Professor, Columbia University

Vijay Modi is currently Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He received the Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1984. He joined Columbia in 1986 after two years as a post-doctoral research associate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He leads the UN Millennium Project efforts on "Energy Services to meet the MDGs" and is involved with the Earth Institute efforts on energy and rural infrastructure. His current research projects include: energy services and infrastructure planning in meeting the Millennium Development Goals, low-cost lighting systems design, infrastructure priorities for economic and social development, use of spatial data in energy technology choices, and energy technologies for decentralized applications. His past energy related work encompasses thermal power plants, gas turbines, solar energy resource assessment, wind speed measurement and sensing and design of environmental systems for energy and paper industry. Prof. Modi is a dedicated teacher. He won the inaugural Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award in 1996 and also the Greater Teacher Award in 1997 from the Society of Columbia Graduates. He is author/co-author of more than forty journal publications.