A brief guide†for prospective undergraduate students, their parents, and the just plain curious
Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences*
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1 “So–why would anyone choose to attend Harvard as an engineer? “Perhaps because Harvard has a thriving intellectual community where people from all backgrounds can come together to discuss issues ranging from politics to structure design. “Surrounding yourself with others who think as you do and dream as you do can only help you to grow in directions you have already turned to on your own. “To truly stretch the bounds of your mind requires interacting with people whose interests lie beyond your own and learning from them what you can.” —Belle Koven ’06*
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* Belle truly put the art into engineering: While at Harvard she served as a stage manager for on-campus theater productions. She also found the time to study abroad and to help others through MentorNet, an e-mentoring program in science and engineering. 3
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Academics: All-inclusive The “Harvard experience”—immersion in a multifaceted intellectual setting—is part of what makes learning engineering and applied sciences here a singular experience. Because of our emphasis on preparing broad-minded students—whom we call “renaissance engineers”1—we’ve designed programs and courses that meet the need of students at multiple levels. The concentration is open to those who might not have had opportunities for rigorous mathematics or exposure to engineering or computer science in high school. At the same time, the program caters to those who dream about taking Math 55 their first year. Many of our classes are small, thanks to the 5:1 student/faculty ratio. Professors and administrators are accessible in and outside of class.2 And, collaborative courses and research with Harvard’s world-class programs in the life and physical sciences expose students to the bigger picture, too.3 We offer an ab degree option (which is relatively rare among our peers) as well as an abet-accredited sb (in Engineering Sciences only). Our concentrations promote flexibility and, yes, even fun.4 That means you’ll have time to indulge your passion for the yo-yo, push the pigskin down the turf 5, investigate the wacky world of quantum science 6, or create the next great start-up in your dorm room.7 Although you can dig deep into specific areas of research, the goal is to train future leaders and thinkers in all fields as well as professionals in engineering and applied sciences. 8 Alum Yi Liu ’05 (Engineering Sciences, sb) put it this way: “Harvard emphasizes not just the education of the subject but the education of a person.”
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1 1 Renaissance engineering is about the future, not the past: training students who excel in applied science but also have a broad knowledge of other disciplines and wish to connect advances in engineering to society’s most challenging problems. 2 A professor from a local university who visited bioengineer Kit Parker’s “Cellular Engineering” to see whether he might want to create a similar course confessed that it would simply be too much work to replicate (even without the after-class BBQ). 3 “I was given the special opportunity to study physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, statistics, and computer programming, while also gaining the problem-solving skills of an engineer”—Daniel Foti ’06. Moreover, our concentrations are ideal for completing premed requirements. 4 We celebrate National Engineers Week, drop eggs off buildings, play robot soccer, and offer free candy at the Academic Office. 5 In 2005, over 50 percent of the students in ES-96, a team-based design course, were members of either a JV or a Varsity sport. 6 One of our colleagues in the Physics Department wrote a book called Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Hidden Dimensions. 7 Students have found the time to start companies while earning their degrees (see page 14). 8 Miriam Esteve ’85 is Executive Vice President of Operations, Technology, and Project Management at U.S. Trust. Stephanie Wilson ’88 is an astronaut. Clay Mitchell ’99 runs one of the most technologically sophisticated farms in the world.
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»Degrees of freedom
applied mathematics “Math will rock your world.” That sentence recently appeared on the cover of BusinessWeek magazine. The math rocking the world is applied mathematics, an area of study that uses mathematics to understand how a leaf unfurls, predict when the next hurricane might hit, and sort through the information overload of the online era. Areas of focus include biological sciences, economics, engineering, and computerscience, among others. The newly created am-50 course covers all the bases—in fact, the first segment explores a double-header: statistics and baseball. Number theory, brain science, and economics (ideal for future i-bankers and Einsteins alike) shows up later in the term. computer science The answers to today’s big questions— whether in engineering, physics, biology, or economics—inevitably have computation at their core. Computer science is of course about creating code and running software, but it takes more than clever keystrokes to go from an idea to an end product or solution. Areas of focus include software, graphics, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, networks, parallel and distributed systems, algorithms, and theory. Assistant Professor of Computer Science Radhika Nagpal has re-engineered the proverbial “class on the grass.” She and her students recently demonstrated a fleet of Lego Mindstorm robots doing collective 6
construction at an international robot exhibition. The bots, which use no centralized control, rely on fancy algorithms to build simple buildings from a blueprint. engineering sciences (ab or sb) Engineering is about building bridges— but in ways you might not expect. Breakthroughs in basic research and innovative technologies create bridges to every area in the sciences. In particular, students say that engineering provides an ideal platform for exploring topics in biology and medicine. Areas of focus include biomedical sciences and engineering, electrical engineering and computer science, engineering physics, environmental sciences and engineering, and mechanical and materials sciences and engineering. In es-100, a capstone engineering design course, Chelsey Simmons ’06 designed a new surgical system in order to treat patients with osteoporosis who are undergoing spinal fusion, a common remedy for back pain. Chelsey is attending the Stanford School of Engineering for graduate school. For the complete scoop on courses, suggested schedules, and requirements, see http://seas. harvard.edu/undergradstudy/.
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Renaissance Engineer*
2 “The experience of living on an engineering island in a sea of liberal arts disciplines has reminded me that the full potential of technology is reached only when a broad user base is able to understand and utilize all of the functionality provided by that technology. “I want to be able to feel like I’m making a difference in the lives of ordinary people … and my experience as an engineer at Harvard has helped me to expand my working paradigm to the point where I’m able to take the needs of that group into consideration as I dream about the next generation of innovation.” —Darren Baker ’06/’08
* Darren is from West Jordan, Utah. Before attending Harvard, he said, “If I had to pick one word to describe my interests, it would have to be ‘variety.’ My scholastic interests range from chemistry and computer science to the study of history and foreign languages.”
Research: Mind-expanding Opportunities abound for undergraduates to conduct and experience research in engineering, the applied sciences, and related fields at Harvard. » Listen to dozens of lectures on dozens of topics by the world’s top researchers (and those who employ them).1 » Get your hands on state-of-the-art equipment in the newly constructed undergraduate bioengineering lab; scope out the small world of nanotechnology by building your own scanning tunneling microscope; design microchips for use in sensor networks.2 » Participate in faculty labs; take part in term-time or summer research program; 3 work and live in one of the “smartest” cities in the U.S.4 If you desire all the details or have specific aims(e.g., “I’d really like to work on quantum-cascade lasers, program a smarter computer agent, or model the atmosphere”)or want to know what our faculty members have been up to, visit www.seas.harvard.edu/research/. And there’s more to come. Harvard has announced plans to invest heavily in science and engineering.5 In fact, our change in name from “Division of” to “School of” Engineering and Applied Sciences is the most visible sign of this commitment. On a practical level, this investment means hiring additional faculty members (expected to increase by 50% in engineering alone) and constructing advanced facilities such as the Laboratory for Integrated Science and Engineering and the Northwest Building, dedicated to interdisciplinary science and engineering.6
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2 1 Some past luminaries have included Bill Gates COL ’77 and India’s Kapil Sibal, Minister of Science & Technology and Ocean Development. 2 William Adams ’06 created a microelectrode array: a 14mm x 14mm “data collector” for cardiac electrophysiological experimentation, built entirely within the Center for Nanoscale Systems clean room. 3 Harvard offers the Program for Research in Science and Engineering (PRISE), a 10-week 2 residential community, and the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), summer opportunities focused on materials research and nanoscale science and engineering. 4 That’s what Boston Magazine says. Lots of universities, lots of people with PhDs, lots of high-tech companies. 5 “Harvard will need to invest ambitiously in science scienceengineering and and engineering in theincoming the coming yearsyears and toand consider to consider how best to how nourish bestnew to nourish fields while new fields sustaining while sustaining its traditional its traditional strengths, many strengths, of which many lieoffirmly which lie firmly within thewithin boundaries the boundaries of existingofdepartments.”— existing departments.”—President’s President’s Office, 2006 Office, 2006 6 The first building on Harvard University’s future Allston campus will be dedicated to interdisciplinary science and stem cell research.
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»Bugs, bubbles, and soccer bots
geneva trotter ’09 works in Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering Rob Wood’s lab on the design, construction, and verification of a cockroach-inspired microrobotic leg mechanism. Geneva arrived with a “leg up”—she loves track and field and basketball. Wood is working to develop tiny insectlike flying vehicles weighing in at one gram or less. His goal is to produce autonomous (no pilot) low-cost fliers that can cover a wide area with gliding or active flight. Using insect-inspired optical-flow motion detection, large numbers of fliers could rapidly fan out to scout an area.
anand bala subramaniam ’06, who concentrated in biological sciences and is now a research fellow in engineering, worked with Associate Dean and Vicky Joseph Professor, Howard Stone, to create micron-to millimeter-scale peapod-, doughnut-, and sausage-shaped bubbles. To prod them into unconventional shapes, the team coated ordinary gas bubbles with a tightly packed layer of tiny particles and then fused them. Someday these odd bubbles may be used as carriers for delivering drugs, vitamins, or even flavors. For now the work has produced a Nature paper—with Bala Subramaniam as the lead author. The cofounders of the Robotic Futbol Club of Cambridge (rfc), jeff ma ’07 (Physics) and jie tang ’08 (Computer Science), recently did some kicking and scheming in Atlanta and Bremen, Germany. RoboCup, an international robotic football competition, offers universitybased teams the chance to build a team of autonomous robots and compete in headto-head matches. The Harvard team also opted for intellectual collaboration rather than competition: it joined forces with undergrads from mit. (An interesting aside: At the turn of the 20th century, Harvard and mit nearly merged.)
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Renaissance Engineer*
3 “I have a niche, and it was by immersing myself in other options that I so easily discovered it. “All I really want to do is study the limitless beauty of machines and design ways to harness it. Studying engineering in a liberal arts setting has shown me that intellectual ability is multidimensional. “By offering courses in a wide range of disciplines and bringing together a group of students who excel in a variety of areas, Harvard has exposed me to the many flavors of interest and ability. I’ve not only discovered my own unique combination of vector components, but learned to appreciate those of my classmates, too.” —Anjuli P. Kannan ’09
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* Anjuli won a grant from Harvard’s South Asia Initiative to live in India for eight weeks in a Rajasthan village and help teach computer literacy. She’ll no doubt rely on her experience as a teaching fellow for “Computer Science 50, Introduction to Computer Science 1.”
Innovation: Inside and out Microsoft, Facebook, and a dozen dot-com ideas came to light in the wee, dark hours. They all blossomed (or didn’t) at Harvard.1 From free mini-MBA seminars 2 to working with faculty members who have founded their own companies 3 to summer internship opportunities at companies like Google 4, IBM, Microsoft, and McKinsey Co., engineering and applied sciences students have many avenues for on-the-job training before they graduate. Right on campus, budding entrepreneurs can get a boost from the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard (TECH) and the emerging Translation Lab. Both initiatives provide courses and one-on-one consulting for students interested in exploring idea generation and technology transfer. We also encourage real-world (and off-campus) experiences. In 2007, three engineering students were awarded Weissman scholarships 5, which enable participants to live and work across the globe. Moreover, as cultural literacy has become increasingly critical for science and engineering, we’ve made it easier for even SB students to have experiences abroad.6 In addition to coming up with the next Great Big Idea, we encourage you to heed the advice of a Harvard graduate and now faculty member: “Think of your freedom of choice—of what courses to take, of how to spend your Sunday afternoons, whatever—as a commodity that is precious in and of itself.”7
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3 1 Part of the code for what became Microsoft’s first commercial program is displayed in Maxwell Dworkin—a building made possible by a donation from Steven Ballmer ’77 and Bill Gates COL ’77 and named for their mothers. 2 In keeping with the real-world emphasis of the noncredit course, stellar faculty members, as well as some of Cambridge’s most successful practicing entrepreneurs from Harvard Business School teach the seminars. 3 Pulmatrix, a start-up that develops products to diagnose, treat, prevent, or inhibit the spread of airborne infectious diseases, grew out of an undergraduate engineering course. 4 In 2004, Google placed the following ad in the Harvard Square subway station: “[first 10-digit prime found in consecutive digits of e].com” 5 During the summer of 2007, 39 Weissman interns worked in a wide range of private and public organizations in business, education, the environment, government, health and medicine, law, media, public service, science, and urban planning. 6 Courtney O’Brien ’09 (AM) studied in Paris; Jacqueline Stenson ’08 (ES) studied in Durban, South Africa; and Christina Ke Xu ’09 (CS) studied in Kingston, Jamaica. 7 Harry Lewis Lewis,’68, Harvard ’74, Harvard College Professor College Professor and Gordon and McKay Professor Gordon McKay Professor of Computer of Computer Science Science and former and Dean ofDean former the College. of the College.
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»Drug delivery, delivery room, classroom
oluwarotimi “rotimi” okunade ’07 spent her summer in Pretoria, South Africa, with Medicine in Need (mend), a nonprofit company started by faculty members and students at Harvard and aimed at liberating burdened populations from diseases of poverty through advanced drug and vaccine delivery. “My work has been to administer a study at different [tuberculosis] treatment centers all over South Africa, which is to justify the entry of such a formulation into clinical trials there,” she says.
A team composed of undergraduates ezra rapoport ’06, nick orenstein ’06, david jakus ’06, and james moran ’05 captured first place in the Harvard Student Agencies’ Center for Enterprise’s Entrepreneurial Contest. In their business plan, the team devised a venture called lono Medical Systems, dedicated to the design and production of a wireless device that can employ passive acoustic measurement techniques to detect and monitor the heartbeat of a human fetus in utero. “This is something which we invented and feel very connected to,” Orenstein said. “I never expected to be making something that could actually help save people’s lives.” The Harvard Crimson reported on a novel class meant to inspire novel ideas: “Have you ever had a great idea that was too wild or far-fetched to become reality? … In es-147, students from many academic disciplines work on idea translation and ‘artscience,’ attempting to put their dreams into tangible form. “McKay Professor of the Practice of Biomedical Engineering David A. Edwards focuses on applying his own ideas and research to real-life problems, and he challenges his students to do the same.” In fact, in addition to being a serial entrepreneur, Edwards writes novels.
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Renaissance Engineer*
4 “Engineering in a liberal arts setting means that there is camaraderie mixed in with Newton’s laws, and Kant mixed in with differential equations. “The liberal arts requirement here has given me the opportunity to study a wide variety of subjects including classical Greek literature, philosophy, linguistics, French, and AfricanAmerican history. “The engineering education that I am getting in Harvard’s liberal arts setting is preparing me quite well to face the challenges of any career I choose.” —Florence Evina-Ze ’07/’08
0 * Florence, who was on the Harvard track team and Vice President of the Harvard Society of Black Scientists and Engineers, also spent a summer working in London at a firm that specializes in research on renewable energy and low carbon technologies.
Things to come: Unlimited application Ultimately, acquiring a degree in engineering and applied sciences from Harvard can be both fulfilling and fun (even with all those problem sets).1 The degree is also very practical—which, given the cost of college these days as well as the cost of living, matters.2 Further, science and engineering increasingly shape our society and our world.3 Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat4, has said, “I’m not saying that every politician needs to be an engineer, but it would be helpful if they had a basic understanding of the forces that are flattening the world.” Most important, our curriculum offers excellent preparation, whether you are intending to practice as an engineer, researcher, or physician; are planning for a career in business, education, government, law, or medicine; or have no idea what you want to be when you grow up 5. “We want our passion for discovery and innovation to attract the curious, inspire a future generation of globally educated leaders, and help improve society and the world.”6 To put this into perspective… primary occupation post harvard
% computer software, hardware, systems··························23 banking, finance, communications··································11 engineering & science····················································11 education······································································ 8 full-time student·························································· 7 law················································································ 6 consulting····································································· 6 medicine, health care, public health······························ 5 arts, government, politics·············································· 5 other 7 ········································································18 (Data taken from a 2007 alumni survey of graduates from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) 22
4 1 To get the full picture, e-mail us (ugradadmissions@ seas.harvard.edu) with any questions, and most important, visit the campus. 2 A 2005 survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers revealed that nine of the 10 highest average starting salaries go to those with degrees in engineering and applied sciences. 3 “Engineering and applied sciences are everywhere and underlie everything, from commerce to quantum physics, and connect every place, from Boston to Bangladesh”—Venkatesh “Venky” Narayanamurti, Dean of the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. 4 A book widely discussed by engineering deans. 5 Steven Ballmer ’77 (Applied Math/Economics), chief executive officer of Microsoft, successfully blended technology with management. 6 Taken from the strategic vision document for engineering and applied sciences. 7 Some alumni like to keep everyone guessing.
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»Banker, baker, cgi-maker
gary schermerhorn ’85 (Computer Science), cfo-coo at Goldman Sachs Tech Division, paved a path that combined a foundational approach with a practical one. “While I wrestled with philosophy or abstract computing theories, I was concerned that students at other universities were receiving a more practical, technical education,” he says. “But I gained a much broader perspective on technology. I can’t say that it’s only the Harvard approach that has made me this way, but I would be against diluting the foundational approach to technical learning to expand the practical.”
Given that surveys predict most individuals will have several careers during their working lives, not all those who earn technical degrees will limit themselves to technical fields—at least in the traditional sense. joanne chang ’96 (Applied Math/ Economics) went from consulting at McKinsey to being the pastry chef/owner of Flour Bakery in Boston (famed for making its own pop tarts). ken keeler ab ’83 and phd ’90 (both in Applied Math) switched from equations to comedy, becoming a writer and producer for The Simpsons and Futurama. danielle feinberg ’96 (Computer Science), lead lighting artist at Pixar Animation Studios, found inspiration in class for her future career. “It was fall of 1994 in my junior year,” seh recalls. “I was sitting in Professor Joe Marks’s computer graphics class. He showed a couple of the Pixar short films one day, and I absolutely fell in love with computer animation. It was like everything I had ever tried to do, taken 10 million levels up.”
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ÂťNumbers of note
5:1faculty/student ratio $37.5 million n sponsored rese i
400,000 square feet of existing dedicated classrooms, labs,
30 approximate percentage of our faculty members who hold joint appointments in oth 2/3 portion of the laboratory for integrated science and engineering 8, 9 academy members of our faculty members who belong to the national academy of engineeri of sciences (respectively); 4 are members of both 5, 1, 4 harvard college professorships held by our faculty; mcarthur found guggenheim fellowship holders (respectively) 10 weeks in the undergraduate program for research in science 200, 170, 41 chapters of engineers without borders (including a group in which students are working (respectively) 5 robot soccer players built and used by the harvard-mit team in a robocup “small 133 freshman seminars offered, with topics offered in 2006–2007 rang science of sailing to superconductivity to freud to cyberspace in 400 dollars awarded in a video gaming competition sponsored by the harvard 70 percentage of engineering and applied sciences faculty members who 2 citation impact rank of harvard in the category of engineering and computer science 4.43 mean on a scale of 1-6 (1 being very negative and 6 being very positive) about the harvard school of engineering and applied sciences
earch conducted by our faculty (as of the end of 2007) and facilities at hseas
her departments or schools at harvard (lise) that is underground
ing and to the national
dation ‘genius grant winners; and engineering (prise) held each summer from harvard); active ewb projects; countries league” tournament
ging from a history of germs to the court interactive media group agreed to serve as freshman advisers in 2006–2007 in a 2002 analysis by isi (for 1998–2002 data) showing how alumni feel
Q&A how long has harvard done engineering? The Lawrence Scientific School, which housed the University’s first programs related to engineering and applied sciences, was founded in 1847. but don’t all the “real” engineers go to technical institutes? That’s like saying all the “real” biology or history students go to Harvard. Moreover, engineering is increasingly like one of the liberal arts in the way it interacts with other fields (and that assessment came from an engineer). what distinguishes harvard’s academic programs in engineering? In a word: Harvard. Undergraduates who pursue engineering and applied sciences at Harvard are not enrolled in a separate school or college as they would be in some other programs. Here, studying engineering is only one aspect of a student’s experience.
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what are the engineering students like? Like other Harvard students: smart, determined, dedicated, diverse (approximately 35% of concentrators are female and 40% are minorities or foreign nationals), and enjoying broad interests. Hear it from them: “I am glad that I have friends with a wide variety of interests …”; “I knew I would concentrate in engineering … [but] I wanted to attend a college with an active music program.” what sort of research have students done? Past students have created bio-inspired machines, built a cycle-plane simulator, implemented wireless sensor networks, coauthored papers on quantum science and technology, and investigated the role of materials and processes at the nanoscale that regulate the earth’s environment. In short, whatever your research passion, given the resources at Harvard, you can find a faculty member who does it and the funding to go along with it. For complete details see: www. seas.harvard.edu/research/
does an engineering degree at harvard fully prepare students for graduate school and careers? Past students have attended graduate school programs at leading universities (including those with “technology” in their names) in areas ranging from engineering to law to business to medicine. Others have taken jobs right after graduation with leading consulting, engineering, and business firms.
how can i get involved if i do not concentrate in engineering? Opportunities include extracurricular activities such as the Harvard College Computer Society (hcs) and the Harvard College Engineering Society (hces); competitions, such as those available through the Harvard Computing Club (hc3); and campus-wide groups such as Women in Science at Harvard-Radcliffe (wishr).
what is the size of the program? Data from 2006–2007: Undergraduates: ~ 300 concentrators (over 40% of students are minorities, including Asian, or foreign nationals; 35% of students are women). Graduate students: 346. Faculty members: 73 full-time and about 87 participants in all.
what does the future hold for engineering at harvard? In the past decade, the Engineering and Applied Sciences program has undergone a spectacular renewal, hiring 40 new faculty members and building a host of new facilities. “Continued rapid growth in key areas of engineering and life sciences, in particular, is not only vital for the competitive position of the University … but also in maximizing the return on our investment in buildings and infrastructure—which will bolster the health of the Faculty as a whole …” (Faculty of the Arts and Sciences Dean’s Annual Letter, 2006).
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ÂťLearn more
All undergraduates apply and are admitted through Harvard College. Students do not need to declare their intended concentration until the sophomore year. For more information about Harvard College, financial aid, campus visits, and how to apply: harvard college office of admissions and financial aid Agassiz House 10 Garden Street Cambridge, MA 02138 (617) 495-1551 www.admissions.college.harvard.edu www.harvard.edu For more information about undergraduate study in engineering and applied sciences at Harvard: harvard school of engineering and applied sciences Academic Office Pierce Hall 110 Cambridge, MA 02138 (617) 495-2833 E-mail: ugradadmissions@seas.harvard.edu www.seas.harvard.edu
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Pierce Hall, 29 Oxford Street Cambridge, MA 02138