MAGAZINE NYCOM Grads Make€¦ · MAGAZINE nyit.edu WINTER 2011 VOLUME 9 NUMBER 1 Alumni Bring E-Commerce to Your Doorstep NYCOM Grads Make a Difference Vol9No1_cov1.qxd 12/23/10

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W I N T E R 2 0 1 1 ■ V O L U M E 9 ■ N U M B E R 1

Alumni Bring E-Commerceto Your Doorstep

NYCOM Grads Makea Difference

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Get NYIT apparel atnyit.bkstore.com!

Ties and scarvesSweatshirtsT-shirtsPolo shirtsBaseball capsShortsBanners and pennants

Order online or call 516.686.7584 or 212.261.1551All major credit cards accepted • International shipping available

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FEATU R ES2 6 ■ MINDING THE

DIGITAL BUSINESS

As scientists, engineers, and business lead-ers, NYIT alumni are playing their part in the technology-fueled transformationof the global marketplace.

1 8 ■ A DEGREE OF DIFFERENCE

Meet four osteopathic physicians who are using their NYIT degrees to bringhealing solutions to patients everywhere.

C O N T E N T S W I N T E R 2 0 1 1 ■ V O L . 9 N O . 1M AG A Z I N E

nyi t .edu

PRESIDENT’S NOTE

4 ■ Promises KeptNYIT remains committed to expand-ing efforts to improve the future ofour students.

CAM PUS BUZZ

6 ■ NYIT Helps Fight. Cyberspace InvadersNYIT welcomes Internet securityexperts, government officials, and leading researchers to its first annualCyber Security Conference.

7 ■ Students Recognized For. “Intrepid” DesignAn interdisciplinary group of studentswin a competition to design a newsustainable hangar for the legendaryUSS Intrepid.

9 ■ Partnership Focuses on App . Solutions for K-12 StudentsNYIT and Google team up to bringGoogle Apps for Education to morethan three million students in New York.

10 ■ Grad Student Earns Recognition in India

M.B.A. student Shail Choksi is awardedone of his homeland’s greatesthonors from the prime

minister of India.

12 ■ Hear and NowMeet Patricia Chute,Ed.D., dean of theSchool of HealthProfessions.

SCOREBOARD

14 ■ Hot to Globetrot For basketball player

Kirk “Zeus” Stewart (B.S. ’08), scoring points

is one thing, but scoringsmiles is much better.

1 6 ■ HEALING VOYAGE

The Center for Global Health and NYIT’s student chapter of EngineersWithout Borders provide medical and engineering assistance in Ghana.

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ALUM N I NOTES

32 ■ Grads on the Go

35 ■ Alumni Spotlight

With positions at Dell and Razer,Rick Carini (B.S. ’78) has built areputation for bringing qualityhardware to gamers worldwide.

Winter 2011 ■ MAGAZINE ■ nyit.edu ■ 3

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PR ES IDENT’SNOTE EDWAR D G U I L IANO, PH.D .

4 ■ nyit.edu ■ MAGAZINE ■ Winter 2011

Wander through our buildings andyou will find even more: smart boards;distributed learning centers that canconnect students and faculty to theircounterparts thousands of miles away;or the digital signs announcing studentevents, internships, and more. Every-thing is clean and well maintained.

“One must have a good memory,”Friedrich Nietzsche said, “to be able tokeep the promises that one makes.”Well, we will all need capacious mem-ories because NYIT is bent on fulfill-ing the promises it has made.

We are listening to students andprofessors, of course. We harnessedtheir enthusiasm and devised a solar-powered station to charge NYIT’svehicles in Old Westbury. We are alsoseeking the advice of companies thatare hiring our graduates, and we vowto listen carefully and follow thatadvice when possible. For example,architectural firms wanted us to builda space that would mirror an archi-tect’s office, so we did. For visitinglecturers speaking to students, wewanted a stellar facility for dynamicpresentations. We exceeded all expec-tations; just take a look at the NYITAuditorium on Broadway.

The promises go far beyond whatyou can see in classrooms and park-ing lots. In our visionary plan, NYIT2030, we pledged to do better on allfronts. And so we are: Our endow-ment is up and enrollment is strong.Believe it or not, budgets are up, too.

We told everybody that we wouldincrease the quality of our students.In the fall 2010 semester, NYIT’s

incoming classes had the highest academic credentials we’ve ever seen.Students enrolling in our architectureprogram, for example, earned anaverage of 30 points higher on theirSATs than those entering last year,while the GMAT scores of our newM.B.A. students have risen nearly 70 points.

We are emphasizing these advancesfor reasons that are far more importantthan bragging rights. At a time whenthose paying college tuition are askingfor excellence and prominence inreturn, we are delivering.

As the number of high school gradu-

ates declines in America’s Northeast,we have promised to redouble ourefforts to attract students from otherregions. We are doing that, too. Thisfall, the campuses in our New Yorkhub benefitted from a 14 percentincrease in students enrolling fromareas such as Florida, Georgia,Maryland, and Washington, D.C. We also are welcoming more students

from places such as Turkey,South Korea, and China … in all, 106 nations—a recordhigh for us.

Outside observers arealready noticing our improve-ments. Over the summer, theChronicle of Higher Educationnamed us a great college towork for.

As a U.S.-based institution,NYIT also has an obligation to help America retain its com-petitive edge, especially at atime when six countries consid-ered emerging economies areachieving increases in collegecompletion at twice the U.S.rate. The nation that democra-tized higher education afterWorld War II with the G.I. bill is now lagging, and it is upto higher education to helpgraduate the next generation of professionals.

In response to this, I havechallenged all of our instructors to forge learning experiences thatpush students to the next level andmake better use of technology in the classroom.

Even in these difficult times, NYITremains committed to expanding ourefforts to improve the education andcareer prospects of our students asthey lead us into the 21st century. ■

Sincerely,

Edward Guiliano, Ph.D.President

TROLL AROUND ONE OF OUR CAMPUSES—FROM NEW YORK TO

NANJING—AND YOU’LL SEE EVIDENCE OF PROMISES KEPT. FIRST

YOU’LL NOTICE THE BRICKS-AND-MORTAR EVIDENCE: THE 10,000 SQUARE

FEET WE ARE ADDING AT NYIT-OLD WESTBURY’S STUDENT ACTIVITIES

CENTER OR THE 42,000 SQUARE FEET OF ADDITIONAL SPACE AT NYIT-

MANHATTAN IN THE HEART OF COLUMBUS CIRCLE.

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The NYIT Alumni Federation invites youto join inCircle, our online networking site

exclusively for NYIT graduates.

■ Stay in touch with friends and reconnect with classmates■ Submit news about yourself for publication in NYIT Magazine

■ Search for career opportunities and post your resumé■ Upload and share photos

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CAM P U SB U Z Z


T o help counter the alarming rise ofInternet attacks worldwide, NYIThosted its first annual Cyber Security

Conference on Sept. 15 at the NYITAuditorium on Broadway. Sponsored bythe School of Engineering and Comput-ing Sciences, the event featured faculty,information technology experts, and gov-ernment officials who discussed currentand future online vulnerabilities, privacyconcerns, and how to deal with wide-spread security breaches with an audiencethat included security administrators, business executives, and NYIT students.

“The Internet is the spinal cord of21st-century progress,” said PresidentGuiliano as he welcomed attendees.

“It affects almost every aspect of ourlives. In addition, it is also the world’smarketplace, handling $10 trillion infinancial transactions annually andserves as the control system for manynations around the world.”

Special agents Jim Capozzi, JohnLeo, and Chris Tarbell of the FBI’sNew York Cyber Squad detailedattacks challenging financial institu-tions, governments, and organiza-tions, including various spyware, theZeus botnet attack, and internationalschemes to recruit students to carryout security breaches.

The conference also featured akeynote address by Eric Cole,Ph.D., (B.S. ’93, M.S. ’94), whowas featured in the Fall 2009 issueof NYIT Magazine (“Sentries of the21st Century”). He serves as chieftechnology officer of the Americasfor McAfee and is involved with the

SANS Technology Institute. He dis-cussed how malicious code and attacksare increasing in frequency and in theamount of damage they cause users.

“Today, we are dealing with cyber can-cer,” he said. “Years ago, cyber attacks were

more like the common cold. Now if youwait for visible signs, it is too late. If you’renot seeing them, you’re not looking in theright spots.”

Internet security expert Bill Cheswick ofAT&T Research, who was recognized asone of the top 100 influential IT people inthe world by eWeek and is the author ofFirewalls and Internet Security: Repelling theWily Hacker, led the second keynote pres-entation by identifying the myths of pass-word security used by several high-profileorganizations and addressed attacks such askeystroke loggers, phishing schemes, andpassword database compromise.

Other presentations included sessionsabout open source standards, protectingand securing IPs (presented by NYITalumnus Steven Rubin [B.S. ’94]), and adiscussion of cloud computing led by Paul Stirpe, Ph.D., of NYIT’s School ofEngineering and Computing Sciences.Stirpe later moderated a panel discussionfeaturing leading experts from top globaltechnology firms who explored the securitychallenges of CEOs, models to make educated decisions in security efforts, theeffects of malware, and privacy issues related to social media as well as variousissues raised by audience members.

“This is an important, exciting time incyber security,” said President Guiliano.“Maybe too exciting.” ■

Eric Cole, Ph.D., (B.S. ’93, M.S. ’94) and Dean Nada Anid, Ph.D., of the School of Engineering and Com-puting Sciences. In his keynote address, Cole urged attendees not to wait for the signs of a cyber attack tostart protecting their digital assets. “If you’re not seeing them,” he said, “you’re not looking in the right spots.”

FBI Cyber Squad members share information on the latest Internet attack strategies employed by hackers.

NYIT Helps Fight Cyberspace Invaders

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Athree-month-long competition among 12 NYIT student teamscame to a close on Dec. 7 when a panel of judges chose the winning design of an energy-efficient hangar for the historic

USS Intrepid.The winners—an interdisciplinary group of 11 students from NYIT’s

architecture, engineering, health care, and education programs—earned $3,000 and the honor of creating a permanent addition to thedistinguished aircraft carrier, which was launched in 1943.

“We are extremely happy that the design is to become a piece of history on the USS Intrepid,” said senior Luke Ferland, one of themembers of the winning team, Alphabet Soup. “Each member not onlybrought a different academic discipline to the process but also a uniquevoice and life experience that enabled us to strike a balance amongarchitecture, engineering, and sustainability.”

The winning design, chosen by representatives of NYIT and theIntrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, includes five descending tiers representing the five kamikaze attacks the vessel sustained throughoutWorld War II. Working within a maximum projected budget of $1 million for materials and construction, the students’ design also featuressteel and glass structures that incorporate renewable energy throughwind turbines and solar panels. In addition, the plan includes spaces toaccommodate aircraft restoration, educational areas, and rental projects.

“Every team presented fabulous designs,” said Susan Maranoff, executive director of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. “Thiscompetition profoundly embodied our mission to educate and inspire,and we truly have inspired each other.”

In January 2011, the students will work with museum staff and consultants to formulate their designs into detailed construction plans.

“Partnerships like this are an opportunity to enrich our students’classroom experience and theoretical knowledge with real-worldproblems,” said Nada Anid, Ph.D., dean of NYIT’s School ofEngineering and Computing Sciences. “Through this competition,students worked with teammates toward specific design goals, whileincorporating input from engineers and experts from theIntrepid museum.”

The competition was sponsored by Ted MoudisAssociates Architecture and Design as well asthe Long Island Forum for Technology. ■

Students Recognized For

“Intrepid” Design

Alphabet Soup team members include (from left): Ryan Metz,Antonella Verderosa, Samuel Franck Nde Tene, Ben Alling, ZachSanzo, Luke Ferland, Katerina Skiadas, Jobin George, KevinBruno, Dominic Tetro, and Nicholas Zangiacomi.

Launched in 1943, the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid fought inseveral major battles throughout World War II. In later years, itparticipated in the Vietnam War and served as a recovery vesselfor NASA’s Mercury and Gemini missions.

Physical and 3-D models of the student designs

were created to facilitate the presentation of the winning design.

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Faculty and Staff Honoredfor Technology Excellence


MICHAEL SCHIAVETTA(M.A. ’07)

[email protected]

SABRINA POLIDOROSports Information Director

[email protected]

CONTRIBUTORS

BOBBIE DELL’AQUILODirector, Editorial Services

[email protected]

BRIANA SAMUELSCommunications

[email protected]

DIANE BERKENFELDDAVE MARCUS

JENNIFER STROPPELDAVID MCKAY WILSON

Contributing Writers

MICHAEL VIGGIANODesigner

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Old Westbury, NY 11568-8000

Visit us at nyit.eduor call 800.345.NYIT

The publication is distributed toalumni, parents, friends, and

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Copyright © 2011 NYITReproduction in whole or

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M AG A Z I N Enyi t .edu

Winners of the First Annual Presidential TechnologyAwards with President Guiliano.

Members of NYIT’s Office of the Registrar were thewinners of the Presidential Technology Award in theService of Students.

At NYIT’s annual convocation on Sept. 2,President Guiliano honored faculty and staff who have demonstrated the best

uses of technology for the betterment of stu-dents and the university as a whole. Pictured tothe right are the winners of the first annualPresidential Technology awards (from left):Allan William Martin, assistant professor ofarchitecture (Technology in the Teaching andLearning Process for Full-Time Faculty);George Lancer, adjunct professor of mathematics(Technology in the Teaching and Learning Pro-cess for Part-Time Faculty); Guy Hildebrandt onbehalf of the Office of the Registrar (Technologyin the Service of Students); President Guiliano;Hui-Yin Hsu, coordinator of the CollegeReading Placement Program and assistant pro-fessor in the School of Education (Use of Tech-nology in Research and/or Creative Expression);and Daniel Quigley, associate professor ofEnglish (First-Time Use of Online or OtherTechnological Resources in the Teaching andLearning Process).

Held at the NYIT Auditorium on Broadway,the annual convocation kicked off the start of the 2010-2011 academic year and featuredan address by President Guiliano, who high-lighted the university’s commitment to deliv-ering quality 21st-century global educationthrough technology investments, the imple-mentation of a new core curriculum, andinternational expansion. ■

NYIT received a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation for a collaborative,interdisciplinary project with Utah State University that allows K-12 teachers in New York

and Utah to use information and communications technologies as cognitive tools for engag-ing students in scientific inquiry.

The project, “Collaborative Research—Cyber-Enabled Learning: Digital Natives in IntegratedScientific Inquiry Classrooms,” will determine the professional development needed to helpteachers incorporate multi-user simulations and communications in the fields of science,technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Associate Professor Shiang-Kwei Wang, Ph.D., of NYIT’s School of Education will lead theproject in New York along with Hui-Yin Hsu, assistant professor of education, and LisaRunco, Ph.D., professor of life sciences in NYIT’s College of Arts and Sciences.

“This award supports research-based pedagogies in the K-12 classrooms, enhancesteachers’ science and technology literacy, and cultivates students’ 21st-century skills,” saidWang. “It is a great interdisciplinary collaboration between the education and science depart-ments at NYIT and the science education department at Utah State University.” ■

NSF Grant Facilitates Classroom Learning

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Partnership Focuseson App Solutions for K-12 StudentsGoogle and NYIT announced plans to bring Google

Apps for Education, which provides e-mail support,document sharing, and integrated video chat, to more thanthree million K-12 students across 697 public school dis-tricts and all non-public and charter schools in New York.

“Google Apps not only has the core tool sets usedby schools, but they are natively built to encourage collaboration and interaction between teachers andstudents in schools and across districts,” said StanleySilverman, director of NYIT’s Technology-BasedLearning Systems (TBLS) group and professor in theSchool of Education, at a press conference inside theNYIT Auditorium on Broadway on Oct. 5. “This set of capabilities encourages the development of every student’s 21st-century skills while mastering the corelearning standards.”

A similar agreement with the Oracle EducationFoundation will allow NYIT to bring ThinkQuest, anonline learning platform, to more than 8,500 studentsin New York over the next two years. ThinkQuest helpsstudents develop important 21st-century skills as well,including global communication, critical thinking, andWeb-based technology skills.

“These educational partnerships instill in students alove for learning through challenging projects, enrichtheir classroom experiences with real applications, andprepare them to be the leaders of tomorrow,” saidNada Anid, Ph.D., dean of NYIT’s School ofEngineering and Computing Sciences.

For years, NYIT’s TBLS group has helped New Yorkschool districts incorporate technological solutions thatfacilitate classroom learning through partnerships withNew York State Teachers Centers, the Boards ofCooperative Educational Services, United Federation ofTeachers, New York State United Teachers, and otherNew York professional education organizations. ■

Jaime Casap, Google Apps education manager, discusses howtechnology is crucial to the future of global education at a pressevent on Oct. 5, 2010, at the NYIT Auditorium on Broadway.

GM and NYIT PursueAlternative Synergy

General Motors (GM) provided a $140,000 researchgrant to NYIT to assist the automotive giant inimproving the quality and performance of its first

generation of alternative energy vehicles. Specifically, Qing (Cindy) Chang, Ph.D., assistant professor of mechan-ical engineering, will work with graduate students in theSchool of Engineering and Computing Sciences to developa management methodology of battery manufacturing forthese vehicles, which are anticipated to hit the market in 2011.

The grant also supports Chang’s research in identifyingenergy efficiency bottlenecks in GM’s manufacturing facilitiesand in integrating energy management into production con-trol to increase efficiency.

“These exciting projects have opened the door at NYIT forfuture collaborations with GM,” said Chang, who served as asenior researcher for the company. In addition, NYIT andGM have signed an agreement paving the way for future collaborative projects. ■

New Core CurriculumReadies Future Grads

To prepare current students for today’s ever-changing globalmarketplace, NYIT implemented its new Discovery CoreCurriculum for the 21st-Century for all incoming first-

year students this past fall. The curriculum provides studentswith an outcomes-oriented education that emphasizes the needs of companies seeking workers with specific expertise.

These skills drive the learning outcomes of the core cur-riculum. They include communications, critical and analyticalthinking, an interdisciplinary mindset, ethical and civicengagement, global perspectives, and arts and sciences.

“In order for students to be able to advance in their careers,they need to be confident in areas beyond their professionalexpertise,” said Nicholas Bloom, Ph.D., director of the corecurriculum and chair of the interdisciplinary studies depart-ment at NYIT. “They must be able to demonstrate that theycan find new information, organize it, write about it, speakabout it, and sell it to other people.”

All programs at campuses worldwide will incorporate thelearning outcomes to complement the technology-drivencurriculum that has been the cornerstone of an NYIT educa-tion. With this new focus on the rapidly changing qualifica-tions of the job market, students will graduate with know-ledge of their chosen fields as well as professional skills andabilities necessary to adapt to new developments, technolo-gies, and practices.

“This new core curriculum signifies a coherent educationalgoal for all undergraduate students from all disciplines,” saidRoger Yu, dean of NYIT’s College of Arts and Sciences. ■

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NYIT ArchitectsBurb TheirEnthusiasm

A n NYIT professor, student, andalumna are among the People’sChoice winners of the “Build a

Better Burb” Ideas Competition forRetrofitting Long Island’s Downtowns.Online survey respondents selected theirdesign from among 212 entries aroundthe world. Sponsored by the Long IslandIndex, the competition invited architects,urban designers, planners, students, andvisionaries to submit bold design ideas for83,000 unused acres in one or more of156 Long Island downtown and train-adjacent areas, while addressing island-wide challenges.

NYIT’s entry, “LIRR: Long IslandRadically Rezoned,” was designed byAssistant Professor Tobias Holler of NYIT’sSchool of Architecture and Design, archi-tecture student Katelyn Mulry, Ana Serra(B. Arch. ’96), associate sustainability consultant for engineering firm BuroHappold, and Sven Peters, principal ofAtelier Sven Peters. It calls for a self-sufficient and regenerative island, withland to be developed partially as greenspace and partially as high-density, mixeduse downtown areas located around LongIsland Rail Road stations. These down-town areas would include stores, offices,and housing built in areas where parkinglots currently exist. The team also pro-posed energy from wind turbines locatedoff the coast of Long Island, food grownunder domes, rainwater harvesting, and awaste recycling process.

“Sustainability is a common thread ineach of our personal and professionallives,” said Holler. “Once we started thecompetition, we immediately realized that there were many problems that areinterconnected and need to be solvedsimultaneously. It was not sufficient tojust address the mass transit problem, orthe energy problem or the food problem.The most interesting aspect of this exer-cise was finding synergies that allowed us to have a holistic strategy in order toput Long Island on a path toward self-sufficiency and provide a better life forresidents and visitors.” ■

Grad Student EarnsRecognition in India

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Ph.D., presented the Rajiv GandhiRastryia Ekta Samman award to NYIT student Shail Choksi for his service inhelping the people of India. Specifically, Choksi, an IT consultant for the Indian

government in Gujarat, was recognized for a website he designed to market handi-craft products such as wall hangings, purses, and tablecloths. Because handicraft salesare a main source of income for many Indian artisans, the M.B.A. student was hiredby the government to coordinate the sales of the products and then developed arobust e-commerce website to market and sell the handicrafts. The award was pre-sented at the All India National Unity Conference on Aug. 20.

“National awards are a symbol of pride for the nation, and receiving recognitionfor my work will continue to motivate me in my educational, professional, andpersonal endeavors,” said Choksi, who is also president of the Indian GraduateStudents Association at NYIT. ■

NYIT-Bahrain Conducts Blood DriveStudents and faculty volunteers

helped coordinate a blooddrive on Nov. 25 for the SalminayaMedical Complex in Manama,Bahrain. In a letter to NYIT-Bahrain,Fakhriya A. Darwish, head of theSalmaniya Medical Complex Cen-tral Blood Bank, wrote that thegroup “rendered exemplary human-itarian service that no money canbuy. Their gift of life will go a longway in saving lives and helping the diseased.” ■

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NYIT recently welcomed reporter,author, and teacher Dave Marcusas its director of media and

public relations, overseeing the univer-sity’s global communications strategyacross all campuses.

Previously, Marcus worked forNewsday and U.S. News & World Reportas an award-winning education reporter.He is also the author of Acceptance: ALegendary Guidance Counselor Helps SevenKids Find the Right Colleges—and FindThemselves. In addition, he is a contribu-tor to the New York Times’ “The Choice”blog about college admissions.

“In a time of economic unease, it’simportant for people to understand howhigher education—NYIT, in particular—vigorously prepares students for careers in the technology-driven 21st centurymarketplace,” said Marcus. “I look for-ward to telling the world about NYIT’sprograms and its many successes.”

Marcus was also a columnist, nationalreporter, and foreign correspondent forthe Boston Globe, Dallas Morning News,and Miami Herald, covering such storiesas the breakup of the Soviet Union, theU.S. military invasion of Panama, andpolitical upheaval in South America. In1994, he shared the Pulitzer Prize forInternational Reporting for a seriesabout violence against women aroundthe world.

Furthermore, Marcus has served as an

adjunct professor and visiting lecturer at the University of Massachusetts andIthaca College, a guest teacher atDartmouth’s Tuck School of Business,and an English teacher at DeerfieldAcademy. He holds a bachelor’s degreefrom Brown University, studied at theUniversidad de Los Andes in Bogota,Colombia, and was a Neiman Fellow at Harvard University. ■

NYIT EARNS TOP MARKSFor the 13th consecutive year,

NYIT has been ranked as a top university in the north in U.S. News& World Report’s “2011 BestColleges” among regional schoolsthat offer a full range of undergrad-uate and master’s programs. Morethan 1,400 accredited four-yearschools were included in this year’slist and were ranked based on peerassessment, graduation and reten-tion rates, faculty resources, stu-dent selectivity, financial resources,and alumni giving.

In addition, the Chronicle of HigherEducation cited NYIT as one of thebest colleges to work for in a surveyof more than 42,000 employees at 277 U.S. institutions of higherlearning.

Lastly, the Daily Beast rankedNYIT-Old Westbury the secondsafest college campus in theUnited States on a list of the top50 most dangerous and top 50safest schools.

LEADER IN TECHNOLOGYNada Anid, Ph.D., dean of the

School of Engineering and Comput-ing Sciences, received the DiamondAward from LISTnet, the Long IslandSoftware & Technology Network. Theaward recognizes individuals whosecontributions have advanced womenin technology on Long Island. ■

IN BRIEF


Pulitzer Prize-WinningJournalist Joins NYIT

Education writer and Pulitzer Prize-winningreporter Dave Marcus joins NYIT as director of media and public relations.

Students experienced the world of finance firsthand on Nov. 17 at NYIT’sthird annual Day on Wall Street. Sponsored by the School of Management

and the Office of Alumni Relations, the event gave students the opportunity tointeract with NYIT alumni who work for noteworthy financial institutions and discuss investments, credit markets, and how classroom experiences help leadto successful careers. Speakers included: Jelani Arnold (M.B.A. ’06), managerof production at Broadridge Financial; Bill Jacoutot (B.S. ’03), senior director ofQuality Control at Broadridge Financial; Crystal Langdon, founder of CrystalClear Finances; Boaz Rahav (M.B.A. ’98), senior managing director at North-east Securities; and Chris Erickson (B.S. ’85), managing director and globalCOO of Prime Services UBS. ■

Students Enjoy a Wall Street Education

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For more than 20 years, Patricia Chute, Ed.D., has served as a keyplayer in medical education. With expertise in audiology and aresume that includes providing medical assistance to hearing-impaired children and adults around the world, her academic careercomprises faculty appointments at Albert Einstein College ofMedicine, University of Florida, Iona College, and LehmanCollege. Most recently, Chute served as dean of the School ofHealth and Natural Sciences at Mercy College in New York, whereshe was a faculty member since 2000. The Brooklyn, N.Y., nativeearned her bachelor’s degree in communication disorders and hermaster’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from CUNYHunter College, as well as an Ed.D. in audiology from TeachersCollege at Columbia University. Chute shares her plans, her past,and her passion for health care with NYIT Magazine.

What attracted you to NYIT?Its global presence, a commitment to providing access to

opportunity, and a strong focus on professional, 21st-centuryeducation for all qualified students. I’ve spent a good deal of timearound the world as a health provider, which makes me respectthe global collaboration NYIT is developing throughout its cam-puses. I agree wholeheartedly in the professional benefits ofawarding degrees that offer students a liberal arts backgroundcomplemented by a focus on technology.

What is your plan to position NYIT’s School of Health Professions forthe 21st century?

I call my vision “Project HEAL” or “Health Education Acrossthe Lifespan,” a concept that focuses on health education for stu-dents as well as consumers. The first part deals with providingNYIT students with a well-rounded education that emphasizeshealthcare issues that impact patients throughout their entirelives, a crucial skill set for the next generation of health profes-sionals. The second part involves community outreach toincrease health literacy among the general population andimprove relationships between practitioners and patients.

Now that you’re at NYIT, what are some of your immediate goals? One of my primary goals is to continue to make the academic

programs at NYIT and its School of Health Professions amongthe most distinctive and innovative in the world. I am focused on

cultivating a collaborative environment with faculty to ensurethey have the most current approaches to teaching and curricu-lum development. For students, I plan to incorporate programsthat help them maximize their potential as future health profes-sionals. Additionally, I will be forging relationships with alumniand other partners for assistance in supporting our students academically, clinically, and financially.

How will the medical profession evolve in the 21st century?Many challenges await us. The United States has barely

scratched the surface in terms of national health. And we mustchallenge our students to continue learning after earning theirNYIT degrees to ensure they are familiar with the latest infor-mation and technology to meet their patients’ needs.

What is your advice to medical students and young health care profes-sionals about to embark on their careers?

Do what you love, love what you do, and you will be success-ful. In order to thrive in this field, you’ll need a passion for want-ing to be a provider of health services. It is not enough to treatjust the physical ailment—you need to treat the whole person tofully understand what is going on within your patient.

In addition, always seek out new technologies, new method-ologies, and new research. As clinicians, we owe it to ourselves,to our patients, and to the future of medicine.

You specialize in cochlear implants. How did you become interestedin audiology?

I was familiar with the challenges of the deaf communitywhen my mother had a hearing loss. In addition, one ofmy childhood friends was deaf. Specializing in cochlearimplants gave me personal fulfillment and incredibleopportunities to work around the world helping chil-dren and adults in major metropolitan areas as well asunderserved countries.

What word best describes you?Supportive … of ideas, of people, and of different

environments. I am very flexible when listening to whatpeople need and always willing to entertain newthoughts and approaches.

Hear and NowMeet Patricia Chute, Ed.D.

NYIT’s new School of Health Professions dean

By Briana Samuels

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As the new dean of NYIT’s School ofHealth Professions, Patricia Chute, Ed.D.,

says one of her primary goals is to continuemaking its academic programs among the

most distinctive and innovative in the world.

A Healthy OutlookDean Chute’s plans for the School of HealthProfessions include:

■ Learn about NYIT’s student-base: What are theirchallenges? What are the learning goals that theyshould be prepared for? What kind of services dowe need to ensure they meet these learning goals?

■ Explore faculty development through obtaininggrants and participating in events.

■ Develop and implement a global strategic plan inwhich students and alumni have opportunities tovisit underserved countries and provide medicalassistance to communities.

■ Develop relationships with alumni and organizeclinical experiences between students and alumni.

■ Establish an NYIT chapter of the Alpha Eta HonorSociety for students and alumni in the School ofHealth Professions.

■ Partner with local organizations to offer informa-tion sessions and medical services for a variety of

community groups.

■ Implement new technologies in ourclassrooms, explore virtual class-

rooms, and teach students throughvirtual case studies.


ow:

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S C O R E B OAR D

Most basketball players meas-ure success by points on thescoreboard. For Kirk “Zeus”

Stewart (B.S. ’08), it’s also aboutsmiles in the audience.

As one of the newest mem-bers of the Harlem Globe-trotters, Stewart clearlyknows a thing or two aboutbasketball. During hiscareer with the NYITBears, the 6’ 7” Brooklyn,N.Y., native averaged 8.5points per game and had87 assists, 45 blocks, and33 steals in 55 gamesplayed. In his senior year,he earned All-ECC sec-ond team honors and wasnamed Player of theWeek after a career-high27 points againstStonehill College. As ajunior, he appeared in all

29 games for the Bears,finished third on the team

with 9.6 points and 4.2boards per game, whileearning All-ECC third

team accolades.Now Stewart is proud to be

part of one of basketball’s great-est franchises. The Globetrotters

are more than just a team—theyare a sports legacy with an all-star

roster that has included legendaryplayers Fred “Curly” Neal, Wilt “The

Stilt” Chamberlain, George “Meadowlark”Lemon, and Reece “Goose” Tatum.Renowned for their showmanship andincredible tricks on and off the court, theGlobetrotters have dazzled audiences inmore than 100 countries since 1926 andposted more than 22,000 wins (mostlyagainst the luckless Washington Generals)throughout their 85-year history.

For Stewart, becoming a Globetrottercame with incredible expectations. “Whenyou come in and put that uniform on, youknow who also wore it,” he says. “As aresult, you seek perfection in yourself.”

Charisma is a vital quality as well, and issomething that Stewart says comes naturallyto him. “We’re in the business of sellingsmiles,” the NYIT alumnus says. “When yousee how naturally charismatic the other play-ers are, it rubs off on you. It’s non-stop fun.”

As a Globetrotter, Stewart’s typical dayincludes bus rides, hotel stays, and fivehours of practice with his teammates. Inaddition, he always keeps a ball by his sideso he can practice tricks and other maneu-vers. He earned the nickname “Zeus” for his powerful dunking technique andmuscular physique.

And when he’s not performing in front ofaudiences to the tune of “Sweet GeorgiaBrown,” Stewart participates in the team’sC.H.E.E.R. program that helps children buildcharacter and encourages healthy behavior.“We all do our part by serving as ambassadorsand visiting children’s hospitals, too,” he says.

Following the Globetrotters’ training campin September, Stewart traveled to France aspart of a European tour that included stops inFrance, Poland, and U.S. military bases. Hejoined his teammates again for an Americantour that kicked off Dec. 26. He returns tothe New York City area in February for astring of games at Madison Square Garden,Nassau Coliseum, and the IZOD Center.

The reality of playing in front of his family, friends, and former classmates as aHarlem Globetrotter is still sinking in forStewart. “Putting smiles on faces and seeinghow kids and families react,” he says. “It’s adream come true.” ■

For information on how to get discounted ticketsto Stewart’s Globetrotter appearances in February,please call the NYIT Department of Athletics at516.686.7504.


By Michael Schiavetta (M.A. ’07)

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Bears Take Top HonorsThe NYIT volleyball team, which fin-ished the 2010 season ranked eighthin the region and third in the EastCoast Conference (ECC), earnedthree of the league’s top honors. First-year outside hitter Shelby Cable wasnamed Rookie of the Year after sevenRookie of the Week honors, and juniorLisa Peacock earned her secondLibero of the Year accolade after averaging a conference best 4.58 digsper set. Head Coach Gail Wasmus,who directed her team from a 15-19record in 2009 to 20-12 in 2010, wasnamed Coach of the Year by her ECCpeers. In addition, junior setter DamlaAlbayrak received second team honors.Both Cable and Peacock were namedto the Daktronics All-East Region team,while Cable, Peacock, and Albayrakreceived American Volleyball CoachesAssociation All-East Region awards.The Bears finished the season with an8-4 record in ECC play.

Kimutai Leads the Pack NYIT’s cross country team closed its2010 season with a solid showing atthe NCAA Division II East Regionalson Nov. 21. Junior Nicholas Koiyet ledthe Bears to a 10th-place finish over-all in the 10K race, while junior JackieToek earned a 27th-place finish forthe women’s team in the 6K race. At the ECC Championship on Nov. 7,sophomore Elphas Kimutai took homefirst place and was named MaleRunner of the Year while Toek earneda second-place finish. The menplaced third overall and the womenclaimed fifth. Earning All-ECC firstteam honors were Kimutai, Koiyet,Toek, and Yvonne Boinett; Moath Al-Kawaldeh was named to the SecondAll-Conference team.

Tennis Makes Its NYIT DebutEarlier this year, NYIT announced the addition of men’s and women’stennis. The women’s team made itsdebut this past fall season with sevenplayers under the leadership of HeadCoach Kelly Waters. Though the team finished with an overall recordof 1-9, sophomore Alexis Tyson ledthe Bears with the most matches won (4). ■

SPORTS BRIEFS

Carlos Del Cid (B.S. ’97) finished the2010 season with a career record of107-56-21.

Carlos Del Cid (B.S. ’97) is the firstNYIT men’s soccer coach to reachthe 100-win plateau. The Bears

earned the victory in a 2-1 overtime gameagainst American International Universityon Sept. 11, 2010. Junior Farah Tourescored the game-winning goal for NYITin the 98th minute. Del Cid finished the2010 season with a career record of 107-56-21. First-year goalkeeper MichaelDoran and midfielder Vinny Caccavalereceived East Coast Conference (ECC)Defensive Player and Rookie of the Weekhonors, respectively. Doran earned thehonor on Oct. 5 after earning his first twocollegiate wins and shutouts. Caccavale’saccolade came on Oct. 11 after he scoredhis first collegiate goal against the Univer-sity of Bridgeport. The Bears finished the2010 season with an 8-8-1 record andwere 2-5 in ECC play. ■

Del Cid Earns 100thCareer Victory

NYIT women’s soccer opened the season with a 3-2overall record before heading into East Coast

Conference (ECC) play. The Bears rode a three-gamewin streak into the middle of September and pushed

it to four games with a 6-0 blanking of St. ThomasAquinas to open league action. NYIT finished the2010 season with an 8-10 record and were 2-3in ECC play. Six of the Bears’ wins this season

have been shutouts, and all have been credit-ed to junior goalkeeper Kathryn Miller

(pictured). Junior defender JennaD’Alessandro was the first Bear thisseason to earn ECC DefensivePlayer of the Week honors on Sept.

16, following a 2-0 win overConcordia and an 11-0 shutout on the

road at Lincoln, in which D’Alessandro scored herfirst goal of the year. Miller followed the next weekwith ECC Defensive Player of the Week honorson Sept. 21 after having her fourth straightshutout in back-to-back wins against Holy Familyand St. Thomas Aquinas. ■

Defense Proves Key


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By Michael Schiavetta (M.A. ’07)Photos by Sriniketh Sundar

In her moment: student Vanessa Parisi of NYIT’sCollege of Osteopathic Medicine holds Kwaku,a newborn she helped deliver while serving aspart of an interdisciplinary team to provide medical and engineering assistance in Ghana.

took two flights and a five-hourbus ride for student physician

Vanessa Parisi to help deliver a baby. As part of an NYIT team that spent

three weeks last summer in Ghana provid-ing medical assistance to villagers inOworobong, Parisi was awakened onemorning at 5:45 a.m. and told it was timeto put classroom theory into practice.Equipped with a head lamp and plasticapron, she knew she was ready.

After a local Ghanaian nurse performedan episiotomy, she turned to the NYITstudent and said, “OK, you deliver.”

“I was so nervous,” said Parisi. “I hadseen countless deliveries before but thiswas my first time.”

With help from Assistant ProfessorZehra Ahmed of NYIT’s School of HealthProfessions, she successfully deliveredKwaku, a healthy baby boy born to a 19-year-old mother.

“He cried right away,” recalled Parisi. “Iwent to the nursery to visit him later. I hadto get a picture. I was in my moment.”

Parisi’s story is one of many stemmingfrom a trip taken by more than a dozenNYIT medical students and faculty mem-bers to Ghana on June 13. After landing inthe capital city of Accra, the group traveledby bus to Oworobong. Sponsored byNYIT’s Center for Global Health and theRohde Foundation, a nonprofit organiza-tion committed to sustainable, qualityhealth care in rural Africa, the team repre-sented some of the finest minds (under the

supervision of Edward Cho, the center’sassistant director) from the university’sosteopathic medicine, nursing, and physi-cian assistant programs. Their mission: toaddress the health concerns of local citizens.

Joining the medical crew were studentsfrom NYIT’s chapter of EngineersWithout Borders (EWB), a nonprofithumanitarian organization that partnerswith communities worldwide on interdis-ciplinary sustainable projects, whoresearched initiatives to improve sanita-tion and water quality in the region.

“Once we arrived in the small village, wewere greeted by everyone around us with‘akwaba’, which means ‘welcome,’” saidCheryl Dinglas, a student in NYIT’s Collegeof Osteopathic Medicine (NYCOM). “Thechildren surrounded us, and their tiny handsgrabbed ours.”

Despite some significant obstacles, theteam wasted no time in getting to work.“There was no power, no running water,and the blistering heat would piercethrough any shade that could be found,”said NYCOM student Sriniketh Sundar.

In addition, no areas had been preparedfor medical procedures or storing supplies.“We immediately sorted through the 850pounds of medical equipment that webrought,” said Dinglas. The students thencoordinated with local carpenters to set upan appropriate infrastructure. “The workersbegan to build walls for a pharmacy, a deliv-ery room, and a diagnostic room,” she said.“The transformation was astonishing.”

it

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The engineering students also facedchallenges. On their first day, they had torepair a hand pump in a nearby well. “Wehad to take what we learned in the class-room and completely adapt to the environ-ment,” said Christopher Jewth, a student in NYIT’s School of Engineering andComputing Sciences and president of theuniversity’s EWB chapter.

The repair was made in the nick of time,as later that evening, fresh water was need-ed when NYCOM Assistant ProfessorDeborah Lardner helped a local motherdeliver another baby.

Treating the citizens of Oworobongmeant dealing with a host of other chal-lenges and cultural considerations notfound in Western medicine.

“I saw and treated diseases that are notcommon in the United States, such asmalaria, schistosmiasis, bacillary dysentery,and elephantiasis,” said physician assistantstudent Jessica Stein. The experience ofworking in a rural environment with noelectricity or running water taught her how

doctors try to make the best medical deci-sions while dealing with limited resources.

For the people of Oworobong, living ina region with minimal access to modernhealth care means having to cope withmedical problems over the long term.“Nobody in Oworobong complains aboutminor ailments,” said NYCOM studentKristin Gotimer. “They are just a part oflife.” She recalls treating an 85-year-oldman who had hurt his hip after falling outof a tree while picking plantains. “He toldme his story in passing and said he gotright back up and went to work.”

For Dinglas, treating her first patient—a young boy incapable of opening his righteye due to an abscess and swelling on hisface—was an experience she will never for-get. “I was able to perform my first inci-sion and drainage procedure and witnesshis progress daily,” she said. “In time, hiseye and face soon healed, and I saw hissmiling face looking back at mine.”

The citizens of Oworobong did not hesi-tate to take NYIT’s mission of providing

medical treatment to task. “The importancethey placed on health care was evident asthey would walk for miles just to be seen bystudents or doctors,” said NYCOM studentJiten Patel, whose patients’ ages rangedfrom six days to 75 years old.

“We left inspired, all in different ways,”said Gotimer upon the trip’s conclusion.

Engineering student Divyesh Patel,vice president of the EWB chapter, tookcomfort in knowing his work in Ghanawould have a lasting impact. “The mostpowerful realization for me was that ourefforts were helping to create a betterfuture for the children,” he said.

Researching medical needs, teachinglocal nurses how to provide health care, andestablishing a prenatal care system in threeweeks was a tremendous accomplishment,said Dinglas. “We formed friendships andinstilled trust and hope within the commu-nity and within ourselves.”

To see a video about NYIT’s Ghana trip,visit nyit.edu/ghanavideo. ■


NYIT students in Ghana (top row, from left): George Koutsouras; Harshit Patel; Jiten Patel;Kathleen Chanatry; Sriniketh Sundar; Kristin Gotimer; Margarita Koutsouras; Jessica Stein;Michael Ignat; (bottom row, from left) Anna Mardakhayeva and Cheryl Dinglas.

Vol9No1_016-17-Ghana 4.qxd 12/23/10 11:08 PM Page 17

aDegreeofDifference

Graduates of NYIT’sCollege of Osteopathic Medicine offer solutions thatinclude their own healing touches

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Breakthrough technologies and innovationare at the heart of Robert Corona’s (D.O. ’86) work. As vicepresident of clinical, medical, and scientific affairs and chiefmedical officer of Skaneateles Falls, N.Y.-based Welch Allyn, heoversees the manufacture of medical devices used by health careproviders around the world. Yet, it comes as a surprise thatCorona doesn’t think the most important thing in the modernmedical office is the latest diagnostic equipment. He says it is ahealing environment—something Corona sees as lacking today.

A board certified and practicing neuropathologist, Corona isamong the thousands of NYIT/NYCOM graduates who pro-vide health solutions by merging medical know-how, technology,and a passion for helping others. Corona says he first realizedthe value of osteopathic medicine as an undergraduate, when hewas diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. After seeking a secondopinion from an osteopathic physician that ruled out Hodgkin’s,he says he was “totally enamored with this kind of medicine.”

After graduating from NYIT’s College of OsteopathicMedicine, Corona completed his residency and fellowship atSUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y., and theArmed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, D.C.During his time at SUNY, where he served as physician directorof medical informatics, laboratory informatics, and telemedi-cine, he was asked to join Welch Allyn. He had presented high-lights of a case involving a telepathology consultation of a braintumor and was garnering national attention from business lead-ers. They included Welch Allyn chairman Bill Allyn, who wanted

to parlay Corona’s technical and medical skills to the businessworld and help the company transition from what Corona calls“optical-mechanical” to a more technical, digital, and computer-based operation.

Fourteen years later, Corona leads a 30-member team respon-sible not only for innovation and new product development butalso for employee and occupational health, clinical testing,patient safety, quality and regulatory affairs, new business devel-opment, biostatistics, and providing general medical expertise tomanagement and sales representatives.

Corona says he is passionate about the educational aspect ofhis job. A nationally recognized speaker with numerous teachinghonors, he is a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine,emergency medicine, internal medicine, and family medicine atSUNY. He also holds faculty appointments at Albany MedicalCollege and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine-Bradenton, and is a neuropathology consultant for the CentralNew York Region’s Forensic Sciences Center in Syracuse.

At Welch Allyn, he educates the sales staff on new productsand helps international physicians make the most of the com-pany’s technology. “Welch Allyn sees health care as a global issueand is organized around answers to practical issues all over theworld,” he says.

Corona also serves as Welch Allyn’s corporate spokesperson,writing “Dr. Bob’s Biz Blog” and tweeting as Drbrainstorm onhealth care reform, the need for more primary care physicians,technology, and ideas for making health care better for patients.

Robert Corona (D.O. ’86) leads a 30-member team at medical devicemanufacturer Welch Allyn in Skaneateles Falls, N.Y.

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By Kathryn Stroppel


In fact, his posts and tweets reflect notonly a technological innovator, but alsohis roots as a compassionate D.O.

He someday would like to be moreinvolved with osteopathic education, butsays he has no plans to leave his currentposition, which provides a near perfectblend of his talents. “It’s a wonderfuljob,” he says. “I’m able to balance busi-ness, science, medicine, and engineeringall together. It’s pretty neat.”

One question guides Christina Stasiuk(D.O. ’85) in her role as senior medicaldirector at CIGNA: What can I do todayto make sure I’m healthy tomorrow?

“Health is something people don’tthink about until they don’t have it anymore,” says Stasiuk, who no longerworks with patients one-on-one as she

did as a primary care internist. Today,she is responsible for thousands of indi-viduals, including those covered by Taft-Hartley Trust Funds, which oversee thehealth care benefits provided to thosewith multiple employers, such as unionconstruction workers and companiesthat have branches located throughoutthe United States.

Stasiuk joined CIGNA, a global healthservices company headquartered inPhiladelphia, in 2003 after closing herprivate practice and moving to a medicalmanagement company that was later pur-chased by CIGNA. Her work, she says, isclosely aligned with and focused on pre-ventive health and health literacy.

“I still have a doctor’s hat on,” saysStasiuk, who uses her medical know-ledge to diagnose patients and translate

complicated medical issues into actionplans. Case in point: pregnancy. Sheworks to ensure that clients institutematernity programs so women arehealthy when they become pregnant,understand pregnancy risks, and engagewith their physician early on. She alsohelps identify women who may be at riskfor pre-term deliveries.

By looking at composite data from agroup of insured individuals, she can iden-tify health issues an employer may havethe opportunity to address—such as thephysical effects of smoking. “I can look atthe data, go to the employer, and explainwhat’s happening nationally and with itspopulation of employees, and developservices to help them understand howlifestyle choices are impacting health,” shesays. From there, she creates educational


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“I learned thathealth care istoo complicatedfor a singlesolution. Youneed to look ata problem fromdifferent sidesand try newsolutions.”

–Christina Stasiuk (D.O. ’85)


interventions to address each issue.Her goal is to reduce health care costs

as well as make individuals more produc-tive—more alert, healthier, and with agreater quality of life. “It’s nice to seepeople change their lives and becomehealthier,” she says. “Health is not justabout physical health, it’s about beingengaged in life. It’s a general sense ofwell-being and where we fit into society,and we need to use all resources availableto improve health.”

Stasiuk credits NYCOM for giving hera solid foundation of ways to improvehealth on which she has built a passionfor the sciences and helping others. She

also learned to analyze data, become flex-ible in order to maximize health careopportunities, and listen to what’s impor-tant to patients.

“I learned that health care is too compli-cated for a single solution,” says Stasiuk.“You need to look at a problem from dif-ferent sides and try new solutions.”

Fusing technology and medicine is a natu-ral culmination of interests for AdamBitterman (D.O. ’10), who launched amobile medical applications venture as asecond-year medical student. JAMBInnovations, which he started with formerroommate-turned-COO and chief devel-

oper Jeffrey Midgley, RPA-C, is in its sec-ond year. Already, its apps have beendownloaded more than 50,000 times.

The company was a natural fit foranother NYIT alumnus, Sal Docimo(D.O. ’09), who joined the company in2009 as head of marketing. For Docimo,who holds an undergraduate marketingdegree, JAMB meshes his desire to helpothers with his interests in technologyand business. “To bring it all togetherand mold traditional, textbook knowl-edge with the technology we’ve beenexposed to in this era is very exciting andrewarding,” he says. “To treat and savesomeone’s life with something you


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What makes us uniqueis that we’re the medical

professionals creatingand designing our

own medical apps.”–Adam Bitterman (D.O. ’10)


helped develop is incredible as well.”The idea of merging technology and

medicine bloomed when Bitterman com-plained to Midgley about the need toquickly access medical formulas and factoids, then available only on PDAs or inpaper reference materials. Their bulk,weight, and questionable accuracy madethe pair think there had to be a better way.The rest, as they say, is history.

Within days, Midgley devoured hun-dreds of pages of iPhone software devel-opment manuals and coding to maketheir idea of developing mobile medicalapplications a reality. Midgley took on therole of developer and COO, Bittermanbecame CEO and editor. Then Docimowas added to marketing, and two otheremployees later joined the business. Oneapplication, uBurn, which calculates thepercentage of a body burned and providesimportant information on thermal burns,was the first to be released over the AppleiTunes App Store. The free “lite” versionwas downloaded more than 10,000 timesin six weeks, and based on that success,the team continued to develop a broadersuite of products.

Soon to follow was i911, an emergencydialer; uPregnant, which offers prenatalinformation; uFebrile, a resource for fever-lowering medications for children;uRabies, a rabies dosing and schedulingguide; and uSober, a blood alcohol contentcalculator. All medical reference apps areavailable for use on Apple’s iPhone, iPodTouch, and iPad, and all are designed tomake medical clinical practice more effi-cient, and ultimately improve patient out-comes and satisfaction.

The Manhattan-based JAMB now offers10 applications ranging from $1.99 to free.Each has taken from six weeks to sixmonths to develop, and all have been devel-oped in house at minimal cost (always goodnews for a start-up). Though designed formedical professionals, Bitterman says theapps can be used by anyone and encouragesthose in the learning stages of their careerto try them.

“What makes us unique,” he says, “is

that we’re medical professionals creatingand designing our own medical apps. Weare the doctors, and we are putting in thetime to create apps that our own col-leagues are going to use.”

“We understand the challenges facingthe medical community,” says Docimo,“and we are in a unique position to createthese products, which not only providedata but allow users to interact with it.”

The challenge in producing these apps,besides limited funds, is time. Bitterman isan orthopaedic surgery resident at Penin-sula Hospital Orthopedic Consortium onLong Island; Docimo is a second-year sur-gical resident at Lutheran Medical Centerin Brooklyn, N.Y.; and Midgley is a prac-ticing physician assistant.

“It’s difficult to balance, but I have a greatsupport system and lots of people helping,”says Bitterman. “But you’re still staying uplate and answering e-mails when you have afree moment to make sure you’re not miss-ing a deadline or meeting. It’s tough, but it’sbeen going well so far.”

JAMB has scores of products in devel-opment, he says, but “because of timeand financial constraints, we’ve only beenable to put out a small percentage ofeverything we want. With time, financialgrowth, and help from others, we’re hop-ing to expand significantly.”

The company is in the process ofworking with a third party to launch awebsite that will help it develop moresophisticated applications. “We’re alwayslooking for ideas, and we’re in theprocess of transitioning to bigger andbetter things, so it’s very exciting,”Bitterman says.

Part of the excitement stems from otherdoctors taking an interest in his company’sapplications. After uBurn was released, hesaw a colleague using the app. WhenBitterman explained that he had helpeddevelop uBurn, he says his friend “wasshocked ... and I was shocked to see some-one I knew actually using my application.”

Networking with others is just one les-son he’s learned since creating JAMB. Hehas also familiarized himself with the

iPhone’s iOS programming language andlearned how to run a business—all thewhile enjoying the experience.

“It’s absolutely fun,” says Docimo. “It’sexciting to see an idea come to life. Andit all stems from the question: How do Ibetter treat my patients?”

Maurizio Miglietta (D.O. ’96) knowsall too well how split-second decisionscan make the difference between life anddeath. Having survived a jetliner crash,being run over by a car, and escaping agas explosion all by the age of 10, the 41-year-old physician, entrepreneur, andfather of three has spent his career think-ing one step ahead.

Miglietta recently left his position aschief of acute care surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Univer-sity Medical Center to spend more timewith his family in New Jersey and developseveral business ventures centered ontrauma and emergency care.

In 2004, Miglietta founded theHomeland Security Mobile Trauma Unit(MTU), which provides immediate surgi-cal and mobile operating room capabilitiesand medical support to law enforcementagencies, including the U.S. Secret Serviceand Department of State DiplomaticSecurity Service. With more than 50 spe-cialized volunteers trained in the use ofbiological, chemical, and nuclear protec-tive equipment, the MTU has beenemployed during national security eventssuch as the Papal visit to New York City,U.S. presidential travels, and the annualUnited Nations General Assembly.

Miglietta also serves as police surgeonfor the Secret Service’s New York fieldoffice, which became the impetus for hisfirst for-profit enterprise, TacticalMedical Packs, founded in 2007. A SecretService agent approached Miglietta todevelop a medical kit he could carry inhis suit pocket for use in worst-case sce-narios, and Miglietta, understanding thevalue of immediate medical attention,responded by creating a prototype ofwhat would become the TAC-PACK—complete with a CPR micro-shield,bandages, gauze, tape, abdominal pad,respirator mask, occlusive dressing, andlatex-free gloves. There are now six trau-ma packs available for groups rangingfrom military personnel to law enforce-ment agencies to outdoor sports enthusi-asts. The pocket-sized packs have beensold around the world, and sales last yearwere upwards of $2 million.


I felt it was my responsibility as aphysician to always be prepared.”

–Maurizio Miglietta (D.O. ’96)


“I felt it was my responsibility as aphysician to always be prepared,” hesays. “If something happens in front ofme, everything I need to save someone’slife is in my pocket. There’s no excusenot to carry it.”

Another business Miglietta is devel-oping is Global Medical Guardians, afor-profit service offering full-serviceemergency care and risk managementsolutions, including international med-ical air transportation services, forclients across the globe. The company,which he launched in 2008, has providedmedical care to the New York Mets, dignitaries, celebrities, and other high-profile VIPs.

“My mind allows me to multitask prettysuccessfully,” he says of his many ven-tures. “I like to keep it interesting andfresh and to have something differentand new every day.”

With unflagging energy, Miglietta alsolectures to medical and non-medical pro-fessionals, serves on speakers’ bureaus andadvisory boards for various pharmaceuti-cal companies, and is the new director ofmedical education at Touro College ofOsteopathic Medicine for PalisadesMedical Center, Holy Name MedicalCenter, and Englewood Hospital MedicalCenter. He is also the author of more than30 peer-reviewed publications, is boardcertified in surgery and critical care, is the

honorary police surgeon for the New YorkCity Police Department, has receivednational law enforcement awards, and in2008 was named one of Crain’s Business’“Forty Under 40.”

And it all began, he says, with hisNYCOM education. “I always felt on paror better than anyone else I ever trainedwith,” he says. “It gave me everything Ineeded to succeed.” ■

Kathryn Stroppel is a writer and editor living in north Missouri. She has worked forhealth care organizations and health sciencesuniversities for nearly 20 years and is agraduate of the University of MissouriSchool of Journalism.


I like to keepit interestingand havesomethingdifferent and newevery day.”

–Maurizio Miglietta (D.O. ’96)

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FIELD OF C HAMPIONSA nationwide group of more

than 100 alumni, family, friends, and fans turned

out on Oct. 23 for the 15th Annual NYIT Alumni

Lacrosse Game. Held at President’s Stadium at NYIT-

Old Westbury, the matchup included graduates spanning

16 years and four NCAA championship teams.


Quotes of the Day:“It was great coming back and playing with friends. NYIT gave me the opportunity to pursue a teaching career while playing lacrosse at a competitive level.”

Patrick Rogin (B.S. ‘09)

“Being part of NYIT lacrosse is something you hold onto forever.”

Jared Garcia (B.S. ‘08)

“I still get butterfl ies when I get dressed in the old locker room.”

Scott Hutchinson (B.S. ‘97)

“Over the years, more and more of our alumni are appreciative of their time here at NYIT. Events like this give us the oppor-tunity to catch up. The game is great, but it’s the camaraderie that allows us to truly reconnect. It is very rewarding.”

Jack Kaley, 1994-2009 Head Coach

U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame 2010 Inductee

Winter 2011 ■ nyit.edu ■ MAGAZINE ■ 25

FIELD OF C HAMPIONS

“Being part of NYIT lacrosse is something you hold onto forever.”

Jared Garcia (B.S. ‘08)

“I still get butterfl ies when I get dressed in the old locker room.”

Scott Hutchinson (B.S. ‘97)

“Over the years, more and more of our alumni are appreciative of their time here at NYIT. Events like this give us the oppor-tunity to catch up. The game is great, but it’s the camaraderie that allows us to truly reconnect. It is very rewarding.”

Jack Kaley, 1994-2009 Head Coach

U.S. Lacrosse Hall of Fame 2010 Inductee

“Seeing so many old faces brought back a lifetime of memories. Though I tell current players about how talented our graduates were on past teams, they don’t really know until they face them on the fi eld. In addition, the alumni who do come back to play also make themselves available to our stu-dent-athletes for guidance in all areas of life.”

Bill Dunn, Head Coach of the Bears


At a one-million-square-foot warehouse in Mem-phis, Tenn., Scott Talley (M.B.A. ’05) stands ready

to expedite orders with a few clicks of his mouse.His inventory includes popular brands such as Carter’s

and Liz Claiborne that cater to the growing number ofonline shoppers. Talley, vice president of logistics andhuman resources for PFSweb, understands the impor-tance of e-commerce as it commands greater pieces ofthe global retail pie.

“We’ve been able to put together the infrastructurethat enables fast, accurate fulfillment and customizedpackaging, and we do it as cost-effectively as possible,”says Talley. “Our business is in a developing market, andit’s a good place to be.”

For PFSweb, getting to the cutting edge of onlineretail sales took a strong team and technology from a webplatform called DemandWare, which provides every-thing from the digital catalog for ordering to the ware-house management system that picks the most efficientpathway for workers to find the products in the ware-house’s maze of shelves.

“The world revolves around logistics, and technologyenables logistics,” says Valencia de la Vega (M.B.A.’05), who works at Intel in Chandler, Ariz., as the sort-test technical development tooling program manager,designing systems to test chips whose end users includethe U.S. Army, Wall Street financial firms, and Google.

“Commerce can happen online because it’s reliable,”she says.

Vega, who received her bachelor’s degree in nuclearengineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point,adds that her users cannot afford to have their servers godown. Imagine, she says, if the Army’s computers wentdown when it needed to order more ammunition forcombat zones.

De la Vega and Talley are among the multitudes ofNYIT graduates contributing to a technology-fueledtransformation of the global marketplace. A May 2010U.S. Census Bureau report showed that e-commerce inthe retail sector grew from $137 billion to $142 billion in2007-2008, comprising 3.6 percent of total retail sales. Inthe manufacturing sector, e-commerce commands 39percent of the market, with $2.2 trillion in goods shippedto businesses through online sales.

As de la Vega asserts, e-commerce is grounded on thereliability of the Internet and security systems that enablefinancial transactions to speed across the globe withinseconds. Online sales evolved from the early successes ofelectronic transactions in the late 1970s, when purchaseorders and invoices were transmitted through ElectronicData Interchange. Faxes came next, with orders pouringin over phone lines. The growth of ATMs and telephonebanking in the 1980s presaged the explosion of com-merce on the World Wide Web in the mid-1990s, PH

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New technologies redef ine the relationship betweencompany and consumer as e-commerce unites theglobal marketplace BY DAVID MCKAY WILSON

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“Our business is in a developing market, and it’s a good place to be,” says Scott Talley

(M.B.A. ’05) , vice president of logistics and human resources for PFSweb.


following the 1995 launch of Amazon.Today, online shopping has a firm

foothold in both the retail and wholesalemarketplace as computers have becomeubiquitous in homes and workplaces.Families order groceries online. Travel isbooked over the Internet. Classified adsand job offerings proliferate on the Web.And thanks to high-speed broadband con-nections, the infrastructure exists to trans-mit files such as movies, books, or music—creating a new market, as products aretransferred digitally vs. physically.

“The Internet has changed the nature

of what’s sold,” says Art Nehr, anadjunct professor in NYIT’s School ofManagement and president of Com-mack, N.Y.-based Web OptimizedMarketing, which helps companies pro-mote their services online. “Buyers andsellers are put in direct contact, and thiscan eliminate the middleman.”

A New Age for MarketingComputer engineers and Web devel-

opers, meanwhile, are rapidly creatingnew technologies to encourage commer-cial transactions on mobile phones and

computing devices like the iPad. Banksare touting new mobile banking technol-ogy that allows customers to depositmoney by taking a picture of a check withtheir cell phones and sending the imageto a secure bank server.

Marketers are on the forefront of Web3.0 as well, with personalized advertise-ments cropping up on sites such asAmazon, Google, and Facebook based ona previous purchase or personal profile.These preferences are captured throughonline activity and stored by marketers inthe so-called “cloud,” huge servers thatstore information and then send sugges-tions for purchases.

“You open up your preferences to thecloud, and the cloud becomes your per-sonal shopper,” says William Lawrence,Ph.D., professor of economics and entre-preneurship at NYIT. “Let’s say yourwife buys many pink items. That serverwill look for women’s clothes in pink, andshe will be inundated with pink.”

These developments have createdmyriad opportunities for marketers, whocan now pinpoint their pitches withoutneeding newspapers, television, radio, oreven direct mail. The Web also allowscompanies to monitor the effectivenessof ads and marketing strategies. Onlineanalytics provide measurements thatshow how users navigate through a web-site, how long they spend on a page, whatpage they enter on, and which page theylooked at last.

“The feedback is instant,” says Nehr,adding that this helps retailers adjustquickly to market responses. He saysbusiness owners may be debatingwhether customers will respond better toa 10 percent discount or free shipping.They can try one, and if it doesn’t work,move quickly to the other strategy.

“It’s a self-maintained process,” saysNehr. “You are running the program,monitoring the responses, and makingthe changes.”

Nehr notes that improved micro-processors have played a prominent rolein the evolution of e-commerce. “TheWeb has been the great equalizer,” hesays. “None of this would be possiblewithout safe, reliable networks, and com-puter chips able to process huge amountsof data in increasingly smaller devices.”

A Better, Faster ChipRobert Russo (B.S. ’69) helped develop

a new generation of chips while servingas chief executive officer of Intrinsity, asmall technology company in Austin,


“You open up your preferences to the cloud, and the cloud becomes your personal shopper,” explainsWilliam Lawrence, Ph.D., professor of economics and entrepreneurship in NYIT’s School of Management.

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Texas He arrived at the company fiveyears ago, when it was fighting to survivein the competitive microprocessor market.

It was the second time in Russo’s careerthat he was hired by a struggling technol-ogy company that he helped revive andthen sold. His first successful turnaroundwas Nishan Systems, a firm that helpedcompanies improve their data networks.

“It’s fun to be with smart people anddevelop technology that gets to the mar-ketplace,” says Russo. “You’ve got to goin, figure out what is inhibiting success,and fix it quickly.”

At Intrinsity, Russo assembled a top-notch team of engineers and targeted therapidly expanding mobile phone market.As designers pushed the envelope totransform the phone into a mobile com-puting device, they needed powerfulchips that ran at very low power to maxi-mize battery life.

Intrinsity partnered with electronicsgiant Samsung and developed the Hum-mingbird, a low-power, high-speed chipfor Samsung’s Galaxy tablet, providingthe processing speed needed to downloadmovies, use GPS technology, performbanking transactions, and stream livefeeds from Major League Baseball.

The Hummingbird, a one-gigahertzprocessor, is a significant improvement

over competing processors, which run atabout 650 megahertz.

“Without the fast processor, none ofthis exists,” says Russo. “We tore themup, redid them, and optimized how theyran. We improved them at bottlenecksand used different technology mixes. Ittook some extremely talented engineers.”

While Apple has yet to divulge thesource of the A4 chip that powers its pop-ular iPad, it has been widely reportedthat the Hummingbird is responsible forextending the iPad’s battery life.

“We were chasing the mobile space,”says Russo. “We helped change the waythe world does telephony.”

The chase paid off in the spring of2010, when Apple bought Intrinsity for$121 million.

Keeping Up OnlineScott Talley depends on the reliability

of a highly developed computer system tohandle orders at PFSweb’s fulfillmentcenter. The warehouse management sys-tem handles inventory and directs work-ers in their daily tasks through handhelddevices. The system also tells the opera-tor what size box to ship the item in,prints the packing slip, and calculatesshipping costs.

Talley underscores how quickly things

can happen in the online retail world;once a retailer marks a product down 20percent online, orders start rolling inalmost immediately. It’s far from the daywhen a mail-order company put a prod-uct on sale. First the catalog was printed,then it was sent out by mail—a processthat could take weeks.

“In today’s marketplace, you need a sys-tem geared toward flexibility and speed,”says Talley. “Things can happen so fast.”

Talley has been with PFSweb since itwas founded in 1996 by DaisytekInternational, a Texas-based wholesaledistributor of computer and officeautomation supplies. The unit was orig-inally created to perform order process-ing and telemarketing, but as onlinecommerce grew and Daisytek’s corebusiness lost market share, it spun offPFSweb in 1999 to focus on the nascente-commerce market.

“E-commerce was growing like crazy,and it was like a real-estate land rush,”recalls Talley. “However, companies thatdidn’t have solid business plans went bustaround 2000 or 2001.”

PFSweb was able to make it throughthe dot.com bust and develop a compre-hensive set of services—from inter-active marketing services, search engineoptimization, and business analytics tocall centers in Texas and the Philippinesto the delivery of goods from his high-tech warehouse.


“It’s fun to be with smart people and develop technology that gets to the marketplace,” says Robert Russo(B.S. ’69), chief executive officer of chip-maker Intrinsity, developer of the Hummingbird processor.

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The next frontier for PFSweb is work-ing with major consumer product com-panies, such as Proctor & Gamble, whichhas prospered over the past decade withthe proliferation of big-box retail outlets.Now it is looking to the Web to boostsales. One of PFSweb’s clients, LuckyBrand Jeans, has a Facebook page and isdriving sales through posts on the socialmedia site.

“In the past, they didn’t want to upsetthe brick-and-mortar retailer, but in thelast couple of years, that’s changed,” saysTalley. “All the lines are getting blurrier.And customers are increasingly dealingdirectly with manufacturers.”

Cashing in on a Growing Market The reliability of secure Web-based

networks has also fueled the growth ofnew financial products, designed to maketransactions easier and more efficient. AteCommlink, Chief Information OfficerPeter Zuong (M.B.A. ’09) oversees a sys-tem for processing prepaid debit cardssuch as gift cards from retail outfits orcards with a certain dollar value that indi-viduals have at their disposal. It’s the 21st-century version of a money order that canbe spent down as purchases are made.

Founded in the mid-1990s to handlecredit card transactions, eCommlinkmoved into the pre-paid card market in

2003. The company processes the transac-tions, handles card activation, and ensuresthat sufficient funds are deposited to theaccount to cover a purchase. It uses pro-prietary software that interacts with sys-tems run by banks and other financialinstitutions. These cards have becomeincreasingly popular over the pastdecade, especially among consumers whohave a poor financial history and don’tqualify for a credit card.

Zuong came to eCommlink in 2010after working for State Farm Insurance,where he was responsible for informationsecurity standards and guidelines. Manyof those same issues are in play at his newposition, as eCommlink complies withthe Payment Card Industry Data SecurityStandards, a rigorous set of protocols toensure that financial data gets encryptedand that transactions are secure.

“This ensures that all of our security isin place,” says Zuong. “The data have tobe correct. The store has to know there’s$12 left on the card.”

Improvements in technology andchanging consumer demands are chal-lenges for the prepaid card industry. Asthe cards become more popular, thereare more requests to develop productsthat allow U.S. residents to purchaseprepaid cards to send to relativesabroad—a process that could becomeeasier and less costly than wiring moneythrough a bank service.


Peter Zuong (M.B.A. ’09, left) and Raj Goel(B.S. ’94, above) work with companies focusingon regulatory issues and online payments.

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There’s also the promise of banking onthe go. Zuong is currently working withcomputer engineers on a phone applica-tion that will allow purchases and otherfinancial transactions normally associatedwith prepaid cards to be handled bymobile devices.

“We’re moving toward using the smartphone as the credit card,” says Zuong.“There needs to be integration on thefront end with mobile providers. And onthe back end, we have to make sure ourtechnology is compatible so the trans-actions are processed.”

Securing Transactions,Protectıng Privacy

Since he graduated from NYIT with adegree in computer science, Raj Goel(B.S. ’94) has run his own Queens, N.Y.-based consulting business, Brainlink,which assists companies dealing with theever-shifting demands of the Internet’sregulatory world. Since 2000, he hasfocused on cyber security, helpinghealth care institutions comply with fed-eral privacy standards and advising com-panies on how to protect financial dataobtained from customers in onlinetransactions.

Goel notes that while e-commerceprovides substantial opportunities, it alsoposes threats to companies that don’thave protection in place to safeguard cus-tomers’ financial information. He sayshaving a robust security compliance pro-gram will help protect companies fromthe high cost of security breaches, whichcould include penalties to the FederalTrade Commission or fees associatedwith notifying every customer that thesecurity of their financial information hasbeen compromised.

Contacting 10,000 customers can becostly, but so can the price of an investi-gation, which, in New York, for exam-ple, is passed on to the company. “If itcan be shown that you’ve been negligentin your security compliance, everybodyfrom the credit card brands to localprosecutors could come down on you,”says Goel. “If you’re the guy in the mid-dle, you can really get hammered.”

It’s just one of many challenges as NYITalumni on the frontlines of e-commerceincorporate new technologies to reshapethe 21st-century global marketplace. ■

David McKay Wilson is a New York-basedfreelance journalist and frequent contributorto the New York Times.


Crowning MomentBlessed with beauty and brains, Valencia de la Vega (M.B.A. ’05) has set out toteach young girls in the Latina community that those attributes are compatible in the21st century.

Vega, who was crowned Miss Latina World 2010, earned her bachelor’s degreein nuclear engineering at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and knows first-hand how expertise in science and math provides her with the skills to make a significant contribution to the world.

Now a manager in Intel’s tooling technical program in Chandler, Ariz., she wasamong the first U.S. Army personnel to land in Afghanistan after 9/11. Her unit setup the supply line infrastructure to support the battalions that arrived soon thereafter.

“When we arrived, itwas an infrastructure-free space,” she recalls.“There were no roadsand poor electricity, sowe had to bring inpower, supplies, con-struction materials, andcommunications equip-ment. We had to designand put in place thoselogistics lines.”

Vega’s story includesher decision to pursue aMaster of BusinessAdministration at NYIT. She discovered the program while serving in the U.S. Armyin South Korea and wanted a flexible program with a good reputation that couldwork around her deployment overseas.

So she completed her degree while still in the military, doing her homework and research while on assignment, and participating in online meetings for groupprojects and class discussions.

“I went all over the world but still made it happen,” she recalls. “I wanted to setmyself up for success when I was out of the military. The professors were quiteaccommodating. And when assignments were due, I’d send in quality work.”

After completing her six-year service commitment, she landed a position at Intel,heading up a program that tests computer chips before they get shipped to vendors.She also became involved in her community, where she sees too many Latina girlsshunning math and science because they think it’s not feminine.

She decided to enter the Miss Latina World pageant in the fall of 2009, hoping to gain a platform to teach girls in her community that beauty and brains were notmutually exclusive. She was 34 and determined to win the crown.

“I wanted to share that it’s OK to be smart in math and science and still embraceyour femininity,” says Vega. “Women in the Latina culture have trouble bringingthose two together.”

She won, and for the ensuing 12 months, traveled the country speaking to youngwomen, encouraging them to explore the fields of science, technology, engineering,and math.

By telling her story, Vega hopes to inspire other Latinas to follow in her footsteps.“You can’t become what you don’t see,” she says. “We are struggling to recruityoung Americans into these fields, and I’m doing my part to help.”

Her degree at NYIT provided the background for her current post at Intel, where shecouples her engineering background with a firm foundation of the business acumen.

“It’s important for engineers to know the business side of what they design,” shesays. “You need to know what the consumer wants, and when you design for manu-facturing, you design with costs in mind.”

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| 1960s |Warren O. Birkett (B.S. ’65), presi-

dent of Wybirk & Associates Inc., hasjoined the Louisiana Business &Technology Center’s Advisory Board.

Steve Kantor (B.S. ’68) is presidentof the L-3 Communications ServicesGroup in Canton, Mass. He has beenwith the company since 2003 and servedas president of BAE Systems Reconnaiss-ance and Surveillance Systems from 1998to 2003. Steve has also held executivepositions at Loral, Lockheed Martin, andUnited Technologies.

| 1970s |Peter J. Pilkington (B.S. ’70), an

expert in construction safety living inthe Pacific Northwest, is also the authorof A Significant Casualty, which tells thestory of his five-year quest to learnmore about the accident that claimedthe life of his son while he was inspect-ing an underwater oil-drilling platformoff the coast of Louisiana. Find outmore at peterjpilkington.com.

Stephen H. Longo (B.F.A. ’71) wasawarded a Best in Category Award ofDistinction from American GraphicDesign & Advertising for a set of menushe designed for the Saddle Brook, N.J.-based Matsuya Japanese Steak House.Stephen is an associate professor andcoordinator of the graphic design program at Morris County College inNew Jersey.

Ken Kohl (B.F.A. ’71) has beenappointed director of operations forSeattle, Wash.-based DirecTV SportsNetworks. He credits NYIT’s commu-nication arts program and his timeworking at WNYT radio station for hiscareer success. “I never expected tomake broadcasting a lifetime occupa-tion. It was just something I wanted totry before returning to the family con-struction business in New York. Sufficeit to say, I never made it back,” he says.Ken also writes for industry trade publi-cations such as Radio Ink.

Author Ralph J. Caliendo (B.S. ’72)has written his second book about themayors of New York City. His recentbook covers mayors from Robert VanWyck to Michael Bloomberg. New YorkCity Mayors: Part II, The Mayors ofGreater New York From 1896 was fea-

ALUMNINOTES


NYIT WELCOMES NEW ALUMNI LEADERSThe Alumni Federation is proud to welcome Ralph Sepe (B.S. ’97) as its new president.Joining him to help engage NYIT’s 85,000 graduates worldwide and promote the NYITbrand is a dynamic team of alumni.

Pictured are (from left, top row): Board Member and Committee Chair Steve Ermmarino(B.S. ’91); Director of Alumni Relations Joe Fortine; Executive Board Member Michael W.Spinelli (B.S. ’87); (middle row) Lisa A. Colantuono (B.S. ’94, M.A. ’98); President EmeritusCarol Ann Hasenstab (B.S. ’92); (bottom row) Executive Board Member and FundraisingCommittee Chair Nancy A. Magrini (B.F.A. ’80) and Sepe.

Additional leaders (not pictured) include Board Members Elizabeth Melillo (M.B.A. ’07)Gary I. Nathan (B.S. ’89), Frederick J. Harris (B.S. ’08, M.B.A. ’10), and Andrew Slavinsky(B.S. ’97, M.B.A. ’09). ■

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tured at the New York Library AssociationBook Exhibit in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

John Sorrenti (B.A. ’72, M.B.A.’78) was elected treasurer and vice chairof the National Council of ArchitectureRegistration Boards, Region 2. He isfounder and principal of JRS Architect,P.C., headquartered in Mineola, N.Y.

Irwin Dumtschin (B.S. ’73) and his wife, Joyce, have opened MochaMavens, a family-owned coffee kiosk in Dayton, Ohio.

David T. White (B.S. ’74) is vicepresident of internal audit for theLouisiana Workers’ CompensationCorp. After his graduation from NYIT,David received an M.B.A. in accountingfrom St. John’s University and held vari-ous positions at small and large compa-nies. He has three children with his wife,Laurie, and enjoys fresh water fishing.

Barry Newman’s (B.S. ’75) work inthe financial services industry has been

recognized by Stanford Who’s Who. Apartner with Lehman Newman & Flynnin New York City, he is a member of theAmerican Institute of Certified PublicAccountants, New York Society ofCertified Public Accountants, and theNational Conference of Certified PublicAccountants.

Pilot and FAA aviation inspectorPeter F. Acquaro (B.S. ’77) wasordained as a deacon for the Diocese ofRockville Centre, N.Y. Previously, heserved in the U.S. Air Force and AirForce Reserves, where he achieved therank of lieutenant colonel. During hismilitary career, he was recognized severaltimes for meritorious service, includingreceiving the New York State Medal ofCommendation for saving a person’s life.

Leslie J. Davis (B.S. ’77) works as aself-employed entrepreneur in Whatley,Ala., where he markets specialty cloth-ing to senior citizens.

Maryanne B. Rainone (B.F.A. ’77) isthe senior vice president and managingdirector at Heyman Associates in NewYork City, a specialty research firm thathandles senior-level recruitment for corporate communications, public affairs,and investor relations.

Bob Weir (B.S. ’79) is a 20-year veteran of the New York City PoliceDepartment. Now in retirement, he has authored seven books over the past12 years as well as numerous articlesunder the syndicated column, “WeirOnly Human.”

| 1980s |Richard Bearak (B.S. ’80, B.Arch.

’87) is director of land use at theBrooklyn Borough President’s Office inNew York. He and his wife, Adrianne,have one son, Douglas, who is a fresh-man at the University of Hartford inConnecticut.


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FELLOW ALUMNI,

Iam very honored and excited to be the new president of NYIT’s Alumni Federation. As a 1997graduate of the School of Management, I know firsthand the talent and dedication that NYIT’sfaculty, staff, students, and graduates bring to this world-class university.In my new role, I will focus on developing an organization that reaches across all disciplines of

the university and unites us as one. Whether you are an architect, medical professional, businessexecutive, scientist, or work in another field, it is important to realize that we are all graduates of

the same university and, with that, share a common bond through our NYIT experiences.As NYIT approaches its 50th annual commencement in 2011, it is more important than ever

that we strengthen our ability to network with one another, build relationships with current students, share our individual successes, and continue to enhance the reputation of NYIT.

I have had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of NYIT graduates over the years. Most havean overwhelming enthusiasm for the university that has provided so much to them. In the comingmonths, the NYIT Alumni Federation, in conjunction with the Office of Alumni Relations, will unveilnew ways for NYIT graduates to communicate, network, and recognize our accomplishments.

Did you know that in 2011 there will be nearly 90,000 NYIT alumni throughout the world?It is to your advantage that you join us in harnessing the power of this global network. In anever-changing world, NYIT graduates can open doors and boost your level of success asyou help pave the way for future generations of graduates.

To this end, the goal of the NYIT Alumni Federation’s dedicated board of directors and Iis to increase awareness and further develop a sense of pride and camaraderie among us.But we cannot achieve these goals without your support. Look for communications in 2011from the NYIT Alumni Federation, from the university’s Office of Alumni Relations, and inthe pages of NYIT Magazine. Most notably, look for your invitation to our inaugural AlumniFederation event, “I Love NYIT,” to be held in February. It will be an evening of reconnect-

ing with the university and fellow alumni. ■

Ralph Sepe (B.S. ’97)President, NYIT Alumni Federation


Carmine Vignola (B.S. ’80) is ateacher in the Frederick County PublicSchool system in Maryland.

Glenn Goulet (B.F.A. ’81) is execu-tive vice president of Table Trac Inc., aMinnetonka, Minn.-based developerand provider of casino information andmanagement systems. He brings morethan 16 years of gaming equipment salesand marketing experience to this posi-tion. Glenn also serves on the editorialadvisory board of Casino Journal.

Industrialist Hazem Barakat (B.S.’82) is chairman of Beltone PrivateEquity and CEO of MIRACO-Carrier,

both based in Egypt. Hazem also serveson the Advisory Council of the Schoolof Business, Economics, and Comm-unication at the American University inCairo and is a trustee for the EgyptianEconomic Forum.

Project manager Stephen D. Butler(B.S. ’83) has been promoted to associ-ate at H&A Architects and Engineers,headquartered in Richmond, Va. He is amember of the American Institute ofArchitects and is accredited by theLeadership in Energy and Environ-mental Design.

Peter Edwards (B.S. ’83) continues

to serve as commissioner of the NikeiS8 high school basketball tournament,which helps promote the game to youthliving in the Queens, N.Y., area. He isalso a deputy director for the New YorkCity Housing Authority.

Kenneth J. Steier (D.O. ’83) ismedical director of pre-surgical testingat the Long Island Jewish MedicalCenter in New Hyde Park, N.Y. He isalso a member of the AmericanOsteopathic Association’s Bureau ofOsteopathic Medical Educators and an evaluator for the Commission onOsteopathic College Accreditation.

ALU M N I NOTES


CURRENT POSITION Executive vice president in charge of the Special InvestmentsManagement Group, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “I head up the group responsi-ble for managing investments resulting from the special lending facilities created in thecourse of stabilizing financial markets.” Specifically, Roseann’s team manages threeportfolios: the American International Group (AIG) and Maiden Lane facilities, whichwere created in the course of stabilizing AIG and Bear Stearns, and the term asset-backed securities lending facility (TALF), which was created to help restart the marketfor asset-backed securities.

ACCOMPLISHED WOMAN “I’ve been blessed with a long and varied career spanningfinance, operations, human resources, and other disciplines. My work here at the NewYork Fed to respond to the financial crisis is particularly gratifying. For example, TALFsupported millions of loans to consumers and small businesses as well as loans to students to finance their college degrees. But I am most proud of my husband, my twodaughters, and my extended family and friends.”

EMPOWERING EXCELLENCE “A critical role of a manager is to give people tools to dotheir best work as well as to remove obstacles that prevent them from achieving excellence.”

SECRET TO SUCCESS “Waking up in the morning and looking forward to the dayahead, whether it’s time at work, with friends and family, or pursuing our passions. I alsothink that success is very much about making the world a little better each day.”

WELCOME OPPORTUNITY Roseann chose NYIT because its M.B.A. program gave herthe freedom she needed to balance a full-time career and weekend classes.

MYTH BUSTED Roseann says it’s often hard for people to see the connection betweenthe work of the Federal Reserve and its impact on the lives of working Americans. “In fact, we exist to promote policies that support greater financial stability and econom-ic well-being for all U.S. citizens, including working people, students, retirees, and busi-ness owners, and I think the extraordinary programs we put in place during the recentfinancial crisis highlight this commitment.”

FAVORITE MOVIE “I never miss the chance to see Gone with the Wind or Citizen Kane.”

FAVORITE FOOD “I love fresh local produce in the summer, including Jersey corn, tomatoes, and peaches. Cooking relaxes me on weekends, so I enjoy any well-prepared food.”

LAST BOOKS READ Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin and Lords of Finance byLiaquat Ahamed ■

ROSEANN STICHNOTH (M.B.A. ’82)

| ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT |

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In addition, Kenneth has held federalpositions at the Health ResourcesServices Administration and the Foodand Drug Administration.

Tom Volpi (B.S. ’83) is a golfenthusiast and is married to Laurie, his wife of 20 years. They have threechildren, Ashley, Mallory, and Nolan.

Arnaud Bellevue (B.S. ’84), a med-ical technologist at the North ShoreLong Island Jewish Health System, hasjust published his memoir, A Reflection ofStrength. The book discusses his goal ofachieving the American dream.

Alan Ashkinazy (B.F.A. ’84) is coachof the men’s baseball program at the

Oak Ridge Military Academy in NorthCarolina. After graduating from NYIT,he spent four years with the Boston RedSox organization, including two yearswith the Greensboro Hornets.

James P. Weiss (B.S. ’85), salesdirector at Durham, N.C.-based OxygenBiotherapeutics, is responsible for thestrategic marketing of the company’sDermacyte line of products.

Laura M. Jewell (M.B.A. ’85) isassistant vice president for institutionaladvancement at Berkeley College, whereshe oversees the alumni relations, exter-nal relations, and communicationsdepartments. Since earning her NYIT

degree, Laura founded her own PRagency as well as served on the boards ofseveral chambers of commerce, the NewJersey Association of Women BusinessOwners, and the National Association ofWomen Business Owners. In her freetime, she volunteers for the Society forthe Prevention of Cruelty to Animalsand is an avid gardener, photographer,and bicyclist.

Domenick Masielo (D.O. ’85), whoin 1998 patented a homeopathic herpestreatment, is certified in Family Practiceand Osteopathic Manipulative Medicineby the American Osteopathic Associationand is a Diplomate of the American ➤➤

CURRENT POSITION Senior technologist at Razer, a manufacturer of high-endcomputer keyboards, mice, and other accessories for video game enthusiasts.“I look at technology from a gamer’s perspective to find the next killer peripheralsthat immerse people in the title itself.”

GRAPHICS GURU In 1997, Dell hired Rick as its graphics developer manager.“At first, there was no group, no process, and no real direction. I had one person who reported to me.” Over the next nine years, Rick built his group into a global unit with dozens of people responsible for anything and everything relatedto graphics or video on all Dell hardware, including all laptops and desktops.“When I look back today, it was a gigantic accomplishment, and it was funwatching us grow.”

GAME ON! When Dell decided to get into the gaming business in 2006, Rickjumped at the chance. “I headed up a new group to examine gaming architec-ture and technology.” The team assisted in developing the Dell XPS line ofPCs, which featured the latest processors and graphics cards to appeal to thegaming community. Rick later played a role in Dell’s integration of Alienware, a manufacturer of stylized, high-end gaming PCs.

CREATIVE CONSORTIUM Rick was one of the founding members of the PCGaming Alliance, an industry-wide organization that promotes PC gaming andhelps consumers troubleshoot technical problems while playing games on theircomputers. Members include top hardware and software companies such asCapcom, nVidia, Intel, Epic, AMD, and Microsoft.

LOVE AT FIRST BYTE As a high school student in the Bronx, N.Y., Rick wasenthralled with anything having to do with electronics. “I had no idea where togo to college until I went to NYIT’s gorgeous Old Westbury campus. Theclasses and technology were right up my alley.”

FAVORITE NYIT MEMORY “I had a blast with NYIT’s chapter of the Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers club. The lounge was a fun place to gobetween classes and exchange ideas, create study groups, and hold meetings.There was a great sense of camaraderie.”

THE BUSINESS OF FUN Though Rick loves his work, he acknowledges thatit’s not all about playing games. “The video game industry is extremely com-plex, and there are huge corporations competing on a global scale. Lots ofmoney is invested in this market.” ■

RICK CARINI (B.S. ’78)

| ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT |

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Board of Homeotherapeutics. Inaddition, he teaches in the Departmentof Family and Community Medicine atNew York Medical College, is a guestlecturer at Columbia University, andserves as a consultant to the homeopathicpharmaceutical industry.

Alfred C. Drowne (M.B.A. ’85) is asenior vice president of business develop-ment for AXIS Global Accident & Healthin Princeton, N.J. Previously, he heldsenior positions at Chubb & Son, CANFinancial Corp., and Hartford Propertyand Casualty.

John Daab (M.B.A. ’86, M.P.S. ’88)is a certified fraud examiner specializingin art and forgery research. He has writ-ten more than 70 articles on the topic aswell as authored The Art Fraud ProtectionHandbook and Forensic Applications inDetecting Fine, Decorative, and CollectibleArt Fakes.

Roland Laird (M.S. ’86) was appoint-ed key advisor to Studio City New Jersey,a film and media production companyand the fourth African American-ownedstudio facility in the United States.Roland is also an author, culture critic,and entertainment entrepreneur as wellas founder and CEO of Posro Mediaand co-founder of the Ethel TremaineRobinson Foundation.

Patricia McMahon (B.S. ’86) is sector vice president and general man-ager of the Aerospace Systems’ BattleManagement and Engagement SystemsDivision at Northrop Grumman. Thedivision specializes in the design, devel-opment, and production of airborneearly warning, maritime, and groundsurveillance and battle managementsystems. She is also the chairman of theTown of Babylon (New York) PlanningBoard and a director of the BusinessCouncil of New York State. In addi-tion, Patricia serves on the boards ofthe Long Island Software andTechnology Network, Long IslandPhilharmonic, and the FarmingdaleCollege Foundation.

Richard Sternberg (D.O. ’86) ismedical director of pulmonary and critical care services at Fort HamiltonHospital in Hamilton, Ohio, as well asassociate medical director at theHospice of Southwest Ohio.

Earlier this year, Alyssa Nightingale(M.A. ’87) was named Best Publicist on

ALU M N I NOTES


CURRENT POSITION Vice president of corporate marketing and communications for RainbowMedia, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporations that operates several networks,including AMC, IFC, and the Sundance Channel. “I am responsible for the development andoversight of corporate and industry marketing and public affairs initiatives; trade and promo-tional activities and events; internal communications; CEO and executive presentations andappearances; and the management of special cross-divisional projects to help maximize thecompany’s ability to pursue financial and business-based goals.”

PROUD TO LEAD THE WAY Christine prides herself on continually refining her leadershipskills. “Effective leadership is the ability to make decisions and stand behind them. It is some-thing that a person grows into with hard work, preparation, perseverance, and a commitmentto take risks when necessary.”

DEFINITION OF SUCCESS “Establishing clear goals and consistently reaching them.”

FAVORITE NYIT MEMORY “Producing my first student film, which was influenced by theTwilight Zone episode, ‘Number 12 Looks Just Like You.’”

LIGHTS, CAMERAS … NOT SO MUCH ACTION? Christine says one of the biggest misconcep-tions about working in TV is that people think she attends glitzy events and hangs out withcelebrities. Not true, she says, but then quickly adds, “Itonly happens some of the time.”

TUNE IN ANYTIME The future of TV, saysChristine, will involve finding new ways to deliver content to viewers—whenever, wherever, and however they want it.

FAVORITE MOVIES Pulp Fiction, Sound ofMusic, Urban Cowboy, and The Deer Hunter.

FAVORITE TV SHOW Dexter

FAVORITE FOOD Edamame

LAST BOOK(S) READ Who SaysElephants Can’t Dance? InsideIBM’s Historic Turnaroundby Louis V. Gerstner Jr.

TURN THE PAGE ORHIT THE SLOPES?When she finds timeto relax, Christineenjoys readingand snow-boarding. ■

CHRISTINE BRAGAN (B.F.A. ’03)

| ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT |➤➤

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Long Island by the Long Island Press.She is president of Nightingale &Nightingale Inc. in Cold Spring Harbor,N.Y., and volunteers at several worth-while charities, including the MarineCorps’ Toys for Tots program.

Mark A. Warren (B. Arch. ’87) iscommissioner of the Mount VernonBuildings Department. He brings morethan 20 years of professional experiencein architecture and design. In addition,Mark has taught as an adjunct professorat Parsons School of Design and servedon professional panel discussions at theCooper Hewitt National Museum ofDesign and the Smithsonian Institute.

Anthony Gioeli (B.S. ’88) is vicepresident for sales and client services atiLoop Mobile in San Jose, Calif. He has more than 20 years of experiencemanaging fast growth technology com-panies. Prior to joining iLoop Mobile,Anthony was CEO at Atrua. You can

read more about him in the spring 2009issue of NYIT Magazine.

Nancy J. Brous (D.O. ’89) hasjoined the Chocowinity Family CarePractice in Chocowinity, N.C., and willalso be assisting at nearby AuroraMedical Center and Inner Banks UrgentCare. She and her husband have a sonwho is pursuing a computer engineeringdegree at North Carolina State.

Nicholas Martinelli (B.S. ’89)teaches high school science in GardenCity, N.Y. He has also taught physics atHoly Trinity Diocesan High School inHicksville, N.Y.

In May 2010, Diane Pfadenhauer(M.S. ’89) was honored as one of theTop 50 Most Influential Women inBusiness by Long Island Business News.She is a professor of management at St.Joseph’s College, where she teachesbusiness and employment law, humanresources, and other related topics.

| 1990s |Deborah H. French (B.S. ’90) has

been recognized by Cambridge Who’sWho for demonstrating dedication, lead-ership, and excellence in public rela-tions. She serves as director of publica-tions and print communication servicesfor Zimmerman/Edelson Inc. in GreatNeck, N.Y. Deborah also served as anadjunct professor at NYIT, where shetaught English and business writing, andis co-founder of Awe in Autism, anorganization that provides inspirationand encouragement to those impactedby autism.

Michael Russo (B.S. ’90) is presi-dent of Tampa, Fla.-based WhiteHallProducts, a provider of single-use solutions including plastics, paper, and janitorial supplies. Previously, heserved as controller for Cleanse-Tecand field service supervisor for MibarEnterprises.


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For Patricia Galloway (M.B.A. ’84), globalization is more than a businessplan—it’s a blueprint for 21st-century success. With engineering proj-

ects that have spanned more than 100 countries, including the PanamaCanal, the London Crossrail Project, and the Tsing Ma Bridge in HongKong, the NYIT graduate had plenty to discuss as she shared her careerexperiences on Nov. 3 with students, faculty, and staff at the NYITAuditorium on Broadway.

“Globalization is a word that must be in every student’s vocabulary,”said Galloway, who serves as CEO of Pegasus Global Holdings, a leaderin risk management and strategic consulting for the energy, infrastructure,and transportation industries. “Without an understanding of how theworld economy works, I don’t think a student can be successful on theglobal front.”

In addition, she shared her “four C’s of success”—credentials, commit-ment, communication, and confidence. Focusing on tasks they can suc-cessfully complete, says Galloway, is what makes for successful leaders.She also urged attendees to “never give up, never be afraid, and never letanyone tell you that you cannot do something or that it cannot be done.”

Galloway, who was featured on the cover of NYIT Magazine’s Summer2010 issue, recalled how her student days at NYIT helped engineer herown success as she learned from faculty members who were real-worldprofessionals.

“The fact that I had the opportunity to spend time with some of the topexecutives of the New York metropolitan area, learning from them as towhat made their businesses successful, was the best money I could haveever spent in my life,” she said. “And it has absolutely translated into myability to be the senior executive I am today.” ■

ENGINEERING FUTURE SUCCESSFOR STUDENTS

Patricia Galloway (M.B.A. ’84)returned to her alma mater onNov. 3 to speak with studentsabout her career and the oppor-tunities provided through herNYIT education.



ALU M N I NOTES

At the offices of di Domenico +Partners LLP, every day is analumni reunion.

Andrew Berger (B.Arch. ’86), a part-ner who joined the firm in 1984 as anintern, is now an award-winning designerof transportation, historic, and educa-tional facilities. Paul Alber (B.Arch. ’90),

a 21-year veteran, is a senior associatewho oversees the design and construc-tion of public sector projects. KenjiSuzuki (B.Arch. ’96) is a senior associ-ate and a key designer for many of thestudio’s projects. Ricky Liu (B.Arch. ’00)is a senior associate who specializes in the studio’s civic, transportation, and academic projects. And thenthere’s Diana Rodriguez (B.Arch. ’07),Aleksander Kuna (B.Arch. ’07), AileenMunoz (B.S.A.T. ’07), Leslie Jager(B.Arch. ’08), Kevin Ho (B.Arch. ’09),Sung Kim (B.Arch. ’09), and EfstratiosKouvaros (B.Arch. ’09).

And the list goes on.

Since 1981, di Domenico + Partnershas hired nearly 40 NYIT graduates—animpressive feat but not all that surprisinggiven that its principal partner and founder,John di Domenico, is also a professorwho has taught at the School of Archi-tecture and Design for nearly 30 years.During that time, he has collaborated

with NYIT alumni to work on the designstudio’s diverse projects that include theStillwell Avenue Portal Building at ConeyIsland in Brooklyn, N.Y., campus and masterplan improvements at the UnitedNations in New York City, academic build-ings at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.,the renovation of Columbia University’shistoric Butler Library in New York City,design and construction of K-12 publicschools in New York City, the Long IslandRail Road’s Atlantic Terminal Entry Pavilionin Brooklyn, N.Y., concept design for theDulles Corridor Metrorail in Fairfax County,Va., and concept design for WashingtonD.C.’s public schools.

“I’ve been hiring NYIT grads since dayone,” says di Domenico. “They have apassion that is evident in the quality ofwork and the focus on what they’re doing.”

One of the crucial lessons he impartsas a teacher—and one of the key skills he looks for as an employer—is the abilityto understand the balance among archi-tectural design, theory, and practice. “It’s one thing to have a strong theoreti-cal perspective, but you also need a real enthusiasm for making things,” saysdi Domenico.

One graduate who brings passion tohis projects is Berger, who welcomesthe opportunity to work with other NYITstudents and graduates, share his expe-riences, and give them the opportunity togrow within the studio.

“There’s a combination of things thatmakes up an NYIT grad, such as thinkingglobally but acting locally,” says Berger.“We also express an interest in makingmemorable architecture.”

It’s an arrangement that has worked wellat the firm’s design studio in Long IslandCity, N.Y. (earlier locations included SoHo,Chelsea, and Tribeca in Manhattan). Walk-ing into the light-filled, double-height stu-dios of di Domenico + Partners, one isimmediately taken aback by the lack of indi-vidual office rooms and walls. During thedesign of the studio, it was their intentionto have a space that fosters collaboration,communication, and teaching by example.

“We are in the trenches working withstaff, sometimes leading, sometimesshoulder to shoulder,” says Berger,whose wife, Denise (B.Arch. ’86), servesas a deputy director at the Port Authorityof New York and New Jersey. By havingno cubicles or walls, young architectscan see senior architects and designersin action. “It becomes an educationalprocess as they learn what it means tobecome a senior designer.”

The company’s location in New YorkCity, home to one of the world’s greatestskylines, is also a huge draw for younggraduates, not unlike the way that NYIT

TOGETHER BY DESIGNBy Michael Schiavetta (M.A. ’07)

NYIT alumni at di Domenico + Partners (from left): Leslie Jager (B.Arch. ’08), Ricky Liu (B.Arch.’00), Efstratios Kouvaros (B.Arch. ’09), Paul Alber (B.Arch. ’90), Aleksander Kuna (B.Arch. ’07),John di Domenico, Andrew Berger (B.Arch. ’86), Aileen Munoz (B.S. ’07), Sung Kim (B.Arch.’09), Kenji Suzuki (B.Arch. ’96), and Kevin Ho (B.Arch. ’09). Not pictured is Diana Rodriguez(B.Arch. ’07).

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Shane Bouslough (B.S. ’91) isvice president for information systems atGlowpoint in Hillside, N.J. He has morethan 20 years of experience building andmanaging technology and has held seniorengineering and management positionsat Periphonics Corp. and InfoHighwayCommunications.

Author Michael L. Faulkner (M.B.A.’91) has released Coming Face to Face withthe Neo-Warmer’s Agenda, which discuss-es the impact of radical environmentalideas. Michael is an associate professorat DeVry University and the KellerGraduate School of Management aswell as a former U.S. Marine. He has30 years of leadership experience atFortune 500 firms and major nonprofittrade associations. Michael is also amember of MENSA and a RotaryInternational Fellow.

Bradley Flansbaum (D.O. ’91) hasbeen selected to serve as the Society ofHospital Medicine’s representative in theAmerican Medical Association’s Houseof Delegates. He serves as chief of hospi-talist services at Lenox Hill Hospital inNew York City.

Publisher Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.has named James Reilly (D.O. ’91) oneof the top doctors for women’s health inthe New York metro area. He specializesin colposcopy, laparoscopy, hysteroscopy,and obstetrics and teaches at RichmondUniversity in Staten Island, N.Y.

Sometimes it takes a woman to run ateam of Wise Men. Juuhi Ahuja (M.B.A.’92), president and CEO, created theHouston-based company in 1997 as anexecutive search firm and since then hasexpanded its services to include consult-ing, supply chain solutions, IT training,and project management. By focusing onwhat she calls the “two-Q” mantra—quick and quality—Juuhi says she is ableto address many of her clients’ needs.Shortly after the BP oil spill in the Gulfof Mexico in spring 2010, the Britishpetroleum giant contacted Wise Men


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campuses draw budding archi-tects from around the world toits Columbus Circle and OldWestbury locations.

“With so many opportunitiesto develop relationships withNew York City architectureoffices, NYIT was very attrac-tive to me,” says Liu, a seniorassociate and adjunct professor/second-year coordinator at NYIT’sSchool of Architecture and Design.“There is also much cultural diversityas students bring their different attitudes and design senses to the school.”

Liu served as a project manager forthe recently completed Long IslandRail Road (LIRR) Atlantic TerminalComplex Entry Pavilion at the inter-section of Flatbush and AtlanticAvenue in Brooklyn, N.Y. Completedin January 2010, the project wasindicative of the collaboration diDomenico encourages among the studio staff. In addition to Liu’s contri-butions, Berger worked as the technicaladvisor, Alber served as project man-ager for earlier phases, and Suzukiwas a lead project designer who created 3-D architectural renderingsof the finished design.

The project, which di Domenico +Partners undertook in 1997, encompassesa one-million-square-foot terminal spacethat allows natural light entering fromabove to serve as a timepiece as shad-ows are cast on limestone walls. Sus-tainable design elements include shad-ing “fins” that prevent excess heat gainduring the summer and natural ventila-tion that utilizes the train piston effect

to help circulate air throughout the terminal structure. Pedestrians, uponentering Atlantic Terminal, experience avast daylit atrium space before makingtheir way to the grand stairs that wrapthe perimeter of the Pavilion towardtheir destination.

Meeting the needs of the Metro-politan Transportation Authority, NewYork City Transit, and the LIRR alsomeant accommodating nine subwaysline, six LIRR tracks, and five bus linesfor 57,000 daily commuters. For Liu,one challenge was working with thecontractor to maintain passenger safetyat the work site in the 24-hour facilitywhile assuring the project remainedconsistent to the design intent.

The finished design, with a con-struction cost of $169 million, haswon the Building Brooklyn Awardfrom the Brooklyn Chamber ofCommerce, New York ConstructionMagazine’s Best of 2010 Award ofMerit for Transportation, and awardsfrom the New York Landmarks Con-servancy and the American Council of Engineering Companies.

For some, seeing the 13-year projectrealized was its own reward. “It was inmy mind as a virtual 3-D model for solong,” says Suzuki. “To actually walkthrough it was quite amazing.” ■

Designed by di Domenico +Partners, the new Atlantic Avenue

Terminal Complex in downtownBrooklyn, N.Y., connects nine subway lines, three bus lines,

and the Long Island Rail Road.

Visit nyit.edu/magazine

to check out our new alumni video profiles

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Consultants to locate additional per-sonnel for the cleanup operation. In2009, Inc. magazine rated her company asone of the 500 fastest-growing privateU.S. companies.

Scott J. Gardiner (B.S. ’92) is public relations manager for the Johnand Mable Ringling Museum of Art inSarasota, Fla.

Christine Hodyl (D.O. ’92) has beenappointed South Nassau CommunitiesHospital’s liaison physician to the Ameri-can College of Surgeons Commission on

Cancer. She specializes in the treatment of breast cancer and has extensive trainingin ultrasound, oncoplastic surgery, andlaparoscopic techniques.

Christopher E. Rivielle (B.S. ’92,M.B.A. ’02) has joined NewmarkKnight Frank’s New York headquar-ters as a senior managing director. He has more than 20 years of experi-ence in global real estate advising,with expertise that includes high-riseoffice buildings, major renovations,

data centers, and corporate interiors.Christopher is also an adjunct profes-sor in NYIT’s School of Architectureand Design.

Scott Fiesel (B.F.A. ’92) is audiencedevelopment and analytics manager atNew York City-based ManagingAutomation Media, a division ofThomas Publishing LLC.

Stewart Leffler (B.Arch. ’92) is sen-ior project manager and project archi-tect at Watts Architecture andEngineering in Buffalo, N.Y.

Carol Teplin (B.S. ’92, M.P.S. ’94)co-authored the book, The UnheardVoices of the Aging Parent, which discusseshow parents use therapy to resolve con-flicts in their relationships with middle-age children.

Kenneth R. Gehringer (B.S. ’93) hasbeen elected vice president for the North-east region of the Construction Specifi-cations Institute. He works as the seniorproject architect in the Private SectorDivision of Melville, N.Y.-based H2M.

Bonnie Habyan (M.A. ’92) is execu-tive vice president of marketing forArbor Commercial Mortgage LLC inUniondale, N.Y., where she handles allbranding, advertising, customer rela-tions management, lead generation,media relations, and related areas. In2008, she was named one of the 50Most Influential Women in Business byLong Island Business News.

Christopher M. Hanson (B.S. ’95)is the new senior project manager anddirector of health care practice at theNew York office of MDKA, a corporatespace planning and interior design firm.He brings to this position 15 years ofexperience, including 10 years of projectmanagement at some of New York’s pre-mier health care facilities. Most recently,Christopher was a project leader at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital, directingmultiple projects with budgets as high as$25 million.

Arun Manansingh (B.S. ’95) hasjoined Judlau Contracting as its newchief information officer, responsible forestablishing, planning, organizing, andcontrolling all activities of the technologydepartment. Arun says, “The experiencesI took away from NYIT have provided afoundation that has helped me through-out my life and career.”

Marva Titley-Smith (B.Arch. ’95) ischief planner in the Town and CountryPlanning department in the BritishVirgin Islands, a post she has held sinceJune 2009.

David Johnston (D.O. ’96) runs theOsteopathic Wellness Center located in Ridgefield, N.Y. Working with himis Lisa Preston (D.O. ’03), who splitsher time between Johnston’s clinic andin the emergency department as aphysician for St. John’s RiversideHospital in Yonkers.

Vincent L. Sadusky (M.B.A. ’96)has joined the board of directors ofInternational Game Technology. He is president and CEO of LIN TVCorp., a multimedia company locatedin Providence, R.I. Previously, Vincentwas the CFO and treasurer ofTelemundo Communications.

Vertel Martin (M.S. ’96) was chosenfor inclusion in the biographical sectionof the FBI National Academy’s 75thanniversary commemorative book. TheNew York state-certified police academy

ALU M N I NOTES


FORE A GOOD CAUSEMore than 150 alumni and friends of NYIT hit the links on Sept. 13 to help raise a record$56,000 at the Sixth Annual NYIT Athletics Golf Outing at the Hamlet Golf and Country Clubin Commack, N.Y. All proceeds will benefit NYIT’s athletic programs and facilities. Picturedare (from left): Mike Blackall; Mike Clifford (B.S. ’81); John Higgins (B.S. ’81) and Ed White(B.S. ’86). ■

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ALU M N I NOTES


By Kathryn Stroppel

After a 30-year career working for some of the world’s richestpeople, Father Victor Lopez

(B.S. ’70) made a life-changing deci-sion that gave him new insight into thetrue value of a dollar.

Lopez attended NYIT in the late1960s, in part because it provided anaffordable education. Moonlighting asan electrician to pay his way throughschool, he says NYIT “prepared me forwhat I had to do in the real world.”

First up after college were jobs at twoNew York accounting firms, with a clien-tele that included John Lennon and PaulSimon. Next was work as a senior taxaccountant for Rockefeller Center Inc.and the Rockefeller family during thetime Nelson Rockefeller was vice presi-dent of the United States. Four yearslater, Lopez became director of taxes atWarner Amex Cable Communications,which launched Nickelodeon and MTVduring his watch. He ended his suc-cessful tax career and life as “Mr.Corporate New York,” as he calls it,working with Lewis Katz, co-owner ofthe New York Yankees, New JerseyNets, and New Jersey Devils, as his personal tax advisor.

In 1999, Lopez left New York forFlorida. “I was content to play golf, flymy plane, and kick back,” he says. “Andthen God called.” Eight years later, hewas ordained an Anglican Catholicpriest. “This is much better,” he says ofhis new vocation. “I give of myself, and I get so much more back.”

Now, instead of tax strategy andstructuring acquisitions, he works in

Father Victor Lopez (B.S. ’70) and this child,one of hundreds of thousands of Haitianchildren who live in poverty, spent a fewhours together during a recent trip. Lopez’steam provided basic medical check-ups,wound care, hygiene education, infectioncontrol, and blood pressure, cardio, andblood glucose checks.

Windfall of Care


instructor, with more than twodecades of experience, is also certified asa paralegal and has worked as a privatesecurity detective. Vertel is currently apart-time teacher at East StroudsburgUniversity and Northampton Commu-nity College in Pennsylvania.

Keith A. Nethersole (B.S. ’96) hasbeen recognized by Stanford Who’s Who for his consulting work. He hasbeen the director of operations andtraining for Pembroke Pines, Fla.-basedCohen & Klein Consulting for the past18 years.

Cindy B. Penchina (M.S. ’97) isprincipal and executive director atHudson Fusion, a marketing firmbased in Westchester, N.Y. She hasmore than 10 years of experienceworking in technology, e-commerceand Web design.

Simon E. Prince (D.O. ’97) is med-ical director of the Queens-Long IslandRenal Institute and is a Fellow of theAmerican College of Physicians and theAmerican Society of Nephrology. He isalso a clinical assistant professor of med-icine at the NYU School of Medicineand teaches nephrology at NYCOM.

Cambridge Who’s Who has recognizedAkwasi A. Achampong (D.O. ’97) fordemonstrating dedication, leadership,and excellence in medical care. A physi-cian at Elmont Medical PC in Elmont,N.Y., he specializes in diabetes and

hypertension treatment and is a memberof the Nassau County Medical Societyand MedNet Technologies Inc.

Bellamy Brook (D.O. ’98) is medicaldirector at Peconic Landing, a retire-ment community located in Greenport,N.Y. He is also affiliated with EasternLong Island Hospital (also in Green-port), is board certified in family prac-tice, and specializes in geriatrics andurgent care medicine.

Sania Wilkins (D.O. ’98) has beenrecognized by Cambridge Who’s Who forher dedication, leadership, and excel-lence in pediatric health care. She is theprimary physician at Port Pediatrics inPort Washington, N.Y., and an adjunctprofessor at the Touro College ofOsteopathic Medicine.

Bruce (D.O. ’99) and SharonMarts (M.S. ’99) live in Dublin,Calif., with their three children, Erika,Kira, and Cole. Bruce is an emergencymedical physician at Kaiser Perma-nente. Sharon is working toward adoctorate in education at theUniversity of San Francisco.

Karine Thevenin-Smaltz (B.S.’99, D.O. ’04) has joined DillsburgFamily Health Center in Dillsburg,Pa. She is a member of the AmericanOsteopathic Association, the AmericanCollege of Osteopathic Family Physi-cians, and the American Academy ofFamily Physicians.

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hospitals and food kitchens in LakeWorth, Fla., where he also raises moneyto help the people of Haiti. “I’m a muchdifferent person these days,” saysLopez. “I’m trying to get people on thefringes what they need to survive.”

In July, he celebrated his 62nd birth-day on a medical mission to Haiti andis planning another one in March,when he hopes to start a long-termpharmaceutical program with Haitian-Americans and a company in Florida.In additional to medical care, Lopezworks to provide school supplies andpay for students’ tuition, both of whichcost $8 or less a year per child, andsupports a Catholic orphanage.

“This is not big money,” he says,adding that the reward of mission workis better than any job he’s had. Lopezadds that he is impressed with theHaitians’ dignity, faith, and love, which“seemed totally out of place with thedevastation that surrounded them.”During visits to the country, he says heexpected despair but saw only hope.

“I now work with people who aren’tlooking for money, but rather spiritualguidance,” says Lopez. “Haiti is on ourdoorstep, and I have vowed not to letthe cry of the Haitian people, their hope,or their faith go unanswered.”

Still, the former Mr. Corporate NewYork is in demand. He was recentlyoffered two high-level positions that“took me less than two seconds todecline,” he says. “I’ll spend the rest ofmy life caring for God’s people.” ■


| M a r r i a g e s |Ashley Simela (D.O. ’08) and Tanasha Sylvester (D.O. ’08)Matthew Hoffman (B.F.A. ’90) and Avery WillisMatthew Hollar (B.Arch. ’07) and Dana MoriartyMichael Recher (B.T. ’06) and Jessica SchwartzChristopher Frazer (B.S. ’09) and Valerie Tirado

| P a s s i n g s |James C. Stowe (B.S. ’69)Joseph Patrick Henning (B.S. ’87, M.S. ’84)Andre Menzies (B.S. ’00)Anthony Canet (D.O. ’02)Catherine Prusinski (M.S. ’04)Arthur L. Iger, professor of marketing and advertisingRobert Mancini, associate dean of NYCOM’s Office of Clinical SciencesMorrie Yohai, associate dean of the School of Management

Haiti is onour doorstep,

and I have vowednot to let the cryof the Haitianpeople, theirhope, or their faithgo unanswered.”


| 2000s |William Sorice (B.F.A. ’00) has been

recognized by the Coney Island FilmFestival and GIAA Film Festival for hisshort film, Vinny Vino. The film alsowon a comedy award at the eighth annualGlobal Art Film Festival.

Coster Aurelien (B.S. ’01, M.B.A.’05) is president of Qualified Health-care Solutions, a consulting firm basedin Hauppauge, N.Y. Since earning hisNYIT degree, he has had the opportu-nity to work for Fortune 500 firms,including Henry Schein and Honey-well. Says Coster: “My biggest accom-plishment was returning to NYIT in2003 for my M.B.A. The program gaveme the tools I needed to succeed in myown business.” He also recalls howNYIT’s cultural diversity provided aglobal perspective.

Chi Fai Lau (B.S. ’01) works as aregistered architect for Furman &Furman Architects in New York City.

Joseph Laurita Jr. (B.S. ’01) wassworn in as a Garden City, N.Y., policeofficer earlier this year. He is a seven-year veteran of the New York City

Police Department, where he wasassigned to the 83rd precinct.

Matthew D. McDonald (D.O. ’01)joined the staff at Saratoga Hospital inSaratoga Springs, N.Y., earlier thisyear. He also practices medicine atSaratoga Surgical Associates and waspreviously the chief of general andbariatric surgery as well as critical careat Keller Army Community Hospital inWest Point, N.Y.

Angela R. Dorsey (D.O. ’02) wasrecognized by Cambridge Who’s Whofor her excellence in medical care,based on her work for Indian HealthServices as an urgent care physician.She also volunteered to help Hurri-cane Katrina victims, provided medicalassistance to a mission group in SouthAfrica, and continues to sponsor children in Africa through Child Fund International.

Karen Engel (B.P.S. ’02) launchedher career in the jewelry industry aftergraduating from NYIT. She now runsEngel Diamonds, which offers custom-made pieces.

Marios D. Gagos (D.O. ’03) runs a

private practice in Queens, N.Y. Boardcertified in cardiovascular diseases andnuclear cardiology, he is a faculty mem-ber at the New York Hospital Queens’Heart and Vascular Center. Marios is amember of the Hellenic Medical Societyand is actively involved in promotingcardiovascular health to the Greek-American community.

Georgia Gordon (B.P.S. ’03, M.S.’07) plays defense for Jamaica’sSunshine Girls, a netball team thattravels the world. She has played inthree world championships and twoCommonwealth Games.

Jennifer Hohn (B.S. ’03) is executivedirector at the North Adams HousingAuthority in Massachusetts.

David Pallant (M.A. ’03) is anassistant professor of English at theCounty College of Morris in Randolph,N.J. He previously worked for Google,Fox Sports Network, and GovernorHoward Dean during his presidentialcampaign.

Major Kalpesh Purohit (D.O. ’03)was awarded the Davis Scholarship bythe Aerospace Medical Association. He


ALU M N I NOTES

NYIT is pleased to welcome Tong “Tony” Lei (M.S. ’09) asthe new coordinator of alumni and employer relations at

NYIT-Nanjing. He will work with NYIT’s global network of gradu-ates to facilitate mentoring and internship programs leading tojob opportunities for NYIT students and alumni in China.

“Returning to my home country to work for NYIT is a good fitsince my ultimate career goal has always been to connectChina with the rest of the world,” said Lei, who was born andraised in the Shandong Province and holds a dual master’sdegree in human resource management and labor relations fromNYIT as well as international economy and trade from TongjiUniversity in China.

“Tony will be able to teach current NYIT students about specific skills needed for today’s global marketplace and sharehis insights on career opportunities within China and betweenChina and the United States,” said John Hyde, dean of NYIT’sOffice of Career Services. ■

GRAD HEADS UP ALUMNIEFFORTS IN CHINA


is currently a resident in aviation andpreventive medicine for the U.S. Army.

Patricia Sargent (D.O. ’03) hasjoined Main Street Pediatrics andAdolescent Medicine in Nashua, N.H.She is also associated with FoundationMedical Partners, a staff member atSouthern New Hampshire MedicalCenter, and a member of the AmericanAcademy of Pediatrics.

Yazeed Al-Khalidi (M.B.A. ’04) ischief financial officer and chief operat-ing officer at Pharmacy1 in Jordan.

Jessica Buritica (B.A. ’04) is a videoeditor for BBC America. In June 2008,she married army veteran Jeremy Diaz,and together they live in Hollis, N.Y.

Muhammad U.A. Bhatty (D.O. ’05)is a hospitalist at Rochester GeneralHospital. He lives in Pittsford, N.Y.,with his wife, Jazeela.

Mylan Vaugeois Kohler (D.O. ’05)has joined the staff at Tamarack BehavioralHealth Center in Manitowoc, Wis.,where she specializes in child and adolescent psychiatry.

Before retiring, Albert Winn (M.B.A.’05) served as vice president of the Apache(helicopter) programs at Boeing. Heplans to spend his newfound free timerestoring a 1957 Indian motorcycle and1956 Chevy Nomad. He and his wife,Kathleen, have seven children.

Jose Acevedo (M.B.A. ’06) is presi-dent and CEO at Finger Lakes Healthin Geneva, N.Y. He joined the healthservices provider in 2004 as vice presi-dent for medical affairs and chief medical officer and also serves on theboard of Veterans Health Administra-tion Empire-Metro and on the Salva-tion Army advisory board.

Fatima A. Al-Banna (B.S. ’06) ismanager of human resources andadministration for the global realestate development group at Manama,Bahrain-based Global BankingCorporation.

Cambridge Who’s Who has recognizedBrian Cantelope (B.S. ’06), managerfor Cypress, Calif.-based Health Infor-matics International, for his dedication,leadership, and excellence in the field offinancial management.

Mu-Chien Chiang (D.O. ’06) worksas an internal medicine doctor inCosta Mesa, Calif. for Bristol ParkMedical Group.

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Denice H. Franco (D.O. ’06) specializes in physical medicine andrehabilitation at Orthopaedic Special-ists & Hand Surgical Associates inPennsylvania. She is also a certifiedacupuncturist.

Dana J. Hepler (B. Arch. ’06, M.Arch. ’07), principal at Hepler Assoc-iates, Architects and Land Planners inNew York City, co-authored Draftingand Design for Architecture, 9th Edition.He is also an adjunct professor ofarchitecture at NYIT.

Charlie Hicks (M.S. ’06) won the 2010 Varsity 845 Coach of theYear award for leading the LivingstonManor (N.Y.) high school softball team to its first championship. Inaddition, he teaches fifth and sixthgrade math at Livingston ManorElementary School.

Harlan Krepcik (B.S. ’06, M.B.A.’07) is the commercial systems salesengineer for Carrier Enterprise inNorfolk, Va., and has authored vari-ous technical papers and textbooks onheating, ventilation, air conditioning,and refrigeration.

Stephen B. Lemke (D.O. ’06) hasjoined the staff of Shore Health Systemin Easton, Md., where he practices inthe department of anesthesiology.

Mike MacMillan (B.S. ’06) andMike Gaffney (B.S. ’07) are coachesfor the Long Island Collegians, a teamthat plays in the Atlantic BaseballLeague. From 2003 to 2008, Gaffneyplayed shortstop in the Kansas CityRoyals’ AA farm system.

Yasha Magyar (D.O. ’06) has joinedthe medical staff at Pottstown MemorialMedical Center, in Pottstown, Pa., andalso works at nearby Performance Spineand Sports Physicians.

Designer Nadeen Ghalayini(B.F.A. ’07) had the pleasure ofattending classes at NYIT campusesin Jordan and Manhattan. Since earn-ing her degree, she has worked onprojects for the United Nations,including maintaining and updatingits Arabic Web pages.

Cambridge Who’s Who recognizedMilton Francis (M.S. ’07), a mathe-matics teacher and technology coordi-nator for the New York City Depart-ment of Education, for his excellencein educational instruction. He is amember of the American Federation ofTeachers and is listed in Who’s WhoAmong American Teachers.

Martin J. Moffitt (B.S. ’08) hasjoined the Sagamore Hill NationalHistoric Site’s Maintenance Division inCove Neck, N.Y. The U.S. Air Forceveteran has also worked for theNational Park Service at GatewayNational Recreation Area in New Yorkand New Jersey.

Jenna Ament (B.S. ’09) was high-lighted as “one to watch” in the field of engineering by Long Island BusinessNews. She manages marketing andbusiness development functions forNortheast Building Systems in Mel-ville, N.Y. Jenna facilitated the company’scompletion of a major project onbehalf of the Jacob K. Javits Center.She is also a member of ProfessionalWomen in Construction.

Danelle Garcia (B.F.A. ’09) spentthe past year at Fox News in NewYork City in the Ailes ApprenticeshipProgram, which gives new staffers thechance to interact with high-levelexecutives at the news network. She is a production assistant in Fox’sgraphics department.

Joseph Burroughs (A.Cert. ’09,M.S. ’10) is general manager of energyrefurbished parts for GE Energy inAtlanta, Ga. This past summer, he wasaccepted into the Ph.D. program inInternational Conflict Management atKennesaw State University. ■

OFFICE OF ALUMNI RELATIONS

Director of DevelopmentLinda Marshall

Director of Alumni RelationsJoe Fortine

Associate Director of Alumni RelationsJulie Darcy

Associate Director of Development ResearchPeter Casalino

Alumni Federation PresidentRalph Sepe (B.S. ’97)

Alumni Federation President EmeritusCarol Ann Hasenstab (B.S. ’92)

Board of DirectorsLisa Colantuono (B.S. ’94, M.A. ’98)

Frederick J. Harris (B.S. ’08, M.B.A. ’10)Nancy Magrini (B.F.A. ’80)

Elizabeth Melillo (M.B.A. ’07)Gary I. Nathan (B.S. ’89)

Andrew Slavinsky (B.S. ’97, M.B.A. ’09)Michael Spinelli (B.S. ’87)

CHAPTER PRESIDENTS

Carol Ann Hasenstab (B.S. ’92)Long Island

Alexander Soto (B.S. ’01)New York City

Alan Clarke (B.S. ’68)Philadelphia

Hiroshi Morimoto (B.S. ’91)New England

Audrey Parrish (B.S. ’76)South Florida

Kim McGraw (B.S. ’81)Southern California

Meryl Dean (B.S. ’81)San Francisco Bay Area

Andrew Slavinsky (B.S. ’97, M.B.A. ’09)North Carolina

Yasser Al-Saad (M.B.A. ’05)Bahrain

Annie Chung (M.B.A. ’09)Shenzhen-Guangdong

Yong Wang (M.B.A. ’09)Shanghai


ALU M N I NOTES

➤➤ M AG A Z I N Enyi t .edu

NYIT’s mentor program is designedto strengthen the bond betweenalumni and students. With yourhelp, NYIT students can learn critical skills and gain valuableexperience that will serve them

throughout their careers. Please contact Leigh Mascianica, assistant director of career services,

at 212.261.1537 [email protected].

Make aDifference


New York Institute of Technology’s graduates are among our most valuable resources. The NYIT Alumni Mentor Program eases the transition from collegeto workplace by matching current students with experienced NYIT graduates.

• Give students the chance to ask questions about their majors, growth opportunities, and alumni experiences

• Encourage students to explore their future careers outside the classroom

• Help navigate students towards professional experiences such as intern-ships, part-time jobs, and volunteer work

• Assist students to develop their own visions for their professional future by cultivating leadership and networking skills

Become an NYIT Mentor

To learn more, please contact Leigh Mascianica, assistant director of career services, at 212.261.1537 or [email protected]

nyit.edu/cs

New York Institute of TechnologyOffice of Alumni RelationsNorthern BoulevardP.O. Box 8000Old Westbury, NY 11568-8000

Non-Profit OrgU.S. Postage

PAIDPermit # 2664St. Cloud MN

RediscoverEnjoy the benefits of staying connected to NYIT

Participate in your local chapter Alumni Federation chapters serve as volunteer centers for many alumni activities.Create programs to advance your professional growth whileassisting graduates and students for years to come.

Make new contacts Networking and professional developmentevents are the major focus of alumni activities. Attend reunions,programs, and workshops to enhance your career.

Mentor a future graduate Donate your time, experience, andknowledge to help NYIT students. Participate in student e-maildiscussions, visit classrooms, or facilitate projects alongsideNYIT professors and students.

Recruit new students No one speaks better of the NYITexperience than our alumni. Talk to prospective students andbecome an essential component of the recruitment process.

Become an ambassador Represent NYIT at events around the world.

For more information, please contact the Office ofAlumni Relations at 516.686.7800 or [email protected]

nyit.edu/alumni

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