SENIOR PROFILE: Vickram Mohan

Vickram Mohan entered the School of Engineering and Applied Science to focus on chemical engineering, but left with a full-time job at a financial services company—and a particularly good eye for ultimate frisbee.

While Mohan did settle on a chemical engineering major, the Detroit native was inspired by his Principles of Economics course with lecturer Sunil Gulati, and he eventually became an economics minor. Mohan’s seemingly divergent academic pursuits are reflected in his life outside the classroom—a diverse set of experiences, including research, volunteer work, and playing on the ultimate frisbee team.

Mohan also spent the summer of 2008 at the London School of Economics, where he took two courses in quantitative finance. In his final year at SEAS, he conducted research with chemical engineering professor Mark Borden on oxygen microbubbles, which could potentially be used as a cancer therapy. Mohan and Borden are publishing a paper on their findings early this summer.

Though Mohan was heavily involved academically, he also pursued opportunities elsewhere on campus. He has played on Columbia’s ultimate frisbee team for all four years of college, and was president of the team during the 2008-2009 academic year.

“Coming to college, I knew I wanted to keep athletics as a big part of my life,” he said. “I love the sport and I love the team. … Even going forward, I want to keep it as a big part of my life.”
After his experience as an Eagle Scout, he also wanted to continue volunteering. He worked for Special Tree Rehabilitation Services in Romulus, Mich., during the summer of 2007, caring for patients recovering from traumatic brain injuries sustained in automobile accidents.

“Some of them are in very bad condition, permanently bad condition,” he said. “Scouting had taken a smaller role in my life, and I wanted to make community service a big part of my life.”
This past semester, Mohan was also a resident adviser for freshmen in John Jay.

Even with his full schedule, Mohan still made time for some memorable college evenings.

“Me and a friend made a potato can. ... You fill it with hair spray, and then you light the chamber, and it shoots a potato really far,” he said. “We were doing that in Riverside Park last semester, and some police officer didn’t really like what was going on, so we actually spent the night in jail.”

But, he added, “All the charges were dropped.”

After graduation, Mohan will be working full-time at Credit Suisse, a global financial services company, where he worked as an intern for the past two summers. He hopes to combine his interests in engineering and economics, eventually going to graduate school for government policy with regard to energy.

“I’m working in finance, but I’d like to work with companies that are related to the chemical engineering field,” he said. “I kind of want to be in a career that deals with both subjects.”

Ultimately, Mohan said, he tries to grasp as many opportunities as possible without selling himself short.

“My high school math teacher said, ‘Work smart, don’t work hard,’ so I kind of try to apply that to my life,” he said.