Hareem Zain ’19 is one of the first students to study engineering at Columbia University through our 3+2 cooperative agreement with the elite New York City school.

He will earn two bachelor’s degrees in five years—a physics degree from SU and a mechanical engineering degree through Columbia’s Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science.

“SU’s accelerated program is a good training for the intensity of Columbia’s engineering curriculum,” Zain says.

“You really need to want to do engineering and be fully dedicated to the program for all five years. The high difficulty of the program also yields fantastic results and rewards, and the resources that you gain from both schools is immense,” he adds.

As a student at 体育买球官网, Zain embraced the many research opportunities that came his way, even starting on geophysics and groundwater hydrology research before his first year. He was able to present his findings at two conferences: one at Bucknell, where he won in his category, and the other at Goucher College.

He studied laser spectroscopy in quantum mechanics with a team of three people and was able to link this research with the findings from his hydrology study.

These opportunities and mentorship by his 体育买球官网 professors helped him find his calling in the challenging field.

“All the professors in the math and physics departments encourage me and give me a deeper understanding of what I really want to do with my career,” he says.