Columbia participants are executing two experimental disruption mitigation projects in our on-campus laboratory: a first realization of the passive coil concept for runaway electron deconfinement, and a new test stand to study pellet ablation using high-energy charged particle beams. In the pellet experiment, the goal is to produce uniquely controlled measurements of cryogenic pellet ablation upon bombardment by energetic particles. The first planned particle source is an up to 30 keV electron beam. The ablation will be measured by three methods: 1) the standard measurement of emitted ablation light, 2) direct measurement of the mass change via microwave cavities, and 3) optical measurement of the pellet trajectory deflection via rocket effect from ablating particles. Experimental ablation measurements will be compared to established and emerging ablation models and simulations. In realizing these measurements, we will also have fielded a test stand for further fusion technology research related to cryogenic pellets, exploitation of which is ideal for student engagement. This project is carried out in close coordination with Oak Ridge National Laboratory experts. In the passive coil project, the HBT-EP tokamak will field the first experimental tests to validate models and advance this approach to runaway electron control. A simple low-field side geometry is chosen to facilitate installation while still enabling significant inductive coupling to the disrupting plasma and non-axisymmetric field generation. Simulations predict over 10% of the plasma current should be driven in the passive coil, though nearby conducting structures also significantly attenuate the perturbed fields. The experimental program will deliver a unique opportunity to validate the electromagnetic coupling models used to design the passive coil systems planned for DIII-D and SPARC. The accessibility of the university-scale device will also be leveraged to install several multi-axis force sensors, which will allow validation of disruption force models with and without the passive coil energized. Hard X-ray sensors will also be used to measure any runaway electron impacts during the disruption, again with and without the passive coil energized. Finally, the potential for the locking of instabilities in the disruption to the passive coil, and other unintended disruption side-effects, should also be experimentally accessible. Work supported by US DOE Under DE-SC0024687, DE-SC0022270, DE-FG02-86ER53222, DE-SC0019239.