Five Faculty Members Named 2010 Sloan Research Fellows

Five Columbia faculty members were named research fellows by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which awards two-year, $50,000 grants to support the work of exceptional young researchers early in their academic careers. They were honored along with 118 scientists, mathematicians and economists. Navin Kartik , an associate professor of economics, does research in the fields of applied microeconomic theory and political economy, primarily using game theory models. Much of his work deals with strategic communication of private information, with the broad goal of understanding how information is transmitted between agents (such as individuals or firms) when there are conflicts of interest. Kartik has been with Columbia since 2008 following stints at the University of California, San Diego and the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. Eitan Grinspun , associate professor of computer science, uses computer graphics to simulate the motion of everyday objects. Drawing on ideas from graphics, applied mathematics, differential geometry and engineering, his research findings have been used by movie studios creating special effects and in the manufacture of nonwoven textiles like baby diapers and surgical masks.