Brooklyn’s City Tech Prepares Students for Jobs in Growing Tech Industries
Last month City Tech alum Danny Shaw, co-founder of Beauty Beat Box, spoke at the Tech Triangle U conference in Downtown Brooklyn, along with Chad Dickerson (Etsy), Alexis Ohanian (reddit), Bre Pettis (MakerBot) and Aaron Shapiro (Huge). The conference, a collaboration between City Tech and its partners, brought a week-long series of events to connect the tech, creative, and academic communities in the Brooklyn Tech Triangle.
City Tech students had access to it all—an entrepreneurship symposium, mentorship hack-a-thon, career panel sessions, and open office week. They might even have found themselves sitting next to a successful alum—or two. It’s no surprise that Shaw—whose subscription-based start-up serves women of color—was part of this all-star line-up. City Tech has become a major force in the development of skilled graduates ready for the high-tech careers that increasingly define the global economy. In fact, during the last decade, City Tech has seen rapid growth in student enrollment, increasing nearly 50 percent since 2003. This increase has been attributed to evolving workforce demands, new high-tech program development, and the growth of employment opportunities in new and existing firms.
Hands-on Experiencce
High-Tech Equipment
With a campus situated
in the heart of Brooklyn’s Tech Triangle, City Tech couldn’t be better positioned to offer unparalleled opportunities to its students, its partners and the wider tech industry eager to hire trained professionals with hands-on experience. Founded in 1946, City Tech (New York City College of Technology), of The City University of New York, is the largest public college of technology in the Northeast and a model for technological education. City Tech enrolls nearly 17,000 students in 65 baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate programs, with approximately 14,000 enrolled in its Division of Continuing Education. There are a few things that set City Tech apart from other technology colleges: faculty with ties to industry, active partnerships and advisory boards, state-of-the-art labs, access to internships, and a diverse learning environment—all of which add up to job placement. And for students and families facing increasing tuition, massive debt and a weak job market, it is no surprise that job placement after earning a degree is priority number one.
3D Prototyping
City Tech’s Architectural Technology program is the largest in the United States and offers the kind of hands-on experience students in a traditional architecture program rarely receive. Because faculty members at City Tech—in this department and others—collaborate on interdisciplinary research projects that include student participation, learning transcends disciplinary boundaries.
Laser Scanning / 3D Modeling Technologies
Faculty Matters
City Tech’s outstanding faculty—many recruited from business, industry and the professions—provide students with the benefit of their extensive knowledge and real-world experience. More than half of the College’s full-time faculty was hired during the last five years, with 230 new faculty added in the last nine years. Faculty members play a leading role as the College meets the challenge of preparing students for increasingly important green/sustainable technologies, for the constantly transforming areas of digital technologies, and for technologies in the health fields.
When one thinks of technology, restorative dentistry may not come to mind. But this lab-based industry is growing exponentially and offers career advancement to those with the right skills. Renata Budny, an assistant professor in the Department of Restorative Dentistry and recipient of the 2014 Educator of the Year Award from the National Association of Dental Laboratories (NADL), is a City Tech alum. Budny went on to earn a graduate degree in finance before returning to her alma mater to teach. In naming Professor Budny Educator of the Year, NADL commended her on her extensive knowledge of the latest trends in the field and on the extent to which she remains active within the industry. In 2011, she was named one of the “Top 25 Women in Dentistry.” Students—and established dentists who want to create their own lab—come from all over the world to enroll in the Department of Restorative Dentistry at City Tech. The department’s labs are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, preparing students to work anywhere.
City Tech is committed to providing students with the latest technology: more space is dedicated to laboratories than traditional classrooms.
Computer-Simulated Patient
Consider Illya Azaroff, an associate professor in the Department of Architectural Technology and recipient of the 2014 Young Architects Award from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Azaroff’s collaborative efforts with the National Disaster Preparedness Training Center have enabled hundreds of architects to receive training in resilient designs for natural disasters. After Superstorm Sandy, Azaroff worked closely with the Office of Emergency Management on the city’s recovery efforts; his post-Sandy Initiative resulted in a series of workshops and recommendations to help city agencies outline possibilities for recovery and resilience.
Students have access to two 3-D printers in Architectural Technology and Mechanical Engineering Technology, simulation labs in the Department of Nursing, a mechatronics lab for the engineering programs, information security technology in the Department of Computer Systems Technology and a super computer in the Department of Physics.
Through City Tech’s partners, students have the opportunity to intern at companies that operate in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, as well as at Brookhaven National Laboratory, Goldman Sachs, Honda, Microsoft and many other leading corporations.
Last year, City Tech broke ground on the construction of a new 365,000 square foot state-of-the-art academic complex at the corner of Tillary and Jay Streets in Downtown Brooklyn. The added learning space will provide students with innovative laboratories designed specifically to meet the needs of each program and, of course, will be equipped with cuttingedge technology. Included in the plans is a wellness center and a 1,000-seat concert hall quality auditorium, which when opened will be the largest of its kind in Downtown Brooklyn.
City Tech also partners with a number of organizations that feed those in greatest need and address significant gaps in healthcare. The Department of Vision Care Technology and the Department of Dental Hygiene both operate patient care clinics that provide services to the community.
Internships and Partnerships Are Key Competitions Are Pathways to Jobs
City Tech works with its partners to support the evolution of Brooklyn’s Tech Triangle and Downtown Brooklyn. In addition, the College has recently identified partners, and will be involved with the training of a skilled workforce, in the industrial and manufacturing sections of Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
City Tech recognizes the advantage of combining real-world experience with classroom learning, so programs are designed to teach students the hands-on, critical-thinking, communication and
collaboration skills sought by employers in any field. Internships and competitions help facilitate this learning, and City Tech is committed to providing these opportunities to its students. Recently, a student team from City Tech was selected as one of 20 teams worldwide to compete in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2015 Solar Energy Decathlon. The teams have begun a two-year process to build solar-powered, energy-efficient houses that combine affordability, innovation and design excellence. The teams will design, construct and test their houses before reassembling them at the competition site in California. Students involved in the Solar Energy Decathlon come from a wide range of departments at City Tech including Construction Management & Civil Engineering Technology, Mechanical Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering Technology, Chemical Technology, Biological Sciences, Architectural Technology, Hospitality Management, Entertainment Technology and Advertising Design & Graphic Arts. As the only team from New York City, City Tech will compete with Yale University, Stanford University, National University of Singapore, The University of Texas-Austin, Technische Universitaet Muenchen, Vanderbilt University, University of California-Davis and Irvine, and University of Roma Tor Vergata, among others.
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The Solar Decathlon can be a positive, life-changing experience for participating students. In addition to developing leadership, team spirit and problem-solving skills, this competition bridges formal education with hands-on experience that helps decathletes excel
once they enter the workforce.
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Richard King, Solar Decathlon Director
Sometimes winning a competition comes vertising or design as viable career options. with additional opportunity—a chance to Led by creative directors and designers prove oneself in an internship. That was the from across the U.S., the Boot Camp is an case for two City Tech Advertising Design & intensive four-day workshop that introduces Graphic Arts students who won first place in students to the art of creating advertising The One Club’s Creative Boot Camp comfor a client from initial concept through petition this year, co-sponsored by the New the final pitch. York City advertising agency giant BBDO. City Tech Professor Douglas Davis said: The One Club Creative Boot Camp is a “This is the perfect opportunity for students diversity initiative with the goal of recruitto practice the conceptual skills they gain ing creative students from multicultural at City Tech. As one of the few public backgrounds who may not be aware of adavenues into advertising, we strive to
attain parity with private schools. Access to competitions like this is key because they provide tangible evidence of parity despite the public/private resource gap.”
The grand prize? A highly coveted tenweek paid internship at BBDO this summer,
which will add an impressive line on the students’ resumes.
“ THINK
BIG” WINS 1
Inspiration
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Collaboration
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Innovation
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ompetitions can take many forms. This past year, for instance, a group of urban design students from the Department of Architectural Technology were invited by a College partner to work on a project in lower Manhattan. This area has been the historic entry point for Chinese immigrants as they entered the eastern coast of the United
States. City Tech students were charged with designing a site that would create an identity for this community situated in a complex urban landscape. One key element in the design process involved working with the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Chinatown Partnership and the local community. The collaboration was crucial in providing
students with all the information necessary to start working on a “real� project, including getting community feedback on the proposed project designs. Ultimately, the collaboration with these groups allowed our students to create projects with the potential of being built. City Tech often works with its partners to host international competitions on
campus. Recently, two City Tech student teams won first and third place at the Digilent Design Contest, an international hardware design competition open to students who are passionate about electronics, digital design and electrical engineering in general. The contest provides an opportunity for students to present their work and receive feedback from international industry representatives. At the same time, students improve their skills and face new challenges in developing projects using the latest technologies.
The winning City Tech team developed TOBiAS (Tele-Operated Bi-Manual Augmented System), which allows human input to dictate the movement of a remote robotic torso and is a virtual reality-style immersive experience. Applications include nuclear clean-up, explosive handling and disposal, and exploration of unknown territories. The first-place team members represent City Tech’s Department of Computer Engineering Technology and the Department of Mechanical Engineering Technology and will be competing in the 2014 Digilent Worldwide Design Contest in Shanghai, China.
Watch TOBiAS on youtube https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=EOjTLHuThac
Diversity in a Global Economy Diversity matters in a global marketplace, and companies that care about fostering a diverse work environment recruit students from City Tech. In the Chinatown urban design project, reflective of the diversity at City Tech, the students brought an international perspective to their work; the design team included students from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Japan, Egypt, China, Russia, Thailand, India, Ecuador, Bangladesh, Iraq, Pakistan, Brazil, Ukraine and the West Indies. Students and faculty from more than 120 countries and speaking more than 85 languages help to create and sustain an exceptional learning environment. For the last five years, U.S. News & World Report has cited City Tech as among the leaders in the diversity of the students it serves as well as in new student retention. City Tech’s mission focuses on preparing a technically proficient workforce and well-educated citizens. The College’s offerings encompass the pre-professional, professional and technical programs that respond to regional economic needs and provide access to higher education for all who seek fulfillment of career and economic goals through education.
The 65 registered programs offered allow graduates to pursue careers in the architectural and engineering technologies, the computer, entertainment and health professions, human services, advertising and publishing, hospitality, business and law-related professions, as well as programs in career and technical teacher education.
In essence, the College’s programs are geared to the needs of our students, the professions we support and the commerce that drives our economy. Where can technology take you? At City Tech, the possibilities are endless.
TAKE YOU?
CAN
TECHNOLOGY
WHERE Technology
FALL DIRECT ADMISSION 2014 SUMMER SESSIONS www.citytech.cuny.edu/directadmission | www.citytech.cuny.edu/summer NEW YORK CITY COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY
CITY TECH
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