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Physics

The Department of Physics provides a sequence of introductory courses devised to introduce students in engineering to fundamental physical concepts that underlie all the engineering disciplines. All first-year engineering students enroll in Physics I: Mechanics. All second-year engineering students enroll in Physics II: Electromagnetic Phenomena, Introductory Physics Lab, and Physics III: Optics and Modern Physics. The Physics Department occasionally offers elective courses such as General Relativity, Physics Simulations, and Deterministic Chaos, that have been designed to provide an enhanced understanding of specially selected fields of interest in engineering science.

Physics Laboratories include:

  • Rm. 301 - The Richard C. Extermann Physics Laboratory
  • Rm. 609 - The Complex Fluids Physics and Engineering (CoPhFE) Laboratory

  • Founded by inventor, industrialist and philanthropist Peter Cooper in 1859, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art offers education in art, architecture and engineering, as well as courses in the humanities and social sciences.

  • “My feelings, my desires, my hopes, embrace humanity throughout the world,” Peter Cooper proclaimed in a speech in 1853. He looked forward to a time when, “knowledge shall cover the earth as waters cover the great deep.”

  • From its beginnings, Cooper Union was a unique institution, dedicated to founder Peter Cooper's proposition that education is the key not only to personal prosperity but to civic virtue and harmony.

  • Peter Cooper wanted his graduates to acquire the technical mastery and entrepreneurial skills, enrich their intellects and spark their creativity, and develop a sense of social justice that would translate into action.