Watson Review - Summer 2021

Binghamton

Watson U N I V E R S I T Y

THOMAS J. WATSON COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE

M AG A Z I N E

SUMMER 2021

R E V I E W

Cybersecurity center tries to outthink hackers Senior projects tackle real-world problems Alumna aids nonprofits as TechBridge CEO

Women in Engineering Faculty, students discuss their successes and the challenges that remain

| FROM THE DEAN |

On the cover

right path with a Bronze-level award, the highest level given in 2021. It puts us among the nation’s leaders in inclusive excellence.

To help us achieve these goals, we need to increase advancement funding as well as the number of donors. The financial resources our alumni and friends have donated to us are critical to taking Watson College to the next level. From providing scholarships to students to supporting new diversity and inclusion initiatives, we could not do what we do without their support.

Highlighting our diversity and inclusion efforts, this issue of the Watson Review features conversations with a few of our amazing women faculty members about their thoughts regarding their research and their experiences in academic life. We also talk to student leaders from HackBU and the Society of Women Engineers, and our longtime Watson Advising director, Sharon Santobuono, offers her perspective on women in STEM careers.

This issue also covers the launch of the Watson College Scholars Program, which will offer academic, financial and career support for women and underrepresented groups during their undergraduate education. We look forward to updating you as this program admits its first participants this fall.

I wish we could include in this issue all of the wonderful things our students, faculty and alumni are doing. Please follow our social media channels as we keep you informed about the activities taking place at the college. Our students are why we do what we do, and we want you to know how great they are!

We hope you enjoy this latest update from Watson College, and we look forward to hearing from or seeing you sometime in the months ahead.

As always, thank you.

Sincerely,

THOMAS J. WATSON COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND APPLIED SCIENCE DEAN

Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES

Junghyun Cho

ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS AND ADMINISTRATION

Peter J. Partell, MA ’97, PhD ’99 ASSISTANT DEAN FOR RESEARCH AND GRADUATE STUDIES

Lisa Gallagher ’89, MBA ’92 ASSISTANT DEAN OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

Deborah Howell

ASSISTANT DEAN OF FINANCE AND HUMAN RESOURCES

Sarah Kane

ASSISTANT DEAN FOR STRATEGY AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS

Elizabeth Kradjian

DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

Alan Greene ’88

WATSON REVIEW EDITOR

Chris Kocher ART DIRECTOR

Burt Myers

PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jonathan Cohen Casey Staff VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING

Greg Delviscio

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE SERVICES

Gerald Hovancik Jr. Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari Dean and SUNY distinguished professor Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science

In addition to researching cures for diabetes and other illnesses, Professor Sha Jin is the undergraduate director for the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

COPY EDITORS

Natalie Blando-George Eric Coker Katie Ellis

CASEY STAFF

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ear alumni and friends: Watson College prides itself on providing a superior education through world-class teaching and research.

Thousands of students who earned their degrees here are now working as engineers and computer scientists in industry and academia around the globe.

As innovators, Watson faculty and staff always look toward the future. How can we reach higher, accomplish more and educate better? How can we foster more diversity and inclusion so that we ensure the best minds are solving the most perplexing problems of the 21st century? How can we grow in reputation both in the U.S. and internationally? In short, how does Watson College become the best public engineering institution in the country?

The Watson team and I have set an ambitious but attainable goal to elevate our graduate program in the influential U.S. News & World Report rankings. We are at No. 94 (2021), with a goal to reach No. 75 by 2025.

To get there, our action plan focuses on key areas that help us rethink our priorities and implement strategies to meet and surpass our goal, while always ensuring our unwavering focus on students and academic excellence.

We want to increase enrollment in our master’s and PhD programs by leveraging our successes over the past decade in the United States and abroad.

We will implement two new MS programs by fall 2022: information systems, and an additional focus in engineering management for our current industrial and systems engineering curriculum.

At the undergraduate level, we are continually examining the student experience and developing strategies to ensure that we are providing the best learning environment possible. In addition to increasing participation in our First-year Research Immersion (FRI) program, we will examine class sizes and curriculum, and upgrade laboratories.

Regarding research, our goal is to increase expenditures by enhancing our efforts and growing our research centers, while also pursuing new research avenues.

We will continue to strive for increased diversity and inclusion for women and underrepresented groups at all levels, including undergraduate, master’s and PhD students, faculty and staff. Earlier this year, the American Society for Engineering Education’s Diversity Recognition Program recognized that we are on the

Volume 9 | SUMMER 2021

The sun sets above the newly renovated Engineering Building.

Contents

2 Women faculty at Watson

8 The view from Watson Advising

Professors discuss how to encourage more young women to go into STEM careers.

Director Sharon Santobuono helps students choosing engineering and computer science.

10 At the helm

omen leaders at Watson are increasingly W in charge of student groups.

Students, from left, Solomon Barer, Jordan Congdon, Lucy Benack, Alexandra Rizopoulos and Irene Yuan test their drone for their senior capstone project to find ways to enforce parking rules on campus.

13 13 The best senior projects

Students practice their skills in real-world scenarios.

18 Fighting the hackers

The Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity coordinates research.

20 Alumna spotlight

Nicole Armstrong ’91 leads TechBridge Inc., which aids nonprofits.

2 News briefs 2 2 4 Watson College Scholars

The new program will support underrepresented, minoritized, female and economically disadvantaged students.

JONATHAN COHEN

25 New faculty

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WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

DIFFERENT PATHS LEAD TO WATSON Faculty members discuss challenges, rewards and mentoring the next generation

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n 2021, women still face obstacles when entering STEM fields. According to research by the Society of Women Engineers, they make up only 13% of U.S. engineers and just 26% of computer scientists.

While there is still work ahead to encourage more

By Chris Kocher

into engineering careers, the percentage of women undergraduate and graduate students at Watson College has risen from 15% in 2010 to 25% in 2020.

Likewise, the percentage who are tenured and tenure-track Watson faculty has gone from 13% to 20% in the same period.

Women faculty members not only impart knowledge in the classroom, but also serve as role models when Watson graduates join the ranks of industry and academia. We talked to one professor

Above: Graduate students Ming Hu, left, and Soujanya Sathyanarayana Karanth, right, work in Professor Sha Jin’s lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

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from each department about their personal and professional journeys as well as how to attract more women to engineering and computer science.

Biomedical engineering has a higher ratio of women to men

Sha Jin PROFESSOR AND UNDERGRADUATE DIRECTOR, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING Joined faculty: 2014 Research areas: Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

than other disciplines. At Watson and BME departments at other universities, more female students are encouraged to be young scientists in STEM careers or to become faculty members. This is because many women are interested in healthcare-related topics.

Biomedical engineering tackles almost all kinds of human health problems, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and brain disorders in order to improve human health. Biomedical engineering is integrated with bioengineering, biomaterials science, biological science, biochemistry, biomechanics, electrical engineering and chemical engineering.

Every year, I attend recruiting events where we meet 11th- and 12th-graders and their parents. These high school students are interested in the research fields that we are working on. But some students ask about prosthetics or biorobotics research and courses.

They want to know what kind of research would be offered to them as undergraduates. If we want to attract more students to STEM fields,

JONATHAN COHEN

it’s important that we have faculty members doing a variety of different research that will cover most students’ interests so they will choose to study for their bachelor’s degrees here. binghamton.edu/watson

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| D I F F E R E N T PAT H S |

Growing up in India, I can remember several instances where

Arti Ramesh ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE Joined faculty: 2017 Research areas: Machine learning, artificial intelligence, data science

stereotypes involving women were thrust onto me. For example, somebody once told me, “You’re so good at academics — it’s a pity you’re a woman.” It takes a lot of effort and determination to overcome such ingrained societal stereotypes.

As a teen, there were primarily two career options for me: medicine or engineering. Though I was interested in studying biology and then pursuing medicine, the very first day I walked into a computer lab changed everything for me. I realized how much I loved computers and decided to pursue computer science as my career.

Being from an academically inclined family with highly educated parents, I was fortunate to know the value of education, and that inspired me to pursue a master’s degree. But pursuing a PhD involved introspection, talking to and getting inspiration from the other PhD students and faculty who were my role models.

Everything I am today I owe to my PhD advisor, Professor Lise Getoor [currently at University of California at Santa Cruz]. I loved how she conducted our meetings, how she carried herself and how she commanded respect. She inspired me to become a faculty member. She cares deeply about her students and treats them like family, which has led me to do the same with my students.

“SOMEBODY ONCE TOLD ME, ‘YOU’RE SO GOOD AT ACADEMICS — IT’S A PITY YOU’RE A WOMAN.’”

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PROVIDED

—Arti Ramesh

Shahrzad ‘Sherry’ Towfighian ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Joined faculty: 2013 Research areas: Microelectromechanical systems and mechanical vibration

In Iran, I was brought up in a family that encouraged education. My dad’s expectation was that I would be an engineer or a doctor, and I didn’t want to be a doctor! I really liked math very much during elementary, middle and high school, so I liked engineering as a path.

During high school, I enjoyed studying mechanics and dynamics, so that’s why I chose mechanical engineering. I received a lot of support and encouragement from my family during my education.

The environment in Iran was different. Here, my son is in the fourth grade, and it’s surprising to me that, unfortunately, kids are learning in school that girls are not strong in math. Where do they get that from? That was not the case for me.

Of course, in Iran the schools for girls and boys were separate, but we never felt that the girls were behind.

Everything starts with the family. How do parents talk to girls? What are they really thinking, and how are they conveying that to their kids? If they think that girls should not go into engineering and they’re not good at math, that transfers JONATHAN COHEN

to the kids. If they believe in their kids, the girls don’t get that idea.

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Jessica Fridrich, PhD ’95 DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR, ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING Joined faculty: 1995 Research areas: Steganography, steganalysis and digital forensics

We need to reach out to girls about STEM careers earlier than college. We need to start in elementary, middle and high school. This is why I like Girls Who Code and programs that are focused on girls to ignite their interest in technical subjects.

For example, in Romania, they are really great mathematicians.

Even though they are a relatively small country, they post really well in mathematical Olympiads on the high school and university levels. If you look at the composition of the teams, there are a lot of girls there. They do something right. These Olympiads have a tradition there, everybody is encouraged, they don’t create any biases for participation and it bears fruit. That’s more what it should be.

On the university level, as you see more women becoming faculty members, they will serve as examples for students.

There will be positive feedback generated.

All of this is leading by example. There are no boundaries.

If you point the educational system a certain way, you will see things change.

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| D I F F E R E N T PAT H S |

When I was studying for my PhD at Arizona State, I was very lucky

Bing Si ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING Joined faculty: 2018 Research areas: Statistical modeling and machine learning in healthcare

to be guided by a woman faculty advisor, Professor Jing Li, who is currently at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Professor Li was very helpful, not just from an academic perspective, but also for sharing her life experience and wisdom with her students, including me. You can imagine how her support and her role in my academic world and my personal world were very important.

Professor Li encouraged me to attend the Grace Hopper Celebration, named after a computer science pioneer. The conference invites only women students, researchers and working professionals. It offers many opportunities there for undergraduates and graduate students to get in touch with scholars and professionals.

Now at Binghamton, I have a PhD student and a master’s student who are young women. Both of them perform very well in my classes and are doing research with me. I recruited them based on their academic performance and interests. I didn’t even think of it as recruiting women students, but I do feel like I am passing on the spirit I got

JONATHAN COHEN

from my advisor and others along my own academic journey.

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WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

‘ HAVING EXCELLENT ROLE MODELS IS ESSENTIAL’ Watson Advising director reflects on why more young women are choosing engineering and computer science

By Allen Wengert

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hile men still largely dominate the fields of engineering and computer science, things are moving in the right direction. Research from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) found a nearly 60% increase in bachelor’s degrees in those fields awarded to women from 2012 to 2017.

Sharon Santobuono ’94, MA ’95, director of the Watson Advising Office, has noticed this shift firsthand. Working directly with students to determine career paths, Santobuono reflects on why she believes more women are pursuing careers in engineering and computer science.

What changes have happened that make it easier for women to pursue engineering and computer science careers?

What do you think is driving this trend?

What impact do you think Watson Advising had on the careers of students who are now alumni?

There is more exposure to these careers in middle and high school now due to STEM programs like Girls Who Code, and it’s made younger women realize that engineering isn’t just for men. They are taking advantage of these programs and are being mentored by college students and professors. I also think there is more exposure than ever before due to summer programs, social media and news coverage. It’s not just a man’s world anymore.

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Young women are becoming more confident in their career choices and aren’t afraid to seek roles dominated by men. They are seeing more women working in engineering jobs and in faculty roles, and that’s important. We’ve seen more women in teaching roles right here in Watson College, and that has helped enormously. Having excellent role models while in college is essential to building confidence in a career path.

We also encourage students to take advantage of University clubs and organizations like the Society of Women Engineers, and to engage in research and internship opportunities with women role models.

We encourage them to be true to themselves, and we certainly help them stay on track along the way. We encourage students to seek internships and speak with counselors from Watson Career and Alumni Connections, upperclassmen and, most importantly, faculty advisors.

I think we have a positive impact while they are students, and many come back to tell us so.

Sharon Santobuono DIRECTOR OF THE WATSON ADVISING OFFICE

“ Find your niche, do what makes you happy, and remember that you are intelligent and you can do anything you set your mind to.”

—Sharon Santobuono ’94, MA ’95

We are always interested in what paths our alumni go on to take and where they are working.

And we will always be proud of them!

Do undergraduate students typically have a strong sense of what career they want to pursue?

Many first-year students are trying to find where they best fit. That’s why it’s important that they have a program to investigate majors and potential careers that are related to their interests.

Juniors and seniors are often pursuing internships to get a better idea of what is involved in different fields, and it’s not uncommon for them to change majors after they do internships.

I remind students to keep an open mind. The major they thought they wanted isn’t always the major they graduate with — and that’s OK! Not knowing is sometimes better because it leaves them open to all kinds of opportunities.

JONATHAN COHEN

What advice would you give to women looking to pursue engineering careers?

Go for it! There are problems to be solved everywhere you look. Find your niche, do what makes you happy, and remember that you are intelligent and you can do anything you set your mind to.

The landscape is changing, so be a part of it!

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Megan DiBella

Alison Garrity

Society of Women Engineers

Theresa Gundel

Women in Tech

Ariel Khatchatourian

HackBU

Jessica Kuo

Eta Kappa Nu

Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers

WOMEN-LED STUDENT GROUPS ARE NARROWING THE STEM GENDER GAP

By Natalie Blando-George

Abigail McHugh Girls Who Code

Maya Shah

Caitlyn Svitek

Alpha Pi Mu

Catherine Swail Pi Tau Sigma

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Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers

Michelle Tiangco Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers

Elizabeth Wang

Alpha Omega Epsilon PROVIDED

Melanie Lyons

Biomedical Engineering Society

“ HAVING WOMENCENTERED STUDENT ORGANIZATIONS MAKES AN INCOMING OR PROSPECTIVE STUDENT FEEL COMFORTED BY SHOWING THEM IT WON’T BE IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND OTHER WOMEN IN THE SAME SITUATION.” —Megan DiBella DiBella

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JONATHAN COHEN

WOMEN IN

n her first year as a computer science student at Binghamton University, Theresa Gundel and three other women students created a game called “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” to shed light on gender inequality in the technology workforce.

Players start the game as women interns in a fictional organization composed of all men, who are disrespectful to the interns. Players must complete coding assignments (mini-games such as Snake or Brick Breaker) to earn promotions. With every promotion, players receive more respect from their men coworkers. Players win the game when they become CEO E N G I N E E R I N G of the organization.

Developing the game earned Gundel and her team an award at that year’s hackathon, an annual event hosted by Watson College’s HackBU student group.

But winning isn’t why Breaking the Glass Ceiling means so much to the senior from Clifton Park, N.Y. “I worked on that game with three girls, and three of us are now on the board for HackBU,” says Gundel, who is the organization’s president.

“We started with a game that said, ‘Hey, there’s an inequality here,’ and now we have a board that is 50% women.”

Watson College has 28 active student groups, and in the 2020–21 academic year, 43% of those groups are led or co-led by women students.

“Having women-centered student organizations makes an incoming or prospective student feel comforted by showing them it won’t be

impossible to find other women in the same situation,” says Megan DiBella, a biomedical engineering student and president of Watson’s section of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).

Gundel says HackBU is open to anyone interested in technology who wishes to make friends and learn something new. Knowledge of coding isn’t necessary, and members don’t have to be computer science (CS) or even Watson College students. The group hosts weekly workshops that cover various CS topics (cloud computing, machine learning, data science and other upper-level subjects) in a way that makes them accessible for all, as well as weekly “hacky hours” where members play online games.

In addition, each year the group holds a 24-hour coding competition (hackathon). The event is always popular and draws corporate and University sponsors.

SWE, on the other hand, is primarily intended for Watson College students who wish to help empower women in STEM. And DiBella says students interested in transferring into Watson have approached the group to learn about engineering and what it’s like to be a woman in STEM. On a national scale, SWE works to raise awareness of the importance of diversity within the engineering profession and to empower women to advance their engineering studies and careers.

The group focuses on career services, professional development and networking opportunities. SWE also holds events including company tours, discussion panels and volunteering with Girl Scout troops. binghamton.edu/watson

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| NARROWING THE GENDER GAP |

For DiBella, a senior from Syracuse, N.Y., being part of SWE has been beneficial personally and professionally.

“The upperclassmen in SWE that I met as an underclassman were huge role models for me when I first came to Binghamton. I found mentors and then friends in many of them,” she says. “I have also met many engineering professionals through the greater SWE organization who have given amazing advice and inspiration.”

Gundel found her inspiration early and close to home — her mother is a software engineer.

“Going into engineering as a woman never really scared me or bothered me because my mom was able to do it,” she says.

It won’t be long before both Gundel and DiBella will join the 28% of women who make up the nation’s workforce in science, technology, engineering and math.

Following graduation, Gundel will be a firmware developer at IBM in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., while DiBella will be a manufacturing engineer at medical device manufacturer Medtronic in North Haven, Conn.

DiBella has SWE to thank for bringing her together with her future employer.

“It was at the 2019 National SWE Conference that I landed an internship with Medtronic for summer 2020, and despite that internship going virtual, I had a great experience,” she says. “I know I’ll face challenges, but I’m confident I can overcome these difficulties, especially with the SWE community supporting me.”

Gundel

WOMEN IN ENGINEERING

From Peru to Binghamton

Bejarano

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Growing up in Peru, Gissella Bejarano, MS ’17, PhD ’21, first heard of Binghamton University when the Fulbright Program offered to help fund her master’s degree in computer science.

She liked Binghamton and Watson College enough to stay for her PhD, with Assistant Professor Arti Ramesh as her advisor. For her thesis, she explored how machine learning could be better applied to smart cities, particularly water and energy consumption.

Bejarano already has taught courses as an assistant professor at the Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia in Lima, and she plans to return to Peru to encourage a technology boost there.

Her success is undeniable, but she remains humble: “I feel very, very grateful for the opportunities that the Fulbright program gave me. I’m sure other people as smart or maybe smarter than me are not having those chances.”

Also, she adds, “If I have this privilege, I also feel that I have a duty to support other women and open doors to create opportunities.” —Chris Kocher

Putting ideas into practice

Senior capstone projects test students’ skills Before earning diplomas, many Watson College undergraduates need to complete senior capstone projects offering real-world challenges. Here are interesting projects from each Watson department this academic year

PROVIDED

By Elizabeth Short ’21

(except for computer science, which does not have a capstone requirement).

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Systems science and industrial engineering students, from left, Irene Yuan, Alexandra Rizopoulos, Lucy Benack, Jordan Congdon and Solomon Barer test their drone for their senior capstone project to find ways to enforce parking rules on campus.

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SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING (SSIE): Faculty advisor

Assistant Professor Yong Wang; students Solomon Barer, Lucy Benack, Jordan Congdon, Alex Rizopoulos, Irene Yuan (all SSIE)

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t’s not uncommon for senior capstone projects to be recycled over the years. However, one group of seniors chose to work from scratch to solve parking issues on campus.

The SSIE project team is working to help automate transportation and parking services through the use of drones. Team members have been modifying coding software to maneuver the drones down lines of parked cars and to utilize the drone’s cameras to scan and read license plates. After that, the scanned plates can be checked against the list of registered vehicles.

“Unfortunately, the original open-source program we used had a lot of errors and wouldn’t run,” Yuan says. “We had to modify and fix it up while tailoring it to our tastes. I used SQLite [a relational database management system] to create our database and link to the one already in use by Parking Services. We can use that to see if we have a hit or a miss with the parking.”

The drone will be controlled in real time using a joystick for navigation and a camera app to provide live feed for the user. Following the success of this project, multiple drones could be enlisted to assist with parking, combating any issues resulting from battery lifespans. The automated drones would then be able to travel across the Binghamton University campus to cover its multiple parking lots.

“Maybe five years into the future, if we’re ever back on campus, we’ll see these drones flying around for parking.” Congdon says. “It would be so cool to think: ‘That’s our project!’”

JONATHAN COHEN

| PUTTING IDEAS INTO PRACTICE |

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING (ME):

Faculty advisor Professor Guangwen Zhou; co-advisor Michael Stanek ’20; students Timothy Hafke, Matthew Heitner, Michael Higgins, Gabriel Osei (all ME)

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ime is an invaluable and fleeting resource in the back of an ambulance, and every second counts. Emergency medical technicians who may be working long shifts with multiple calls experience fatigue, which could reduce their performance in a crisis.

One senior group of ME students is working to help first responders by creating a CPR-assist device that would help with chest compressions.

The project originated with Michael Stanek ’20, who spent time working as an EMT while he was a student: “I had a really rough night on the ambulance when I got two back-to-back CPR calls. After a long period of performing CPR by yourself, it gets very fatiguing and that can reduce its effectiveness. I didn’t want to ever have to question whether or not the compressions were good enough.”

Stanek, now a graduate student, is co-advisor on the project. After speaking with several EMTs, the seniors working on the project realized that the CPR-assist devices that exist on the market are often heavy and expensive — not the best suited for ambulance work, where there’s limited space and medical instruments get bounced around.

“We did a lot of research and interviewing,” Osei says. “It was already a challenge because we’re all mechanical engineers, but COVID-19 made it harder to get that faceto-face interaction. We spoke to a lot of different EMTs to make sure this would work.”

The group created a design model for a plastic device that will be 3D-printed, making it lightweight and cost-effective for smaller ambulance companies.

“What we’re doing could help people make an instant impact on others,” Heitner says. “It could literally save lives.”

From left, Tim Hafke, Michael Higgins, Michael Stanek, Gabriel Osei and Matthew Heitner work on their mechanical engineering senior project at the Fabrication Lab inside the Engineering Building.

“ What we’re doing could help people make an instant impact on others. It could literally save lives.”

JONATHAN COHEN

—Matthew Heitner

The mechanical engineering senior project developed by Matthew Heitner, Michael Higgins and their teammates looks to create a better CPR-assist device.

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| S E N I O R S TA N D O U T S |

advisors Assistant Professor Ahyeon Koh and Associate Professor Guy German; students Megan DiBella, Randy Kipnis, Harry Olszewski, Andrea Russo, David Yefroyev (all BME), Tavish Srivastava (computer science)

T Biomedical engineering students, from left, David Yefroyev, Harry Olszewski, Tavish Srivastava, Andrea Russo, Megan DiBella and Randy Kipnis work together on their senior project.

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he BME project is working to solve an issue faced by scuba divers, one that puts their health and safety at risk.

Divers staying far below the surface can experience nitrogen narcosis, caused by increased concentrations of inhaled gases due to the high pressure levels under water. The effect on the diver is similar to intoxication and is reversible, but it has the potential to cause serious health problems.

Upon beginning its research, the BME team realized that there was no standard way to directly measure the amount of nitrogen in an individual’s body, much less if someone’s personal level had risen above the threshold for narcosis. This meant that any previous attempts to solve this issue had to be discarded, including the group’s original idea to measure the nitrogen makeup of a diver’s exhaled breath, as well as attempts to incorporate previous senior teams’ research.

“It was difficult, because our advisors and professors were expecting us to build off a project

JONATHAN COHEN

BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING (BME): Faculty

from last year,” DiBella says. “So for us to turn around and say, ‘No, we’re not even going to follow that work’ was hard.”

The team developed a watch that gives a cognitive test to the wearer. Scuba instructors have employed similar tests, such as math problems or memory questions, but there is no standardized method.

“The narcotic effects from the increased concentration of nitrogen and oxygen in the body are really varied from person to person, even day to day,” Kipnis says. “One day, someone could dive to a certain depth and experience these effects, and the next day that person could go to the same depth and be fine.”

The watch emits a blinking LED light while communicating with sound waves between the diver and instructor, or between divers. If the wearers are unable to discern whether the light is blinking, they will be recognized as suffering from nitrogen narcosis. This method is also used in military diving practices.

The team members hope their project will aid future generations of divers and provide crucial tools for cataloging nitrogen levels as they relate to narcosis.

“Since there’s so little information out there on nitrogen narcosis and the depth at which it occurs, we want to take that data — say, when divers fail their tests — and try to create a data pool to help future researchers,” Russo says.

ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING (ECE): Faculty advisor

Associate Professor Seokheun Choi; PhD student mentor Lin Liu; students Marwa Chowdhury, Mya Landers, Amit Madan (all EE)

PROVIDED

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he ECE project is focusing on the growing field of renewable energy.

These three seniors are building on the previous work of their advisor, Associate Professor Seokheun Choi, to create a paper-based solar cell. The project is also sponsored by the AVANGRID Foundation, the parent company of NYSEG. One paper design measures 50 millimeters in diameter and contains eight solar cells. The origami sunburst design of the paper allows for movement and flexibility within the piece — opening the burst creates a series of switch connections, while closing it creates parallel connections. These tiny cells eventually will put out anywhere from 1 to 5 microwatts.

“This low amount of energy can power glucosemeasuring devices for diabetics or for pregnancy tests,” Chowdhury says.

Two sunbursts also can be stacked on top of one another to connect the anodes and cathodes of the cells.

“When you open up the sunbursts, all the individual cells are disconnected,” Landers says. “For a series connection, you need to put an adjacent anode in contact with the cathode of the next cell over. We decided to stack one open sunburst on top of one another. This should produce a higher output voltage and a lower output current.”

The anode, cathode and conductive materials are baked onto the papers, and the sunburst designs are folded. The sunbursts can then stay in storage for as long as necessary and remain viable until they’re needed. Once they are ready to be implemented, frozen bacteria and moisture are added to the sunbursts, and the bacteria — through their natural respiration and photosynthetic processes — help produce electricity. Using multiple cells could produce a safe energy source.

“We know it’ll be nontoxic after assembly because the chemicals will absorb into the paper and essentially dry out,” Madan says. “It’s also safe for disposal, and because we’re using a wax membrane, it’s biodegradable.”

From left, Marwa Chowdhury, Amit Madan and Mya Landers worked on a paper battery for their senior project.

Paper batteries powered by solar energy can be a variety of shapes depending on need.

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KEEPING OUR

DATA SAFE

By Chris Kocher

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early 30 years after the internet opened to the public, more and more of our data are online.

Financial records. Healthcare info.

Social media. Personal photos and videos stored in the cloud.

The latest smart fridges text us when we’re low on milk, high-end cars email when they need servicing and home thermostats can be adjusted from anywhere on the planet.

We’re quickly approaching a Jetsons world of future wonders — but all those connections only make us more vulnerable to hackers. That’s where cybersecurity experts come in.

For years, researchers at Binghamton University have developed ways to make our internet experience safer. Those efforts became better coordinated in 2019 with the establishment of the Center for Information Assurance and Cybersecurity (CIAC), an organized research center directed by Associate Professor Ping Yang from Watson College’s Department of Computer Science. Yang arrived at Binghamton in 2006, after earning her doctorate at Stony Brook University, and she taught Watson’s first graduate cybersecurity course.

“Before 2019, we already had a strong cybersecurity research and education program, but there was not much collaboration among researchers,” she says. “Individual cybersecurity faculty members had limited exposure to the research that was outside of their expertise. So

we submitted a proposal to the ORC [organized research center] program in 2019 to establish CIAC to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among cybersecurity researchers.”

Because cybersecurity touches so many areas, CIAC includes 25 faculty members from nearly every corner of campus: Watson College (of course), but also Harpur College, the School of Management, Decker College, and the College of Community and Public Affairs. Their research areas range from programming and computer engineering to security policy, education technology, mathematics and psychology.

MULTIPLE VULNERABILITIES When most of us think about hacking, we see it as a software problem — and, worryingly, cybersecurity breaches in the past decade have exposed weaknesses in the fundamental building blocks of computer coding.

“Even at the level of computer architecture, people assumed that standard out-of-order execution designs are safe and nobody questioned their security implications,” says Dmitry Ponomarev, a computer science professor and CIAC associate director. “Recently, it was discovered that these architectures can cause significant security threats and leak sensitive information. As a result, now we have to rethink the entire processor architecture design with security in mind, and that shakes the foundation of what we’ve been doing for 40 years.”

NSA, Homeland Security endorse research from cybersecurity center

an associate professor in the School of ManageAs an associate professor in the Electrical and ment and a CIAC associate director. “Human Computer Engineering Department and a CIAC beings, as the users of computers, are the weakest associate director, Yu Chen looks at problems link in the chain. It’s necessary that we focus on from a more hardware-related, network infrathe engineering side and the human side.” structure-oriented point of view, such as how to make processors, memory chips and communicaTHE FUTURE tion facilities more impervious to meddling.

“Cybersecurity has to cover both the applicaLast year, the National Security Agency and tion level and the infrastructure level,” Chen says. the Department of Homeland Security named “All the programs need Binghamton a to run on hardware National Center of platforms, so if the Academic Excellence infrastructure is not in Cyber Research, secure, then your apps thanks largely to the will be more likely collaborations that to be taken down by CIAC has inspired. hackers. With the The designation puts To protect our digital systems, cybersecurity research center, we the University among experts need to consider five major layers look from the root an elite group of that are vulnerable to hackers. Anyone who to the hardware and research institutions accesses one layer may also gain control of software levels systemand opens doors for layers below or above it. atically. We have a larger grant funding. cross-disciplinary That’s not just Human effort together to good news for BingControls Software application address all the aspects hamton, but for all Database Risks identified of the cyber systems.” of us.

Cyberattacks at each level Operating system Even a package of will only become Hardware the best hardware and more frequent and software cannot protect sophisticated, and against the human there is a shortage factor, however. People of trained security make mistakes that lead to vulnerabilities, such professionals prepared for what is ahead. as having passwords that are too easy to guess, or Yang compared cybersecurity to an arms race: they deliberately leak information that can give “Both the hackers and the researchers will get hackers an entry point they can exploit. Dealing smarter. Recently, we’re seeing an increase in maliwith those issues is also part of CIAC’s mandate. cious software attacks on companies, universities, “Even if you put in a security infrastructure healthcare systems and more. We also see many that is very robust like barbed-wire fences, you pandemic-related phishing scams, denial-of-service just need a single place where there’s a weakness attacks and attacks on the Internet of Things. We and that will be exploited,” says Sumantra Sarkar, need mechanisms to counter those attacks.”

Yang

THE L E VE LS O F R ISK

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| A LU M N A S P OT L I G H T |

Computer science degree set the course for nonprofit CEO

By Michael Kuhl ’20

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ince earning her degree as Watson’s first Black female computer science graduate, Nicole (Mitchell) Armstrong ’91 has combined her heart for service with her love of technology throughout her career. In 2020, she was appointed the CEO of TechBridge Inc., an Atlanta-based company that provides tech solutions to nonprofits, including Goodwill, United Way and Feeding America, to name a few.

When did you first become interested in technology?

When I was 11, my father bought a TRS-80, which was Radio Shack’s first computer. I taught myself how to code using a BASIC programming book.

The first program I ever wrote resulted in a stickfigured robot dancing across the green screen. I was amazed that a few “ Being a builder of people, being a builder of lines of code companies and being a builder of culture — could do this. that’s what gets me up every morning…”

I remember —Nicole Armstrong thinking, “I can create things from nothing! OK, this is what I want to do for the rest of my life.”

I continued coding as a hobby in sixth grade and was placed in a gifted class where I skipped from seventh to ninth grade. I was thrilled when I was selected to attend Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers (in New York City), a highly competitive school for those with a special aptitude in computer science. This is where I began developing my belief that education and technology can transform lives.

What experiences at Binghamton stand out to you?

In 1987, Watson was an early leader in developing computer science as an area of practice.

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I was part of the first cohort and was the only person of color. We lived in Rafuse Hall. During my first week, I remember sitting in my room and thinking, “I’m a nerd, and I’m surrounded by nerds.” It was good being with like-minded people and I believe that enhanced my learning and development.

The Watson School (now Watson College) did a great job preparing me for life after college.

The foundational classes were heavy in math and science, and the coursework was grueling but produced hardcore programmers. When I graduated, I was ready for corporate America.

What were your experiences as a person of color at Watson in the late 1980s?

Although I was the only Black woman in my freshman cohort, I never felt like my professors treated me differently. As a person of color and a woman, the bar is always higher. It means that I need to work harder than most. Those of us breaking barriers and pioneering change have to be excellent and beyond reproach. We have to get up every day and knock it out of the park.

What are you most proud of in your career?

Working with and learning from John Katzman, who is the founder of the Princeton Review, the Noodle Companies and 2U. John and I co-founded a company called Noodle Markets, which connects K-12 educators with vendors for over 30,000 products and services. As the chief product architect, I utilized my understanding of complex systems and pitched that prototype to some of the largest venture capitalists in the U.S., raising an initial seed round of $3 million and eventually raising a total of $12 million.

In Vanity Fair’s April 2018 issue, I was featured along with 25 other Black women founders/“unicorns” who raised over $1 million

in venture capital. In December 2020, I was also featured on CNN as part of the “Million Dollar Club,” acknowledging the accomplishments of Black women founders.

PROVIDED

Tell us about your work at TechBridge.

In 2020, TechBridge celebrated its 20th year as a nonprofit. Our mission is to break the cycle of generational poverty through technology. We are doing amazing work. We have a strong reputation in Atlanta and have a national presence with the support of over 500 local technology leaders.

We are well-positioned to deepen our impact in our core communities — Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama — and strategically expand to other states that need us.

We are focused on four key pillars. The first is hunger relief. Our platforms are tethered to the work we do with food banks and Feeding America. We support 63 food banks and almost 20,000 food pantries that move 6 billion pounds of food annually.

We also support the homeless community.

We are currently working with the United Way of Nashville, Tenn., to build data integration solutions that allow disparate agencies to better collaborate and communicate. Once our work is finalized, we plan to have an app that allows case workers to meet families and individuals experiencing homelessness where they are — in the street, on a bench, in a subway. We want to provide real-time access not only to bed availability but also other critical services like food assistance, medical care and job placement.

Our third area of focus is legal justice. In 2019, we launched our JusticeServer platform, a legal case management tool that enables attorneys to volunteer for pro bono cases. More importantly, it allows attorneys to connect with low-income clients in need.

Armstrong

Our fourth pillar is workforce development.

We give low-income, underserved, unemployed adults a pathway out of poverty through our Technology Career Program. The graduates of our free, 16-week program obtain industryrecognized certificates in Microsoft BI, Service Now and cybersecurity, to name a few. We also provide job placement, a mentor for six months and courses in basic web development, financial well-being and remote work etiquette.

I’m at a point in my career where my greatest joy is not derived from building software. Being a builder of people, being a builder of companies and being a builder of culture — that’s what gets me up every morning, and that desire is what positioned me to be the CEO of TechBridge. binghamton.edu/watson

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| NEWS BRIEFS |

Rocha

CS professor elected to National Academy of Inventors The National Academy of Inventors (NAI) has named Professor Lijun Yin to its 2021 class of senior members.

Yin, a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science, has been a pioneer in the field of three- and four-dimensional modeling, specifically of the human face. He has created and released a series of facial-scan databases that have been used by Hollywood filmmakers, video-game creators and more.

“It is my honor to be elected as a senior member of NAI,” Yin says. “I hope our work will increase the visibility of Binghamton University, as well as aid the research community and society as a whole.”

Three faculty members from Watson College are NAI fellows: Distinguished Professors Bahgat Sammakia (also Binghamton University’s vice president for research), Kanad Ghose and Jessica Fridrich.

Yin

Named professorship honors SSIE pioneer In fall 2021, thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, Binghamton University will inaugurate the George Klir Professor in Systems Science.

The professorship, in honor of Klir’s groundbreaking work in the field of complex systems, is the first named professorship at Watson College, and will be part of the Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering. The first to fill the role will be former Klir student Luis Rocha, PhD ’97.

“I am particularly excited by opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration with such areas as health, biology, psychology and others, leveraging strengths in the department and Watson College,” Rocha says.

After leaving Binghamton, Rocha served as a permanent staff scientist at the Los Alamos National Laboratory from 1998 to 2004. He spent 16 years at Indiana University, most recently as a professor of informatics and the director of the NSF-NRT Interdisciplinary Training Program in Complex Networks and Systems.

Klir

Five grads say farewell at virtual Commencements Because of COVID-19 restrictions, graduation looked quite different for the classes of 2020 and 2021, but grads still had their say.

Erika Solano Diaz, who earned her MS in biomedical engineering, praised Watson College’s diversity as “culturally dissimilar, perceptive minds with different barriers to overcome, reaching out to each other to achieve a common goal.”

For the 2021 Commencement, three students offered remarks in the program.

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Marleen Moise, who received her BS in industrial and systems engineering and minored in theatre (dance), urged graduates to be bold: “You can only learn from your mistakes, not from perfection.”

Moise

Pawliczak

Imaane Carolina, a BS grad in ISE, said adapting to the pandemic made students similar to chameleons, because “we change our colors along the way to adjust to new environments.”

Byron Stewart-Drysdale talked about how friends helped him earn his MS in mechanical engineering: “Just knowing you have amazing people in your corner … makes a world of difference.”

Carolina

Solano Diaz

Stewart-Drysdale

JONATHAN COHEN

At the 2020 Commencement, held in December, Emma Pawliczak said following her “gut feeling” about Binghamton and earning her BS in mechanical engineering was “one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.” She returned in fall 2020 to pursue her master’s degree.

Award winners • New York Small Business Development Center named electrical engineering alumnus Matthew Gill ’18, MS ’19, the 2020 Technology Entrepreneur of the Year. He develops virtual-reality simulators for education experiences.

• The 2020 State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor Awards for Excellence (which recognize consistently superior professional achievement) included several for Watson College: Excellence in Faculty Service for Bruce Murray (chair of mechanical engineering); Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities for Seokheun Choi (electrical and computer engineering); Excellence in Adjunct Teaching for Jason Gilbert (mechanical engineering); and Excellence in Professional Service for April St. John (computer science). Weiyi Meng (CS chair) also won the University Award for Excellence in International Education.

• Mark Pallay ’14, MS ’16, PhD ’20, won a Bearcats of the Last Decade (BOLD) 10 Under 10 Award as part of 2020’s Homecoming celebrations. The mechanical engineering alumnus is a senior research and development engineer at Seagate Technology.

• The Binghamton University Alumni Association honored four Watson graduates in September and March.

Satyanarayan S. Iyer, MS ’03, PhD ’08, received the Medal of Distinguished Service for his research support, student mentorship and job assistance. He is general manager of Specialty Memory Products at SMART Modular Technologies Inc. Guru Madhavan, MBA ’07, PhD ’09, the Norman R. Augustine Senior Scholar and senior director of programs of the National Academy of Engineering, received the Edward Weisband Distinguished Alumni Award for Public Service or Contribution to Public Affairs.

Hadassah Mativetsky ’07, MS ’12, a quality engineer at Universal Instruments Corp., received the 2021 Lois B. DeFleur Distinguished Young Alumni Award.

It recognizes graduates from the last 10 years for service to the University or Alumni Association as well as leadership and a commitment to service.

Kaustubh Nagarkar, MS ’02, PhD ’06, vice president of licensing at GE, received the 2021 Alumni Achievement Award. It recognizes a distinguished graduate with significant professional achievement over a decade.

Professors promoted to distinguished ranks This spring, SUNY promoted two professors from Watson College’s Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering to distinguished ranks.

Mark Poliks, director of the Center for Advanced Microelectronics Manufacturing, was named a distinguished professor for his contributions to the fields of electronics packaging, flexible and hybrid electronics.

Poliks

Daryl Santos was named a distinguished service professor for his many leadership roles at Binghamton University over his career as well as his current work as vice provost for diversity and inclusiveness.

Santos

Seven faculty members earn CAREER grants During the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years, the National Science Foundation recognized seven assistant professors at Watson College with CAREER Awards, which provide funding to researchers early in their academic careers.

• As part of National Engineers Week in February, the New York State Society of Professional Engineers Broome Area Chapter named Victoria Kramer ’15 the 2021 Young Engineer of the Year. She works as a facility mechanical engineer at Corning Inc.

Six of these winners are in the Department of Computer Science:

• Computer engineering alumnus Eric Rice ’18 appeared on Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30 list for cofounding Powerspike. The company connects brands with digital influencers.

Yao Liu was awarded a $486,169 grant for her immersive media work on area-of-focus projections.

Jeremy Blackburn received $517,484 to explore new methods for understanding and modeling online sentiment.

Aravind Prakash received $499,893 to improve binary analysis and code-reuse attack detection.

Mo Sha was awarded $500,000 to explore ways to improve and streamline wireless sensor-actuator networks for industrial applications.

Matthew Gill

Guanhua Yan received $498,879 to develop proactive defenses for the next-generation mobile communication infrastructures.

CASEY STAFF (GILL)

Yifan Zhang received $485,244 to fund research into edge computing and unikernel-based lightweight virtualization.

Also, Emrah Akyol from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering received $596,295 for his research about using game theory to improve communications between machines with different objectives.

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Scholars program to support underrepresented students

A “ Solving today’s most pressing issues . . . will require all of us working together.”

—Dean Srihari

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s part of Watson College’s ongoing effort to better foster diversity and inclusion in its educational programs, it will launch the Watson College Scholars Program in fall 2021.

The undergraduate program will promote the academic and professional success of its participants by providing opportunities and financial support to aid underrepresented, minoritized, female and economically disadvantaged (Pell Grant-eligible) students who are strong candidates for graduate study and a professional career in engineering or computer science.

“We want to develop future innovators and leaders who will enter graduate school and the workforce as global citizens with a depth and breadth of professional and technical skill development,” Dean Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari says. “Solving today’s most pressing issues, such as those in healthcare, clean energy, cybersecurity and autonomous systems, will require all of us working together.”

Among the benefits to those in the program will be academic support, an annual $2,000 nontuition scholarship, internship and job placement assistance, and mentoring and networking opportunities with multinational companies.

“The Watson College Scholars Program aligns perfectly with Binghamton University’s mission to provide our students the additional resources they need to assist with their academic success,” President Harvey Stenger says. “As an engineer by training, I know how engineers and computer scientists can change the world, and Watson College will lead the effort to add more diverse voices when confronting our most challenging problems.”

Watson College Scholars must maintain continuous enrollment and a 3.0 GPA while making successful academic progress in a Watson degree program and actively participating in program activities.

“With assistance from the Watson College Scholars Program, we will be able to enroll more high-caliber students who might not otherwise have the opportunity to earn a degree,” says Donald Nieman, executive vice president for academic affairs and provost. “This program will make a difference in the lives of these students and also strengthen Watson College by adding diverse perspectives that are so critical to creativity and problem-solving.”

SUPPORTING THE SCHOLARS Lead sponsors for the Watson College Scholars Program as of May 2021: • • • • •

Bloomberg IBM Corp.

The Raymond Corporation Department of Computer Science Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering • Department of Mechanical Engineering • Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering Friends of the program: • Collins Aerospace • Syska Hennessy Group

HOW TO OFFER YOUR SUPPORT Go online to tinyurl.com/watsonscholars, or contact Director of Development Alan Greene at agreene@binghamton.edu or 607-777-6237.

| N E W FA C U LT Y |

Meet Zeynep Ertem Chelsea Jin ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING PhD: University of Arkansas— Fayetteville

Xudong Liang ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, MECHANICAL ENGINEERING PhD: University of California San Diego

Hoda Naghibijouybari ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE PhD: University of California at Riverside

Sujoy Sikdar ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COMPUTER SCIENCE PhD: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Zimo Wang ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING PhD: Texas A&M University

Hyunsoo Yoon ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING PhD: Arizona State University

Yingge Zhou ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING PhD: Texas Tech University

How did you first get interested in industrial and systems engineering?

I chose my career as an industrial engineer because its application is really wide. I became intrigued about how mathematics could be used to model not just physical phenomena, but also economic and social interactions.

One can work as an industrial engineer in a factory as a manufacturing or quality engineer, in a social network company as a data scientist or even in a hospital to optimize the flow.

Zeynep Ertem ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SYSTEMS SCIENCE AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING PhD: Texas A&M University

What projects are you currently working on?

My research focuses on operations management, with an emphasis on challenges in public health and healthcare systems. Recent initiatives in digitization of healthcare records provide an unprecedented ability to measure how our healthcare systems operate. Leveraging this capability, my research aims to use and extend operations management literature to improve the efficiency of healthcare systems.

I also study disease transmission. Many countries spend significant resources to limit the potential effects of outbreaks. Accurately predicting the outbreaks enables public health officials to optimize their prevention strategies.

Furthermore, recent refugee movements across countries might put stress on both the healthcare system and the general public health of the hosting countries. We need to understand the effect to the public health of such population movements and devise strategies to prevent potential outbreaks, like COVID-19.

What is your favorite thing about Binghamton University so far?

Students are so respectful and very smart! I also enjoy walking around campus — it is very peaceful. binghamton.edu/watson

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Non-Profit Org. US Postage PAID Binghamton, NY Permit No. 61 Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science

PHOTOS PROVIDED

PO Box 6000, Binghamton, NY 13902-6000

E-Week activities go virtual Engineers Week 2021 looked different than previous years, with events held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Community Day tradition continued with youths watching from home as Watson College student groups demonstrated fun STEM projects. More than 20 activities were presented.

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