connectionsSpring 2010 Vol. 2, No. 2New York City College of Technology

Alum New FDNY HeadVirtual World TeachingAnnual Alumni Harbor CruiseNew Women’s Center OpensProfessors Experience Haiti Earthquake First-hand

2 connections

These days, City Tech faculty andstudents are happy to oblige if anyonetells them to “get a life.” That’s becauseseveral classes are involved withdeveloping the College’s presence inSecond Life (SL), a virtual digital worldcreated by its more than nine million“residents,” where alter egos (avatars)they have constructed live, play and workin immersive environments — artificial,interactive, computer-created scenes or“worlds” within which users can immersethemselves and interact with others.

For instance, through manipulating theiravatars’ movements, students can walkaround in, fly through and thoroughlyexplore such virtual environments as the

Sistine Chapel, foreigncities, lecture halls andworkplaces.

On “CityTech Island,” theCollege’s SL site, studentsfrom various academicdisciplines not onlyobserve, but also, alongwith their professors, helpcreate that world, whichchallenges them to useand master 3-D modelingskills in some cases orscript-writing skills inothers. “Some consider

Second Life only a game,” says CityTech Entertainment TechnologyProfessor David Smith, “but we see it asa huge outlet for creative activity,allowing students and faculty to workon projects as a team.”

City Tech professors currently using SLin their classes, in addition to Smith,are Isaac Barjis and Walied Samarrai(Biological Sciences); Reneta Lansiquot(English) and Jenna Spevack(Entertainment Technology). All ofthem have presented papers on theirwork or have reached out to involvesegments of the larger community.

CityTech Island features a virtuallaboratory where professor avatars

lecture and conduct experiments.Biology students can take a special ride — inside a virtual cell. At theInternational Summer SimulationMulticonference, held in Istanbul andco-sponsored by the Society forModeling and Simulation Internationaland the Institute of Electrical andElectronics Engineers (IEEE), Smith,Barjis and Samarrai presented a researchpaper, “Modeling and Simulation of 3-D Virtual Cell as a Game,” to anaudience of top simulation andmodeling researchers.

Labs are just one island attraction.Another is a “Brooklyn is Watching”Museum. It houses photos of artworkcreated by the Brooklyn is WatchingProject, which invites interactionbetween the thriving art communitiesof Second Life and Williamsburg,Brooklyn.

Right now, CityTech Island is nearlyfull; faculty members are developing aproposal to buy another, enabling theCollege to own a public one for displayand a private one for research. Althoughhundreds of colleges have SL sites, manydon’t use them, at least to the extentthat City Tech does. The College is agood example of best practices at atechnology college.

City Tech Charts New Ground in Virtual World of ‘Second Life’

Lansiquot, Barbara and Smith with their ‘Second Life’ avatars.

connections 3

A chunk of rock that’s 90 stories tall andweighs 25 million tons is hurtling towardEarth. On Easter Sunday, April 13, 2036, itcould strike our planet somewherebetween Kazakhstan and Venezuela. It’snamed Apophis after the Egyptian god ofdarkness and the void. If it hit Earth, NASAsays it would strike with 68,000 times theforce of the atom bomb that leveledHiroshima. Originally, the U.S. spaceagency put the chances of collision at 1 in37, while more recent calculations nowpeg the threat at 1 in 350,000 or less.

Heave a sigh of relief but beware of theunknown. When Apophis first passes Earthin 2029 and heats as it falls toward thesun, it could calve into smaller pieces oremit a tail, which would act like a rocketand change its direction unpredictably. Ifthe object or its fragments enter one oftwo “keyholes” in space, there could beimpact when it returns in 2036.

But Apophis can be diverted according toDr. Gregory Matloff, a City Tech associateprofessor of physics and NASA consultant,who favors deflecting asteroids with space-based solar sails. These are sheets ofreflective metal less than a tenth thethickness of a human hair. A solar sailtraveling alongside Apophis for a year andcontinuously focusing the sun’s rays on itcould burn off part of the surface andcreate a jet to steer the object away.

Dr. Matloff has theorized about solarsails for more than 30 years and is partof a dynamic team of City Tech physicistswho are refining the science behind solarsails in a steady stream of papers andconference presentations. Together andindividually, Dr. Matloff and City TechDepartment of Physics Chair RomanKezerashvili, PhD, have explored possiblematerials, thicknesses and constructiontechniques for solar sails. And during

summer 2009, Matloff, Kezerashvili andAssistant Professor Justin F. Vázquez-Poritz galvanized the InternationalAcademy of Astronautics conference inAosta, Italy, with presentations on topicsrelated to missions to the outer solarsystem and beyond.

Meanwhile, City Tech Assistant ProfessorLufeng Leng, a photonics and fiber opticsresearcher, is firing up the lasers in herlab to measure the optical properties ofmeteorite samples. She’s seeking abetter understanding of how lightinteracts with the loose rocky, icy ordusty surface covering of such celestialbodies. Her research directs differentlycolored laser beams at the samples todetermine how far the light penetratesbelow the surface. A beam thatpenetrates too deeply would simply heatan asteroid, while a beam thatpenetrates just the right depth toperhaps a thousandth of a millimeterwould produce a steerable jet and enablescientists to alter an object’s trajectory.

Watch for more news about these andrelated City Tech-based research projectsin future issues of Connections. Andmark for your calendar for 2029 and2036 for what could be a sensationallight show.

Adapted, in part, from “Foiling Perils fromOuter Space,” Neill S. Rosenfeld, Saluteto Scholars, The City University of NewYork, Winter 2010.

CITY TECH PHYSICISTS RESEARCHING DEFLECTION OF NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS

Solar sail

4 connections

You Can’t Judge A Project By Its PosterIn November 2009, three City TechComputer Engineering Technologystudents (Sandor Bocz, MichaelHernandez and David Ruffins)competed in the National ScienceFoundation-funded 1st AnnualRobotics Innovations Competition &Conference (RICC) at WorcesterPolytechnic Institute (WPI) inMassachusetts against students fromschools from as far away as California,Mexico and Egypt.

They had built a robotic prototypenamed Equilibrium designed to mimicthe actions of a controlling humantorso, arm and hand. Unlike mostdevices of its kind, the hand of therobot had five movable fingers. Whenin operation, both the robot’s arm andfingers were controlled andmanipulated by a human operator

wearing a glove and a sensor strappedto one arm. Applications of such apartnership between human andmachine could serve a multitude ofpurposes in a vast array of industries.

When the group arrived by car at thecompetition site, two of the threestudents wenty inside and quicklyreturned to report that they weremortified by how poorly their larger-than-life project poster compared tothose of other competing schools. Theywere so upset they wanted to turnaround and drive back to New YorkCity. It took a while for the two tosettle down and agree to stay.

The group spent Saturday morning andafternoon demonstrating their project forround after round of judges. Wheneverthey did a demonstration, people fromall over the room came over to watch.

The competition was open to outsiderson Sunday, which featured both publicdemonstrations and the awardsceremony. When the time came for theawards presentation, Sandor, Michaeland David were so tired that at firstthey didn’t hear when the presenterscalled out the name New York CityCollege of Technology. “Did somebodysay something about City Tech?” one ofthe three finally asked the others.

Indeed, somebody had and the CityTech team made its way to the stage toaccept RICC’s first prize for innovation,which included a $5,000 gift packageof electronic instruments and testingequipment. This just goes to show thatyou can’t judge a book by its cover or aresearch project by its poster.

The Genetic Wars

connections 5

City Tech has launched a new Center for Women. The goal is to provide programs, activities and resources that promotea supportive, equitable and safe environment for women. Instrumental in its creation were Vice President for Enrollment& Student Affairs Marcela Armoza, Faculty & Staff Service Center Director Roxanna Melendez and Student WellnessCenter Director Holly Rider-Milkovich.

The new center was initially inspired by a group of women students who attended the National Conference for CollegeWomen Student Leaders summer before last. After networking with students from across the country, the City Techgroup returned to campus electrified by the experience and committed to the idea that the College community wouldgreatly benefit from a Center for Women like those already established on many other campuses nationwide.

The new Women’s Center will provide a public face to City Tech’s long-standing commitment to supporting andincreasing the representation of women in technology and other fields in which they long have been underrepresented.City Tech, as one of the largest colleges of technology in the northeast, is uniquely positioned to be a role model ofsupport for women students and alumnae by leading the conversation on what works and what still needs to be created.

New City Tech Women’s Center

Adjunct Lecturer Barbara Confino,Advertising Design & Graphic Arts,was invited to present her multimediagraphic history, The Genetic Wars, atthe 12th Biennial Symposium on Artand Technology at the AmmermanCenter Connecticut College in March2009. Entitled “Revolution:Technology as Change,” this was amajor international conferencedevoted to presenting the cuttingedge and exploring the increasinglinks in the interdisciplinary world ofarts, sciences, media and technology.

The Genetic Wars , which can beviewed online atwww.thegeneticwars.com, is a graphichistory about a future society wherecloning is the dominant form ofhuman reproduction. It uses animaginative context to address the

very real philosophical, psychological,political and legal issues created bycloning. Loss of personal identity anda fixed sense of self, the relationshipbetween past and present, the shapeof the body, the right of ownershipover DNA, sexuality and personalmemory are just some of the topicstouched upon by the work.

Visually, it is created in acontemporary, surreal graphic stylethat reinforces its content and mood,while the elliptical and witty textconveys multiple meanings in narrativeform. Partaking of imaginativetraditions shared by speculativeliterature, cinema and comic book art,this science fiction fantasy takes theform of both a website installation anda printed book.

CITY TECH ALUMNA HONORED Patricia Ann Brown-Wren, a 1968 City Tech graduate who recently retired from the New York City Sheriff’s Office as Assistant tothe Commissioner, has been recognized by Cambridge Who’s Who for showing dedication, leadership and excellence in allaspects of administrative management. She also was named Cambridge Who’s Who Professional of the Year inAdministrative Management.

Prior to her retirement, Ms. Brown-Wren gained many years of professional experience in her field. An expert in administrativemanagement, she was responsible for overseeing all administrative offices and responsibilities under the charge of theCommissioner of the Department of Finance and the mayor.

A certified notary public, Ms. Brown-Wren was honored with the Volunteer Award by the New York City Department of Finance.She also earned a number of industry-related certifications, and is a member of the Central Westbury Civic Association and theAmerican Notary Public Association.

1985Roland Knowlden, class of

‘85, is a Consulting Partner at

Automation Edge

International, Inc.

1987 Scott Levine, class of ‘87, is

Vice President at Morgan

Stanley Financial Services.

1990 Raymond Tom, Class of ‘90, is

Design Phase Manager at Hill

International.

2006Brenda Provost’s, Class of ‘06,

son was just elected CUNY

Student Senate Chair. This

position gives him a vote on

the CUNY Board of Trustees as

the University’s student

representative.

ClassNOTES

6 connections

ClassACT!

City Tech Alumnus Salvatore Cassano Appointed FDNY Commissioner

Salvatore Cassano, a 1970 graduate of New YorkCity College of Technology’s associate degreeprogram in Fire Protection, was appointed the32nd Commissioner of the New York City FireDepartment in December 2009. He had beenoutgoing Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta’s right-hand man since 2006, when he was appointed tothe highest uniformed position in the department.

In making the appointment, New York City MayorMichael R. Bloomberg praised Cassano asbringing “a lifetime of unmatched experience to

the task of managing the world’s greatest fire department. We are choosing Sal not just on the basis ofthat very impressive record, but even more important, because of Sal’s vision for the future of the FDNY.”

Cassano is well-respected by departmental rank-and-file personnel and takes over a department intransition and one that has rebuilt itself following the losses it suffered on 9/11 and more recentbudget cuts. In accepting the appointment, Cassano, who turned 65 this year, promised to “continue tobuild on what has made us successful, while always looking for new ways to improve.”

Unlike his predecessor, Cassano assumes the office of Commissioner after serving the FDNY since1969, when he joined the force as a firefighter at a Lower Manhattan firehouse. He went on to risethrough the ranks and was named chief of operations after the collapse of the World Trade Center,which claimed the lives of 343 FDNY personnel.

Alumni Relations DirectorHelen Covington Retires

In February 2010, New York City Collegeof Technology bid farewell to long-termDirector of Alumni Relations HelenCovington, who shepherded the AlumniAssociation’s growth and resurgence fornearly 15 years.

Under her direction, the association’s active membership multipliedat least ten-fold. She established its annual “New York HarborCruise & Graduation Celebration,” now in its thirteenth year,the Alumni vs. Faculty/Staff Basketball Game, and reuniondinner/dance events for its Schools of Technology & Design,Professional Studies and Arts & Sciences. She recently initiated aseries of well-attended networking receptions that brought notedspeakers together with alumni to provide guidance in dealing withjob searches and other related issues in a troubled economy.

Her vision and hard work engaged alumni in service to neighboringGeorge Westinghouse Technical High School students through amentoring partnership that helped better prepare scores of youngmen and women for the challenges they would face in college. Amore recent mentoring project, now in its second year, is pairing CityTech alumnae with women students pursuing careers in fields inwhich women long have been underrepresented.

Under her oversight, City Tech’s participation in the annual CUNYCampaign for Voluntary Charitable Giving met or exceededcampaign goals for most of the past decade or more. Through thecampaign, faculty and staff contribute to more than 600 charitableorganizations nationwide, including the City Tech Foundation andthe College’s Child Care Center.

Prior to heading the Office of Alumni Relations at City Tech, Ms.Covington served as executive secretary to late attorney Stanley Fink,a former Speaker of the New York State Assembly and a member ofThe City University of New York’s Board of Trustees. Following herretirement, City Tech’s Office of Development will temporarilyoversee alumni relations activities until a new head is in place.

connections 7

In the heart of City Tech lies aroom that comes alive eachevening with the energy andexcitement of students. Thesestudents gather nightly during the fall and spring semesters onthe third floor of Namm Hall toreach out by telephone to alumniand other friends of the Collegeacross the nation. Their mission is to increase Annual Givingparticipation and strengthen tieswith those who are not able toregularly visit the campus. What’smore, these students are the key element in increasing theunrestricted support essential toCity Tech’s continued success.

Our student callers are committedto helping maintain and enhancethe City Tech experience for todayand tomorrow’s students. Theyvalue the quality education theyreceive at City Tech and recognizethe life-long advantages that it will provide. So when you see CityTech on your Caller ID, pick up the phone and at the very leastupdate our alumni records and letus know how you can give back toyour alma mater.

Phonathon

In October 2009, City Tech hosted aday-long conference, “Synergy in STEM:Bringing Mathematics, Physics andEngineering Together,” in the College’sAtrium Amphitheater. The aim of theconference was to promote an exchangeof ideas and experiences among thoseinterested and involved in the transfer oflearning in Mathematics, Physics,Engineering and Computer Science. ThePlenary Session, four subsequent ParallelSessions and a Poster Session provided aforum for presenting and discussingcurrent research and applications inwhich the major emphasis was on thetransfer of learning in the STEMdisciplines. Thirty-eight presentationsfrom these sessions covered the widespectrum in STEM education.

This conference provided theopportunity for 98 participants from 20institutions to demonstrate the high

quality research they are conducting andto discuss the results of their researchand the future in STEM education. Theparticipating colleges and universitieswere Borough ofManhattanCommunity College,Bronx CommunityCollege, BrooklynCollege, CaliforniaState University/LongBeach, City College ofNew York, Florida A&M University,Graduate School and UniversityCenter/CUNY, Hostos CommunityCollege, Kansas University, LaGuardiaCommunity College, NassauCommunity College, Penn StateErie/The Behrend College, RutgersUniversity, University ofWisconsin/Madison, University ofWashington/Tacoma, Savannah State

University, Syracuse University, WesternMichigan University, Vaughn College ofAeronautics and Technology, in additionto City Tech.

This was the first conference ofits kind ever held. Conferenceorganizers were City TechProfessors Roman Kezerashvili,chair, Candido Cabo, BorisGelman, Sunghoon Jang,Hong Li, Janet Liou-Mark,Djafar Mynbaev, Alexander

Rozenblyum, Justin Vazquez-Poritz,Viviana Vladutescu and Special Assistantto the President Stephen M. Soiffer.Welcoming remarks and greetings wereprovided by Dr. Russell Hotzler,president of New York City College ofTechnology, Dr. Pamela Brown, dean ofthe School of Arts & Sciences, and Dr.Kezerashvili.

8 connections

2009 STEM CONFERENCE

“Smoke wafted through the streets as I drove with three other photographersthrough the crumbled alleys of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.”

So begins the account of Todd Maisel, an adjunct professor of advertising design andgraphic arts, who covered the earthquake’s aftermath for the New York Daily News.

“We saw a crowd and discovered a man clinging to life inside a corpse-filled office that was reduced to rubble,” he relates. “Aftermore than eight sweat-filled hours, the Israeli rescuers yanked him out. At the waiting ambulance, smiling Haitians clapped andcheered. So much horror and suffering for days and finally, someone comes out alive. I watched the Israeli soldiers and rescuersembracing each other, and I just broke down and cried.”

When Hospitality Management Professor Jean Claude lived in Florida, he experienced hurricanes. “I never thought I would bein an earthquake,” he says. He was proven wrong when, visiting his family in Haiti during the break between semesters, hewas 15 to 20 miles from the epicenter.

“There is no way to describe how terrifying it was to see all the flattened land,” he explains. “The Haitian people are resilient andthe country can recover, if the international community doesn’t desert it.”

Two Faculty Members ExperienceNature’s Wrath in Haiti

Annual Alumni Harbor Cruise

FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2010Chelsea Piers, West 23rd Street, ManhattanBoarding 7:15 p.m., Returning 11:00 p.m.$85 per person, $150 per couple

For more information call 718.260.5006

SAVETHEDATE!

connections 9

ALUMNI REUNIONSchool of Professional StudiesFall 2010 Accounting • Accountancy Business • Career and Technology Teacher Education • Child Care •Child Welfare • Community Servant Assistant • Dental Hygiene • Dental Laboratory Technology •Distribution-Retail • Executive Assisting • Education Associate • Fashion Marketing • HealthServices Administration • Hospitality Management • Human Services • H.S.-Gerentology • Hoteland Restaurant Management • Hotel Technology • Law and Paralegal Studies • Marketing •Medical Laboratory Technology • Nursing • Ophthalmic Dispensing • Occupational TeacherEducation • Pre-Health • Radiologic Technology and Medical Imaging • Restorative Dentistry •Retail Distribution • Secretarial Science • Vision Care Technology • X-Ray Technology

Keep an eye out…we’ll be sending more information and invitations soon!

Foundation Corner

Con

nect

ions

©2010

Professor Emerita and City TechFoundation Vice Chair LorraineBeitler participated in asymposium, “Why the DreyfusAffair is Relevant Today,” in Tel Avivand attended a two-day GlobalForum for Combating Anti-Semitismin Jerusalem in December 2009.Dr. Beitler has been activethroughout her life in defendingdemocratic ideals, particularly ineducation and human rights.

Dr. Beitler’s is an expert on the“Dreyfus Affair.” Her collection oforiginal artifacts from the periodhas been exhibited across threecontinents and tells the story of

Jewish French Army Captain AlfredDreyfus, who was accused in 1894of selling military secrets toGermany. Dreyfus was convicted oftreason in a rigged court martialand sentenced to life imprisonmenton Devil’s Island off the coast ofSouth America. The French mediafostered a frenzy of anti-Semitism inthe wake of what became knownworldwide as “The Dreyfus Affair,”but 12 years later the noted Frenchwriter and journalist Emil Zolapublished his now famous letter,“J’Accuse,” which led to a publicretrial and the eventual exonerationof Dreyfus.

CITY TECH BOARD MEMBER ATTENDS SYMPOSIUM PLANNED GIVING

This is an exciting time at City Techas student enrollment and additions tofull-time faculty soar. What’s more,the College is about to bring thecurtain down on Klitgord CenterAuditorium and other facilities inpreparation for construction of a newstate-of-the-art academic buildingexpected to begin later this year ornext year.

Despite all that City Tech has to boastabout, providing its 15,400 studentswith a first-rate education and anengaging academic environmentremains the College’s top priority. Youcan help us maintain our highstandards for tomorrow’s scholars byremembering City Tech in your estateplan. As you think about yourintentions, you’ll find our brochure,Eleven Things To Remember, a valuablereminder of estate planning basics andour booklet, How To Make A Will ThatWorks, which offers valuableinformation that will be helpful to youas you plan for the long-termdistribution of your property to family,friends and charitable interests,especially in light of recent tax lawchanges that may result in morefreedom as you decide how yourproperty is ultimately distributed.

Contact us atfoundation@citytech.cuny.edu or write us at City Tech Foundation,300 Jay Street, Namm Hall 323,Brooklyn, NY 11201, to requestcopies of these publications.

10 connections

We are proud to announce that theCUNY Campaign for VoluntaryCharitable Giving exceeded its goalof $27,000 this year by raising$30,000, of which over $20,000was earmarked for the City TechFoundation and City Tech Children'sCenter.

The CUNY Campaign for VoluntaryCharitable Giving is a long-standing

tradition in the CUNY community. Itis the University's annual charitablefundraising drive which takes placethroughout the City University ofNew York system. Its basic aim is toenable the entire University to cometogether and address critical health,human, environmental and otherchallenges facing communities inNew York City and the nation.

The CUNY Campaign is designed toprovide the CUNY community theopportunity to give to charities oftheir choice. The campaign is theonly University-wide annualcharitable fundraising drive. It hasjust completed its twenty-sixth year.

CUNY CAMPAIGN

Prior to joining Amalgamated Life,David J. Walsh served as executivevice president and member of theoffice of the president for SBLI USAMutual Life Insurance Company andits family of companies. Previously, heserved as senior vice president andgeneral counsel for Swiss Re Americaand superintendent and corporatecounsel for Swiss Re Life & Health.Mr. Walsh has also served as generalcounsel of the Domestic BrokerageGroup of AIG and director of insurancefor the State of Alaska. He has heldother positions in the insurance

industry, including serving as amember of the U.S. delegation to theOrganization for Economic Co-operationand Development and the Anchorage,Alaska Assembly (City Council).

Mr. Walsh earned his Juris Doctordegree from the University ofWisconsin, a master's degree inbusiness administration fromAlaska Pacific University and abachelor's degree in psychologyfrom Loras College in Dubuque,Iowa. He currently serves on theadvisory board of the Greater NewYork Council of the Boy

Scouts of America and theInsurance Federation of New York.He is a member of the Board ofRegents of Loras College inDubuque. In addition, he wasadjunct professor of law at PaceUniversity Law School from 1998to 2004 and is a frequent publicspeaker. Mr. Walsh has alsoserved as president of theNational Association of InsuranceCommissioners (NAIC) and was theco-founder and first chairman ofthe International Association ofInsurance Supervisors.

connections 11

DAVID J. WALSH, PRESIDENT & CEO OF AMALGAMATED LIFE JOINS CITY TECH FOUNDATION BOARD OF DIRECTORS

2010 BEST OF NEW YORK AWARD DINNER

The New York City College ofTechnology Foundation will host itsBest of New York Award Dinner onMonday, May 17, 2010, at the HiltonNew York in Manhattan. The eveningwill begin with a Guest of HonorReception at 6 p.m., followed by dinnerand the awards ceremony at 7 p.m.

This year’s honorees include FourSeasons Restaurant co-owner JulianNiccolini, “Geraldo at Large” host,Geraldo Rivera, Executive Director,District Council 37, AFSCME/AFL-CIO,Lillian Roberts and White HouseExecutive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses. Some400 corporate and community leaders,union officials, educators, public officials

and other good friends of the Collegeare expected to attend.

Celebrity chef Michael Lomonaco, willserve as Master of Ceremonies. PeterMeyer, President NYC Markets, TD Bankand Tom O’Donnell, Theatrical Teamsterswill serve as honorary co-chairs.

Established in 1982, Best of New YorkAward Dinner proceeds help fundfoundation-sponsored scholarships andother student financial assistanceprograms and make it possible for CityTech students to participate in nationaland international conferences andcompetitions. Proceeds also help theCollege maintain state-of-the-art classroomand laboratory facilities and support avariety of faculty development programs.