Brandon Bifano ’10 has always been interested in building things. Now, he is building on that interest through a pre-engineering program offered at Colgate.
Bifano is one of three students currently participating in the cooperative program with Columbia University.
The students are eligible to receive — in five years — both a bachelor of arts degree from Colgate and a bachelor of science degree from Columbia.
Colgate has similar collaborative programs with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Washington University.
Bifano, an astrophysics major at Colgate, became interested in the pre-engineering program when he was looking to expand his scientific studies.
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| Brendon Bifano ’10 is eligible to earn bachelor’s degrees from both Colgate and Columbia through a collaborative pre-engineering program. |
“Professor (Joe) Amato, before he retired, met with me and filled me in on my options,” said Bifano. “I could continue physics at Colgate and then go to graduate school or I could try this program at Columbia.”
Cameron Gilbert ’10 started what is called the Combined Plan (3-2) Program at Columbia for similar reasons. ( Dan Gledhill ’10 also is taking part in the program.)
Gilbert sought to combine Colgate’s physics courses, which he called fascinating, with a means to apply them in the engineering realm.
Hands-on applications are central to the students’ courses at Columbia’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.
“A lot of my courses have a focus on the strengths and the properties of different materials we are using,” said Bifano. “We have to think about a structure and ask: what kind of fatigue and stress will be put on it? How you can optimize it so that it doesn’t break or fail, but also be economic at the same time?”
Bifano notes that despite the interesting classes at Columbia, he cannot help but miss life at Colgate. He is not letting his nostalgia for Hamilton, N.Y., though, get in the way of his studies.
“I’ve always had an interest in automotive mechanics,” he said. “I want to take courses that will teach me how to design and optimize car engines and bodies. I’m not going to limit myself, though. This is only the very beginning of my engineering education — I’m sure my focus will shift after I take more classes.”