NJIT Magazine / Spring 2010

10

maga zi ne

spring

special honor roll edition

A greener 2009 NJIT Foundation donors

campus 10 Campus-wide sustainability at NJIT

can your car talk to my phone?

Computing and advanced remote sensing converge

6

Executive Summary

A Message from NJIT President Robert A. Altenkirch

“ Knowledge exists to be imparted.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson Discovering and sharing knowledge in a growing range of disciplines is at the heart of NJIT’s mission. It is a mission that encompasses giving talented young women and men the knowledge essential for fulfilling careers and advancing research that yields discoveries with the potential to make life better today and in years to come.

The two feature articles in this issue describe how faculty, staff and students are engaged in efforts that have broad implications for the future as well as an immediate influence on daily life. The issue also includes the annual Honor Roll list of donors to NJIT, which acknowledges concern and generosity fundamental to all that we seek to achieve as New Jersey’s science and technology university.

“Can Your Car Talk to My Phone?” looks at the convergence of wireless communications and remote sensing that could make driving safer and expand the technical foundation for innovative wireless services. “A Greener Campus” explores NJIT’s commitment to an environmentally friendly, sustainable campus, created through state-of-the-art technology and initiatives involving all members of the university community in recycling and energy conservation. Continuing progress in these areas – and on other scientific, technological and social frontiers – requires a broad spectrum of resources. It requires expertise and dedication on the part of faculty and staff and facilities that best serve research and education in the 21st century.

Of equal importance is the support provided by numerous friends of NJIT. Each year, Honor Roll recognizes the contributions made by such individuals. While many are alumni who shared in the acquisition of new knowledge as students, everyone in Honor Roll has a comparable bond with NJIT. All are vital participants in the work of increasing knowledge that can improve the quality of life and imparting that knowledge to others for our long-term mutual benefit.

N J I T M a g a z in e Spring 2010 Jean M. Llewellyn Executive Director University Communications Dean L. Maskevich Editor Christina Crovetto MS ’03 Assistant Editor Babette Hoyle Production Coordinator Skelton Design Design Editorial Advisory Board Joel Bloom, Robert A. Boynton, Charles R. Dees, Jr., E. Perry Deess, Kirstie Gentleman, Kathryn Kelly, Carol Pilla, Jacquelyn G. Rhodes, Henry Ross, Anita Rubino ’83, Steven Saperstein ’84, Michele Scott ’93, Donald H. Sebastian, Nancy Steffen-Fluhr, Sheryl Weinstein.

NJIT Magazine is published by New Jersey Institute of Technology, University Communications. Its mission is to foster ties with alumni, university friends and corporate partners and to report on relevant issues, particularly those in education, science, research and technology.

Visit us on the web at http://magazine.njit.edu Please send letters of comment and requests to reproduce material from the magazine to: NJIT Magazine University Communications University Heights Newark, NJ 07102-1982 Dean.Maskevich@njit.edu Robert A. Altenkirch President Charles R. Dees, Jr. Vice President University Advancement Robert A. Boynton Executive Director Alumni Relations

ii

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

10

m ag a zi ne

spring

Features

pag e 6

Can Your Car Talk to My Phone?

The convergence of computing and remote sensing is leading to “intelligent roads� and a new generation of wireless services. pag e 10

A Greener Campus From major building renovations to recycling, NJIT is committed to promoting environmental awareness and sustainability.

d e pa rt m e n t s 2 Abstracts

NJIT news in brief 5 p oint by point

Athletics update 14 a lumni circuit

Class notes, alumni calendar, and more 1 9 at the edge

Leading-edge achievements by faculty, staff, students, alumni

2009 Honor Roll D o no r page s 1-3 0

Breaking News NJIT Receives $23M of the $2B in Recovery Act Funds to Facilitate Use of Electronic Health Records by 2014 www.njit.edu/info/ehr NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

1

abstracts Highlanders for Haiti

Photo: Christina Crovetto

Helping Architects for Humanity Structural engineer Rima Taher, who teaches in the College of Architecture and Design (COAD), will join architects and engineers invited by Architecture for Humanity (AFH) to create a construction guide for safer rebuilding in Haiti.

Taher’s courses cover building for protection against wind and earthquakes, which she recently wrote about for Caribbean Construction Magazine.

AFH anticipates sending a team to Haiti and hopes to

Associate Director of Graduate Studies Clarisa Gonzalez-Lenahan pins a Haiti remembrance flower on Tiffany McKoy, vice president of NJIT’s Caribbean Student Organization and MC at the Haiti vigil.

2

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

make the new construction resource available to other groups, such as Habitat for Humanity. A nonprofit firm founded in 1999, AFH can tap a network of more than 40,000 professionals willing to dedicate time and expertise to providing design, construction and development services for those who could not otherwise afford essential assistance in these areas.

A Personal Connection Seeing the destruction in Haiti, biomedical engineering alumna Darlene Clovis ’04, MS ’06, whose family background is Haitian, had to help.

Although Engineers Without Borders (EWB) was seeking civil engineers to volunteer in Haiti, Clovis’ fluency in Creole, the country’s main language, would be vital. Quickly taught how to evaluate a building’s structure, she went to Haiti with a team of engineers and seismic experts.

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

Photo: Courtesy of Darlene Clovis

For the people of Haiti, whose country was devastated by last January’s earthquake, NJIT students, alumni, faculty and staff have rallied to provide a wide range of assistance.

A vigil and non-denominational prayer service energized support for monetary donations to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which NJIT selected as the primary channel for Haitian relief from the university community.

Alumna Darlene Clovis in Haiti

“We worked in the north of Haiti, in a town called CapHaitien, as well as in Port-auPrince,” Clovis says. “Many of the buildings are still standing, but some are damaged, some seriously so. It was our job to rate their structural soundness. Engineers need to be versatile, and this work taught me something new. We also taught the Haitian people how to repair their houses, some basic building techniques.”

In working with Engineers Without Borders, Clovis is the latest of dozens of NJIT volunteers who have contributed to previous efforts in Haiti. NJIT civil and mechanical engineering

“ Engineers need to be versatile, and this work taught me something new.”

Darlene Clovis ’04, MS ’06

students, faculty, and staff volunteers have spent the past several years helping residents of the town of Milot to remove bacteria from their drinking water and halt water-borne illnesses. A May return to Haiti by the NJIT Engineers Without Borders Chapter awaits a green light from the national EWB organization. n

A sugar-based epoxy that could replace bisphenol A (BPA) in applications that include lining cans containing food has been patented by Michael Jaffe, professor of biomedical engineering.

Jaffe developed the new sugar derivative, obtained from corn, in association with the Iowa Corn Promotion Board (ICPB).

The work was part of an ongoing initiative to create commercially attractive and sustainable chemistries from corn.

BPA is also used to manufacture products ranging from baby bottles to nail polish. The chemical bonds that link BPA in polymer structures can slowly decay and release small amounts of it into the materials with which it comes into contact, such as food or water.

Even minute levels of BPA may have undesirable, estrogen-like effects on living organisms.

Sharing the new patent are Anthony J. East, NJIT biomedical engineering research professor; Yi Zhang PhD ’02; and Luiz Catalani, former visiting professor at NJIT and now professor of chemistry at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. n

Globetrotting Computer Pioneers Starr Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoff are on the move – still actively contributing to their fields of expertise after more than 30 years as pioneers in computer-mediated communication and decision support, Delphi forecasting, online learning and emergency response.

Officially retired as distinguished professors emeriti in 2007, they were invited keynoters at a workshop on the “Future of Higher Education” this past October in Bucharest, Romania.

In November, visiting Finland, Hiltz gave an invited presentation on “The Impact of Online Learning and Social Media on Higher Education” at the Finnish Society for Futures Studies, Helsinki, and “Social Media: Characteristics, Social Issues and Use in Marketing” at the Turku School of Economics.

Turoff’s presentations included “Emergency Response Information Systems” at Nokia in Helsinki, and a keynote address on the Delphi method at the annual Millennium Project meeting in Helsinki. And in January of this year, both Hiltz and Turoff were visiting professors at the Shidler College of Business at the University of Hawaii.

“These are exactly the kinds of opportunities we hoped to have when we transitioned to emeritus and emerita status,” says Hiltz. “It is quite wonderful to be able to work with colleagues all over the world.” n

Ian Gatley named NJIT Provost

NJIT’s New Provost Ian Gatley has been named NJIT provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. He also has an appointment as distinguished professor of physics. Gatley, an internationally recognized researcher and educator, comes to NJIT from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT).

Gatley has a bachelor’s from Imperial College, University of London, and a PhD from the California Institute of Technology, both in physics. After completing his PhD, he served as astronomer and project manager with the United Kingdom Infrared Telescope in Hawaii, later heading the infrared astronomy program at the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatories in Arizona. As chair of the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatories Infrared Steering Committee, he guided the collaboration that developed an infrared detector array (codenamed Aladdin) adopted by observatories around the world.

In 1997, Gatley became director of the Chester F. Carlson Center for Imaging Science at RIT, where he led the integration of an Aladdin-based camera with a telescope at the South Pole. Gatley was subsequently appointed dean of the College of Science at RIT. In his most recent RIT appointment, he led the Center of Student Innovation that serves as a hub and clearing-house for RIT innovation resources.

Look for an interview with Provost Gatley in a future issue. n

Photo: Bill Wittkop

sugar for safer cans

Photo: Courtesy of RIT

There’s more online — visit NJIT Magazine at http://magazine.njit.edu

Starr Roxanne Hiltz and Murray Turoff NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

3

EN D NOTES Photo: Christina Crovetto

Stabile Professorship for Schuring

Ready to Fire: Science Is Fun! Middle school and senior high school students from throughout northern New Jersey gathered at NJIT in January for the annual Science Olympiad playoffs. From assembling and firing catapults to launching model airplanes, student teams participated in more than a dozen events designed to make science, technology and math exciting, and to encourage pursuit of careers in these fields. n

NJIT Among Most Popular Universities NJIT ranks among the most popular national universities according to U.S. News & World Report. The telling indicator is the university’s “admissions yield” – the percentage of applicants accepted by an institution who actually enroll. NJIT ranked 19th in 2008, accepting 53 percent of those who applied with a yield of 50 percent. A yield this great is likely to mean that a school is both popular and has a reputation for quality that motivates students to accept admission and attend. n

NJIT Enhances Free Course Consortium NJIT is the only institution of higher education in New Jersey and New York to offer free online college courses through The Open Courseware Consortium.

Launched several years ago by MIT, this worldwide organization’s catalog includes courses ranging from English literature to quantum physics.

NJIT plans to add some 35 courses to the Consortium’s offerings in science, technology and other subjects. Also participating are institutions such as the Mathematical Institute at Oxford University, England, and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“It wasn’t too long ago that people paid a sizable sum of money to buy CDs of the best

4

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

lectures by top university professors,” says Gale Tenen Spak, associate vice president of continuing professional education at NJIT. “Now, thanks to the Consortium, this information is free. There is no reason for anyone not to have undergraduate- and graduate-level material at their fingertips. Selflearners and busy professionals in need of just-in-time knowledge are big users of this resource.”

Some courses have a video format, while others are audio presentations. More than 200 schools and associated organizations are members of the Consortium, which is supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, William and Flora Hewitt Foundation and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. n www.ocwconsortium.org

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

Photo: Kai Chan

Andrew Chang (left), David Han and Arvind Chandaba, students at Hillsborough Middle School, with their catapult

Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor John R. Schuring has been appointed to the newly-established

Vincent A. Stabile Chair Professorship for Innovation and Technology. The professorship is named in honor of engineer, inventor and industrialist Vincent A. Stabile, an innovative thinker whose hands-on approach to problem solving complemented a masterful ability to convert concepts into commercial reality. It is awarded to an NCE faculty member with a strong professional commitment to innovation and the transfer of technology to industry, as well as a respected record as a teacher and mentor. n

Professor John R. Schuring

Zhang Receives Top NSF Award For his research project titled “Dependable Data Management in Heterogeneous Sensor Networks,” Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Yanchao Zhang has won a prestigious National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award.

A top NSF honor, the CAREER Award recognizes individuals who show exceptional promise as educators and researchers.

The award will provide $400,000 to support Zhang’s work.

Zhang’s research involves storage-centric heterogeneous sensor networks (SC-HSNs) consisting of many relatively simple sensor nodes that gather and send data to “master nodes” capable of responding to queries about the data. This architecture offers ideal datasensing solutions for extreme and remote environments such as oceans, volcanoes and animal habitats. Zhang will study fundamental challenges

associated with dependable data management in SC-HSNs. His efforts are also expected to yield significant insights for dependable data management in other types of emerging wireless networks, including mobile ad hoc networks and vehicular networks. n

ACSA Honors Schuman Professor Anthony (Tony) Schuman, College of Architecture and Design, is the first NJIT faculty member to be named a Distinguished Professor by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA). The award, ACSA’s highest honor, recognizes contributions across the spectrum of academic pursuits.

Schuman is a past president of the association, which represents the 134 accredited schools of architecture in the United States and Canada. n

point by point

For the latest about all NJIT sports: www.njithighlanders.com

The athletes assisted students with reading comprehension, writing and geography.

Inspiration for the Future

right goals can open the way to achievement in college and beyond, regardless of one’s financial Coach McKeon situation. “It was hearing just such a message when I was in elementary school that first inspired me,” says McKeon, “and it is my hope that our student-athletes can inspire these kids in the same way.” n

Athletes Take on the Youngsters

More than 500 sixth-, seventhand eighth-graders from Essex, Passaic and Union Counties now know what they might experience as NJIT students.

Brought to campus in January at the suggestion of Women’s Basketball Coach Margaret McKeon, they were accompanied by 75 chaperones and assisted by members of the NJIT men’s volleyball team. The students toured campus buildings, heard talks on college life, and watched the NJIT women’s basketball team play Harvard University. Financial support from Athletics Director Lenny Kaplan helped pay for the buses that transported the students and provide box lunches. n

NJIT basketball players Taiwo Oyelola and Kehinde Oyelola at the Burnet Street Elementary/ Middle School in Newark

Great West Honors Grow The Fall 2009 Great West Conference named students participating in four sports to its All-Academic team. The honorees are Joseph Ju* (biomedical engineering) in cross-country; Iulia Doci (management) in tennis; Cara Constantino* (architecture), Daisy Gallegos (information technology) and Kelsey Johnson (civil engineering) in cross-country; Sabrina Baby (management), Katrina Hornstein* (mechanical engineering) and Erica Schultz (management) in volleyball; and Christina Taylor* (mathematics) in soccer.

To be selected for the team, such outstanding individuals must achieve a minimum cumulative 3.2 grade point average and participate in at least 50 percent of the contests scheduled. n

Photos: Larry Levanti

The athletes assisted students with reading comprehension, writing and geography. They also met with middle-school students, talking about topics such as goal setting, the importance of academics, and how the individual team members earned their athletic scholarships.

Margaret McKeon, women’s basketball coach, is committed to bringing younger students the message that focusing on a passion, including athletics, and on the

Photo Courtesy of Women’s Basketball staff

Members of the women’s basketball team recently “assisted” in grades Pre-K through First at the Burnet Street Elementary/Middle School in Newark.

Erica Schultz

*Dorman honors scholars NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

5

6

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

Can Your Car How did we ever get along without GPS technology – that coaxing voice and small screen that direct us to our destination while driving? What was once an exotic gadget is now a necessity, like the cellphone.

Talk to My Phone?

illustration: Brian Stauffer

And if the work of NJIT Associate Professor Cristian Borcea is an accurate social barometer, we’ve seen only the beginning of our interconnection with computers, wireless communications devices, and billions of sensors spanning locations from cars and the pavement to home appliances and even our bodies.

Translated into one real-world driving scenario, Borcea says that “Integration of these technologies could automatically alert us to an accident miles ahead, sense congestion and tell us how much to slow down for safety, and place calls to people at work letting them know how late we’ll be for a meeting.”

Recipient of the university’s 2009 Excellence in Teaching Award for Graduate Instruction, Borcea is a member of the Department of Computer Science. The scenario he envisions on the highway reflects extensive research into mobile and ubiquitous computing, ad hoc and sensor networks, and distributed systems. His efforts complement work on other aspects of wireless technology carried out

by NJIT’s Center for Wireless Communications and Signal Processing Research and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

7

Information everywhere

utility of this information by enabling multitudes of such devices to interact as needed, or as requested by users.

It’s a multi-faceted challenge that Borcea has also addressed in collaboration with NJIT colleagues Associate Professor Quentin Jones, Assistant Professor Guiling Wang, and with the help of graduate students. Their work has received substantial funding from the National Science Foundation.

A

A

8

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

Coordinated Communication ne part of the connectivity challenge is creating and managing ad hoc networks. With information gathered and stored by so many different devices in so many places, Borcea and others in the field foresee services that are not based on central servers. Rather, they would be provided through coordinated communication among numerous devices as needed and authorized, in an ad hoc manner.

Borcea explains, “Among the innovations required are new and sophisticated ‘middleware’ programs to manage the underlying layers of software and hardware. That’s in addition to ensuring effective and reliable wireless communication under widely varying environmental conditions, and meeting the power demands of numerous distributed sensors.”

In the scenario described earlier, the road has to talk to your car, and your car has to talk to other cars as well as to your cellphone – at exactly the time when this inclusive interaction is essential. The software systems and network elements involved are heterogeneous, mobile, and distributed over wide areas. There are constraints of bandwidth and memory, as well as of power. Accordingly, Borcea states, “Substantial system and networking research will be necessary to build applications that are robust and able to adapt quickly to changing operational contexts. This means real-world testing on a large scale.”

Photo: John Micale

primary reason why such an experience behind the wheel could become reality is that small sensors with the requisite capabilities are proliferating at an amazing rate. They are already present in every car – for example, accelerometers to trigger airbags upon impact and many more to monitor the engine and other onboard systems. Looking ahead, Borcea suggests that “appropriately designed wireless sensors could be distributed along the road to monitor the speed of vehicles and the volume of traffic, leading to the creation of ‘intelligent’ roads.”

Wireless sensors could ulti- Associate Professor Cristian Borcea mately be embedded everywhere.

A parking meter could let you know that a It also seems that wireless communications space is available on the next block. A bridge, devices are never beyond reach. One recent sensing metal fatigue, could signal that repairs TV commercial for wireless phones opens are necessary. At home, your refrigerator may with a young man waking up to his cellphone call to remind you to pick up a quart of milk alarm as the voiceover says, “It’s the first thing – knowing to place the call because it can no you use in the morning and the last thing you longer detect the minute wireless identifica- see at night.” Perhaps that’s not much of an tion tag embedded in the milk carton. exaggeration given the number of people who Concurrently, in just a few years, cellphones no longer have landline service and appear have become devices that do much more than never to turn their phones off. allow us to talk. “We still like to use the term As a January 31 article in The New York ‘phone’ for want of a better name,” Borcea says. Times put it, “The cellphone is a constant “It’s handy, maybe easier than saying ‘smart companion – immediate and intimate, always phone.’ But the devices we carry around these there to inform, remind and prompt.” The ardays do a great deal more. For instance, they ticle, “Smart Dust? Not Quite, but We’re Getinclude GPS and allow us to connect with ting There,” described the fast-shrinking size the Internet at any time, no matter where we of sensors, their fast-growing capabilities, and happen to be. Many people envision that the the potential of merging these capabilities phone will become the personal computer of with wireless communications technology. the future.”

Our communications devices are thus be- The challenge of connecting coming repositories of information about lthough cellphones, computers and who we contact, what we read, where we shop, a wide variety of distributed senwhat restaurants we like. Today, millions upon sors represent a huge pool of inmillions of “phones” are digital warehouses formation, it’s a reservoir whose for vast amounts of information about many true collective usefulness has yet to be tapped. millions of people.

The challenge is to realize and maximize the

O

The convergence of computing, communications and sensing could also have positive social implications that are, literally, global.

Harvesting social knowledge orcea’s work at NJIT may automatically bring you and friends together, silence your cellphone at the start of an important meeting, or help medical professionals save your life. Each time we call or text, surf the Internet, tweet on Twitter, or visit the universe of Facebook friends, we make a social statement about ourselves.

This encompasses numerous facets of life – our location at the moment, who our friends and professional associates are, political inclinations, leisure interests, favorite foods, products for which we’ve been shopping.

It’s a digital portrait that grows ever more comprehensive and nuanced.

The straightforward goal of research into the complex technical issues involved is to enrich the social utility of mobile electronic interaction. This would combine the GPS-based locational awareness of mobile communications devices with continually evolving portraits of individual users and groups of users.

While driving past a mall, you could be alerted to a sale on a product whose price you’ve recently checked online. In an unfamiliar city, prompted by your social profile, it would be possible for a wireless service to inform you of an interesting movie or museum exhibit. “Conceivably, your movements in the workplace could be tracked to indicate that you’ve entered the office of a manager,” Borcea says. “Doing so would then automatically silence your cellphone – an application that I think many people would welcome.”

Services that network “trusted users” might tell you when friends are nearby, or that people you don’t yet know at a large gathering share interests similar to yours. A hungry group discussing where to eat could ask for suggestions about nearby restaurants likely to please the majority – based on “social knowledge” collected about each person over time. These and comparable applications will depend on capturing social and location information for large user communities, underpinning

B

the development of what Borcea refers to as “geo-social recommendation services.”

The best safeguards possible he technical aspects of achieving the interconnection envisioned are many and complex. But equally significant are the social considerations of personal privacy, identity protection, and even physical safety. An increasing number of individuals and groups are intent on breaching the security of software systems at every level. Awareness of the possibility of international “cyber attacks” on financial institutions, power grids, industrial plants and defense installations has risen to the point where such intrusions are viewed as threats to the security of the entire country.

Those who design and deliver services must therefore build the best safeguards possible into their products, and remain on high alert with respect to security. “Every service must give users the greatest degree of protection, and genuine control over how and with whom personal information is shared,” Borcea emphasizes.

Some question whether the benefits of digital socializing, or being notified that a favorite brand of clothing is on sale, is worth even the slightest risk of unauthorized access to personal data. The past decade’s explosive growth of wireless communications and Internet commerce would seem to offer a clear answer – that we do want to be linked electronically.

While the business models for newer services such as social media are still evolving, there can be little doubt about their appeal and economic potential. The longer historical view also underscores that if a technological advance appears feasible and its benefits are broadly attractive in daily life, it will be attempted, despite introducing new risks as well. It is clearly necessary to guard against identity theft and other negative aspects of digital interaction. But it is also necessary to weigh the great benefits – as we have done with using electricity, driving and flying.

T

Tweeting and friending aside, it is hard to dispute the value of applications that increase safety on the road as mentioned, and truly enhance our well-being in other ways, even if they require storing and allowing access to very personal information. For example, Borcea says, “A sensor monitoring a person’s heart could warn a doctor of a condition requiring immediate care through that individual’s phone, with the doctor authorized to check medical records stored in the phone. If needed, first responders could be dispatched to assist the person, guided by the phone’s GPS position.”

A global portrait he convergence of computing, communications and sensing could also have positive social implications that are, literally, global. The same New York Times article that spoke wryly about the intimate relationship we seem to have with our cellphones described how phones might include minute sensors designed for a definitely beneficial purpose. They could monitor and measure temperature, air quality, and other environmental parameters.

Using phones equipped with such sensors would involve people in automatically gathering this information throughout the day. It’s possible that there may eventually be billions of these information sources, all contributing to databases that become increasingly valid as they grow. Collecting personal travel and location data has the potential to assess how individual activities impact the environment in different parts of the world. Recording exposure to pollutants would be valuable for medical research.

The technology that one day helps us locate a friend in a crowd could engage us to a much greater extent with the global community in very important ways. n

T

Author: Dean L. Maskevich is editor of NJIT Magazine.

On the web: http://ccs.njit.edu

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

9

10

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

The green renewal of Oak Hall highlights a wide-ranging trend at NJIT

A Greener Campus You might say that the ivy-covered NJIT campus buildings are turning a new shade of green this fall. Come August, NJIT students can opt to live in a residence hall that incorporates state-of-the-art technologies for efficient use of energy and sustainability.

Photo: John Micale

Engaged with Energy Boris Shapiro PE (left), executive director of technical services, earned his master’s in industrial engineering at NJIT. His efforts with the Physical Plant Department were instrumental in NJIT receiving a 2002 Green Award for Outstanding Design and Practices for Environmental Sustainability in New Jersey Higher Education. He has also been recognized with an “Energy Manager of the Year” Award from the Association of Energy Engineers.

The Oak Hall upgrade, a key part of many green initiatives on campus, has been made possible by $1.6 million in funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Scheduled for completion this year, the renewal of 25-year-old Oak Hall could reduce electrical energy use by as much as 50 percent and fossil energy consumption by as much as 40 percent. The project was approved by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and the U.S. Department of Energy as one of seven projects in the $20.6 million State Energy Program funded by ARRA. “NJIT’s facilities team has created an energy improvement plan that utilizes an innovative mix of technologies to upgrade operations and reduce the ecological footprint of this building,” says Boris Shapiro MS ’95, NJIT’s executive director of technical services and Oak Hall project manager.

“We expect Oak Hall to emerge as a model building that can be used to introduce energy-efficiency concepts to the state’s higher education community.”

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

11

“ Doing whatever we can to increase efficiency and cut energy consumption makes good sense economically as well as environmentally” Joseph Tartaglia, Associate Vice President, Facilities Management

light load. The energy recovered will be converted into electricity for use in the building. n High-efficiency lighting in residence and common areas utilizing the most advanced T-5 fluorescent technology.

Illustration: Courtesy of Jarmel Kizel Architects

The bigger picture “Doing whatever we can to increase efficiency and cut energy consumption makes good sense economically as well as environmentally,” says Joseph Tartaglia, associate vice president for facilities management and program director for the Oak Hall upgrade. “This project continues a very robust campus-wide effort focused This architectural rendering shows the solar heating panels and on energy efficiency, sustainphotovoltaic cells that will be installed on the roof of Oak Hall. ability and environmental protection that has been unHousing 230 students, Oak Hall will serve der way for many years. It’s an effort integral as a teaching tool, immersing residents in an to both new construction and the renovation environment built for sustainability. Technol- of existing buildings, including the restoration of historic Eberhardt Hall.” ogies being applied include: n Demand-based controls for heating, ventilaWork now in progress complements pretion and air conditioning that conserve ener- vious environmental measures ranging from gy through slower fan and pump speeds when photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of the Campus Center and a high-efficiency heating there is reduced demand on these systems. n Solar water heating to displace gas as the and cooling plant in its lowest level to the uniprimary source of hot potable water for cook- versity’s recycling program.

The 160 solar panels atop the Campus ing, showering and doing laundry. n Roof-mounted photovoltaic cells that will Center can produce 58 megawatts of electricity convert solar energy into electricity for use and eliminate the atmospheric release of an within the building, with direct current from estimated 86,832 pounds of carbon dioxide the cells converted into alternating current via per year. NJIT collects and recycles paper, electronic inverters. When more electricity glass and aluminum cans, fluorescent than needed is generated – during the sum- lamps, electronic equipment, cooking oil, mer, for example – the energy can be exported concrete and other construction waste.

Last year, for example, the university recycled for use elsewhere. n Regenerative elevator technology that will some 157,050 pounds of paper and over 1,300 capture energy generated when an elevator gallons of cooking oil. descends with a heavy load, or rises with a

12

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

Ask Rufus The application of appropriate green technologies is clearly critical to protecting and improving the environment. But of equal importance is the degree to which the NJIT community supports environmental awareness and action. Such support is abundant at NJIT – from the introduction of a minor in environmental studies and sustainability to the “Ask Rufus” column in the student newspaper, The Vector, that answers readers’ questions about sustainability. Rufus Recyclia is a whimsical creature created by architecture student Benjamin Griffin as the university’s environmental mascot.

The new 15-credit environmental studies minor is an interdisciplinary program with courses that span the sciences and humanities.

The Student Senate’s call for such a 21stcentury academic option led to its creation by the NJIT Green Academic Council.

Growing student interest is also making sustainability a part of everyday life. Donna Minnich, director of the Campus Center, reports that the NJIT chapters of Engineers Without Borders and U.S. Green Builders now offer educational events on campus in response to this interest.

“There’s also been a tremendous response to our providing collection stations in the Campus Center for recycling batteries, cell phones, printer toner cartridges and even old books,” says Minnich, who launched NJIT’s Go Green initiative in 2008. “It says a lot about the attitude of NJIT students toward the environment. The same is true

Rufus is ready to clear the NJIT campus of recyclables.

Across the Campus Steps taken to reduce the university’s environmental footprint and enhance the quality of life include: High-efficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems with demand-based controls

n

n

Energy-efficient lighting

State-of-the-art campus-wide computer monitoring and management of key environmental systems in 28 buildings

n

n

Monitoring of all atmospheric emissions

Spill-prevention program to monitor the integrity of all oil tanks on campus

n

n

Sustainable biodegradable oil for all hydraulic elevators

Twenty-five percent window-wall ratio where possible, optimized exterior shading, insulated roofs and exterior walls, double-pane and low-e glazing, recycled and recyclable Energy Star compliant materials for all new construction

n

n

Low-flow water fixtures

Landscaping that limits impervious surfaces to decrease run-off of storm water and which includes plants requiring minimal watering and maintenance

n

Artificial grass on Lubetkin Field that does not require irrigation, herbicides and pesticides, or energy for mowing

n

Green Team member Martin Craig ME ’12 distributed compact fluorescent lamps for Project Porchlight.

of our participation in national college competitions like RecycleMania. Recently, we placed in the top 22 percent in a ten-week bottle and can collection.”

Mark Bullock, residence coordinator, points to NJIT’s “Green Team,” students who promote energy conservation and sustainable practices in the university’s residence halls.

The Green Team distributed compact fluorescent lamps provided through Project Porchlight, a national initiative supported by the non-profit, non-partisan organization OneChange.

“Young people are coming to NJIT with a strong sense of environmental awareness,” Bullock says. “They’re learning about sustainability in high school, and even earlier.

Recycling newspapers, cans and bottles is also a way of life at home, and energy efficiency is now a significant consideration when buying new appliances.”

Green Team Co-Chair Bobby Blasco ME ’12 concurs: “I try to be ‘green’ in my everyday life-style, so joining the effort to make NJIT

The green features of the Campus Center include 160 photovoltaic panels on the roof to generate electricity from solar energy. The Campus Center complex also has nine high-efficiency boilers and three high-efficiency chillers with pumps that operate based on immediate building needs.

a greener place was a no-brainer for me. Our team’s goal is to make students aware of how each of us can help the environment, reduce the waste we produce and the amount of energy we use.” n For more about NJIT’s Environmental Studies minor: http://csla.njit.edu/academics/ undergraduate/ess Author: Christina Crovetto is assistant editor of NJIT Magazine.

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

13

Granted, I was an engineering student (in undergraduate school); however, his simple emphasis relating to grammar, phrases, spelling, punctuation, etc., and the ability to communicate correctly and precisely would play an important role in our future business development. He was a proponent of the KISS principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid), and I carried his teachings with me throughout my corporate career, from which I am now semi-retired. Was it successful? I guess that depends on one’s point of view. I did manage to be promoted into the presidency of three different companies. I was told several times that my ability to communicate verbally and in writing played a role in said promotions.

All I can say at this point in my life, with the greatest sincerity, is Thanks Doc, and I know he can hear me.”

– Ken Garvey ’65, MS ’68

A number of alumni have written in response to the article “Remembering Doc Estrin” in the winter issue. Following are some of the comments received about Herman “Doc” Estrin, recalled with great fondness as an exceptionally talented and dedicated writing instructor.

“The winter NJIT Magazine is a real winner for all alumni and others interested in NJIT’s prowess and history. Doc Estrin was a great inspiration to improve our communications skills, so much so that I married an English major.”

– Hamilton V. Bowser, Sr. ’52, MS ’56

“Doc Estrin was my favorite professor – that is not to denigrate the many professors with whom I had the privilege of being associated – but Doc will always stand out in my mind as the one who had the greatest influence on me.

“When I first started writing serious education articles and recreational poetry/fiction, Doc was there to provide encouragement and guidance. We often traded phone calls and letters, enjoying great fun and word play. I miss him greatly, last talking to him while he was in the hospital. How I wish I could have lunch with him again in the cafeteria as we sometimes did when I was on campus. Your article took me back many years and I am thankful for the trip. Today I am retired from engineering and making my way as a writer, author, and educational advisor. Every time I publish an article or a short book, I remember Doc, and how excited he would become at my success. What an incredible man. I and many others are much richer for having been his friend.”

– Harry Roman ’70, MS ’74

Photo: Courtesy of Phil Rinaldi

Alumni Remember Doc Estrin

Ken Garvey ’65, MS ’68

Vivere in tranquil guise in the Hudson River

A Salty Saga M/Y Vivere – the elegant, 116-foot Azimut luxury yacht owned by NJIT overseer and alum Phil Rinaldi ’68 – recently stormed across New York Harbor, threatening Staten Island. Fortunately, Phil has not turned into a menace to society.

Vivere provided the set for the March television season opener of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

As Phil tells it, “The story line is an odd one: The boat’s owner wants to hunt pirates off the coast of Somalia. Staten Island plays the part of Somalia and my yacht Vivere

“There is no question in my mind that “Doc” was one of the best professors I had at NCE and gave me a set of writing and communication skills that helped me succeed at IBM over the past 34 years. As a staff member of both The Vector and Nucleus, and having taken two semesters of Doc’s “Philosophy of Language,” I learned from the master how to write and communicate. I feel that today these skills are not treated with the same respect, and I have seen a huge void in the business world when it comes to communications over the years.”

– Jack Wagner ’74 n

14

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

– which means “to live” – was chosen by Law & Order to portray this questionable adventure. Vivere spends a lot of time cruising around Manhattan and docking at Chelsea Piers where Law & Order studios are located. It did not take Law & Order’s scouts long to spy Vivere.

Hence, she would temporarily abandon her gentle and sybaritic life to become a pirate hunter. The producers outfitted the yacht with turret-mounted machine guns, AK 47s, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and a bevy of bikini-clad girls. I had no idea that hunting pirates would be so much fun.” n

A New Face of Engineering Chrissa Roessner PE

was featured as one of the top ten “2010 New Faces of Engineering” in the winter 2010 edition of the Society of Women Engineers Magazine. Roessner, who received her BS in civil and environmental engineering in 2001, is a project engineer with The Louis Berger Group, Inc. n

Photo: Courtesy of Chrissa Roessner

alumni circuit

“ …Doc will always stand out in my mind as the one who had the greatest influence on me.”

class notes

We want to hear from you!

Do you have news about your career, your family, an avocation? Share it in a class note for NJIT Magazine.

And be sure to let us know if you have a new address.

On the Web, use the form at www.njit.edu/alumni/classnotes.

By e-mail, send news and photos with graduation year(s) to alumni-classnotes@njit.edu.

mal & Friends

Via U.S. mail to: Robert A. Boynton,

NJIT Magazine invites new correspondents to join Mal Simon in sharing news about class members and alumni organizations.

Professor emeritus of physical education and athletics, Mal was director of physical education and athletics, and men’s soccer coach, for 30 years. In 1993, he received the Cullimore Medal for his service to the university.

If you would like to be a regular correspondent, don’t hesitate to send an e-mail to the editor of NJIT Magazine: dean.maskevich@njit.edu

First, the latest news from Mal — I attended a get-together of alumni and guests hosted by the Metro D.C. Alumni Club in Washington on October 1, 2009. Following an exciting 1-1 overtime men’s soccer game between NJIT and Howard University, the group met at a local pub for drinks and bar food.

Alumni attending were Rudina Bajrushi ’08, Chet Bracuto ’75, Guy Cilento ’84, Dameshia D’ateno ’06, Jack Heath ’08, Fabian Hurtado ’74, Charles Pritzlaff ’67, Diva Ranade ’08, Bob Taylor ’62, and Arnie Waldman ’66. Alumni in the D.C. area who wish information about the club should contact the Alumni Association at alumni@njit.edu.

Chet Bracuto lives in Fairfax, Virginia. Since graduation, he has worked for the Department of Defense, initially for the Naval Air Systems Command in Lakehurst, New Jersey, St. Louis, Missouri, and Washington, D.C. Chet is currently a senior systems engineer in the Office of the Secretary of Defense at the Pentagon. Most of his career was spent working on jet fighter programs such as the F/A-18 and F-35. He earned a master’s in public administration from George Mason University in 1998 and a master’s in national resource strategy from the National Defense University

NJIT alumni and friends braved a cold day to cheer on the soccer team against Howard University last October. Afterwards, they gathered to warm up and enjoy food, drink and one another’s company at Clyde’s, a restaurant in downtown Washington, D.C.

Executive Director, Alumni Relations New Jersey Institute of Technology Eberhardt Hall NJIT Alumni Center, Room 218 323 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd.

Newark, NJ 07102-1982

Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 2003. A member of the NJIT varsity soccer team, Chet has coached soccer and basketball for fifteen years in the Virginia Youth Leagues, and for the past ten years has been a volunteer for the D.C. United Soccer Club in the Major Soccer League. He is an active member of the NJIT Metro D.C. Alumni Club.

Diva Ranade graduated with a degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in biology from Albert Dorman Honors College.

She was active in student activities at NJIT, which included being Student Senate senior class president and a resident assistant in her senior year. Diva also resurrected the women’s cheerleading team and was the captain. She is currently a patent examiner at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., where she lives. Diva is also an active member of the Metro D.C. Alumni Club.

Charles Pritzlaff was on the baseball and bowling teams in his freshman year at NCE. In his last three years, he concentrated on the AFROTC program and was active in intramural sports. In his senior year, he achieved the rank of cadet lieutenant colonel and was commander of the Highland Rifles Trick Drill Team. Upon graduation, he was commissioned in the Air

Force and stationed at Vandenberg AFB in California, where he was involved in satellite launch operations. He earned a master’s in electrical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright Patterson AFB. Prior to retiring after twenty years of service, his responsibilities included satellite command and control systems and intelligence.

After his retirement, he worked as an engineer and program manager for companies involved with air traffic control systems. In 2005, he accepted a position at Georgetown University, where he manages a federal grant to develop fuel-cell systems for transit buses. Charlie, who has two sons and three grandsons, lost his wife, Claire, to cancer after twenty-seven years of marriage. He has since remarried to Olivia, a widow with two children. They live in Silver Spring, Maryland. Charlie has twin brothers, Ed and Phil, who both graduated from NJIT in 1982 and were varsity baseball players.

Bob Taylor played varsity basketball and baseball. He completed all his classes in January, was commissioned in the Air Force in February, went on active duty in March, and took a leave in June to attend commencement ceremonies.

After three years at McGuire AFB in New Jersey, Bob decided not to

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

15

class notes accept a regular commission and retired from the Air Force as a first lieutenant in 1965. He joined Bendix Aviation in Teterboro, New Jersey, as an assistant project engineer. He earned his master’s from NJIT in 1972 and rejoined the Air Force Reserve in 1973.

Bob and his wife, Cass, moved with their three children to Vienna, Virginia, where he went to work for Sperry Systems in Fairfax. He spent twenty years in the field of flight simulation, working on A6E night landing training, EF-111 flight subsystems, F/A-18 operation flight training, and T-45A operation training. When Sperry acquired Raytheon in 1988, Bob decided to retire, and two years later also retired as a lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve.

Looking for a new adventure, he became involved with slow-pitch softball and joined the Hamel, Virginia, Cavaliers travel team.

The Cavaliers won the Age 70 Plus World Championship of the American Amateur Association in 2009 and Bob was selected for the All-Tournament Team.

In 2010, he will play in thirteen tournaments from Cape May, New Jersey, to Phoenix, Arizona.

He also assumed responsibility for editing the league’s newsletter.

Check out www.nvss.org, click on winter 2010, and go to pages 14 and 30 to learn about Bob and his successful teams. Bob and Cass travel a lot with the team and visit their grandchildren in Cincinnati, Ohio. They took a Holy Land tour during Christmas 2009.

Guy Cilento, who played varsity soccer at NJIT, has lived in Bethesda, Maryland, for twenty-three years. His married

16

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

teammates were convinced he was a confirmed bachelor, but he and his fiancée, Sandra Saenz, will soon join their ranks. Guy is a senior software engineer for CTGi, an information technology services company in Oakton, Virginia.

Guy, who has a vacation home near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has run in five marathons.

Ricky Ybarra ’96, who lives in

Virginia, could not make the club’s affair, but I met up with him on my way to Florida. It was good to see Ricky because he was the only American I recruited in a foreign country. While on sabbatical in 1990, I was visiting Department of Defense dependents schools, and Ricky was in one of the school groups I spoke to at Bitburg AFB High School in Germany, where his father was serving with the Air Force. He wanted to be an architect and played soccer and baseball. He turned out to be a true “blue chip” recruit, as he played four years of soccer and baseball at NJIT and graduated in 1996 with a degree in architecture.

His first job was with RTKL Associates in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was able to utilize the computer skills he gained from the School of Architecture’s focus on 3D animation. He then moved on to work for the federal government in the intelligence community.

His work took him around the world, acquiring, designing and constructing secure facilities to protect our country. In 2004, Ricky earned an MBA from the University of Phoenix in Arizona with a focus on technology management. He went to work for Science Applications International Corporation in

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

San Diego, California, and eventually returned to Northern Virginia as senior real-estate, design and construction manager for the United States.

In 2007, he began working for Deloitte Consulting LLC as a real-estate, design and construction consultant and is currently a senior manager with Deloitte’s Capital Real Estate and Transformation practice.

Ricky and his wife, Jen, live in Ashburn, Virginia, with their two sons, Ricky and Elliott.

Bob Welgos ’62 will host the

2010 Basketball/Soccer Alumni Golf Outing on Friday, October 1 at the Newton Golf Club. All alumni are invited. Contact Bob at goose1509@optonline.net for details. Gary Mould ’88 made his debut at last year’s golf outing.

After thirteen years of working in a variety of engineering and manufacturing managerial roles for Fortune 500 firms, Gary decided to pursue a career in the financial arena. Currently a senior vice president and financial advisor with Wells Fargo, he specializes in designing and implementing financial plans for individuals, pension plans and estates. Gary, who played varsity soccer for the Highlanders for three years, coached his daughter, Ashley, and son, Ian. He and his wife, Janet, and children reside in Wayne, New Jersey.

Ike Kostal ’66 wrote about

a “small world” incident that happened to him. After retiring from a job with the federal government specializing in homeland security and defense issues, Ike took an extensive car trip through the back roads of the Sierra Nevada region in

California. He was wearing an NJIT sweatshirt and, while filling up his car at a gas station, a passing pickup truck driver pulled over and asked Ike if he had graduated from NJIT. It turned out that the driver was Pete Huke ’79, who works for Valero Energy.

Pete was a co-op student who worked two semesters for DeLaval Turbine and American Cyanamid. After graduation, he worked in New Jersey at Merck and Princeton University. In 1984, he joined DuPont in Louisiana, moving to California in 1986 for a job with Intel. He has been with Valero for twenty years as a technician. He enjoys the outdoor recreational activities in California, especially dirt biking in the desert and camping with his son. Ike thought it was quite amazing that two guys from NJIT would meet in the middle of nowhere just because of his NJIT sweatshirt. Pete commented that he had not seen a fellow alumnus in his twenty years in California, so he had to stop to meet the guy with the NJIT sweatshirt. I wonder how often this happens and would like to hear from alumni who have similar “small world” meetings.

Mike Hornsby ’85, MS ’87,

engineering technology, was with a group of PSEG guests at the NJIT/SHU basketball game at The Rock. While a student, Mike helped me in our physical education sailing and wind surfing classes. He has extensive experience in the environmental field and is currently environmental issues manager for PSEG. Prior to this he worked as an environmental engineer for Cordis Corporation, a J&J company,

and as a consultant for the Site Remediation Program for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Mike is an adjunct professor at NJIT, where he created and teaches a graduate course in site remediation. In 2005, he received the Award of Excellence in Teaching by Adjunct Faculty. Mike chairs the West Windsor Township Environment Commission and is a firefighter in the Princeton Junction Volunteer Fire Department. He lives in Princeton Junction with his wife, Angela, and daughter, Nicole.

Finally, I must express my appreciation to the university for naming the Lubetkin Field stadium after me. This honor far surpasses the naming of a toilet in the Highlander Men’s VIP room after me by Professor Emeritus Charles Wilson ’53 and some of his cohorts. It is now my privilege to rededicate this toilet to Charlie, who was always far more deserving of such a distinction.

Keep the news coming to mal.simon@njit.edu or coach7157@yahoo.com.

1952 Hamilton V. Bowser, Sr. MS ’56,

PE, FACE writes that he has been elected a Fellow of the African Scientific Institute (ASI) for his engineering work with his brother Edward, RA, for developing a low-cost solar heating system for chicken hatcheries in Ghana, West Africa. The control of temperature increased chick survival from 40-55 percent to more than 90 percent for this important source of animal protein. ASI is head-

quartered in Oakland, California, and welcomes African Americans in science and engineering who wish to work with scientists from more than 14 countries in Africa.

Those interested can call 510-6537027 or visit www.asi-org.net.

1975 John P. Paczkowski (IE), MS ’83

(EngMgmt) has been named vice president for emergency management within ICF International’s homeland security and program management area. ICF provides consulting services and technology solutions to government and commercial clients. Prior to joining ICF, Paczkowski completed a Naval Postgraduate School Fellowship at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security National Preparedness Directorate, where he worked on projects related to preparedness policy, planning and risk management in support of the Deputy Administrator for National Preparedness at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In 2005, Paczkowski retired as a colonel with 33 years of active and reserve service in the U.S. Marine Corps.

1981 August (Gus) F. Manz, Jr.

(EE) recently joined Wyndham Worldwide in Parsippany, New Jersey, as a senior manager of strategic sourcing after 27 years at Alcatel-Lucent (having joined Western Electric in June 1981) performing various roles in engineering, strategic sourcing and global procurement. Gus now manages strategic sourcing for a wide variety of corporate categories – such as finance,

professional services, logistics, energy management and IT – for the world’s largest hotel franchisor.

Although Gus enjoyed his many years in telecom, and a brief ninemonth stint in pharma at Merck, he says that working in hospitality at Wyndham is very rewarding on many levels. Gus is also very active with the New Jersey Greyhound Adoption Program (www.njgap. com), which promotes greyhound rescue and adoption through numerous public events.

1982 Mark Bagarazzi (EE), who

also has an MD degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, has been appointed chief medical officer of Inovio Biomedical Corporation.

He will lead worldwide clinical development and regulatory activities for Inovio’s nextgeneration vaccines for the treatment and prevention of influenza, HIV, other infectious diseases and cancers. Mark joins Inovio from Merck & Co., where he was director of worldwide regulatory affairs for vaccines and biologics.

1988 Ruben Rios (ME) is retiring from

the U.S. Air Force with the rank of lieutenant colonel after 21 years of service.

1989 Patrick McGowan (EngTech) was recently profiled at NorthJersey.com.

McGowan is president and chief executive officer of McGowan Builders, Inc. In partnership with his brothers Martin and Thomas,

he has built the business into a $100 million enterprise. He and his brothers have also created The Loretta McGowan Foundation in honor of their aunt, and have raised more than $300,000 to support schools in New Jersey and Ireland for children with Down syndrome.

1991 Gina Ochs Mayer-Costa (IE),

MS ’93 (OSE), MS ’94 (EngMgmt) writes, “My husband Paulo MayerCosta and I welcomed our sixth child, Delton Carlo, on February 16th.” Paulo is also an alum, with a ’92 BS and ’93 MS in management.

1992 Shwetal V. Patel (Actuarial Science and Statistics) has written to say that he is currently with Kaplan Higher Education. He has worked in the marketing analytics and research field for 18 years, and earned an MS at Rutgers in 1995.

1997 Judith Anne Donnelly MS (Arch) has been installed as president of the American Institute of Architects-Newark and Suburban Architects, a Section of the New Jersey Society of Architects. In remarks to some 100 guests at the Highlawn Pavilion, West Orange, Donnelly said that she had worked on the historic century-old building during its restoration in 1986.

In Memoriam The NJIT community notes with sadness the death of George B. Skidmore ’42.

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

17

alumni calendar save the date!

Friday, May 21 – Sunday, May 23 Alumni Reunion Weekend 2010 All Five-Year Anniversary Classes

Reconnect with NJIT and members of your class over a weekend full of activities that features a Saturday evening dinner dance for all reunion classes. Enjoy tours, luncheons, lectures and more.

On Saturday, May 22, the Alumni Association will present the Alumni Achievement Awards for 2010 and the Van Houten Award for Teaching Excellence.

Visit www.njit.edu/alumni/class for complete information and to make reservations online for all or part of Alumni Reunion Weekend, including reservations for overnight campus accommodations in Laurel Hall, NJIT’s newest student residence. You can also call the Alumni Relations Office at 973-596-3441.

Friday, November 12 Celebration 2010

NJIT’s annual festive evening of dining and dancing in support of endowed scholarships for students.

Pleasantdale Chateau West Orange, New Jersey Information: Jacquie Rhodes 973-596-3407 or rhodes@njit.edu Also visit www.njit.edu/celebration For the most current information about all alumni events — including specific dates — visit www.njit.edu/alumni/events and the websites of the individual clubs and groups listed.

Information is also available from the Alumni Relations Office: 973-596-3441 or alumni@njit.edu

Corporate Clubs

Young Alumni Club

NJIT’s Corporate Clubs provide valuable networking opportunities for alumni in the workplace while also assisting NJIT students and faculty. Current Corporate Clubs include: Eng-Wong, Taub & Associates, Hatch Mott MacDonald, PSE&G, ScheringPlough, Turner Construction and United Parcel Service.

The Young Alumni Club organizes social gatherings and networking events for alumni who have graduated within the last 20 years.

Corporate Club information and events: www.njit.edu/alumni/

Alumni Reunions

clubs

Regional Clubs NJIT Regional Clubs are planning events across the country for 2010.

Sunday, June 6: Monmouth County and Ocean County Regional Clubs – Lakewood BlueClaws baseball and BBQ Sunday, June 20: Father’s Day Special – Somerset Patriots baseball and BBQ luncheon, Bridgewater, New Jersey.

(Reservation fee will be waived for fathers attending with a son and/or daughter.)

Friday, August 6: Philadelphia Metro/South Jersey annual Phillies baseball game and reception at McFadden’s Check the Alumni Events Calendar and Regional Club pages on the Alumni Relations Website for more information: www.njit.edu/alumni/clubs

18

NJIT MAGAZINE

|

s p r ing 2 0 1 0

For information about Young Alumni Club activities, including career-advancement events: www.njit.edu/alumni/clubs

Planning for 2011 fifth-year anniversary reunions is under way for all classes whose graduation years end in “0” and “5.”

For information about reunions and Alumni Reunion Committee meetings, visit your class website at www.njit.edu/alumni/class.

Reunion information is also available from the Alumni Relations Office: 973-596-3441 or by email to alumni@njit.edu.

at the edge

Artist and Engineer

An industrial engineer for more than two decades, NJIT alumnus Bob Mataranglo ’68, MS ’95, then embarked on a very different course – earning an MA in painting and an MFA in visual arts. He’s now an artist and professor teaching art and film-making courses at Kean University and Ocean County College.

Bob’s animated videos have been screened at film festivals across the U.S. and in seven other countries, and he’s exhibited three-dimensional art throughout New Jersey. Based in Monmouth County, Bob also paints murals for public buildings, homes and businesses. His work has garnered numerous awards.

Of his foam board Ready or Not, Here I Come, Bob says “It’s six-feet high, four-feet wide, and extends seven feet into the room. I built it in graduate school after a professor said ‘my pieces extend a bit far from the wall.’ Those pieces extended less than a foot. I took his remark as a challenge.”

Bob on the Web: bobmataranglo.com

Residence mural evoking Monet

Ready or Not, Here I Come

Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Lancaster, PA Permit No. 299

New Jersey Institute of Technology University Heights Newark, NJ 07102-1982 www.njit.edu

the edge in knowledge

NJIT Career Development Services: The Home of Champions

The new Campus Champions Network connects alumni and their employers with top-tier job candidates while strengthening alumni bonds with NJIT. Benefits of Campus Champions membership include: • Customized e-mail alerts about your job openings to the most qualified students and alumni • Personal assistance with contacting NJIT faculty, staff, student organizations and services to help meet your hiring and professional-development goals

To become a Campus Champion: 973.596.5617 or cds@njit.edu www.njit.edu/cds

• Training to sharpen recruitment skills, staffdevelopment programs, retention strategies • Career seminars and opportunities to build corporate recognition and viability through special workshops and panels