Bioengineering professor Kevin K. âKitâ Parker wrote in a statement to The Crimson Thursday that he plans to teach a course on data analysis and policing strategy in fall 2021, despite cancelling the course this semester after student backlash.
In the statement, Parker â a professor at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences â said he is continuing the research that he planned to conduct in the class on the Springfield, Mass. police department, and criticized Harvard students who pushed for the courseâs cancellation in late January.
Parkerâs course Engineering Sciences 298R: âData Fusion in Complex Systems: A Case Studyâ would have enabled SEAS graduate students to use data analytics to study how the Springfield Police Department deploys Counter-Criminal Continuum policing, or C3 â a law enforcement strategy â in the cityâs North End neighborhood. C3 was developed by a friend of Parkerâs and is based on Unit
When Abigail S. Huebner â23 was deciding which concentration to declare in fall 2020, she was hesitant about declaring engineering without having ever taken an engineering course in person.
âI was confused about how I was going to sort of learn what engineering was and get a feel for engineering without having any in-person component, and without having the labs and hands-on experience that I know is usually so crucial to understanding engineering,â she said.
But since deciding to declare engineering as her concentration, Huebner said she has been âpleasantly surprisedâ by her experience in online engineering courses, though she acknowledged âthereâs still something missing.â
After the coronavirus crisis delayed the opening of Harvardâs new Science and Engineering Complex in Allston, faculty and staff at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences have begun transitioning their offices to the new building.
Harvard had intended to open the complex, which has been under construction for roughly five years, this past summer. The coronavirus pandemic, which caused the City of Boston to impose a moratorium on construction projects in the spring of 2020 and has disrupted the Universityâs operations more broadly, forced Harvard to delay the opening of its new campus, into which Harvard poured roughly $1 billion.
Three Harvard professors were among 106 new members elected this year to the National Academy of Engineering, the academy announced Tuesday.
Those selected included Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Francis J. Doyle III, bioengineering professor Donald E. Ingber, and Harvard Kennedy School professor William W. Hogan.
Founded in 1964, the NAE uses the expertise of its members to advise the federal government on matters related to engineering and technology. Election to the NAE is “among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer,” per its website.
Doyle, Ingber, and Hogan will join the Academy’s 2,352 other American members and 298 international members.