Helicopter Pilot and Iraq Veteran Fulfills Dream of Becoming an Engineer
06/18/2009
Jonathan Belmont graduated from West Point with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He served two tours in Iraq as a helicopter pilot and then enrolled in Columbia ’s Department of Mechanical Engineering to pursue his Master’s degree through an advanced civil school educational allowance. Since the Army’s allowance wouldn’t cover his full tuition, graduate committee chair Jeffrey Kysar and mechanical engineering department chair Larry Yao worked with the school to cover the remaining cost in exchange for Belmont taking on teaching and other responsibilities within the department. Jonathan Belmont has contributed greatly to the ME Department serving as a teaching assistant in the undergraduate engineering lab. For the past year, his charge has been to design and build a well-instrumented experimental setup incorporating a new Saturn internal combustion engine donated by GM and a new Land & Sea dynamometer for the ME undergrad lab. This spring, Jon received his master’s degree from Columbia and will take an Army assignment working in West Point ’s admissions office, a position that requires an advanced degree. Larry Yao sums up everyone’s sentiment: “He will be missed, but we wish him all the best and are confident that he will continue to excel in his new position.”
For more on Jonathan Belmont visit http://news.columbia.edu/oncampus/1549# and see the ME Spring Newsletter.