Spring 2023 Issue 10

IEEE Hosts NJIT’s First-Ever Hardware Hackathon

One might expect engineering students to still be fast asleep early on a Saturday morning, but attendees turned out in droves to participate in the Byte Into Hardware Hackathon. The first-of-itskind event was hosted by NJIT’s student chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE, on the weekend of April 1–2. Most hackathons are software-based, but Byte Into Hardware encouraged participants to combine physical and digital components of a product.

IEEE’s director of public relations

Nakul Kochar, a fourth-year computer engineering student, shared that a hardware hackathon initiative had been in the works for several years. “Given that IEEE consists of computer and electrical engineers, we put our own twist on it to give engineers an opportunity to compete that was tailored around them,” he said.

IEEE released the theme of the competition and parts list a few weeks prior to the competition over all its media platforms and email, with students forming teams of three to five students through a Byte Into Hardware Discord server. “They had the opportunity to plan out an idea beforehand,” Kochar explained, “and once they actually arrived, they could see the kinds of resources and materials we had on hand, so they sometimes switched gears or changed their minds.”

Within 24 hours, teams could work on projects which were meant to fit the theme of Public Health and Accessibility Devices under the category of Accessibility and Sustainability. Participants were allowed to stay in the Campus Center overnight as they worked with their

teams to code and build prototypes, which, unlike traditional hackathons, required hardware components rather than being limited to simulations.

“Students were allowed to bring any electronic materials, just no building materials,” reflected Kochar. These items, such as wood and screws, were provided by the Makerspace, and each team was also provided an Arduino and sensor kit. “They had full freedom to work on whatever project they wanted,” he added.

The opening ceremony of the event began at 9 a.m. on April 1, while actual work commenced at 10 a.m. Interspersed with frenetic coding and building were speaker talks given by representatives of companies such as Ranial Systems, Astrodyne TDI, and Teledyne Technologies, as well as the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society. Attendees of the talks also had the chance to win valuable prizes including, but not limited to, a Nintendo Switch Lite, Spectre Monitor, Beats Studio Buds, and Beats Solo 3 Headphones.

IEEE president Humza Abdali, a third-year computer engineering major,

commented, “The first place winner was Phlobot, a tool for automatic injections. It tackled a very important issue, which is a lack of healthcare professionals in underserved areas. In a place where someone wouldn’t have a doctor to assist them, they could use a robot instead.”

In second place came an NJIT team who created Frame View, which focused on helping the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. Without being able to hear what is going on behind them, those who are deaf and hard-of-hearing can feel uneasy. The glasses aimed to improve quality of life by alerting the wearer of obstacles outside of their line of sight using machine-learning and cameras, thus acting as a second pair of eyes.

The third place winner was Braille Buddy, created by a team from the City College of New York. “It was designed to be an all-in-one assistive technology for blind people,” Abdali described. “Traditional keyboards have everything laid out flat, but this project had a rotating piece that would allow it to be more compact and convenient. It also had a

text-to-speech component, so that mute people could type out what they wanted to express,” he continued.

Although the event was a large success, with over 160 participants and 200 attendees, including IEEE volunteers and observing faculty members, there were challenges involved in its planning. “The biggest challenge was funding,” said Kochar. “We reached out to several companies and built relationships to make sure they knew they could trust us.

“We ended up getting a lot of funding from external sponsors,” Kochar added. “I want to give credit to Makerspace, however, because they provided the tools, resources, and additional parts required, so that helped us financially. Participants were able to build their projects there, so that was a major contribution.”

“In terms of the budget, this was much more expensive than other events,” Abdali said; the hackathon cost around $25,000 in total. “The absolute maximum that [Student Senate] could grant was only a fifth or sixth of what we needed.” Abdali reached out to Mike Smullen, the director of the Newark College of Engineering’s co-op program, who helped IEEE reach out to external sponsors.

IEEE plans to wind down the rest of the semester by reviewing the successes of the event, as well as aspects that could be improved for next time. “We want to rebrand the hackathon from Byte Into Hardware to MakeNJIT,” said Kochar. “This is one of the only hardware hackathons in the region, so it’s a fresh new event and a good time to shape its legacy.”

By Mrunmayi Joshi | Managing Editor Photos by Yukthi Sangoi

THE VECTOR About

As the official student newspaper of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, our mission is to inform and entertain our readers, cultivate awareness of issues concerning the NJIT community, and provide a forum for purposeful, constructive discussion among its members.

The deadline for articles is the Thursday the week prior to publication at 10 p.m. For more information on submissions, email managing-editor@njitvector.com.

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Monday, April 24 4:00 p.m - 5:30 p.m. 6:00 p.m - 9:00 p.m.

Tuesday, April 25

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Wednesday, April 26 2:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

MEET THE TEAM

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Upcoming Events

D&I BIPOC Pre-Graduation Ceremony

Cricket Tournament

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Friday, April 28 10:45 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

President Lim's Investiture Ceremony

The Vector Weekly Meeting

POLICE

4:48 a.m. Officers responded to 37 James St. The non-affiliate stated his wallet was stolen from his house, and a report was generated.

9:54 p.m. Officers were patrolling the area of Sussex Avenue and Hoyt Street. Upon conducting a random plate check, the owner was found to have an outstanding warrant. They were arrested and taken to headquarters for processing.

04/04/2023

8:08 p.m. Officers responded to Room 333 of Fenster Hall on a call of a theft. A report was generated and the investigation is ongoing.

04/04/2023

9:53 p.m. Officers responded to Honors Hall on a call of individuals smelling smoke. Upon arrival, officers could not smell any smoke.

04/06/2023

2:03 a.m. Officers conducted a motor vehicle stop in the area of Springfield Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. Upon completing a record check, the driver was found to have an open warrant. The individual was then taken to headquarters to be arrested and processed.

11:36 a.m. A student came to headquarters to report that they were being threatened and harassed. A report was generated, and the investigation is currently ongoing.

04/07/2023

11:26 p.m. Officer conducted a motor vehicle stop in the area

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of Central Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. After conducting a record check, the individual had an outstanding warrant. The individual was arrested and taken to headquarters to be processed.

4/11/2023

4:50 p.m. Officers generated a theft report for an NJIT student whose paddle was taken from 23 Greek Way. The investigation is ongoing.

4/12/2023

2:00 p.m. Officers generated a fraud report for students who were involved in an email scam pertaining to a job offer. The investigation is ongoing.

10:15 p.m. Officers responded to the Wellness and Events Center field on the report of a disorderly student. The student was escorted off the field without incident.

4/13/2023

12:58 p.m. Officers generated a theft report for an NJIT student who had money taken from 23 Greek Way. The investigation is ongoing.

6:44 p.m. Officers responded to the intersection of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Warren Street on the report of a garbage can smoking. Officers extinguished a minor fire that had started inside the garbage can.

4/14/2023

2:27 p.m. Officers generated a harassment report for a student who sent an unknown individual sensitive photographs and was being extorted. The investigation is ongoing.

The Vector is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Herman A. Estrin and Roger Hernande

NCT Dream Talks Ambitions and Reflections

By Mrunmayi Joshi | Managing Editor

Gathering student journalists from universities around the United States, from UCLA to NJIT, the members of K-pop boy band NCT Dream hosted a student roundtable on April 9 in order to promote their world tour and connect with American audiences. NCT Dream is a subunit of the group NCT, which stands for New Culture Technology and was started by South Korean entertainment agency SM Entertainment in 2016. NCT Dream consists of seven members, known mononymously as Mark, Renjun, Jeno, Haechan, Jaemin, Chenle, and Jisung.

The group was already dressed in their performance outfits, ready to take the stage in Atlanta just after the panel. Its current tour, “The Dream Show2: In A Dream,” is the band’s first to include dates in the United States and will see the members crisscross from the United States to Singapore and Germany. Known for its music dealing with growth, adolescence, and bittersweet themes, NCT Dream has also been featured in Billboard’s 21 Under 21 list multiple years in a row.

“We all debuted at a very early age,” said Mark, the leader of the group, introducing the group and why they had wanted to do the roundtable. “Even then, we had the goal of being a symbol of healing for our listeners and to be a beacon of hope for our supporters, especially for people young like us — young Dreamers. It felt perfect and meaningful for us to meet people who are striving so hard for their dreams.”

When asked about how NCT Dream feels about their first-ever American tour, Mark commented, “This is our first journey on a world tour. We’re now beginning to really see the world and travel all around the globe to see our fans, so this first tour really means a lot. We had to prepare very strongly, performance-wise and mindset-wise, to make sure we can show the world our capabilities.”

To recharge in between tour dates, each member has a different activity that they like to participate in. “Playing games, champagne, and beer,” laughed Haechan, a vocalist of the group.

“As soon as I arrived, I went straight to the gym,” recalled Jaemin, who specializes in dancing.

“I play basketball with Mark,” added Chenle, who also sings for the group.

The members were asked what they would tell their younger selves, knowing what they know now. “I would tell myself, ‘Don’t be scared or shy,’” said Jisung, who is one of the group’s primary dancers. “Back then, I was very concerned about what people would think of me. Now, I don’t see a need for that.”

“Our growth is definitely visible in our music as well,” commented Mark. “Technically, our voices have changed as well over the years. Our inspirations and the way we convey our emotions have also grown over time, but we’re still growing, and I think our fans are growing with us.”

NCT Dream has partaken in culturally specific activities while touring different countries. Renjun, a vocalist and dancer of the group, liked seeing the Eiffel Tower, while Jisung commented that the

group usually visits famous landmarks and samples local cuisine. “We’re also looking forward to the Texas barbecue,” added Renjun.

The members were asked to recollect a time when they got to interact with a fan and see how their music impacted people’s lives. “I’m not sure if I can say that it changed fans’ lives,” reflected Renjun, “but when we did a video-call event, we talked to a fan who had to undergo surgery. They were very nervous, but before going in, they listened to ‘Hello Future,’ and through that track, they found strength. When I heard this story, I was very touched and it made everything we worked on much more meaningful.”

As the roundtable wound up, the members expressed their appreciation for their fans, and shared a piece of advice for college students. “Your college years are when you have the most passion and strength to pursue your dream,” said Renjun. “I would like to say that you should do everything you want to do, so that you live without regrets.”

Dr. Bruce Bukiet Explains Baseball Predictions

By Mrunmayi Joshi | Managing Editor

College of Science and Liberal Arts Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Mathematics Professor Dr. Bruce Bukiet is most well known not for his doctoral work in detonation theory, or his application of math to biological systems, but for a unique baseball predictions model that has seen him spotlighted by the New York Times and CNN. Starting in the late 1980s, Bukiet began to tinker with different models after reading an academic paper on modeling tennis outcomes.

“During my undergraduate years, I took a class called Operations Research,” said Bukiet, “and on an exam, we had a question about optimization in blackjack. I started wondering — could I apply this to baseball?” His current model, developed to fulfill this need, is more accurate than 80% of industry-standard predictors.

The concept of the model is based on the finite number of possibilities of baseball. “Baseball is limited to 25 situations,” he explained. “The batter could not make it to any base, or he could make it to first base, second base, third base, or a home run. And when he comes up to bat, there might be no one on any base, one person on any base, or [multiple people].”

Summed up, there are eight base-runner situations, along with three “out” conditions. In baseball, a batter gets three chances to hit a pitch before they are out; a player could come up to bat with the team having zero outs, one out, or two outs. Eight base-runner conditions multiplied by three out possibilities makes 24.

“We call the third-out situation the 25th,” remarked Bukiet. “In Markov processes, it’s called the absorbing state — essentially, it marks the end,” he added. The novelty of Bukiet’s model is that within any Markov

process, the prelude to the situation does not make a difference. “You don’t care how the people on different bases get there, or that a team is only winning by one run — what matters is the transition probability, which is the probability that the next batter up will get a single, double, and so on.”

Based on each player’s past performance, Bukiet predicts how likely they are to get each hit, walk, or be out, as well as the probability of any person already on base moving on to the other bases. However, no matter what happens with the player — whether they hit a ball or not, and no matter how far along the diamond they get — the successive situation is always limited to one of the aforementioned 24 situations.

The model consists mainly of matrix multiplication as well as keeping track of the number of runs scored in each situation for each team — with every team playing 162 games in a season, and 2,430 taking place overall, there is a considerable amount of data to consider. “Once I get the runs distribution of each team,” said Bukiet, “I compare each team’s, and then decide who is more likely to win.”

Before modern computing, the strategy was primarily to take the overall average of the team, without considering each individual player. This was because with nine players at a time, the number of possibilities ballooned to 9!, or 362,880 ways just to order them, without even considering other nuances. However, by computing the runs distribution probabilities of any particular lineup, the model is able to determine the lineup that should produce the most possible runs.

“Using a ‘simple’ brute force approach, this would take millions of years,” commented Bukiet, “and using

the Markov process perspective turns it into something that only takes 1.5 seconds. All the overlaps that would take huge numbers of operations become manageable all of a sudden, because it’s just 25 things that become another one of the 25.”

For this year, Bukiet predicts the outcomes listed below: the Atlanta Braves are expected to win the National League East, while the St. Louis Cardinals are expected to become the champions of the National League Central. The San Diego Padres and the LA Dodgers are slated to tie in the National League West. The New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies should also make the playoffs.

The model also predicts the Toronto Blue Jays to claim victory in the American League East. The Cleveland Guardians are expected to win in the American League Central, and the Houston Astros are favored to win the American League West. The New York Yankees, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Angels should also make the playoffs. To learn more about Bukiet’s work, visit egrandslam.com and keep track of the 2023 baseball season!

Layout by Areej Qamar

Trivia Night!

IEEE hosted a Kahoot trivia night on Monday, April 3 in the Campus Center Ballroom. Participants were given free food and the opportunity to win several prizes.

Food

of the World Cultural Potluck

The Lambda Sigma Upsilon fraternity hosted a multicultural potluck in the Highlander Club on Tuesday, April 4. In addition to the array of diverse food, participants could enjoy music from the live DJ as well as games offered at the event.

Layout by Areej Qamar

Photos by David Bendezu

Photos by Ethan O'Malley

SOMA x The Vector Open Mic

The Vector and SOMA cohosted an open mic night in the Highlander Club on Thursday, April 13. Participants were treated to free food and ice cream, music from the many performers, and the chance to participate in a newspaper airplane competition.

Late Night Brunch and Afro Beats

The African Student Association hosted a late night brunch event in the Campus Center Ballrooms on Friday, April 14. Attendees were treated to live music and a variety of breakfast items and drinks.

Layout by Areej Qamar

Photos by Yukthi Sangoi

Photos by Ethan O'Malley

Captivating Courses Happiness and the Good Life

By Yukthi Sangoi | Editor-in-Chief

Dr. Neel Khichi, Senior University Lecturer in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, was inspired by Dr. Laurie Santos, a professor at Yale University, to teach a senior seminar class about happiness at NJIT. Santos’s website states that she is an expert on the science of happiness and the ways in which our minds lie to us about what makes us happy.

Khichi read about Santos and “The Happiness Lab,” her podcast that shares stories that change the way people think about happiness, leading him to teach a related course called "Happiness and the Good Life" based on his own expertise.

“Dr. Santos is a cognitive psychologist, so her focus primarily addresses the science behind our mental and emotional state, which I found super interesting,” Khichi said. “With my background in sociology, social sciences, and education, I've taken an approach of trying to understand the individual as a whole as far as their background, their family, their environment, their education, their emotional dynamic, politics, culture, religion, race — how those elements contribute to our understanding of happiness and creating a life that we want for ourselves.”

He acknowledged that part of the human journey is deriving inspiration from people we already know who may have more experience in the fields we are considering. He was interested in what Santos discussed in her podcast and classes, and thought this would be a course from which NJIT students could benefit.

“My skill and expertise aren’t so much in the natural sciences as much as they are in the social sciences,” he explained. “That’s why I feel pretty comfortable and confident teaching this version of the course because I use a sociological, social, psychological, and educational perspective when addressing issues around

‘happiness.’”

As with any of his courses, Khichi presents an outline of what’s going to be covered in the course at the beginning of the semester. Therefore, the course provides lots of leeway for growth in each individual student. He finds the whole course methodology insightful each semester, as he has almost an entirely different group of students each time.

“I am currently teaching three sections of this course to seniors,” he said. “It's fascinating to see the different perspectives, responses, and overall classroom atmosphere that each separate class has, even though we're covering the same material.”

In every semester he teaches this course, he begins the class by clarifying that this course is not meant to make the students happy by the end of it. He ensures every student has the ‘out’ option in case that’s what they were expecting. Khichi also makes sure to say that he is not an expert on happiness himself; rather, he can help students explore what makes them happy.

“I said, ‘Hopefully, you don't leave this class, like, more miserable than you were, but if you do, it's probably because the course forces you to rethink and reevaluate choices and decisions that you've made and expectations of yourself for the future,’” Khichi explained. “Hopefully, it provided some clarity to further move the individual student along and to provide them the emotional mental fortitude and awareness to create the kind of life that they want for themselves.”

He knows not everyone in the class is completely interested in the content, but at least three quarters of the students are focused, attentive, curious, and inquisitive as they attempt to address basic human existence, experience, and journeys.

Club Spotlight

By Yukthi Sangoi

This semester, the Chinese Undergraduate Student Association has been revived by students dedicated to embracing their culture on campus. The purpose of the organization is to promote, spread, and inform the student body about Chinese culture through food, music, history, dance, and language.

It has already participated in many events with other organizations such as the Student Senate for the Multicultural Festival. In collaboration with Society of Musical Arts and Filipinos In Newark Engaging In Sociocultural Traditions, the club hosted a Karaoke Night with Asian food, drinks, and desserts served. The final event planned for this semester is Cooking Night on April 27 from 6–9 p.m. in Laurel Hall’s kitchen.

Eric Huang, club president and firstyear business and information systems major, said that next year, the organization is planning to hold seasonal events such as the Mid-Autumn Festival and Lunar New Year. In addition to the ones mentioned, the club might be able to host events like the Moon Festival and a Winter Solstice night along with its general body meetings.

“I am proud of the NJIT Asian community for pulling together behind this club and growing it over the course of only a few months,” Huang said. “I really enjoyed the various cultural-based events that I've attended, both at NJIT and at Rutgers. I really hope I can bring that close-knit atmosphere here to NJIT for people of Chinese or Asian American descent.”

He added that students who are interested in experiencing Chinese culture and bonding with others interested in Chinese, Taiwanese, and Asian American culture are welcome to join the club.

Anyone interested in connecting with the Chinese Undergraduate Student Association can follow it on Instagram @njit.cusa, join its Discord server at discord.gg/suDs98a6hq, and visit its Highlander Hub page at https://njit. campuslabs.com/engage/organization/ cusa.

“Adults my age, 20-somethings, 30-somethings — as human beings — we have an inner conflict going on of what is expected of us, be it familiarly, socially, culturally, versus what we really want to do,” he said. “I'm not telling them what is right or what is wrong, but what I am going to lay out are the various doors that we can walk through. Which one are they going to walk through based on what they want to do and how they're feeling and what their expectations are for themself?”

Fourth-year computer engineering major Mark Volosov is a current student in the class. The most important concept he learned from Khichi is the concept of active positivity. “The idea that even if you're feeling upset or depressed, you should do your best to force yourself to feel happiness. He gave us an example of his daughters — how he ensures that his daughters walk down the stairs with a smile, so that they start their day off in a positive mood.”

The concept resonated with Volosov because when he was younger, he would act moody and upset, which never improved the condition of his situation. “Now I don't find myself acting in this way anymore. I may not always have a smile on my face, but I am always thinking positive,” he said.

Khichi is glad to be able to hear these perspectives in his classes; he enjoys being able to provide some insight from his 44 years of being alive to help students who are on the cusp of the next journeys of their lives.

“Part of the reason — if not the reason — that I pursued a career in education when I graduated was to, in some way, shape, or form, contribute to the betterment of society,” he said. “As a senior seminar, I feel that this course is a parting gift to seniors that hopefully provides them with perspective, guidance, or advice as they step into the non-academic world.”

Chinese Undergraduate Student Association

Photo by Ryan Chan

| Editor-in-Chief

Logo from Kelly Wu

Photo by Ryan Chan

Photo from NJIT CUSA

ITE Teaches Excellence for Instructors’ Classrooms

NJIT’s Institute of Teaching Excellence allows instructors on campus to discover the best methods to create effective learning environments for students. “The institute has been really interested in the best practices for teaching in general, but there’s definitely an emphasis on teaching with technology,” said Nicole Bosca, Associate Director of the institute and Associate Director of Online Teaching and Course Development.

The program began in September 2015, when the Martinson Family Foundation provided grant funding to support its initiation. “We wanted faculty to have a place on campus where they could get that support, get that professional development, and go to workshops, whether it's because they wanted help, or just because they wanted to learn more,” she mentioned.

Director of the institute Dr. Basil Baltzis initially came up with the idea for the Newark College of Engineering. At the time, Baltzis was Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs & Student Services; he pitched this idea to Dr. Fadi Deek, Provost and Senior Executive Vice President at the time, thinking that engineering professors would benefit from having these means of support.

Deek was pleased to hear about this idea and decided it was best to apply it to the entire university rather than just the engineering department. Baltzis and Deek have since stepped down from their provost positions to become professors in chemical engineering and mathematical sciences respectively. Both have attained the designation of Master Teacher, which is the “highest distinction given by the Provost to tenured NJIT faculty members who have a sustained record of recognized teaching excellence” according to the institute’s website.

Some of the workshops the institute hosts include full-day ones for instructors, those for new faculty development, and ones for new university lecturers and professors of practice development. There are also workshops for teaching assistants and adjunct faculty, but those are currently inactive.

“We have run adjunct events in the past, and we know adjuncts definitely want professional development experiences, but we're also sensitive to adjuncts' demands on their time,” Bosca explained. “A lot of adjuncts work at multiple universities; they don't necessarily have dedicated offices; and some are industry professionals. How do you get somebody who works full time and then just teaches night class once a week, to then also be able to do these workshops?”

She also addressed that teaching assistants have such a workload already: doing research, assisting with grading, and completing their own studies. “I think it's like a cultural shift that we're trying to create on campus that helps teaching assistants understand the value of being prepared to teach and not just do research,” Bosca said.

The institute also hosts forums for faculty from other universities to speak to NJIT instructors about how they’re implementing strategies in their classrooms, whether that be inclusive teaching or active learning.

“We look for instructors who are doing things that are innovative,” she commented. “Sometimes, we look for speakers who will address what's happening with STEM; we've had instructors come in to talk about doing National Science Foundation grants.”

Bosca feels that even though her fulltime job is in the Office of Online Programs, she is more passionate about her work with the institute. She is currently working towards her Ph.D. in education after having taught at NJIT, Montclair State University, and Pace University.

“What's really interesting about higher education is that you have professors who are experts in their fields; they've gone through so much training and graduate degrees to become these experts,” she said, “but they don't necessarily have any formal training with teaching.” The institute sometimes serves as the first opportunity for faculty to learn about educational theory and pedagogy.

On Jan. 12, the institute hosted one of its full-day workshops during which a panel of Active Learning Grant awardees spoke about their experiences revising syllabi to include weekly active learning activities for students.

Full-time Humanities and Social Sciences lecturer Carol Bruzzano currently teaches first-year writing courses. She had students publish their works on Canvas, NJIT’s online learning platform. “This allowed for students to create compositions for authentic audiences: their peers at NJIT, which further supported engagement and ‘active’ participation in the teaching and learning processes in the classroom,” she said.

Dr. Ashish Borgaonkar, Assistant Professor in the School of Applied Engineering and Technology, implements a strategy called the “minute paper,” for which students are asked to write in one minute something they found interesting or confusing during the class. “This quick activity allows me to immediately update the next lesson plan to address any gaps or lack of understanding in any concepts I covered,” he commented.

Dr. Aichih Jasmine Chang, Assistant Professor of Business Data Science, mentioned that instead of calling names, which is a time-consuming and tedious method of taking attendance, she has created more than 20 Kahoot quizzes to not only simultaneously take attendance for both face-to-face and remote students, but to also create a fun, competing way to enhance interactions among students.

“Even though the quizzes are ungraded, students do focus more on the lectures in an attempt to win the Kahoot games and feel good when their names are announced as winners,” she said. “Each subject may have its own limita-

tions, and it is technically difficult to adopt all the active learning strategies in my courses, but it is confirmed through the discussion that hands-on, application learning strategies are effective and efficient, regardless in what format.”

Senior university lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science David Fisher similarly commented that the grant allowed him to embrace the hands-on experiences in his forensic science introduction course specifically.

In addition to having grant winners involved with the program speak on the panel, there are many regular attendees of workshops and events the institute hosts.

Padma Natarajan, senior university lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, feels that she has gained tremendous amounts of knowledge from the institute. “The events helped me learn about Open Educational Resources, gamification strategies, and tools available on Canvas such as VoiceThread,” she said. “I hope it continues to organize such events on campus.”

A few years ago, senior university lecturer in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Dr. Jaskirat Sodhi won one of the grants during its initial offerings. He has been implementing strategies he’s learned since his first semester of involvement, Spring 2016.

“I have my students create an e-portfolio to showcase their projects. The idea is to demonstrate proficiency in skills such as a programming language, which can also be hyperlinked on a resume,” he explained. “I have had at least four students reach out to me after graduating about how this has helped them in getting a job or internship; their hiring managers mentioned that this e-portfolio made them stand out.”

Dr. Maria Stanko, Senior University Lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences, stated that Gradescope on Canvas revolutionized exam grading for her. “It is a really useful tool that helps me get grades and feedback on exams to students much more quickly, and it makes it much easier for me to make sure I'm scoring exam questions using a consistent rubric, so it means that grading is more transparent and fairer for students,” she said.

Borgaonkar encouraged, “I have seen a steady increase in faculty engagement at sessions, but I feel that it can be even stronger. The higher the faculty involvement, the higher will be the overall reach and impact of these wonderful initiatives.”

NJIT’s Institute of Teaching Excellence continues to inspire instructors to find new ways to engage with their classrooms successfully. Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering Dr. John Carpinelli said, “NJIT is a better place to learn because of the institute.”

By Yukthi Sangoi | Editor-in-Chief

Campus Catalog A Feature on the NJIT Community

What are your earliest memories of reading?

My earliest memories of reading are painful; I used to hate reading because of my dyslexia. I used to get made fun of, and that’s never a good experience. My earliest memory of my changed mindset is when I was in eighth grade; I won a prize of a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble. I spent my entire summer watching BookTube videos to find books to read. Once I finally found books I wanted to read, I made my mom drive me to Barnes & Noble, and my obsession with reading began.

What inspired you to write your first book?

When I was in my senior year of high school, my English teacher assigned a passion project. I wanted to include all my passions — music, books, photography, and marketing — into my project, so I put it all into one piece of work. After I finished, I discovered a new passion: writing. During my first year at NJIT, my book was finally published to the public, and I still write to this day.

What is your writing process like?

I only like to write when I’m in a good mood — a bad one makes me lose interest. I have five steps in my writing process — prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Prewriting includes writing ideas down so I don’t forget them. When I draft, I look at my

notebook of ideas and pick one I am in the mood to write. I write the draft by adding further details to my prewriting notes, but my main focus is writing all my ideas down to prepare for the revising. This is when I organize my thoughts into a chapter format; I also reorganize sections, rewrite sentences and paragraphs, or even add new information that I thought of at that moment. Editing is when I get my friend and myself to look at everything. There are times when I reread things more than five times and I still miss simple mistakes. In my last step, I self-publish through a software on Amazon called Kindle Direct Publishing. It’s free software that anyone can use to submit their written works and sell it through Amazon, which also has the option to sell books on other channels — my work is also available to buy on the Barnes & Noble website.

How do you plan on integrating your education with your passion for reading and writing?

I plan to use my major and double concentrations in marketing as well as innovation and entrepreneurship to prepare for the fields of publishing and marketing. This will help me to communicate effectively and engage with the people I need to in the reading and writing world. I also plan to use social media to reach a higher audience through the books I read and stories I write. Furthermore, I plan to use my double minors in psychology and legal studies to write fictional stories about those topics using

Melissa De Cunto Second-year Business Major

By Yukthi Sangoi | Editor-in-Chief

accurate information. I love watching and reading about crime, so if I can write psychological thrillers and legal fiction books, it would be a dream come true!

How has your interest in books reflected your fashion sense?

As of more recently, I like to read a lot of dark and light academia. When I was in high school, I was more drawn to classic literature, which made me more interested in vintage clothing — my prom dress in high school was an emerald green ball gown!

What do your future plans entail regarding books and writing?

I hope to open my own bookstore once I graduate from NJIT. I would like to keep running my book Instagram and TikTok accounts to write and film reviews of books I read. I also wish to continue my Goodreads page and restart the international book club I initiated a couple of years ago. Lastly, I would like to keep making BookTube videos. While doing all these things, I want to continue writing and possibly include sneak peeks of my work on social media before it comes out to the public.

Photos by Yukthi Sangoi

COLLECTIONS voices from around campus

What do you wish people knew about yourself?

"I'm a person with feelings and emotions"

"I'm not 7'11" tall"

"That I have to work 5 times harder in my classes than the average person because I was forced into my major that I hate"

"Nothing, I wish to not be perceived"

"That no, I am not good at math and cannot help you with calculus"

"I do sleep"

"That I have only two e’s in my name and they’re both lowercase"

"I'm a pro-life hater"

"I like Gex"

"I hate men"

RADIO UPDATE

Week of April 16, 2023

We're Just The Best Radio

The Spring 2023 semester is winding down, but WJTB still has new music for finals season! Last week, ambient artist more eaze released “Eternity,” a 43-minute song, awash in her unique brand of ambient drones, found sound, and formless melody.

Shygirl also released the deluxe version of her banger of a debut album, titled “Nymph.” The deluxe has 11 new songs, featuring the likes of Bjork, Arca, and Erika de Casier alongside the original album’s forward-thinking United Kingdom bass-cross-R&B.

Avant-jazz collective Natural Information Society also released a new project called “Since Time is Gravity.” It’s a collection of pulsating, kaleidoscopic songs, which is already gaining a bit of traction among their target demographic.

The prolific ambient artist Bug Bus Piano also released a new single, made up of two versions of the song “Central Style Power.” Buried in the tape-hiss of their work is a more approachable, melodic style than might often be seen from them. However, maybe this is merely because the single contains a melodica.

Metropolitan Onufriy, the highest-ranking church official of Kyïv and Ukraine, issued the following appeal on Feb. 24, 2022, the day of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine:

Defending the sovereignty and integrity of Ukraine, we appeal to the President of Russia and ask for an immediate end to the fratricidal war. The Ukrainian and Russian peoples came out of the Dnieper baptismal font, and the war between these peoples is a repetition of the sin of Cain, who killed his own brother out of envy. Such a war has no justification either with God or with men.

Since the beginning of the war, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, or UOC, has raised large sums of money and other supplies for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, or UAF, as well as contributed humanitarian efforts. For example, Archpriest George Prokopchuk has been photographed with a car donated to the UAF; it was purchased with donations from parishioners.

The UOC previously had a formal connection with the Moscow Patriarchate, part of the Russian Orthodox Church, but declared itself fully independent in the early days of the war. The UOC has shown its loyalty to Ukraine every step of the way, but this has not stopped the Ukrainian government and nationalists from unleashing full-blown persecution against the church. Hyper-nationalists, including clergy and laity of an unrecognized “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” have begun to perform acts of terror with impunity.

Just this past week, the authorities of the Ukrainian city Ivano-Frankivsk used tear gas to remove the faithful from a UOC church and designated the Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast region as “being cleansed of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.” The Advisor to the Office of the President went on television to call for Ukraine to ignore all United Nations reports regarding its persecution of Orthodox Faithful.

In Khmelnitsky, where my Jewish ancestors survived many pogroms in years past, a council member called for the expulsion of the UOC and got a man to put on a military uniform, violently enter the temple, throw the gospel onto the floor, and attempt to beat up a priest. The sub-deacon’s physical response to this was then shared on social media by the council member. This was in turn used as justification for the government to seize all UOC churches in the area.

While such horrors happen all throughout Ukraine, especially in its Western region, the main showdown is taking place in the city of Kyïv. The Kyïv-Pechersk Lavra is a thousand-year-old monastery that holds the relics of many Orthodox saints, and has withstood many invasions and persecutions, most notably at the hands of Polish Catholics, the Nazis, and the Soviet Union.

Standoff at Ukraine's Holiest Site

By Matthew Fleishman | Staff Writer

On March 10, the Ukrainian government released an expulsion order for the UOC monks who reside in the Lavra and the closure of the Kyïvan Theological Academy and Seminary, also known as KDAIS. This expulsion was unilateral, and Zelensky did not condescend to meet with anyone from the monastery; since the order, the Lavra’s abbot was put under a 60-day house arrest. As the eviction deadline of March 29 grew closer, tensions rose.

The overwhelming majority of the monks and seminarians, as well as thousands of faithful of all ages, have been holding out in front of the Lavra for several days straight with no end in sight, while enduring mockery and violence that most people cannot even begin to imagine. Several photos show seminarians holding the Ukrainian flag as they are accosted by activists; these speak to me, as they shows a group of young men who can rejoice in their faith even as they stare down the barrel of a gun. Countless seminarians at KDAIS have close friends and relatives on the front lines.

Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said that “Force will not be used to evict representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church from the Kyïv-Pechersk Lavra,” but added that “the monks are expected to leave quietly.” The past weeks have shown that the monks will not leave quietly, and if the government wants them to leave the place where they have prayed for centuries, force will be necessary.

Ukrainian politicians knew this when they sent the eviction notice last month. Where they miscalculated is thinking that the only voices defending the monks and seminarians would come from Russia, which would only confirm their prior belief in the need to eradicate the UOC. Instead, nearly the entire Christian Orthodox world, as well as many other Christian and human rights organizations, have spoken out in their defense. These include, but are not limited to:

1. The Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights of the United Nations

2. Western embassies in Ukraine

3. Pope Francis

4. The World Council of Churches

5. The Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch and All the East

6. The Orthodox Patriarchate of Georgia (Catholicos)

7. The Orthodox Patriarchate of the Serbian Lands

8. The Orthodox Patriarchate of Bulgaria

9. The Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem

10. The Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia

11. The Orthodox Church of Poland

12. The Orthodox Church in America

13. The Orthodox Church of Albania

14. Bishops and institutions under the Churches of Greece and Cyprus.

A year after Russia withdrew from Kyïv, and with the front line hundreds of miles away, perhaps the biggest standoff in determining Ukraine’s future is happening right in the middle of its capital city. Many of the same people who looked on in horror at Russia’s actions are now appalled at those of the Ukrainian government, whose new adversary possesses no guns or ammunition and is made up largely of women and the elderly.

With cell phone cameras everywhere, few things can escape recording and quickly wind up online. While it would be physically easy for the government to rid the Lavra of everyone they do not want, it would be a political disaster. As the standoff continues, millions of eyes from all around the world will remain on the Kyïv-Pechersk Lavra, with implications reaching throughout and beyond Ukraine.

A young lady was singing in the church choir when the prayer was interrupted by activists. She fell on her knees in prayer in front of them as they began dancing around her to a song about wanting to kill Russians.

This self-proclaimed satanist said, “We need to put [the abbot] on his knees in the forest and shoot him in the head and let this video go through all the Russian media. There can be no talk, no house arrests. We are not Christian; we are ancient pagans.” This is just the tip of the iceberg; there are countless other photos and videos that show the extent of the horror happening right now.

Photo from Roman Naumov

Photo from alarmyk24.ru | Public News Service

Photo from Channel 5 Ukraine

Horoscopes

By Clairvoyant Cancer Conveying the Current Chances

ARIES

You might be worried about your financial situation. Check on your funds to relieve some stress.

TAURUS

An unexpected event might cause distance or doubt with your partner. It’s best to talk it out.

GEMINI

If you’re feeling under the weather, make sure you take care of your health, so it doesn’t affect your ability to work.

CANCER

Plan a romantic interlude for yourself and your partner. They might be feeling a little lonely lately.

LEO

Take a day off from your responsibilities, and take care of creative projects.

VIRGO

It’s normal to feel nostalgic about family and older friends. Text them to catch up.

LIBRA

Money matters might be tight right now. Keep your head high and keep working hard — it’ll get better soon.

SCORPIO

You might need some reassurance from a close friend or partner. Clear up the misunderstanding with communication.

SAGITTARIUS

If you’re sick, pay a visit to the doctor.

CAPRICORN

You might feel lonely and insecure due to the lack of contact with a close friend or romantic partner. Take the time to reconnect.

AQUARIUS

Juggling work and school may be stressful right now, but you got this!

PISCES

Don’t let disappointment bring you down this week.

By Giuliana De Cunto

Do You Even Sudoku? Word Search

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Joe Marquez