[The Stute] May 25, 2016 (Issue 27, Volume CXIII)

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STUTE THE

The Stute The official campus newspaper of Stevens Institute of Technology since 1904, and creator of the Stevens mascot, Atilla the Duck.

We write Stevens history.

Volume CXIII • Issue 27

/TheStute

TheStute.com

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

@TheStute

Established 1904

CONGRATULATIONS,

CLASS OF 2016!

Heinrich, Green, and Sabella announced as First in Class

Stevens Announces its $150 million “Power of Stevens” Campaign

Jeffrey Vock

by OLIVIA SCHREIBER Staff Writer

stevens.edu/news Left to right: Matthew Heinrich, Gabriella Green, and Alex Sabella

by OLIVIA SCHREIBER Staff Writer

Gabriella Green, Alex Sabella, and Matthew Heinrich were recently announced as First in Class for the Stevens Institute of Technology Class of 2016. All three students will be graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA come May 25. Gabriella Green will be graduating at the top of her class with her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in public policy. As engineering-savvy as she may be, Green says she was not planning on attending Stevens upon the end of her high school career. Already intent on attending art school with a full-ride, Gabi decided to apply to Stevens two weeks before the application was due. “I said to myself, ‘I can go to art school for sculpture or I can go make a lot of money and major in biomedical engineering’” says Green. She applied only to local schools as she knew she was going to be paying for her education. During her undergraduate career, Ms. Green had a very active role on Stevens campus, serving as Founder and Scholarship Vice President for Sigma Delta Tau Sorority, as founder and president of the Commuter Student Union, as Vice President of Alpha Eta Mu Beta National Biomedical Engineering Honor Society, as Chess Club treasurer, and as Distribution Manager of RedShift Literary Magazine. She also is a brother of the Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity, a peer mentor, and a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. Green also took part in the Cooperative Education program, working several semesters at BD and Zimmer Biomet. Green took advantage of the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research while at Stevens. She worked under Dr. Xiaojun Yu and

investigated nerve regeneration, ultimately publishing her work in the Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System. She also worked under the supervision of Dr. Arthur Ritter, Dr. Svetlana Sukhishvili, and Dr. Vicki Hazelwood for, as Green says, the sole reason of “learning more.” Upon graduation, Gabi will be working at Integra Life Sciences, the number one artificial skin manufacturer where she will be a part of a 3-year rotational associates’ program. She attributes her success to hard work, her mother and late father, and the people she met at Stevens. “They were a really good support system while I was here at Stevens,” says Green. Alex Sabella will be graduating at the top of his class for the second time in his career, as he formerly graduated as Valedictorian from his Long Island high school. Rather than travel to Boston to attend MIT, Sabella chose Stevens for its exceptional views, closeness to home, and educational opportunities. “My guidance counselor told me about Stevens,” says Sabella. “I didn’t know how good of a school it was.” Sabella entered Stevens as a Chemical Biology student, but was introduced to the world of computers and software and had a shift in mindset. “In high school, we had never really done anything computer related in high school. I went to more of a ‘humanities’ high school,” says Sabella. After taking Introduction to Programming and assuming the role as Programmer for the D1 Robot project, Sabella made his first switch to Chemical Engineering. However, after considering his options, he eventually made a change to Computer Engineering and that it where he remained. While an undergraduate, Sabella assumed the position of lead-gui-

tarist for the Stevens Christian Fellowship. “I guess it’s not an official leadership position, but I have been playing for them for 3 years and I plan to continue playing for the next year,” says Sabella. In addition to his musical endeavors, Sabella has been a Teaching Assistant for a Microprocessor class. “[These] labs are TA led and because I’ve been there the longest, I lead the labs,” says Sabella. Sabella will be graduating with his degree in Computer Engineering and will finishing up his Master’s Degree for the 4+1 program this coming fall in Systems Engineering. During his undergraduate years, Sabella took part in the Scholar’s Program and was able to take advantage of summer research opportunities. In his sophomore summer, Sabella worked on Virtual Hoboken Project, a simulation of the city designed to aid in urban and emergency planning purposes. The following summer, he was able to continue to develop his start-up company, named Savizar as a way to incorporate Sabella and his co-founders’ last names. As an idea that spurred from a special topics course, Savizar seeks to provide tools that make it searching for patent searches easier, particularly for patent attorneys. Sabella is excited to know that external parties are now interested in his team’s product. Over the summer, Sabella will be working as an intern at Harris Corporation, an American communications company, defense contractor and IT service provider. “The ideal plan is for the startup to make enough money by next Spring [so] I can work full time for it,” says Sabella. Sabella thanks his parents for being supportive during his educational career. He also notes the long-lasting friendships he has

see FIRST • Page 4

Stevens Institute of Technology announced its $150 million campaign to over 500 distinguished alumni, students, faculty and guests on May 7, 2016. The campaign, titled “Power of Stevens,” began July 1, 2013 and will continue to have a public presence for the next three years. According to Dawn da Silva, Vice President of Development, the leaders of the campaign aimed to have raised $70 million dollars by December 2015. At this point, the campaign has successfully raised over $85 million dollars, with most support directed towards the Academic Gateway complex project and student scholarships. “Up until now, we have been in

the quiet, or leadership phase. The point of Saturday [was] to launch the campaign to as big of an audience as we can, including all of our alumni, the community, our corporate sponsors, and our community partners,” said Alan Skontra, Development Writer in the Office of Development. The campaign reveal took place in the parking lot next to the Griffith Building alongside the Hudson River. The evening began with a VIP Cocktail hour where distinguished alumni and guests had an opportunity to explore the Innovation Festival, where approximately 20 different student and faculty projects were chosen to showcase the school’s new level of excellence.The projects that were showcased included Dr.

see POWER • Page 4

Class of 2016: this was your life (at Stevens) August 26, 2011 - Stevens goes on lockdown as Hurricane Irene sweeps through the northeast. September 12, 2011 - TIME Magazine releases data claiming that Stevens graduates have the 10th highest debt load in the nation. September 30, 2011 - Bill Nye the Science Guy visits campus as a part of Back to TechFest. October 14, 2011 - Dr. Nariman Farvardin is officially inaugurated as Stevens’ seventh president. October 16, 2011 - Laura Barito is named NCAA Woman of the Year. January 2012 - Stevens launches DuckSync, an online program that centralizes RSO management. January 13, 2012 - Organizers of the annual Hoboken St. Patricks’s Day Parade cancel the festivities this year, citing what they call the city’s “insulting” decision to move the event to a weekday.

Lepre-Con is formed in response, and rampant drinking occurs anyway. January 20, 2012 - Dr. Gregory Prastacos is appointed Dean of the Howe School of Technology Management. January 28, 2012 - Kappa Sigma is chartered on campus, the first national fraternity to be formed at Stevens since 1938. March 24, 2012 - Brittany Geyer becomes the second Stevens NCAA champion. March 2012 - The Office of Residence Life announces leased housing, requiring students to occupy off-campus housing on a full-year basis. April 2012 - The Hanlon Financial Systems Lab in the Babbio Center finishes construction. September 7, 2012 - The College of Arts and Letters announces the new Science & Technology Studies program.

see LIFE • Page 4

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: OPINION 2

CLASS LIST 3

NEWS CONT’ 4

SENIOR SHOUT-OUTS 5

AWARDS 6-7

GRADUATING ATHLETES 8-9

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