It is also the aim of the Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space to provide a platform for the promotion of scholarship and innovation in civil engineering, architecture, urban design, construction technology, real estate, finance, city planning, historic preservation, and their allied sciences and arts. CBIPS will also seek to foster dialogue and collaboration among engineers and other design and construction professionals together with city planners and policymakers both within and beyond Columbia University.
The CBIPS will be led by Feniosky A. Peña-Mora, Sc.D., the Edwin Howard Armstrong Professor of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics and the former Commissioner of the NYC Department of Design and Construction. It will be informed by ongoing dialogue with industry and government leaders through an Advisory Board led by Richard T. Anderson, President Emeritus of the New York Building Congress and Marcos Díaz González of AECOM.
Dr. Mary Cunningham Boyce, Dean of The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science and Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor, said: “Columbia Engineering is committed to maintaining an open and invigorating dialogue about the issues pertaining to the preservation and creation of resilient infrastructure that improves the quality of life for all. The Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space will bring together engineers, along with other design and construction professionals of diverse backgrounds and different perspectives and talents – all with a commitment to interdisciplinary research and action. I commend Prof. Peña-Mora for creating a center of education, research and advocacy that will interact with both the academic, civic and business communities of New York City and the world.”
Dr. George Deodatis, Santiago and Robertina Calatrava Family Professor and Chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at Columbia University said: “The Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space will be a great resource for students here at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. Bringing together an interdisciplinary team of faculty, alumni, practitioners and graduate students, the CBIPS will advance research efforts that have practical applications in New York City and beyond.”
CBIPS Industry Advisory Board Chair, Richard T. Anderson, President Emeritus of the New York Building Congress, said: “Speaking on behalf of the thirty other members of the Industry Advisory Board, I would like to reaffirm the commitment of the Center for Buildings, Infrastructure and Public Space to forge a common agenda for New York City’s civic infrastructure, defined broadly by the talented professionals in the engineering, design and construction communities. Working together, the ideas, events and initiatives of the CBIPS will help galvanize the economic success of our City by facilitating critical infrastructure improvements that improve New York’s competitiveness and attractiveness.”
Marcos Díaz González, Senior Vice President at AECOM and Vice-Chair of the CBIPS Industry Advisory Board, said: “Multidisciplinary practice defines the integration of infrastructure projects that create assets for governments, businesses, and organizations. The CBIPS will create the partnership opportunities, through curriculum, research and application strategies, that can help reinvent how our society delivers sustainable and resilient projects for the future.
For more information about the launch of CBIPS and future activities, please sign up for the email list here.
