Mr. Vijay Modi
Professor, Columbia University, The Earth Institute
Mr. Vijay Modi is a professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University and an Earth Institute faculty member since 2006. Previously, he led the UN Millennium Project effort on the role of energy and energy services in reaching the Millennium Development Goals. His expertise is in the fields of energy sources and conversion, heat/mass transfer, and fluid mechanics. Currently, he is focused on three projects: leading the infrastructure team for the Millennium Villages Project (10 countries, 14 sites across sub-Saharan Africa), developing planning and decision-support tools for infrastructure, and looking at the food-energy-water nexus in Indian agriculture. He has authored or co-authored numerous journal papers and served as the principal or co-principal of a number of research grants from government and industry. Mr Modi is a two-time winner of prestigious teaching awards from Columbia. In 1997, he received the Great Teacher Award from the Society of Columbia Graduates and the Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award from the Columbia Engineering School Alumni Association in 1996.