connections New York City College of Technology
Fall 2010
Vol. 3, No. 1
connections
SPS Alumni Reunion Set for November 6 New Program in Industrial Design Technology Solar Sailing Symposium Attracts International Audience
Dale Tarnowieski Editor-in-Chief Michele Forsten Contributing Editor
Veterans from Different Generations Find Home at City Tech
Jeramie Barber Managing Editor
1,900 Degrees Awarded at 70th Commencement Exercises in June
Jamie Markowitz Graphic Designer
Continuing Ed Program Prepares Mexican Immigrants for Hospitality Careers Connections is the online and print magazine of New York City College of Technology, 300 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201-1909. Š 2010. All rights reserved.
School of Professional Studies Reunion Set for November 6
1,900 GRADUATES AWARDED DEGREES AT 70th COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES The weather outside was perfect, clear skies and low humidity. Inside The Theater at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan it was perfect, too, as 1,900 City Tech students had their degrees – 1,100 associate and 800 baccalaureate – conferred upon them at the College’s 70th Commencement Exercises on June 2, 2010. “I carry the torch for the 39 people who lost their lives in Hurricane Ivan’s devastation of 2004, leading The City University of New York (CUNY) to provide scholarships to citizens of Grenada,” said City Tech’s 2010 valedictorian, 24year-old Lerone Bleasdille, a recipient of one of the 15 scholarships offered by CUNY and the Grenada Mission. In his speech, Bleasdille, who graduated with a BTech degree in computer systems, said that while such people as Gandhi, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King had inspired change in the world, he didn’t have to look further than the sea of his fellow graduates for inspiration. City Tech President Russell K. Hotzler acknowledged the College’s 2010 salutatorian Natasha Marcano, 32, an international student born and raised in Trinidad, who received a BTech in communication design. With the encouragement of her professors, she now has the goal of teaching at the college level. City Tech’s commencement speaker, New York State Senator Daniel Squadron, told the audience that being in Madison Square Garden made him think about sports and the lessons he’s learned from following two New York teams. Squadron,
who serves the 25th Senatorial District, drew some sympathetic laughs when he spoke of his lifelong love of the Jets and the Knicks, neither of whom has won a championship during his lifetime. “There are two lessons in these two teams that I have taken with me to the State Senate,” he explained. “The first is that you cannot make choices just based on your chance of winning. You have to choose what you believe in, what excites you. You have to choose that thing that you will keep working for in the freezing cold on a January day when any sane person would throw up their hands and say, ‘maybe next year.’” The 2010 President’s Award was presented to Garey V. Ellis, MD, co-founder and executive director of Brooklyn-based Inner Force Student Leadership Institute. It offers educationally disadvantaged inner-city children ages 6 to 15 the skills they will need to succeed in college and beyond by offering after-school, weekend and summer enrichment programs and Regents preparatory courses. Other activities included an invocation by Reverend Elizabeth Alexander, pastor, The Church of Gethsemane in Park Slope. Greetings were brought by U.S. Congressman Anthony Weiner, CUNY Board of Trustee Member the Honorable Carol A. Robles-Román, CUNY Vice Chancellor for Labor Relations Pamela Silverblatt, City Tech Alumni Association President Yvonne Riley-Tepie ‘92 and City Tech Student Government Association President Evita Belmonte, who was part of the Class of 2010.
New York City College of Technology will host a “Tastes of New York/Casino Night” reunion for graduates of all baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate programs now part of the College’s School of Professional Studies. The event will be held on Saturday, November 6, 2010, in the College’s Atrium Gallery and Dining Hall, 300 Jay Street (at Tillary), 2nd floor, Downtown Brooklyn. The festivities will begin with a 7:00 p.m. reception, followed by dinner, dancing and casino activities and raffles from 8:00 p.m. to midnight. Guests will enjoy an array of popular international dishes and desserts reflecting the fine cuisine of New York City’s diverse neighborhoods. An open bar will feature a fine assortment of beers and wines. Ticket are $85 per person or $150 per couple, with proceeds used for other School of Professional Studies alumni activities. For tickets and more information, call 718.260.5006. So save the date and get your dancing shoes ready. It won’t be a party without you!
http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/alumni
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Summer Solar Sailing Symposium Attracts International Participation Sixty top scientists from 12 countries convened at New York City College of Technology from July 20 through July 22 to discuss recent advances in solar sailing technologies, near-term solar sailing missions and the physics of solar sailing. In particular, City Tech was proud to showcase a presentation on the successful deployment of the first solar sail in space by JAXA, Japan’s space exploration agency. Coming from Japan, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Spain, Italy, France, Canada, China, Luxembourg and all over the United States, participants convened for the “Second International
Symposium on Solar Sailing,” which City Tech was proud to host. “With rockets and other spacecraft consuming tons of fuel, the prospect of using solar sails – which employ only the pressure of sunlight as propulsion – is becoming key,” says City Tech Department of Physics Chair Roman Kezerashvili, who headed the local organizing committee for the symposium. The 48 presentations at the symposium focused on the dynamics analysis and testing of solar sails, advanced materials and structural concepts of solar sails, space environmental effects and solar spacecraft protection, solar spacecraft charging, enabling
technologies, navigation, control, modeling, mission applications and programs. Major speakers included Louis Friedman, the Planetary Society (USA) and James Cantrell, Strategic Space Development, Inc. (USA) (“History of Solar Sailing Flights”); Junichiro Kawaguchi, JAXA Space Exploration Center (Japan) (“Solar Power Sail – Hybrid Propulsion and Its Applications”), who discussed Japan’s recent deployment of the Ikaros solar sail; Manfred Leipold, KayserThrede GmbH (Germany) (“Recent European Advances in Solar Sail Technologies and Fresh Plans for a Gossamer Structure In-Orbit Deployment of DLR in Collaboration with ESA”); Les Johnson, NASA George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (USA) (“Status of Solar Sail Technology Within NASA”); Roman Kezerashvili, City Tech (USA) (“Using a Solar Sail Mission to Test Fundamental Physics”); and Malcolm Macdonald and Colin McInnes, University of Strathclyde (UK) (“Solar Sail Mission Applications and Future Advancement”). The proceedings from the symposium will be edited by Professor Kezerashvili for a special issue of Advances in Space Research, the official journal of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), a Scientific Committee of the International Council for Science. COSPAR is an interdisciplinary scientific organization concerned with the progress of space research on an international scale. At the conclusion of the symposium, participants issued a New York Declaration outlining achievements to date and future directions for solar sailing.
BROADWAY HONORS LATE PULITZER PRIZE - WINNING AUTHOR WHO TAUGHT AT CITY TECH Honoring the one-year anniversary of the passing of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes), The Irish Repertory Theatre presented a special engagement of McCourt’s “The Irish…And How They Got That Way” July through September 2010, directed by Charlotte Moore. The work is an irreverent but affectionate history of the Irish in America that mingles laughter and sentiment in a tapestry of classical songs and stories. The production encapsulated the most tumultuous times of the past century with the vibrant humor and bitter
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irony that had become the trademark of an author whose critically acclaimed biographies also included ‘Tis and Teacher Man. Frank McCourt, who died in July 2009, was an Irish-American teacher and writer, best known for Angela’s Ashes, his 1996 prize-winning memoir about his childhood in Brooklyn and Limerick, Ireland. A graduate of New York University and a beloved teacher for nearly 30 years, he taught in several New York public schools and in the Department of English at City Tech.
VETS FROM DIFFERENT GENERATIONS FIND AN ACADEMIC HOME AT CITY TECH
Cesia Garzon and Victor Correa
For Cesia Garzon, Victor Correa and 225 of their fellow service veterans, City Tech is providing the supportive environment they need to move ahead in their lives. “My military service increased my desire to attend college to pursue a career,” says 25-year-old Garzon, who served between 2002 and 2006 as a supply clerk in Kuwait and Iraq, and began life as a college student at the start of the spring 2010 semester. Garzon is taking advantage of the increased opportunities provided by the new Post-9/11 GI Bill, which gives her tuition and
a monthly allowance for such items as rent, electricity and books. She’ll also benefit from City Tech’s Veterans Support Services Office (VSSO) because, she says, “I know that through that office I can get referrals to other available services for veterans.” Different generations of veterans attend City Tech. In addition to recent veterans like Garzon, students include Correa, a 56year-old grandfather who served three years in the 1970s as an Army cook and baker. In Germany, he cooked for 600 soldiers on the post and out in the field. In fall 2009, Correa entered City Tech to study hospitality management. “I first started college in 1979,” he explains, “but juggling school, research, a job at the World Trade Center and screaming kids meant getting to sleep at one in the morning and up at five to get to work at seven.” After the Army, Correa did earn an associate degree from the New York Restaurant School (now the Art Institute), doing an externship at the
Food Network and interning and volunteering with City Tech graduate and celebrity chef Michael Lomonaco ‘84 before becoming a member of the culinary staff at Gracie Mansion from 2000 to 2003. “After graduation, I was offered a job at Windows on the World in the pastry operation and turned it down to work at Gracie Mansion,” he recalls. “I could have perished on 9-11. Instead, I was sending food to the rescue workers at Ground Zero.” Correa returned to City Tech as a baccalaureate student because, he says, “Most cooking schools don’t have a hospitality program, and I want to expand to other things. At my age, I want to do more than stand in front of an oven!” Correa finds college rewarding and also encourages other older veterans to attend. “It’s never too late; you can always start again. It’s exciting; it refreshes your mind, your brain wakes up. It’s not easy, but I’m having a great time.”
Mathematics Professor Hans Schoutens Named 2010 Scholar on Campus City Tech named Professor Hans Schoutens, mathematics, the College’s 2010 Scholar on Campus. He presented a lecture, “A Mathematician’s Divina Commedia and His Travels Through the Three Realms: the Physical, the Virtual and the Platonic,” in April 2010. In the lecture, Schoutens said he was exploring “the physical world, which produces geometry and physics; the virtual world, which produces the universe of finite fields; and the ‘divine’ sphere of pure mathematics, with its intrinsic beauty and irrefutable truth, and how, from my perspective, they are connected.” Citing philosophy as a hobby, he explained, “Since ancient times, mathematics has been used to model and describe our physical world, eventually leading to the powerful theories of contemporary physics,
such as relativity theory, quantum theory and string theory. More recently, it has been assisted in this task by computers, leading to many ‘applied’ branches of mathematics. However, I am a pure mathematician, so where do I fit in? A pure mathematician is one to whom results – the applications of math – are not necessary.” Schoutens, who spent the 2009-2010 academic year on sabbatical at Ohio State University in Columbus, is the co-founder of the Commutative Algebra and Algebraic Geometry Seminar and of the Logic Workshop, one of the leading logic centers in the country. Both are initiatives of The City University of New York Graduate Center. As a result of his involvement with these activities, City Tech has hired four logicians and four algebraists – who participate in the workshop and/or seminar – to teach at the College. Scoutens is author of The Use of Ultraproducts in Commutative Algebra, to be published by Springer later this year or in early 2011.
New Facing for Pearl Building Work was completed on a new exterior facing for the Adams Street ground floor level of the Pearl Building during summer 2010. A complete re-facing of the Voorhees building is currently underway. http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/alumni
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NEW BTECH PROGRAM IN INDUSTRIAL DESIGN TECHNOLOGY When Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology Chair Sidi Berri joined the faculty of New York City College of Technology in February 2000, he envisioned the need for a baccalaureate degree in design from an engineering perspective. Ten years later his dream became a reality. “For New York City subway riders,” says Professor Berri, “IND is the Independent line. But for members of the City Tech community, IND is the new baccalaureate program in Industrial Design Technology. The program articulates with all existing CUNY AAS programs in the fields of mechanical engineering technology, industrial design technology and civil engineering technology. CUNY students who have completed their AAS in any of these disciplines will benefit from the direct integration of engineering principles with industrial design concepts and advanced software capabilities in the new baccalaureate program.” Professor Berri notes that City Tech is the
Professor Sidi Berri
perfect home for an Industrial Design Technology baccalaureate program. The curriculum is multidisciplinary and will provide both the theory and practical application of industry-standard processes. Higher skilled industrial engineering-based manufacturing jobs are in high demand. Within in the next five to ten years, much of the regional workforce will be retiring and companies in the private and public sectors will continue to look to City Tech graduates to provide the “green” solutions to manufacturing design in the areas of the robotics, construction,
German Jewish Allied Soldier Reflects on Nazi Takeover and World War II Dean Pamela Brown of the School of Arts & Sciences hosted a special guest lecture, “From Omaha Beach to Nuremberg: A German Jewish Allied Soldier’s Reflections on World War II and Its Aftermath,” by Fritz Weinschenk in April 2010. The event was part of a City Tech series of Veterans Appreciation Week activities. German Jewish Allied soldier Fritz Weinschenk, who attended City College of New York and New York University School of Law, discussed the combat and other experiences he encountered after barely escaping from Germany with his family following the Nazi regime’s rise to power in the early 1930s. Later, during World War II, Mr. Weinschenk served both in Europe and in the Pacific Theater under General Douglas MacArthur. After the war, he was involved in the Nuremberg Trials, which tried 22 of the most important captured leaders of Nazi Germany. A second set of trials of lesser war criminals was conducted later and included
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the Doctors’ Trial and the Judges’ Trial. Mr. Weinschenk was featured in the documentary film About Face and was the subject of a chapter in The Enemy I Knew: German Jews in the Allied Military in World War II. Their ranks are thinning now with the passage of time. Recent figures indicate that the number of Holocaust survivors residing in Brooklyn and Queens totals only about 25,000 men and women. Of the 16 million-plus Americans who fought to defend our way of life in World War II, only about 2 million were still living in late 2009. The average age of both groups makes them octogenarians and the time will come before too long when fading film will be about all that’s left to reveal in a graphic way the enormous suffering and other ravages of war in Europe and the Pacific that the two groups endured during that long and tragic period in history. Mr. Weinschenk vividly recounted that terrible time to a spellbound City Tech audience.
aerospace and automotive industries. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, among others, the primary workforce problem in manufacturing is not one of shortages, but rather a skills mismatch. Regional manufacturers are looking for high quality and high-end technologists. Pfizer, IBM, and places like Scott Jordan furniture at the Brooklyn Navy Yard are seeking skilled employees who are comfortable with hightech applications. The IND curriculum is designed to provide students work-based opportunities to become critical thinkers and creative problem solvers. Professor Berri sees a bright future for the IND program. “In five to ten years City Tech will become the industrial design educational hub of New York City. Students who are engineering and design focused will be clamoring for a space in the program. Employers will seek out our students as interns and be so impressed that they guarantee them jobs upon graduation.”
JFSA Distinguished Speakers Series Sala’s Gift: My Mother’s Holocaust Story Guest Speaker Dr. Ann Kirschner, University Dean Macaulay Honors College The City University of New York Humanitarian Award Honorees • Günter Blobel, MD, PhD John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Professor Howard Hughes Medical Institute Laboratory of Cell Biology Rockefeller University • Jerry Jacobs, Founder and Chairman Interfaith Committee of Remembrance Thursday, November 11, 2010 12:45 - 2:15 p.m. The Atrium Amphitheater 300 Jay Street (at Tillary) Downtown Brooklyn Open to the College community and general public.
Maldonado/Architectural Students Assist Medical Mission International in El Salvador
Professor Tim Maldonado
For the past six years, Architectural Technology Professor Tim Maldonado, Interim Dean of the School of Technology & Design and president of the New York Council of the Society of American Registered Architects, has been providing pro bono architectural design services to Medical Mission International (MMI). This Nobel Peace Prize-nominated group of doctors, surgeons and volunteers has travelled yearly to El Salvador to provide medical
services to those living in a remote area of the country. Since 1992, they have attended over 80,000 patients and performed approximately 2,500 life-changing surgical operations. Working with MMI’s founder Dr. Roberto Araujo and philanthropist David King, Professor Maldonado has been involved in creating a surgical center, with accompanying housing, a school, workshops and support facilities on a 40-acre site in Jucuapa, El Salvador. Incorporating this project into two of his design classes at City Tech, Professor Maldonado inspired his students to create exciting hospital design proposals. This student project resulted in a CUNY/TV documentary in which City Tech student William Valdez and his classmates traced their experience as student designers for this extraordinary project. Six years after its inception, Professor Maldonado and his students continue their involvement with its humanitarian work.
Institutional Advancement/ CTF Temporarily Relocated The Offices of Communications, Development, Government Relations and Image/Visual Communications as well as the City Tech Foundation have temporarily moved to 16 Court Street (corner of Court and Montague), 6th floor, Downtown Brooklyn, while extensive HVAC and other work is underway on the 3rd floor of Namm Hall. The relocation is expected to last for four to six months. Phone, fax and e-mail remain the same.
City Tech Researchers Announce Preliminary Findings on Hospital-Acquired Infections in Brooklyn A team of City Tech biology and mathematics students and faculty members have announced their preliminary research findings on a serious health issue facing the Brooklyn community – Nosocomial Infection (NI) acquired by patients while hospitalized. After researching the medical literature and performing statistical analyses on data from 15 Brooklyn hospitals, the students identified the pathogens most commonly responsible for NI and found significant variations in the occurrence of drug-resistant NI among the hospitals. The project was partially funded by a two-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Scientific Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) implementation award and was under the direction of Professors Liana Tsenova (biological sciences) and Urmi Ghosh-Dastidar (mathematics). SENCER projects are designed to engage more students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses, and connect that learning to their other studies. It also aims to strengthen responsible citizenship by
SENCER group
applying their scientific knowledge to complex community problems. NI represents a complex and multi-faceted healthcare problem. NI is difficult to treat, according to the literature, as more than 70 percent of the pathogens causing these infections are antibiotic-resistant. Of the two million U.S. patients a year who contract NI, 99,000 die, making it the eighth leading cause of death in the nation, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Particularly at risk are Intensive Care Unit surgery patients and those with pre-existing medical
conditions or compromised immune systems, including the elderly, newborns and HIVpositive individuals. Ghosh-Dastidar and Tsenova’s students next want to uncover the reasons for the disparities in NI incidence at different Brooklyn hospitals. This fall, a new group of students are exploring the problem further under the direction of a third City Tech faculty member, Professor Arnavaz Taraporevala (mathematics). So far, the first group of students have presented their findings at paper and poster sessions at The City University of New York (CUNY) Pipeline Citywide Conference, the New York State Mathematics Association of Two-Year Colleges Annual Conference, the Annual Meeting of the Metropolitan New York Section of the Mathematical Association of America, and at City Tech’s Second Annual Student Research Conference last May. The work of two students also was presented in August 2010 at an undergraduate paper session in Math Fest organized by the Mathematical Association of America and held in Pittsburgh. http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/alumni
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CITY TECH WINS COMPETITIVE KELLOGG FOUNDATION GRANT FOR RACIAL EQUALITY The W. K. Kellogg Foundation recently awarded City Tech Nursing Professor Kathleen Falk a grant for her “Children of Promise” program for children of incarcerated parents. “Children of Promise” is a community partnership between City Tech and PS 184 in Brownsville, Brooklyn, serving high-risk children ages 7-13. The highly competitive Grant for Racial Equality was extraordinarily difficult to win this year, as the Foundation received eight times the usual number of applications in this category. In awarding the grant, the Kellogg Foundation stated that it was impressed by Professor Falk’s proposal and the work she was doing in support of achieving racial equity. “I am thrilled that the Kellogg Foundation acknowledges that this is an area which needs to be addressed,” says Falk, who is a doctoral candidate in nursing science at The City University of New York Graduate Center. Falk characterizes children of incarcerated parents as “a silent population,” who without intervention
The Gravesend Inn: A Haunted Hotel
are likely to recreate their parents’ cycle of poverty, drug use, crime and prison. In the program, school attendance is emphasized. After attendance and academics improve sufficiently, the children are encouraged to establish goals for themselves and to work toward their achievement. The program also brings the children to the City Tech campus for after-school enrichment activities such as mentoring, academic, cultural and career events and other activities designed to help them establish relationships, remain in school and set goals. “Receiving this prestigious grant was an honor for Professor Falk and the College,” says Barbara R. Grumet, City Tech’s Dean of Professional Studies. “Professor Falk is working with a population that is frequently overlooked by our education system and service agencies. We look forward to hearing about the impact of the mentoring program, and are grateful to the Kellogg Foundation for recognizing the value of this work.”
Professor Kathleen Falk
Spooktacular theme-park-quality Halloween entertainment for the entire family courtesy of Theatreworks, City Tech’s resident theatrical troupe, with design, construction and operating support provided by students and faculty of the College’s nationally unique Entertainment Technology program. Voorhees Theatre 186 Jay Street (north of Tillary), Downtown Brooklyn Thursday, October 21 Friday, October 22 Saturday, October 23 Thursday, October 28 Friday, October 29 Saturday, October 30 Sunday, October 31
1 - 5 pm 6 - 9 pm 1 - 5 pm and 6 - 9 pm 1 - 5 pm 6 - 9 pm 1 - 5 pm and 6 - 9 pm 1 - 5 pm
General Admission $6 • $4 for students with ID Not advisable for pre-school-age children. Information 718.260.5588 or 718.260.5592 for recorded information. Visit www.gravesendinn.org Open to the College community and general public.
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STUDENT ACHIEVERS MAKING THEIR MARK ON CAMPUS AND OFF
2010 Grad Sings Praises of LSAMP Program During his first two years in the computer engineering technology program at City Tech, recent graduate Mark A. Nelson’s GPA fluctuated between 2.5 and 3.0. He thought of himself as a more or less average student and his academic performance as average too. Then a classmate happened to mention the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (LSAMP) Program. It was a chance remark that changed Mark’s educational experience for the better. LSAMP is a research program for fulltime students majoring in science, technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM). “Once I learned about the research assistant positions offered through LSAMP during the academic year and summer,” says Nelson, “I decided to apply. The program was inspiring and after attending the summer 2008 LSAMP session, my approach to learning and grades improved dramatically, allowing me to be named to
the Dean’s List every succeeding semester until I graduated with honors in June 2010.” Nelson adds that the program encouraged him to establish much closer relationships with his professors, taught him the fundamentals of research, and provided him with invaluable information about graduate school. He continued to participate in LSAMP research under his mentor, Computer Engineering Technology Professor Iem Heng, until he completed his bachelor’s degree. During his final semester before graduation, Nelson applied to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Graduate School in Massachusetts. Today, he’s proud to say that he has been accepted and will be pursuing graduate study in the field of robotic engineering. Students interested in more information about the Louis Stokes Alliance for
City Tech Honors Scholars Program Hosts Educational Forum on Credit Card Debt In April 2010, the Honors Scholars Program at City Tech hosted an educational forum on managing credit card debt with guest speaker Professor Patrick O’Halloran, Hospitality Management, who discussed indicators that show one is in financial trouble, guidelines for first-time credit card holders, ground rules for all credit card holders, how to reduce credit card debt, alternatives to credit cards and debt consolidation loans. The Honors Scholars Program provides exciting opportunities for students who have completed at least 16 credits with a GPA of 3.4 or better to enrich their educational experience. The program is designed to motivate and challenge talented students and to foster a lifelong dedication to learning.
Mark A. Nelson
Minority Participation Program should contact Minerva Francis at 718.260.5529 or mfrancis@citytech.cuny.edu. Mark Nelson made that contact and it changed his life forever.
Three Hospitality Management Students Awarded Scholarships by Wine Media Guild In early June 2010, the Wine Media Guild awarded three scholarships to New York City College of Technology Department of Hospitality Management students Julia Alunan, Theresa Evans and Joseph Lopez at the WMG Wine Writers’ Hall of Fame Induction Dinner at the Four Seasons restaurant in Manhattan. All three students are studying food and wine service at City Tech. The Wine Media Guild is a 35-year-old association of wine communicators dedicated to providing wine information and education.
CITY TECH’S ASEE ANNUAL ROBOTICS COMPETITION STUDENT TEAM Three City Tech computer engineering technology students – Mark Nelson, Steve Peters and Philippe Mark – together with two assistant student team members – Dexter Patrick and Annette Carrington – participated in the ASEE Annual Robotics Competition held in Louisville, Kentucky, June 20-23, 2010. Unfortunately, an unexpected malfunction of an Arduino microcontroller (the brain of the robot the students had constructed at City Tech and planned to demonstrate at the competition) burned out and could not be replaced on short notice.
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MORE STUDENT ACHIEVERS Recent Grad Interns at Brookhaven Lab During Summer 2010 Collecting data on a cold New York City rooftop is a far cry from enjoying the warm beaches on the island of Jamaica. But City Tech’s Frederic Jones wouldn’t have it any other way. The Jamaica native’s curiosity about the atmosphere took hold on that island. Fast forward to the present day, and his continued interest in and research on air pollution was recognized by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), which awarded him a prestigious 2010 summer internship. Jones, 21, who graduated from City Tech in June 2010 with an associate degree in electrical engineering technology, realized at an early age that he had a love of mathematics and interest in engineering. While other boys were involved in sports or other amusements, he was inspecting an old broken radio, wondering how it was built and what he could do to fix it. At age 11, he immigrated with his mother and two sisters to Brooklyn, where he enrolled
Vision Care Technology Students Honored at Spring Awards Ceremonies Three outstanding City Tech students were honored in May at a ceremony hosted by the Department of Vision Care Technology (VCT). Student Ariel Gonzalez was awarded the 2010 New York State Society of Opticians (NYSSO) Future of Opticianry Scholarship in recognition of his academic achievements and promising future in the field. Also honored with a NYSSO scholarship was outstanding student Ruslan Zhukov. Student Jeffrey Prophete was awarded the Joseph.L. Bacotti Scholarship on behalf of the Opticians Alliance of New York. Professor Bacotti founded the VCT department more than 40 years ago and the scholarship in his memory is presented to an honoree who has displayed high ethical and moral conduct as a student.
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Frederic Jones
in JHS-Middle School 61 from which he graduated with honors. He is also an alumnus of Brooklyn’s Paul Robeson High School. With the ultimate goal of becoming an environmental/electrical engineer, Jones says that his objective is to “positively influence society through creation of new technologies
that will improve the study of the atmosphere, aid in the clean-up of pollution and help develop the impoverished countries of the world.” Toward these ends, Jones recently conducted atmospheric research at City College of New York (CCNY) using light detection and ranging (Lidar) techniques. It was as a Lidar team member that he found himself on that cold rooftop collecting and analyzing data. While at Brookhaven this summer, Jones’ Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internship gave him the opportunity to work side-byside with the members of BNL’s professional staff in a six-to-eight-week education program developed to give research experience to highly qualified students in various scientific and technical disciplines. This fall, Jones began his studies at CCNY to earn a BS degree in either electrical engineering or earth system science and environmental engineering.
Fifth Edition of ‘City Tech Writer’ Now Online City Tech Provost Bonne August saluted the work of nearly three dozen newly published student authors at a reception in May 2010 hosted by President Russell K. Hotzler. The event marked the publication of the fifth edition of City Tech Writer. In her remarks, Dr. August told the students that being a published writer is a commendable and valuable achievement. During the reception, President Hotzler congratulated faculty members who had assigned and inspired the writing selected for this year’s edition of the annual publication, a forum for the best student writing produced in courses across the curriculum. To access the publication, visit http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/ files/academics/ctw5.pdf. The edition was edited by Professor of English Johannah Rodgers, who took the place of founder Professor Jane Mushabac, who was on sabbatical during academic year 2009-2010. In her remarks, Professor Rodgers commended the engaging writing included in the issue and invited the student authors to read aloud short excerpts from their works.
The writing in Volume 5 addresses a range of subjects, including essays on lion dancing for the Chinese New Year celebration, the socio-economic Provost Bonne August impact of sex tourism in Thailand, poverty and the minimum wage in the United States, healthcare reform, and the redevelopment plan for Willet’s Point. Also of note is the cover for the volume, an original synthesis of the creative and technical fields designed by Hang Chen, a student in City Tech’s Advertising Design & Graphic Arts (ADGA) program. Faculty, staff and others acknowledged for their assistance in the production of the publication included Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences Pamela Brown, English Department Chair Nina Bannett and ADGA Professors Anthony Accardo and Lloyd Carr.
WHAT’S NEW IN CONTINUING EDUCATION? New Continuing Education Program Prepares Mexican Immigrants for Hospitality Industry Careers
Professor Patrick O’Halloran teaching the program’s hospitality class
Although Mexican nationals make up a significant percentage of restaurant and hotel workers in the metropolitan New York area, they are frequently limited by lack of training and English language and math skills from moving up in the hospitality industry. A new program offered last spring through City Tech’s Division of Continuing Education aimed to change that. Under the auspices of the Mexican Consulate in New York City and The City University of New York, with startup funding from the Ministry of Public Education, the program enabled 31 students of Mexican heritage to participate in an intensive one-semester program to prepare them for careers in the hospitality industry. Students who successfully completed the program could opt to continue on for a degree at City Tech. In addition to admissions, financial aid and career placement advice, the students received English language instruction from Professor Doug Montgomery and mathematics instruction from Professor Anna Zetlin. The English and mathematics instruction used the field of hospitality as a context for instruction.
“City Tech was absolutely thrilled to work with the Mexican government and the Mexican-American community to bring this program to fruition,” said City Tech President Russell K. Hotzler. “The College has a long tradition of working with immigrant communities to provide them with the opportunity to begin a professional career here in the U.S.” The lead faculty member was Professor Patrick O’Halloran, who taught the program’s hospitality course. “I was thrilled that this segment of the population – the backbone of the hospitality industry in New York City – was finally getting an opportunity for upward mobility,” he said. While the program did not carry academic credit, students who continued their City Tech studies received advanced placement into the College’s associate or baccalaureate programs. Continuing Education’s Chuck Hoffman, director of workforce development, and Joan Manes, director of English language learning, were gratified by participants’ enthusiastic participation. “I’ve never seen a more motivated and engaged group of students,” said Hoffman.
Among those on hand to launch the new program were, left to right: The Honorable Alonso Lujambio Irazabál, Secretary of Public Education of the United Mexican States; The Honorable Rubén Guerrero Beltrán, Consul General of Mexico in New York; and City Tech President Russell K. Hotzler.
CUNY Senior Vice Chancellor and Secretary of the Board of Trustees Jay Hershenson (left) with The Honorable Rubén Guerrero Beltrán.
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Who’s News? Professor Bernard Aptekar, Advertising Design & Graphic Arts, has been invited to exhibit his latest collection, “Transfiguration to Hope,” at Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków, Poland, in early 2011. Previously staged in September 2009 in Lodz, Poland, the exhibition was one of a series of events that marked that country’s 70th anniversary observance of the outbreak of World War II and the 20th anniversary of regaining its independence. The artwork of C Bangs that visually brought to life the important messages included in City Tech Associate Professor of Physics Gregory Matloff’s book, Living Off the Land in Space (Springer, 2007), coauthored with Les Johnson, who currently manages NASA’s Science Projects Office at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, was featured in a spring 2010 exhibition, “Astronomy: The Celestial,” March 4 through May 2, 2010, at Central Booking Art Space, DUMBO/Brooklyn. An opening night reception included an appearance and book signing by legendary singer/songwriter Judy Collins.
Retirees Luncheon More than 40 former City Tech employees attended a catered luncheon in April 2010 hosted by the City Tech Retirees Committee. In recent months, the committee has raised $5,000 from retirees toward the Retirees Committee Scholarship Fund.
Earlier this year, Assistant Professor Aaron Barlow, English, was named editor, Africa and the Middle East for Peace Corps at 50, Stories from Volunteers. Professor Barlow served in The Peace Corps in Togo from 1988 to 1990. He is a specialist on the intersection of technology and culture and has authored four books on new media and film. Professor Emerita and City Tech Foundation Vice Chair Lorraine Beitler participated in a symposium, “Why the Dreyfus Affair is Relevant Today,” in Tel Aviv and attended a two-day Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism in Jerusalem late last year. Dr. Beitler has been active throughout her life in defending democratic ideals, particularly in education and human rights. Adjunct Lecturer Susan Beningson, Humanities, led a private tour for students, faculty and other guests during academic year 2009-2010 of the Asian Society and Museum’s “Hanging Fire: Contemporary Art from Pakistan” exhibit, the first U.S. museum exhibition to focus on contemporary art from Pakistan.
Associate Professor Mary Alice Brown, chair of the Department of Radiologic Technology & Medical Imaging, was notified that she would be included in the 65th edition of Who’s Who in America, which was published in September 2010. The publication continues to be recognized globally as the premier biographic data resource on living Americans of notable achievement from every significant field of endeavor.
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
Assistant Professor Patricia A. Cholewka, EdD, MPA, MA, RNBC, Nursing, was informed by the Council for International Exchange of Scholars earlier this year that her application for a Fulbright follow-on project had been approved and would enable her to advance the progress of the research-lectures goals she implemented in 2007-2008. Her earlier Fulbright work involved identifying the role of Lithuanian nurses in education and the use of information technology to advance their nursing practice, as well as developing a nursing faculty exchange program between City Tech and Kaunas University of Medicine in Lithuania. Dr. Cholewka also was later appointed to the 2010 Board of Examiners for the
The Jewish Faculty & Staff Association named Jewel Trowers Escobar, City Tech Foundation executive director and the College’s director of development, an Honorary Member in recognition of her many years of creative initiatives and tireless service on behalf of students, faculty and staff at JFSA’s December 2009 Chanukah Celebration. The association also honored the Foundation for the support it has provided JFSA’s Distinguished Speakers Series and other educational initiatives. Foundation Board Chairman Martin Jaffe accepted the award on behalf of CTF.
Assistant Professor Joycelyn Dillon, chair of the Department of Dental Hygiene, was interviewed earlier this year for the WCBS-FM show “Bargains in the Tri-State Area” hosted by Sean Adams. The interview detailed the incredible savings opportunities offered community residents through City Tech’s Dental Hygiene Clinic.
Director of Student Life & Development Daniel Fictum presented two workshops at the
Dean Frances Avner Remembered Former City Tech Acting President Emilie A. Cozzi organized a well-attended celebration of the life of late Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Frances Avner in April 2010. Remembrances were provided by the College’s former Senior Vice President August Tuosto, Professor Emerita Ann Marie O’Farrell, former Dean of Engineering Technology Sankar Sastri, former Acting Director of Continuing Education James Goldman and Avner’s daughter Judith. Rabbi William Kloner, Temple Beth Emeth in Flatbush, Brooklyn, provided the Invocation and closing Memorial Prayer.
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The Friends of Frances Avner Committee – Judith Bronstein, Emilie A. Cozzi, James Goldman, Elizabeth Iannizzi and Peggy A. Ogden – have established a memorial scholarship to be awarded annually to a deserving student in City Tech’s accounting program. Contribution may be made through The City Tech Foundation Namm Hall 323 300 Jay Street Brooklyn, NY 11201.
International First Year Student Conference held in Maui in June 2010. Assistant Professor Matthew K. Gold, English, was presented the Mike Ribaudo Award for Technological Innovation for his work as project director of the CUNY Academic Commons at the 8th Annual CUNY IT Conference in late 2009. Highly decorative and functional ceramic pieces by Professor Louise Hoffman, Hospitality Management, were on display in March 2010 as part of the annual benefit sale and exhibition for Greenwich House Pottery in Manhattan. Professor Robert Holden, Advertising Design & Graphic Arts, was interviewed for a May 2010 New York Times article by Joseph Berger on the smelly trains that transport garbage from Long Island to Virginia and other landfills through his Middle Village, Queens neighborhood. To add insult to injury, Holden and his neighbors complained, their backyards are used as a rail yard to work on trains, test brakes and set off whistles, often in the wee hours of the morning.
Professor Joel Mason, Advertising Design & Graphic Arts, was surprised recently to find a photograph of the graphics for a Playmobile he designed when he worked for the Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs Administration from 1969 to 1973 included in a Museum of the City of New York exhibit on former New York City Mayor John Lindsay. Associate Professor Gregory Matloff conducted an astronomy panel in April 2010 at Central Booking Art Space in DUMBO/Brooklyn. Other panelists included Dr. Denton Ebel, meteorite curator at the American Museum of Natural History, and cosmologist and City Tech Physics Professor Ari Maller. Professor Matloff discussed his latest book, Paradise Regained, which deals with the use of space resources to re-green the Earth. Monika Nowak, a sophomore majoring in architectural technology at City Tech, was one of seven students – out of 93 applicants from throughout New York State – to win the coveted 2009-2010 Vanguard Award, sponsored by the Career Options Institute. The award recognizes the accomplishments of
outstanding secondary and postsecondary students, who are enrolled in career and technology education programs that are not traditional to their gender. Construction Management & Civil Engineering Technology Lecturer Paul Pellicani, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP, principal and founder of the firm architect’s LOFT, was featured in a March 2010 Newsday article documenting the amazing transformation of several homes on Long Island and the dramatic effect that creative design can have in the re-shaping of communities. An exhibition of paintings and other works, “Bruce Rosen: Night Poetry,” by the late Professor Bruce Rosen, English, was hosted by the Islip Art Museum late last year and early this year. Professor Rosen taught at City Tech for more than 30 years. Associate Professor Annette Saddik, English, did a “talkback” with the audience of “Orpheus X,” Rinde Eckert’s wistful update of the ancient Greek myth, at the Theater for a New Audience in Manhattan in late 2009. A leading expert on the works of Tennessee Williams,
Two Learning Center Tutors Honored for Their Short Stories There is an old saying – often untrue – that those who can’t do something themselves teach it instead. For example, a frustrated novelist might become a literary critic. However, in the case of Nick Smith and Carlo Alvaro, who tutor in the Writing Rooms in the City Tech Learning Centers, they can write as well as teach. In May 2010, Nick Smith was awarded the Charles Matusik Fiction Award by Caroline Hellman, Coordinator
of the College’s Annual Literary Arts Festival, for his short story “Kali Danced in the No Mo Zone.” Carlo Alvaro was honored to have his short story, “The Golden Dawn” included in Volume XXX of Perspectives, City Tech’s faculty and staff journal. Carlo calls it an “autobiographical, philosophical story” that’s based on a childhood trip to his grandmother’s house in Italy and its repercussions, “The Golden Dawn” explores magic, myth and death.
Professor Saddik did another talk-back for the Broadway production of “The Glass Menagerie” in March 2010. Paul Schwartz, LCSW, who serves as crisis counselor in the Counseling Services Center, presented a 3-hour program, “A New ‘ABC’ Approach to Short Term Counseling” at the Georgia College Counselor’s Association annual conference in early 2010. Assistant Professor Jenna Spevack, Entertainment Technology, was featured on a WABC-TV “Eyewitness News” segment in May 2010. Hosted by reporter Lauren Glassberg. The segment featured Spevack’s hydroponic window farm. Professor Andy Zhang, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and colleagues Professors Sidi Berri, Mechanical Engineering Technology, and Assistant Professors Iem Heng and Farrukh Zia, Computer Systems Technology, have received a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education grant award in the amount of $771,022 for a three-year project entitled “Learning Product Design Through Handson Mechatronic Projects.”
In Memoriam Frances Avner Associate Dean, Academic Affairs Catherine Tyler Brody Professor, Ursula C. Schwerin Library William Levy Professor, Advertising Design & Graphic Arts William Walkwitz Professor, Biological Sciences Beryl Weinberg Pensions & Benefits, Human Resources http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/alumni
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FOUNDATION CORNER 2010 BEST OF NEW YORK AWARD DINNER SALUTES FOUR
Geraldo Rivera
Julian Niccolini
New York City College of Technology honored Four Season restaurant coowner Julian Niccolini, “Geraldo at Large” host Geraldo Rivera, DC37/AFSCME, AFL-CIO Executive Director Lillian Roberts and White House Executive Pastry Chef William Yosses at the City Tech Foundation’s 2010 Best of New York Award Dinner at the Hilton New York on May 17.
Distinguished Donors Plaque Unveiling Reception Saturday, November 6, 2010 7 to 8:30 pm Atrium Gallery 300 Jay Street Downtown Brooklyn By Invitation Only
Lillian Roberts
Niccolini and Yosses are graduates of the College; Rivera took classes at City Tech early in his college career. TD Bank’s President of New York City Markets Peter Meyer and Theatrical Teamsters/Local 817 labor leader Thomas O’Donnell served as Honorary Dinner Chairs. Celebrity chef Michael Lomonaco, a 1984 graduate of City Tech’s award-
COMING SPRING 2011! BEST OF NEW YORK AWARD DINNER “HERE’S TO YOUR HEALTH!” Honorees Include Lee H. Perlman Chief Financial Officer & Senior Vice President, Administration Greater New York Hospital Association Professor Julia V. Jordan Hospitality Management Founder, Spoons Across America The Hilton New York Manhattan
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William Yosses
winning Hospitality Management program and managing partner of Porter House New York, again served as Dinner Chair and Master of Ceremonies. Proceeds from the annual dinner help fund foundationsponsored scholarships and other student financial assistance and student professional development programs.
A Very Big Thank You! The City Tech Foundation expresses thanks to all 20092010 donors for their generous support for New York City College of Technology. Your gifts are making a significant contribution to the well being of the College, its students, faculty and programs. For a complete list of 2009-2010 donors go to http://www. citytech.cuny.edu/aboutus/ foundation/index.shtml and click on News & Events.
How Foundation Support Helps Through various student scholarship and financial assistance programs as well as the Faculty Grants and Faculty Research Programs, the City Tech Foundation assisted the college community in the following and other ways during 2009/2010.
Student Walking Tours The Foundation provided funding for students to participate in four culinary walking tour studies that explored the culinary diversity of New York City from Jackson Heights and Harlem to Chinatown.
Aptekar Lodz Exhibition Underwritten in part by a grant from the City Tech Foundation, City Tech ADGA Professor Bernard Aptekar’s 50-piece exhibition, “Transfiguration to Hope,” was one of a series of events held in 2009 to mark Poland’s 70th anniversary observance of the outbreak of World War II and the 20th anniversary of regaining its independence. Emergency Loans for Students Awaiting Financial Aid The Foundation continues to fund the Emergency Revolving Student Loan Program, which has provided more than $400,000 in material support for students since its establishment 18 years ago. These loans have assisted thousands of students in meeting their educational expenses while awaiting financial aid and scholarship approval. Faculty/Student Research The Foundation provided stipends for three City Tech students to work with Mathematics Professor Delaram Kahrobaei on a summer research mentoring program through the Center for Logic, Algebra and Computation, which was developed to promote collaboration among mathematicians, scientists, students and members of industry. The collaboration is focused on applying the center’s core fields (logic, algebra and computation) to solving practical and theoretical problems in mathematics, computer science, physics, biology and other areas.
Black Solidarity Day The Foundation provided underwriting for the College’s annual celebration of Black Solidarity Day, co-sponsored by the Department of African American Studies, Black Women’s Networking Committee, Black Student Union and Student Government Association. This year’s program featured a lecture, “The Black Church, Politics and the African American Community,” by Dr. Clarence Taylor, professor of African American Studies and History at Baruch College/CUNY, and Rev. Violet-Dease, assistant pastor of the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church.
Alvin Ailey Dance Company Performance The Foundation provided assistance enabling more than 45 Departments of African American Studies and English students to attend a performance of the Alvin Ailey Dance Company as part of their course study.
STEM Conference A Foundation grant helped support a day-long conference, “Synergy in STEM: Bringing Mathematics, Physics and Engineering Together,” which included a Plenary Session, four subsequent Parallel Sessions and a Poster Session. Thirty-eight presentations covered the wide spectrum in STEM education. 7th Annual City Tech Faculty/Student Research Poster Session The Foundation again outfitted student chefs with chef jackets for the annual Hotel. Motel & Restaurant Show at Javits Center in Manhattan. The event is organized by the Société Culinaire Philanthropique. Summer Biological Sciences Research Project For the past two years, a biodiversity project under the direction of Professor Niloufar Haque and Instructor Nasreen Haque, has taken them and students as far away as the Red Sea in the Middle East and as nearby as the Gowanus Canal to research microbes in these waters and their effect on human beings. The City Tech Foundation provided a grant allowing three students to participate in this research as paid research assistants.
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How Foundation Support Helps
Paris Exchange Program The Foundation underwrites the College’s Paris Exchange Program, which provides a rich and varied learning experience for qualified students to earn six elective credits in international tourism and French culinary arts. In addition, the Foundation provided partial funding for an “Inquiry into the Wines of France” course and champagne tour in which the students participated while in France. Nobel Biocare Training The Foundation funded transportation costs for 26 City Tech students to participate in Nobel Biocare training. The second-year students and three faculty members toured Nobel Biocare North American headquarters in Mahwah, New Jersey, receiving an overview of the world’s largest dental manufacturer. They toured its robotics facility and performed hands-on restorations of PROCERA Systems crowns. As a result of its CADCAM system, City Tech was the first school in the country to offer instruction in Nobel Biocare CAD-CAM design. Gamma Epsilon Tau Annual Gold Key Award Celebration The Foundation has provided funding to enable participation on the part of City Tech graphic arts students in the annual Gamma Epsilon Tau Annual Gold Key Award Dinner. Twenty-five students attended the 2010 dinner.
Wassily Kadinsky Guggenheim Exhibition The Foundation provided funding for 24 students to visit the Guggenheim Museum’s special exhibition featuring the works of Wassily Kudinsky’s, one of the world’s first creators of pure abstraction in modern painting. Students explored Kadinsky’s use of geometric figures to create his beautiful, abstract paintings.
Robotics Competition A Foundation grant helped enable three City Tech computer engineering technology students to participate in the 1st Annual Robotics Innovations Competition & Conference (RICC) held at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts in late 2009. The two-day event, which was supported in part by National Science Foundation, saw the City Tech team take first place in innovation. New York State Court of Appeals The Foundation provided partial funding to assist 20 Department of Law & Paralegal students to visit the New York State Court of Appeals in Albany. The students raised additional monies for the trip through a series of fundraising activities.
Society of American Registered Architects (SARA) Design Awards Competition The Foundation provided funding for 50 students from six design classes to participate in the Society of American Registered Architects Design Awards Competition. The Department of Architectural Technology was able to cover the balance of the completion entry fees. Foundation funding also enabled competition award winners to attend the awards dinner. Steel Bridge Competition The Foundation provided funding for a team of City Tech civil engineering students to participate in the Steel Bridge Competition, which was held at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey. This annual inter-collegiate competition challenges future structural engineers to design, fabricate and construct a model bridge. Participating students gained practical experience in structural design, fabrication processes, construction planning, organization and teamwork.
Along the Brooklyn Waterfront as a Landmark Seminar The Foundation provided funding for a seminar that explored preserving and celebrating the borough’s historical past in the face of change and its impact on buildings preservation.
In addition to the above, the City Tech Foundation has also provided funding for the College’s Literary Arts Festival, Humanities Lecture Series, Women’s History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month and Black History Month activities, and the Jewish Faculty & Staff Association Distinguished Speakers Series.
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ALUMNI NEWS Class Notes Edward C. Bruton, class of ‘70, was recently inducted into the Hall of Fame for Distinguished Accomplishments in Education. Larry R. Felix, class of ‘80, a graduate of City Tech’s liberal arts program and director of the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, recently oversaw the design for the colorful new $100 note and its advanced anti-counterfeiting features.
2010 Alumni Harbor Dinner Cruise and Graduation Celebration Honors Two The City Tech Alumni Association presented two continuing students with scholarships in recognition of their academic excellence during its 2010 New York Harbor Dinner Cruise & Graduation Celebration in late May. The presentations were made by Alumni Association President Yvonne Riley-Tepie ‘92. Each year, the association confers the Ruth Eldridge Memorial Alumni Award and Scott Reisenberg Scholarship Award on two accomplished students with GPAs of 3.5 or higher who have demonstrated outstanding moral character and provided commendable acts of service to the College or larger community. This year’s recipients were
Antony Hamilton, construction management and civil engineering technology, and David A. Puma, nursing. For the past 12 years, more than 200 graduating students, their alumni hosts and other guests have set sail annually from Chelsea Pier 61 on West 23rd Street in Manhattan for a fun-filled preCommencement celebration that features fine food and libation as well as a live DJ and dancing in addition to the awards ceremony. The festivities are set against a spectacular nighttime view of bustling New York Harbor and the incomparable Manhattan skyline. For all aboard it’s a night to remember.
Nasser Samman, class of ‘90, was named Business Person of the Year by the Garden City Chamber of Commerce at its 8th Annual Pineapple Ball in April. Samuel E. Vazquez, class of ‘91, is an internationally recognized graphic designer, exhibition curator and artist whose graffiti artwork has been widely acclaimed and featured in the New York City Graffiti Hall of Fame. Yvonne Riley-Tepie, class of ‘92, was recently promoted to vice president – U.S. field marketing at TD Bank. Mary Dimino, class of ‘04, recently joined the Long Island Progressive Coalition as office manager.
Class Act! Robert S. Martinez, a graduate of City Tech’s electromechanical engineering program, was recently promoted to executive director of the New York City Support Services Bureau, which oversees 900 employees and has an annual budget of more than $100 million. As executive director, Mr. Martinez oversees the providing of logistical and technical support to all units of the NYPD and serves the public through the operations of the divisions of Fleet Services, Property Clerk, Central Records and Printing Section. Mr. Martinez joined the NYPD, Fleet Services Division, in 1986 as an auto service worker. He
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moved up through the ranks and became director in 2006. As director, he worked to embrace new technologies to reduce the department’s carbon footprint while continuing to provide the resources required in meeting its mission. During this time he was able to reduce the annual fuel consumption by 611,000 gallons equating to an annual reduction of 6,000 tons of green house gases. The NYPD also earned three consecutive “100 Best Fleets in North America” awards between 2008 and 2010 and was ranked 27th among “Government Green Fleets” in 2009.
BENEFITS OF ALUMNI ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIP I Networking opportunities, including an annual harbor cruise, annual basketball game and class and school reunions I Placement Office job search assistance and career development services I Educational workshops and seminars I Invitations to selected college theatrical, educational and other events I Opportunity to apply for group life insurance I Dental Hygiene Clinic services I Eyeglasses Clinic services I On-site use of City Tech library, including Internet access
I Opportunity to advertise your goods and services in City Tech’s online Connections newsletter and Alumni Products & Services Guide I Discounts on City Tech Theatreworks tickets I Use of the College’s recreation and fitness center facilities I Discounts on selected College bookstore merchandise I 15% discount on selected Continuing Education course and program fees based on space availability I Discounts on selected goods and services offered by scores of businesses participating in Downtown Brooklyn’s ValueCard program
Sunday, November 14, 2010
City Tech Open House Open house for prospective students. Learn all about the degree programs and other educational opportunities available at CityTech. All three schools will be represented and faculty and staff will be available to speak with students and parents. Campus tours and a Q&A session will follow. Information at 718.260.5508