Conference Will Explore Urban Planning Challenges and New York as an Incubator for Livable Cities of the Future

NEW YORK, Oct. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Organizers of the inaugural George Bugliarello Symposium announced that New York City Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel will open the unique forum featuring prominent engineers, civic leaders and educators on the future of cities and New York's role as an incubator for urban innovation.

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The symposium, "Livable Cities of the Future," will be held on the downtown Brooklyn campus of Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly) on Friday, October 26, 2012. The forum will honor Dr. Bugliarello (1927-2011), NYU-Poly president, scholar and engineering polymath who inspired innovation in sustainable cities, including the transformation of the Institute's Brooklyn campus into MetroTech, the largest urban technology park of its time.

"George Bugliarello's creative genius spanned civil engineering, biomedical engineering, urban development, science policy, water resources and environmental science," said NYU-Poly President Jerry M. Hultin, who also serves as symposium chair. "By 2050, urban areas will need to absorb another 2.6 billion people. With this in mind, NYU-Poly's Civil and Urban Engineering Department faculty began organizing this unique forum to accelerate George's pioneering leadership and vision – to inspire engineers to create the science and the built environment for safe and livable cities."

The symposium will cultivate best practices and innovative strategies for sustainable urban development. It is designed for engineers, urban planners, designers, developers, policymakers, scholars and practitioners in public and private service. Topics will range from information technology to emerging challenges of water, energy, transportation and the environment. Registration is complementary at http://www.poly.edu/bugliarello-symposium.

"This inaugural symposium posits that New York City can become a test lab for technologies and policies that can change other cities for the better, and that same philosophy lies at the core of the NYU Center for Urban Science and Progress (CUSP)," said CUSP Director Steven Koonin.

NYU-Poly's Civil and Urban Engineering Department partnered with CUSP, the National Academy of Engineering and the American Society of Civil Engineers to organize and sponsor "Livable Cities of the Future."

Symposium speakers include:

• Ruth David, president and chief executive officer of Analytic Services;
• Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey;
• Andrew Hermann, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers;
• Craig Ivey, president of Con Edison Company of New York;
• Steven Koonin, CUSP director, former undersecretary of Energy for science, chief scientist of BP and provost of the California Institute of Technology;
• Upmanu Lall, director of the Columbia Water Center at Columbia University Earth Institute;
• Daniel Peter Loucks, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Cornell University;
• Ruthie D. Lyle, IBM SmartCloud for Social Business;
• Joan McDonald, commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation;
• David Miller, former Toronto mayor, former chair of the  C-40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and current NYU-Poly Future of Cities global fellow;
• Gerald M. Mooney, vice president of IBM Global Smarter Cities;
• Thomas D. O'Rourke, Thomas R. Briggs professor of engineering of Cornell University;
• Theodore Rappaport,  director of NYU WIRELESS, NYU professor and NYU-Poly David Lee/Ernst Weber professor of electrical engineering;
• Carter H. Strickland, commissioner of the New York City Department of Environmental Protection;
• Richard Thorsen, vice president emeritus of NYU-Poly.

Paul Soros, entrepreneur, philanthropist and NYU-Poly alumnus, is honorary chair of the symposium. Mohammad Karamouz, director of NYU-Poly's Environmental Engineering and Science Programs, is co-chair.

Forest City Ratner Companies will sponsor the working lunch. Other sponsors are alumnus Walter Bell ('55), CUSP, alumnus Robert Dalziel ('56), former colleague and University of Pittsburgh Professor Tin-Kan Hung, alumnus Craig Matthews ('71, '09 Hon) and the University Transportation Research Center.

SOURCE Polytechnic Institute of New York University