E3120 Transport Phenomena II

Prof. Levicky is by far one of the best teachers I have ever had. He can take conceptually difficult topics and make it easy to learn for the class. I, for one, never would have thought that I would ever understand transport phenomena, but I do understand!

Not only can he teach, but he is also very understanding and patient. He never makes us students feel dumb when we ask him questions. I would recommend taking ANY of his courses because you TRULY do learn in his class.

Ed Leonard is perhaps the quirkiest guy in the chemical engineering department. He's been at Columbia since around 1962, but he isn't the stereotypical "old gruffy professor who hates his students". He shows a great enthusiasm for the material he teaches, he has a great rapport with all his students, and he's a really nice guy in general. As a Chem. E. student, though, you either love him or you hate him. I don't understand the students who dislike him, though. He's the only professor in the department who will ask questions about the material to random students during the lectures. A lot of people didn't like this, but it helps keep you on your toes. He especially likes to "pick on" 4 or 5 students every semester, and call on them for a disproportionate amount of the questions. If the student is having trouble answering his question, he has a hilarious habit of subtly suggesting the answer with cheesy puns. Something along the lines of: "What is this equation useful for measuring? .... You don't know, what are you, DENSE?". Of course, the answer would be Density. He seemingly has a pun for almost every question he asks. It's laugh-out-loud funny, believe me. There's plenty of other humor in his classes, and he'll sometimes stop and tell humorous stories that relate to the material. Tests were hard, but Leonard will curve generously. First midterm had a mean around 50, while the second had a mean of only 19 (!!). Leonard was nice enough to re-do that exam, changing only the numbers. So the mean on the "make-up" 2nd midterm was much higher. The average grade in the class was about a B. I wasn't one of the students he "picked on" (I only had to answer about 3 questions the whole semester), and I found that Leonard made me look forward to class, a feat hard to perform by a professor in a Chemical Engineering class. Because of Leonard, Transport Phenomena II was a really enjoyable course.