Three Faculty Elected to Serve on National and International Professional Organizations

Kurt Becker

Kurt Becker, NYU Tandon School of Engineering’s Vice Dean for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, was recently elected Chair of the Scientific Advisory Council of the German Center for Research and Innovation (GCRI) in New York. The GCRI—which aims to strengthen transatlantic collaboration in science and technology to help solve the global challenges of the 21st century—convenes scientific conferences and symposia, plans lectures and exhibitions, develops workshops for graduate students and other young researchers (e.g. an annual Focus Smart Grid event and regular workshops on STEM education in the US and Germany), and supports North American universities as they develop strategies to enhance international research collaboration with Germany.

As the head of the advisory council, which is comprised of leaders from business, government, and academia, Becker will provide guidance to the GCRI’s programming, lead its strategizing, and will work to expand its outreach and footprint and visibility in the United States as well as in Germany.​

Joseph Chow

The Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS) is the largest society in the world for professionals in the field of operations research, management science, and analytics, and among the organization’s major sub-groups is the Transportation Science & Logistics Society. Under that umbrella falls an important special-interest group (SIG) devoted to the issues surrounding urban transportation.

Recently, Assistant Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering Joseph Chow was elected as vice-chair of the INFORMS Urban Transportation SIG. Chow—whose research aims to make transportation systems smarter, more responsive, and more cost-efficient—will serve a three-year term in the post.

Mary Cowman

Mary Cowman, Associate Dean for Bioengineering and Professor of Biochemistry and Bioengineering, has been elected as the President of the International Society for Hyaluronan Sciences (ISHAS), a group devoted to the study of a unique polysaccharide molecule that is an important component of the vertebrate biomatrix surrounding and communicating with cells. Hyaluronan has important medical applications in ophthalmic surgery, treatment of osteoarthritis, tissue augmentation, disease diagnosis, drug delivery, and more. (Researchers predict that hyaluronan’s therapeutic uses might eventually include the control of cancer progression and metastasis, scar-less wound healing, and repair of damaged tissues such as cartilage of the knee.) 

Cowman’s term at the helm of the society will commence on January 1, 2016.