Annual Report

2009 2010 Coming Into Our Own

Contents
Dean’s Note..................................................... 1
Financial Statements........................................ 5
Highlights....................................................... 14
Dean’s Note
…A Year of Surprises…
Reflecting upon my first year as dean of the Harvard
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS),
I can’t deny that it’s been a year of surprises. Good
ones—and often incredibly great ones.
Cooking up a course … A general education course
on science and cooking, first thought up in 2008,
has become an international phenomenon. Seven
hundred students showed up on the first day in
hope of grabbing one of the coveted 300 seats. Lines
snaked around the Science Center and onlookers
wondered if a rock band was in town. “60 Minutes”
visited campus to shoot a segment on innovations in
the culinary arts.
Flying high … Thanks to a $10 million National
Science Foundation Expeditions in Computing
Grant, “Robobees” (or Micro Air Vehicles) have
taken off. One day, mechanical fliers may perform
everything from pollination to even earthquake
rescue missions. The project involves faculty and
students throughout SEAS, departments in the
Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the Wyss Institute, and
nearby sister institutions in academia and industry
partners.
Engineering innovation … With help from
programs and courses dedicated to fostering
innovation, a team of students created a soccer
ball that, when kicked, charges a battery. Another
group programmed a mobile app that connects the
campus with surrounding businesses and events.
The sOccket ball won a breakthrough award from
Popular Mechanics and the app was featured as
a lead story in the Wall Street Journal. Moreover,
events like the CS50 Fair and the newly created
Laboratory at Harvard brought thousands of
Harvard community members together to see
the results of hands-on learning first-hand.
Getting the call … I had my own personal surprise
when I received a phone call from the White
House requesting my participation on the National
Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
and Offshore Drilling. As I told a group of Harvard
College admissions recruiters, being called by the
President of the United States to serve as an expert
is one of the fantastic things you get to do as a dean
of engineering at Harvard.
As we think about how we want to best present
ourselves to the world, being a place that offers
surprising connections, conducts cross-cutting
research that makes people stop and wonder, and
offers courses that makes engineering “cool” and
relevant for everyone may be right on target.
Coming Into Our Own
Guided by the excellent work of my predeces-
sors—in particular, former dean Venkatesh “Venky”
Narayanamurti—and thanks to the dedication of the
fantastic SEAS faculty and staff, we are truly coming
into our own. Even better, we are not the only ones
who think so.
Over the past year I had over 150 “encounters” with
alumni and supporters, according to the calcula-
tions by our Office for Resource Development.
The message I heard was clear: People are proud
to be part of the school and are excited by what the
school is doing and where it is going.
As our community grows, we constantly look to
engage and reengage with our alumni and friends,
Annual Report 2009-2010 1

no matter how recently graduated or previously
distant.
Further, members of the extended SEAS community
have been eager to get involved, whether by return-
ing to campus like Sam Yagan ’99 did to speak to
students about his experiences at mathematically-
based dating site OKCupid or, as in the case of
mechanical engineer and businessman Barry Griffin
’74, returning to his alma mater to help infuse our
curriculum with design and active learning.
Perhaps most important, our increasing eminence
has had a noticeable effect on admissions. Inter-
est in concentrating in engineering sciences by
prospective and current undergraduate students is
up by 28 percent. In fact, applications from students
interested in engineering have risen considerably
more than applications as a whole.
The total number of concentrators is also at near-
record levels, with 415 undergraduate students
enrolled in our degree programs. We have seen a
30 percent increase in the number of applied math-
ematics and computer science concentrators and a
57 percent increase in the number of engineering
science concentrators.
Our graduate programs also continue to attract the
best and brightest from across the globe. Less than
10 percent of students who apply are admitted. The
National Research Council rankings, released on
September 28, also highlight the growing strength
and reputation of our graduate programs.
2 Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Thriving in the New Normal
In light of the global economic crisis and the drop
in the University’s endowment (and more directly,
the payout percentage) the economic situation of
Harvard and SEAS has, indeed, been challenging.
Thanks to much prudent and thoughtful planning
prior to my arrival, SEAS has been weathering the
storm. I am pleased to report that even with the
tough economic pressures, we ended the year with a
net surplus and added $3 million to our unrestricted
reserve, to use in the challenging years ahead.
Sponsored research, thanks in part to stimulus fund-
ing, is at a healthy $42 million, a record level. Even
more impressive, we consistently rank among our
peers as having one of the highest levels of funding
per faculty member.
All of us at SEAS have been working together to
reduce our expenses across the board and to be
more efficient. Always a lean-run operation, SEAS
has been able to continue to make progress and
remain ambitious, rather than retrench or retreat.
In short, we are continuing to make progress
towards renewing our faculty and enhancing our
teaching and learning.
Ultimately, this means that as dean, I have to make
sure we are fulfilling our role and promise as a
school while ensuring that we are making prudent
financial choices.
Thus, during my first year, I spent considerable
time preparing for what will be our major tenets in
the coming years and, in particular, as we gear up
towards future fundraising.
A Year of Planning
I am, by nature, a planner. With help from a newly
formed Steering Committee, we focused on realign-
ing our academic structure to better meet the needs
of teaching and research.
Putting teaching & learning first
The outcome of our academic planning boils down
to putting teaching and learning first—as both a
philosophical and an organizing principle.
As a school, we are grounded in the liberal arts and
provide bridges to the professional schools. This is a
fantastic role to play.
We help students discover, apply knowledge, and
innovate. Our primary aim is to educate what I call
T-shaped individuals: individuals who have depth,
or expertise in a chosen field, as well as breadth, or
the ability to reach out to other areas.
To ensure that we are enabling this ultimate aim,
we set out to make sure that SEAS is organized in
the right way.
The overall goal was to reorganize the SEAS
academic management structure to parallel the
areas in which SEAS faculty teach.
Beginning on July 1 (the beginning of the fiscal year
for 2011), several enhancements were implemented
to improve how teaching, research, and planning
are managed at SEAS.
The new structure stems from the past year’s
strategic planning process and was outlined at the
annual faculty retreat held on Friday, May 21.
The area dean structure has also evolved with the
appointment of several new area deans to three-year
terms.
Area deans—the official, new name per the
faculty—are a clear single point of responsibility
for each academic concentration (existing and
proposed) and are responsible for mentoring
tenure-track faculty and for the oversight of area-
related searches, reviews, and promotions.
With the new area dean structure as a basis, we have
more structural integrity,
»» allowing consistency across courses and
degrees;
»» putting decision making at the right level and
gaining more authority and control over SEAS’
curriculum, while still being part of
the College/GSAS; and
»» creating one primary point of contact for an
academic area to help with planning and
community building. Ultimately, this means
we can be “there” for students.
Annual Report 2009-2010 3
Enhancing Our Profile

In sum, I am proud of the progress we are making

at SEAS.

As much of what we did over the past year was

internally focused, we now have an opportunity to
look outward.

In the coming years, we will explore ways to further

our efforts to enhance SEAS, with the ultimate
aim of creating stronger connections with our key
constituencies, supporters, and the wider public.

To that end, I was very pleased to welcome Jonathan

Zittrain, the first joint engineering-law appointment
in history. This spirit of collaboration is a trend I
expect to continue with the addition of more joint
appointments and creation of cross-school research
and learning experiences.

We have an amazing opportunity to work together.

In the words of alum Tony Hsieh ’95, our aim is to
light the path that connects our passions to a greater
purpose.

Cherry A. Murray
October 2010

4 Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Financial Statements
In spite of a significant reduction in investment very healthy at 8.2 percent.
income due to the 2008 capital market collapse,
Federally sponsored research funding was not the
SEAS finished the fiscal year 2009–2010 with a net
only source of the overall increase; funding
surplus and added $3 million to its unrestricted
from non-federal sources rose from $5.8 million to
reserve.
$8.5 million (a 47 percent increase).
During fiscal 2009, SEAS had responded to the
Federal funding represented by far the largest
turmoil in global markets and prepared for more
contributor to overall sponsored research funding
challenging fiscal realities by reducing its non-salary
and accounted for 80 percent of such revenue in
operating expenses. In fiscal 2010, SEAS continued
2010, down from 85 percent in 2009.
to reduce its expense base in both personnel and
non-personnel categories. Faculty and staff engaged
SEAS faculty submitted 216 proposals for a total
fully in this effort and committed to manage within
funding request of $198 million. NSF continued to
a reduced expense budget without compromising
be the most important federal (and overall) funding
the School’s mission or aspirations.
source, followed by DoD, NIH, and NASA. On the
non-federal side, BASF was the largest source of
Financial management efforts during the year have
research funding, representing 33 percent of the
focused on taking advantage of increased sponsored
total non-federal spending in fiscal 2010, followed
research revenues and reducing targeted expense
by GlaxoSmithKline and Advanced Energy Consor-
items, while continuing to invest in key strategic
tium (AEC).
priorities.
The effective overhead rate for the School of
Taking Advantage of Increased Sponsored
Engineering and Applied Sciences rose to 49
Revenues
percent in fiscal 2010 from 43 percent in fiscal 2009.
Nearly all income categories experienced a decline Awards from the DoD—which are subject to an
during fiscal 2010, except for revenues from overhead cap of 35 percent—continued to depress
sponsored research. SEAS’ effective overhead rate. SEAS faculty received
24 such awards in fiscal 2010.
Income from sponsored research showed a
22 percent increase over fiscal 2009. This is all
the more remarkable as sponsored research
revenues had declined in 2009 for the first time
in many years.

Part of the funding increase was due to the Ameri-

can Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). SEAS
faculty members received 12 ARRA awards from the
National Science Foundation (NSF), the National
Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Department of
Energy (DoE). These awards totaled $13,977,048 to
be spent from fiscal 2010 through early fiscal 2015.
The majority, though, will be spent from fiscal 2010
to fiscal 2012. Even without the ARRA funding,
year-over-year increase in federal funding remained

Annual Report 2009-2010 5

By contrast, endowment income, tuition-related
income, current-use gifts, and other revenues all
declined in fiscal 2010.
Endowment income was the most affected income
category as a result of the 27 percent negative
return of the Harvard endowment at the end of
fiscal 2009. In planning for the fiscal 2010 budget,
SEAS and other Harvard Schools were asked to
plan for an 8 percent reduction in income from
endowment funds.
Furthermore, due to investment losses, the value of
many endowment funds had become lower than the
original gift principal. Fortunately, the passage of
the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional
Funds Act (UPMIFA) by the state of Massachusetts
on July 2, 2009, softened the income reduction
blow by allowing Harvard and other nonprofit
organizations to access some of these “underwater”
endowment funds.
Nevertheless, income from the endowment expe-
rienced a $5 million decline from $39.9 million in
fiscal 2009 to $34.8 million in fiscal 2010.
6 Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
1
4.5 percent represented a weighted average of the proportion
of SEAS concentrators out of all undergraduate students and the
proportion of undergraduate courses taught by SEAS faculty.
Net tuition income is calculated by subtracting total expenses
related to undergraduate education from total tuition income
after discounting for undergraduate financial aid.
Similarly, tuition-related income obtained through
the SEAS–FAS compact also decreased during fiscal
2010.
Through a 2008 financial contract, SEAS and FAS
jointly agreed that 4.5 percent of the net tuition in-
come 1 generated by Harvard College undergraduate
students would be credited to SEAS. In addition, a
formula established by the Graduate School of Arts
and Sciences returned approximately 45 percent of
SEAS’s graduate tuition income to the school. Other
aspects of the compact included sharing of the
administrative assessment on the SEAS endowment
and cross-school payments for space use.
An overall $17 million increase in undergraduate
scholarships resulted in a $0.5 million decrease in
SEAS’ share of net undergraduate tuition income.
Part of that decrease was offset by a $0.25 million in-
crease in graduate tuition income to SEAS, resulting
in an overall slight decline in tuition-related income.
Current-use gifts continued to be very strong in
fiscal 2010, reaching $4.4 million. Support from
industry for individual faculty research projects
continued to be the dominant form of current-use
gifts, representing 77 percent of gifts received.
When compared to fiscal 2009, however, current-use
gifts seem to experience a large decline. This is due
to the fact that total fiscal 2009 current-use gifts
were skewed by a single, anonymous $7.5 million
gift and totaled $11.6 million. Without the skewing
effect of that large gift, current-use giving for fiscal
2010 was consistent with recent years’ trends.
Annual Report 2009-2010 7

Other income consists of royalty payments, revenue
from miscellaneous activities, transfers from the
Central Administration, and—most importantly—
interest income. In fiscal 2010, interest income
earned by unrestricted funds in deposit at the
Harvard Central Bank declined both because
SEAS had a lower balance of distributed endowment
income sitting at the Central Bank and because
of a reduction in interest rate on such deposits.
Overall, the dramatic $7.6 million increase in
sponsored research revenue could not offset
the cumulative decline in endowment income
and current-use gifts. As a result, total revenues
decreased from $98 million in fiscal 2009 to
$94 million in fiscal 2010, the first time in a
decade that overall school revenues decreased.
8 Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Reducing Targeted Expense Items
SEAS responded to the overall decrease in revenue
by reducing its expense base. Personnel as well as
non-personnel expense budgets were cut.
Personnel
Salary and fringe benefit expenses represent more
than 50 percent of overall school expenses. SEAS
took several measures to reduce its salary budget in
fiscal 2010. Following guidelines from the Central
Administration, SEAS provided a zero percent
annual salary increase for all faculty and non-union
staff.
In addition, although SEAS did not initiate any
employee layoffs, several positions were eliminated
through attrition, especially by not replacing staff
who took the University Voluntary Employee
Retirement Incentive Program (VERIP). Exempt
staff salaries were therefore reduced by $0.4 million
from fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2010. Without reducing the
quality of instruction, SEAS faculty optimized the
use of teaching fellows, reducing the cost in these
expense categories by $0.3 million.
Other salary categories grew for various reasons:
union staff salaries grew commensurately with the
contract-mandated salary increase, and more signifi-
cantly, all research-related salaries grew to respond
to the increase in sponsored research funding.
Overall, total salary and fringe benefit expenses Non-salary expenses
increased by 3.8 percent between fiscal 2009 and
Despite the expense budget reduction efforts, many
fiscal 2010. This represents a slower growth than
expense categories increased in fiscal 2010:
the fiscal 2009 rate of 8.6 percent or the average
rate of 7.6 percent for the previous five years. »» Support to graduate students in the form of
tuition or fellowships continued to grow. The
However, the fiscal 2010 increase in salary expenses increase from $6.9 million in fiscal 2009 to
is attributable to the growth in sponsored research $8.4 million in fiscal 2010 is due to the annual
expenditures. In fact, whereas year-over-year change tuition and stipend increases, a larger enter-
in overall salary and benefit expenses was approxi- ing class of doctoral students, and a greater
mately only $2 million, year-over-year change in number of students beyond their second year
sponsored research salary and benefit expenses was who required support from the school. The
$3.2 million. This indicates that salary and benefit growth in this expense category is consistent
expenses not related to sponsored research actually with the school’s objective of growing the
declined by $1.2 million during fiscal 2010. graduate student body and has continued the
trend of previous years.

Annual Report 2009-2010 9

 »» The cost of space occupancy increased overall
despite decreases of $0.4 million in utility
expenses and $0.2 million in maintenance-
related items. These savings were offset by a
nearly $1 million increase in interest expense
on loans for facility renovations and lab fit-outs
and a slight increase in the net cost of space
rental.
On the other hand, expenses for supplies, materials,
and minor equipment declined by $0.3 million
overall, although sponsored research–related
expenses for this category were slightly higher than
in fiscal 2009.
In sum, increases in sponsored research spending
were greater than the expense cuts that SEAS
undertook in salaries and selected non-salary
expense categories.
10 Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Investing in Key Strategic Priorities
Even as it endeavored to cut some expenses, SEAS
also continued to pursue its aspirations by investing
in key strategic priorities.
»» Starting in fiscal 2010, SEAS committed to
share equally with FAS the costs of operating
the Center for Nanoscale Systems (CNS).
The Center, which was started by FAS, is
heavily used by SEAS faculty members and
is an important asset in the emerging field
of nanotechnology. As the agreement was
reached halfway through the fiscal year, SEAS’
fiscal 2010 cost-share was one fourth of the
total CNS and totaled $2.2 million. Starting in
fiscal 2011, SEAS’ share will be half of the total
cost of CNS.
 »» In addition, SEAS continued to invest in the
faculty. Three junior faculty members were
granted tenure at the beginning of fiscal 2010,
resulting in increased salaries and start-up
packages for all three. Three new junior faculty
members were also appointed in fiscal 2010.
Laboratories were fit-out or renovated for
new or promoted faculty. SEAS debt-financed
approximately $1 million for these capital
improvements and funded $1 million out of
the school’s reserves.
»» Finally, as mentioned before, SEAS continued
to invest in graduate financial aid, providing
$6.9 million in fiscal 2009 and $8.4 million in
fiscal 2010.
Overall, SEAS’ expenses grew by 7 percent in fiscal
2010, compared with 10 percent in fiscal 2009.
Beyond Fiscal Year 2010
The overall economic climate continues to be quite
uncertain for the near future. The fear of a double-
dipped recession continues to depress both financial
and real markets. It can be prudently assumed that
income from endowment will continue to present
some level of financial risk.
Also, the spike in sponsored research funding
experienced in 2010 will most likely not constitute a
long-term trend as the ARRA funding is exhausted.
For the near term, however, given the healthy rate
of proposal submission by SEAS faculty and the
growth in non-ARRA federal funding, a healthy
level of federal funding for sponsored research can
be expected. Non-federal sponsored research, on
the other hand, remains a potential growth area for
SEAS.
On the expense side, while SEAS can continue
to monitor spending, budget cuts will soon reach
a point of diminishing returns. One measure of
optimization may be to relieve unrestricted budgets
by making more aggressive use of appropriate
restricted revenue sources, such as sponsored
research funding.
The main risk to SEAS’ long-term growth, however,
is in maintaining an undiversified and static income
base. Attracting world-class faculty members and
providing them with cutting-edge facilities and
equipment is costly. Overhead is not expected to
provide a complete payback for the large up-front
capital investment required by engineering educa-
tion and research, even after 15 years. Therefore,
SEAS cannot count on income from sponsored
research alone to offset the cost of growing the
faculty.
Other sources of income, such as endowment,
tuition income, and fundraising generally help
to subsidize the research mission of engineering
schools. SEAS is better positioned than most schools
when it comes to the value of its endowment. This
has made tuition income less critical in the past.
However, given the recent significant reductions in
endowment income and in light of the new School’s
aspirations and commitments, SEAS recognizes that
tuition income will have to play a more important
role in the future. The School is committed to
moving energetically in this direction to help
diversify its income base.
Finally, one of the strengths of SEAS through the
decades has been the strong support of its alumni
and friends.
Fundraising will have to play a major role in the
school’s growth and SEAS is well positioned to
engage its network of friends in writing the next
phase of the School’s history.
Annual Report 2009-2010 11
Statement of Change in Net Assets* » For fiscal year ending June 30
» Numbers in millions of dollars

2010 2009 2008

Revenues
Sponsored research 42.3 34.7 36.9
Endowment income 34.8 39.9 34.1
Gifts 4.4 11.6 3.2
Compact transfers 9.8 10.1 7.4
Other 2.6 1.6 0.1
Total Revenue 93.9 98.0 81.7

Operating Expenses
Salaries & benefits 47.6 45.8 42.0
Financial aid 8.4 6.9 6.1
Supplies, materials, & equipment 5.7 6.0 5.8
Space & occupancy 8.2 7.5 7.7
Interest, services, & other expenses 7.8 8.3 8.7
Transfers 1.6 1.9 1.9
Total Operating Expenses 79.3 76.3 72.2

Other Expenses
Nonoperating activities 8.5 7.9 3.7
1
Program investments 2.2
Total Other Expenses 10.7 7.9 3.7

Total Expenses 90.0 84.2 76.0

Result of operations before program investments 6.0 13.7 5.7

Total Change in Net Assets 3.8 13.7 5.7

1
Program investments are major expenses (other than salaries or supplies) for new faculty and new initiatives
*
This statement presents a managerial view of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences operations.
It is not intended to present the financial results in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles
(GAAP). A presentation in accordance with GAAP would include, for example, depreciation expenses and
higher endowment.
Balance Sheet » For fiscal year ending June 30
» Numbers in millions of dollars

2010 2009 2008

Assets
Cash 0.0 0.0 0.0
Receivables 73.6 65.4 52.1
Invested funds
Endowment investments 757.8 718.8 1,023.0
Facilities, fixtures, & equipment (net of depreciation) 81.8 78.4 71.2

Total Assets 913.2 862.6 1,146.3

Liabilities
Accounts payable 0.4 0.1 0.9
Facilities & equipment debt 46.7 45.0 35.6
Other debt owed to the University’s central bank 7.1 7.3 (0.3)
Total Liabilities 54.1 52.4 36.2

Composition of Net Assets

Unrestricted reserves 26.6 24.3 11.1
Undistributed income & Other 24.4 21.3 25.0
Pledge balances 7.0 13.3 16.3
Investment in facilities & equipment 35.1 33.4 35.6
Endowment & other investment funds 765.9 717.9 1,022.0

Total Net Assets 859.0 810.2 1,110.0

SEAS Payments and Contributions to Other Harvard Entities

» Numbers in millions of dollars

Fiscal 2010 Fiscal 2009

Harvard Central Administration
Strategic infrastructure fund 3.5 5.1
Annual assessment 2.0 2.0
Academic initiative fund 0.6 0.6

Faculty of Arts & Sciences

Administrative support assessment 1.9 2.1
Cost-share of Center for Nanoscale Systems 2.1 0.0

Total Contributions 10.2 9.7

Highlights
New Courses & Teaching Initiatives
Biomedical Engineering Concentration Approved
At the March 2, 2010, meeting of the Faculty of Arts
and Sciences (FAS), the faculty voted unanimously
to approve a new, dedicated undergraduate concen-
tration in Biomedical Engineering.
“Science and Cooking” Dishes Up Collaboration
A collaboration with the Alícia Foundation, headed
by internationally acclaimed chef Ferran Adrià of
elBulli, led to the creation of a new General Educa-
tion undergraduate course on science and cooking.
The course draws on the expertise of some of the
world’s most notable chefs.
Alumnus Energizes Engineering Design
Barry Griffin ’72, owner of Griffin Associates, a
successful mechanical engineering consulting firm,
is helping to revitalize the capstone engineering
design courses with faculty members Robert Howe
and Woody Yang.
For example, students in ES 96, “Engineering
Design,” examined complex issues related to the
renovation of the Harvard River Houses. Griffin
will spend the next year integrating “real world”
problems into the course through collaborations
with industry.
14 Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Teaching Labs Foster Hands-On Learning
Anas Chalah, Director of Institutional Technology,
seeks out everything from trashcans to cutting-edge
laser devices to build creative, hands-on experiments
for undergraduates in SEAS.
Over the past four years, the undergraduate teach-
ing program has expanded its basic instructional
labs with modern hands-on teaching labs represent-
ing the following five disciplines: Mechanical,
Electrical, Biological, and Environmental Engineer-
ing, and Computer Science.
January Experience
The highlight of the January Experience at SEAS
was a Brazil field study. Twelve Harvard students and
16 Brazilian students participated in field studies
of the energy system in Brazil from January 7 to 21,
2010.
On campus, faculty and staff offered short courses
in subjects such as CAD/CAM, communicating
science, electron microscopy, and Matlab.
Graduates Get Community
Science Soirées, G1 talks, and enhanced orientation
all greeted incoming and current graduate students.
The end goal is to enhance the community for the
SEAS graduate population.
Student Innovation

The Lab at Harvard VertiGrow

Launched in November of 2009, The Lab at Another project encouraged by the idea translation
Harvard is a new forum and platform for idea course, VertiGrow addresses two global problems:
experimentation in the arts and sciences, directed rapid urbanization and malnutrition.
by David A. Edwards, Gordon McKay Professor of
The vertical farming device allows families to grow
the Practice in Biomedical Engineering (SEAS) and
their own nutritious food on the sides of their
a core member of the Wyss Institute for Biologically
homes, walls, or roofs, and is designed to conserve
Inspired Engineering.
water, reinforce unstable housing structures, and
The Lab catalyzes the development of ideas through maximize growing space.
work-in-progress exhibits, monthly Idea Nights, and
annual experiments between leading international Rover
artists and Harvard faculty and students.
Five Harvard undergraduates created Rover, a
3 mobile platform for connecting students with each
The TECH I Innovation Challenge
other, their school, and their community.
Winners of the Harvard College Innovation
Begun as a class project in CS 50, Rover puts
Challenge (I3), organized by the Technology and
students in touch with what is happening in the
Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard (TECH),
campus “microenvironment” with information
Harvard Student Agencies, and the Harvard
on local deals, events, news, and transportation.
College Entrepreneurship Forum, were announced
Rover was the winner in the AT&T Big Mobile
in April.
On Campus Challenge and made the front page
Harvard students, representing 27 different concen- of The Wall Street Journal.
trations and all 12 Harvard houses, participated in
the annual competition that showcases and rewards
innovative student ventures (both commercial and
social startups).

sOccket

The sOccket is a soccer ball that captures energy

during game play to charge batteries for LEDs. The
ball uses an inductive coil mechanism to generate
electricity. Created by a team of Harvard under-
graduate students (all non-engineers) in a novel
Engineering Sciences course on idea translation,
the sOccket was featured on CNN.

Annual Report 2009-2010 15

Cool Research
Shape-shifting sheets automatically fold
into multiple forms
Relying on origami techniques, researchers showed
programmable matter folding itself into a boat- or
plane-shape.
Heat, moisture from Himalayas could be
a cause of the South Asian monsoon
Climate scientists offered a revised view of what
influences the water source for billions of people.
Environmental scientists say China could
meet future energy needs by wind alone
A study suggested that wind is ecologically and
economically practical and could reduce CO2
emissions.
Team moves from stem cells to
functioning strip of heart muscle
This engineering feat was a giant step toward the
possibility of using human stem cells to repair
damaged hearts.
Inspired by cotton candy, engineers put
new spin on nanofibers
Offering increased control and higher output, the
device could be a boon for industrial applications,
from biocompatible materials to air filters.
Discovery in “pop” science reveals
the elegant, complex way bubbles burst
Rather than simply vanishing, ruptured bubbles
create rings of smaller bubbles in a cascade effect.
Research team receives $10 million NSF grant
to fund the development of small-scale mobile
robotic devices
Using nature as inspiration, scientists worked to
advance micro-manufacturing, ultra-low-power
computing, and multi-agent coordination.
16 Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Industry Collaborations
Industry Partnerships Workshop
on Nanophotonics
Held in May, the annual meeting brought together
research leaders with members of industry to
collaborate on the rich field of nanophotonics.
Possible applications range from next-generation
chip technology to novel solar panels, enhanced
chemical sensing, and greener and cleaner forms
of energy.
GnuBio
GnuBio is a new Harvard spinout that is poised
to become an “eBay of Biomarkers.” John Boyce,
formerly of Helicos Biosciences Corp., joined
with SEAS’ Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and
Applied Physics Dave Weitz and Jessica Tonani,
former associate director of product marketing for
Affymetrix Inc., to create a company that combines
genome sequencing, database management, and a
social network platform.
NVIDIA
NVIDIA Corporation, inventor of the GPU (Graph-
ics Processing Unit), recognized Harvard University
as a Center of Excellence for its commitment to
teaching GPU Computing for a host of science
and engineering research projects. The honor
complements a prior $2 million grant the University
received from the NSF for the development of
GPU-enabled computational science.
New Faculty Hires & Tenure Appointments

New Faculty Hires

Katia Bertoldi Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and

Assistant Professor of Applied Mechanics Engineers
Rob Wood, Assistant Professor of Electrical
Stephen Chong Engineering; Patrick Wolfe, Assistant Professor of
Assistant Professor of Computer Science Electrical Engineering

Neel S. Joshi (joint with Wyss Institute)
Assistant Professor of Chemical and Biological
Engineering
Yue M. Lu
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering
Chad D. Vecitis
Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering
Krzysztof Gajos
Assistant Professor of Computer Science
DARPA Young Faculty Award
Debra Auguste, Assistant Professor of Bioengineering
Election to American Academy of Arts & Sciences
David A. Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics
and Applied Physics; Evelyn Hu, Gordon McKay
Professor of Applied Physics and Electrical Engi-
neering
Department of Defense National Security Fellowship
Lene Hau, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics and of
Applied Physics

Tenure Appointments National Science Foundation CAREER Award

Matt Welsh Yiling Chen, Assistant Professor of Computer
Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science Science; Shriram Ramanathan, Assistant Professor of
Materials Science
Gu-Yeon Wei
Gordon McKay Professor of Electrical Engineering Alfred P. Sloan Fellow
and Computer Science Marko Loncar, Associate Professor of Electrical
Engineering
David Brooks
Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science Election to the National Academy of Engineering
David Mooney, Robert P. Pinkas Family Professor
Major Awards & Honors of Bioengineering and a Core Member of the Wyss
Institute
MacArthur Fellowship
Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan, Lola England de Election to the National Academy of Sciences
Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics David A. Weitz, Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics
and Applied Physics
Dan David Prize
Michael O. Rabin, Thomas J. Watson, Sr. Professor
of Computer Science

Technology Review 35
Erez Lieberman-Aiden ’10, James Carey ‘04, Kurt
Zenz House ‘08

Annual Report 2009-2010 17

Support & Engagement

The financial generosity, intellectual guidance, and

enthusiasm of our alumni and friends sustain our
educational and research mission: within the classroom,
across the campus, and around the world.

Notable Gifts Engagement

As SEAS has continued to fulfill its role as a school,

Applied Math Innovation Fund
Established by an anonymous donor, this fund will
address the growing demand for the applied math
discipline by augmenting advising staff and hiring
the most innovative and highly effective teachers.
Current-use Graduate Fellowship Support
Herbert “Pug” Winokur (A.B. ’65, A.M. ’65, Ph.D.
’67) and his wife, Deanne, established this fund to
support fellowships for graduate students.
Current-use Graduate Fellowship Support in
Economics and Computer Science
This gift from R. Martin Chavez (A.B. ’85, S.M. ’85)
will be used to support fellowships for graduate
students working at the intersection of economics
and computer science.
our alumni have become increasingly engaged and
energized by our mission to educate and inspire
concentrators and non-concentrators alike and to
connect what we do with the wider world.
Networks
In May 2010, SEAS revived the alumni reception
series known as Networks.
The event was convened by six dedicated SEAS
alumni: J. Christopher Flowers, Margo Seltzer,
Christopher Thorpe, Harry Lewis, Mike Pascucci,
and Susie Case.
Attracting over 100 people, the event gave Harvard
and SEAS affiliates the chance to mingle and catch
up as well as “relive” their classroom days with a
lecture by Stuart Shieber on open scholarly access.

Flexible-use Annual Gifts

Andrew Garman (A.B. ’80); David Lloyd Gilmour
(A.B. ’80, S.M. ’82, M.B.A. ’84) and Anula K.
Jayasuriya (A.B. ’80, M.D. ’84, Ph.D. ’91); Gwill York
(A.B. ’79, M.B.A. ’84) and Paul Maeder (M.B.A.
’84); Bob (A.B. ’76, S.M. ’76, M.B.A. ’79, J.D. ’80)
and Susie Case (A.B. ’79, S.M. ’79, M.B.A. ’83); and
Kathryn Ann Hopkins (A.B. ’80, M.B.A. ’84).
Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at
Harvard (TECH)
Tom McKinley (A.B. ’74); Michael Cronin (A.B.
’75, M.B.A. ’77); Robert Kristoff (A.B. ’74); Thomas
Quirk (A.B. ’74, M.B.A. ’78); Michael Noble (A.B.
’74); and Walter (A.B. ’74) and Cathy Isaacson.
Alumni Talks
Dean Murray invited young alumni back to campus
to speak to the SEAS student community.
Highlights included discussions with Sam Yagan ’99
(OKCupid); Raj Bhattacharyya ’96 (Deutsche-Bank)
and Alfred Spector ’76 (Google).
Shining City
For a new television show, “Shining City,” that
highlights innovations in New England, Former Lt.
Governor Kerry Healey ’82 visited the SEAS campus
to interview faculty members about their research.

18 Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

29 Oxford Street
Pierce Hall
Cambridge, MA 02138