As the School of International and Public Affairs awaits a move to Manhattanville, School of Engineering and Applied Science seniors are lending hands in the design.
This spring, second-semester civil engineering majors have forsaken a senior slump for the chance to craft their vision for the 250,000 square-foot building intended to house SIPA at the corner of 130th Street and 12th Avenue as part of Columbia’s expansion.
“It’s an interesting experience to have that ability to interact [with companies],” said Peter Valeiras, SEAS ’09, and Engineering Student Council president.
For the second year in a row, Capstone Design Project instructor Christian Meyer gave his senior civil engineering students an assignment to design one of the buildings planned for Manhattanville. The students voted on the SIPA building.
“This is a realistic building where a lot of design professionals are involved,” said Meyer, who is also chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Engineering Mechanics. “Different engineers are concerned with different aspects of the building, and we are trying to simulate [the design] in our class.”
Throughout the design process, SEAS students work with contractors and access draft plans for the building. Though the University has hired professional designers, Columbia may incorporate elements of SEAS students’ designs.
“In a way we are free labor because if we come up with a good idea, they’ll use it,” said Valeiras. “And we don’t get credit or anything.”
Valeiras added that the lack of attribution is more than compensated for with access to potential employers. SEAS students meet with architects, structural engineering firms, and geotechnical firms, among others.
Meyer noted that, “In real life you have dozens of design professionals spending full-time for months and months to design the building,” whereas in his classroom, “there’s no way that students can do something even close to that, spending just four credit points worth of work on the project.”
The project also gives students the opportunity to learn things they will need to compete in a tight job market. “It’s a good opportunity to do something on our own, but still have the resources to help us if we need them,” said Allison Magnano, CC ’09, and president of the Columbia chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers. “Regardless of whether what we do is used or not.”