificate for those students completing
a prescribed set of the courses.
The course Introduction to genomic
information science and technology
(ECBM E4060) provides the essential
concepts of the information system
paradigm of molecular biology and
genetics. Principles of genomic
technology (CHEN E4700) provides
students with a solid basis for
understanding both the principles that
underlie genomic technologies and
how these principles are applied. The
Genomics sequencing laboratory (CHEN
E4760) provides hands-on experience
in high-throughput DNA sequencing,
as conducted in a bioscience research
laboratory. The genome and the cell
(CHEN E4750) conveys a broad but
precise, organized, and quantitative
overview of the cell and its genome:
how the genome, in partnership with
extragenomic stimuli, influences the
behavior of the cell and how mechanisms
within the cell enable genomic regulation.
Computational genomics (CBMF W4761)
introduces students to basic and
advanced computational techniques for
analyzing genomic data.
Interested parties can obtain
further information, including a list of
cognate courses that are available
and recommended, from Professor
Leonard (leonard@columbia.edu).
Interfacial Engineering and
Electrochemistry. Electrochemical
processes are key to many alternative
energy systems (batteries and fuel
cells), to electrical and magneticdevice
manufacturing (interconnects
and magnetic- storage media), and
to advanced materials processing.
Electrochemical processes are also
involved in corrosion and in some
waste-treatment systems. Key
employers of engineers and scientists
with knowledge of electrochemical/
interfacial engineering include
companies from the computer,
automotive, and chemical industries.
Knowledge of basic electrochemical
engineering 2011–2012