NJIT in the News

Just as technology has created new geographic boundaries for commerce and industry, so, too, has it created new borders for higher education.   NJIT once again enters such a new world Nov. 8, 2007, 1:30-2:30 p.m., when representatives of NJIT’s School of Management sign an agreement to start a three-year exchange program with  Ube National College of Technology http://www.ube-k.ac.jp/eng/  (UNTC), an undergraduate engineering college in Ube City, Japan.

There’s still time to sign up for classes at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) for “EmployME!,” a two-year, continuing education program. The public-private partnership to prepare adults with physical disabilities for entry-level and advanced jobs in information technology has already graduated two of the eight classes scheduled at NJIT through March of 2009.  A new, 18-week session begins Oct. 22, 2007. 

Robert Statica, information technology program administrator, director of NJIT's Computer Forensic and Cybersecurity Lab and co-director of NJIT's Center for Information Protection, will discuss cybersecurity and cyberterrorism at an Open University seminar on April 18, 2:30-4 p.m. in the Guttenberg Information Technologies Center, Room 400.

NJIT will come alive with the sounds of female composers on March 28 at 3 p.m. in the Campus Center Atrium. The Downtown Chamber Trio will perform the music of Nadia Boulanger, Rebecca Clarke, Fanny Mendelssohn and Clara Schumann. The concert is free and open to the public.

Margaret Leinen, PhD, chief science officer and vice president of Climos, will discuss at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) next week the buildup of atmospheric greenhouse gases over just two centuries as part of NJIT's NJIT Technology and Society Forum Series.

Students at Camden County College (CCC) will soon be able to earn a bachelor’s degree from New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) without leaving their campus. Starting this fall, NJIT will offer a bachelor’s degree in information technology at CCC’s Blackwood campus. CCC students who have earned an associate’s degree in one of five areas – biotechnology, liberal arts, criminal justice, computer-information systems or accounting - can register for the bachelor’s degree.

A closer look at how people react during emergencies, the role of computers and technology and what really happened during Hurricane Katrina number among the topics to be discussed at the third annual meeting of the Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management (ISCRAM). New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will host the event May 14-17, 2006.

The NJIT men's swimming team registered a 112-86 win over visiting Stevens Institute of Technology last night. Juniors Hayk Ekshian and Marc Ubaldi set new school records in the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-yard individual medley, respectively.

NJIT will host the New Jersey Technology Council IT Industry Expo on Dec. 7, 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m., Guttenberg Information Technologies Center. Stephane Gagnon, an assistant professor in NJIT's School of Management, will present results from an industrywide IT forecast conducted by NJIT and the NJTC.

Steven Walsh, PhD, one of the world's leading experts on the commercialization of micro and nano technologies, will discuss the challenges of technology commercialization on Dec. 5, 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Atrium. Bruce Kirchhoff, PhD, distinguished professor of management (at left), will moderate a panel of EDC tenant company representatives. The seminar is open to the public.

How to reach out and touch someone before the telegraph was even invented, fascinates historian Kevin Gumienny, PhD, a special lecturer in the history department at New Jersey Institute of Technology  (NJIT).  Gumienny, who specializes in the history of science and technology, will highlight three men of science, the history of print and more, Nov. 19, 2005, at a daylong symposium in Madison.

The NJIT Chapter of the Hispanic Organization of Students in Technology/Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (HOST/SHPE) was the big winner at the 2005 SHPE Eastern Technical Career Conference held in October. NJIT was awarded the Orlando Montan Chapter Leadership Award and students Danny Lozano and Hermes Alverez won the Most Promising Engineer award and the Technical Poster Competition, respectively.Raymond A. Calluori, PhD, Office of Institutional Research and Planning, served as a member of the Juvenile Delinquency Advisory Board for McGraw-Hill’s recently released reader, Annual Editions: Juvenile Delinquency and Justice 06/07. Articles on school shootings and Ecstasy use by youth, suggested by Dr. Calluori, were included in the collection.

Don’t give up, network and pay attention to detail, numbered among the many good ideas offered to women inventors by Judith Sheft, assistant vice president, technology development at NJIT. Sheft spoke at a day-long conference held on Oct. 28 at Kean University.

Allen Hershkowitz, a senior scientist with the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental activist group, will discuss the challenges of sustainable urban development on Nov. 9, 3-4:30 p.m., NJIT Campus Center ballroom. The lecture, which is the fifth in NJIT's Technology and Society Forum Series, is open to the public and parking is available.

During a lecture at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), the environmental architect and designer William McDonough asked, “How do we love all children of all species for all time?”

Notable scientists, administrators and others in business, government and academe will convene Oct. 26, 2005, at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) to learn more about innovative environmental technologies. Kathleen Callahan, the administrator in charge of New Jersey for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will deliver the welcome followed by Sid Caspersen, director, New Jersey Office of Counter-Terrorism.

The most recent environmental and energy technologies available in today’s industry will be showcased at the Environmental Business Council of CIANJ's first Innovative Environmental Technology Conference on Oct. 26, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., NJIT Campus Center, second floor.

Kay Etzler, program analyst, National Institutes of Health (NIH), will provide an introduction to and overview of the Small Business Innovation Research and the Small Business Technology Transfer programs with a focus on the NIH at a half-day seminar on Oct. 21, 8:30 a.m.-12 noon, Enterprise Development Center III, Room 407. Sponsored by the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology, the seminar will provide information on collaborative opportunities available to life science entrepreneurs.

Talina Knox, program coordinator for the Murray Center for Women in Technology at New Jersey Institute of Technology’s (NJIT), received the Constance A. Murray Diversity Award during university convocation. The award recognizes Knox, of Hillside, for fostering diversity on the NJIT campus.

Edward J. Ludwig, chairman, president and chief executive officer of BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), the global medical technology company based in Franklin Lakes, will visit New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) to lecture on the challenges and opportunities ahead for the medical technology industry.

Kenneth Deffeyes, PhD, an esteemed geologist and professor emeritus at Princeton University, will give a lecture titled “The Impending Oil Shortage: A Crisis in Public Policy" on Sept. 19, 11:30 a.m.- 1 p.m., in the NJIT Campus Center atrium. The lecture is free, open to the public and parking is available. Deffeyes’s talk is the first in this year’s Technology and Society Forum series.

Mitchell Darer, executive director of the Center for Information Age Technology (CIAT) at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), was recently appointed executive director of the New Jersey chapter of Government Management Information Sciences (GMIS), a networking and educational organization for people who work with government technology.  Members include New Jersey school and government (municipal, county and state) technology coordinators.

Last week, NJIT unveiled five new programs to bolster small businesses and help them grow bigger. The Enterprise Development Center at NJIT, the state’s oldest and largest incubator program, now offers client companies programs to improve the marketing skills and business acumen of company principals. The New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology has funded the project.

Twelve tips on successful blogging were among the highlights of a day-long business and networking event held yesterday at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).     The event, aimed at encouraging men and women with technological expertise to start their own companies, was organized by NJIT’s School of Management, Office of Technology Development, Enterprise Development Center and the North Essex Chamber of Commerce.  

Four motivational speakers, tips on starting a business and more recently highlighted an event at NJIT to encourage business men and women to launch a technological business. Event organizers included the School of Management, the Enterprise Development Center and the Office of Technology Development, all at NJIT.

Adnan Gundel, a graduate student at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) who is developing a biomedical device to help cardiac and lung patients monitor their conditions, was named a New Jersey Technology Fellow by the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology.

High school students who want to design their own video games and electronic circuits--as well as understand the chemistry of fireworks and the physics of explosions--can now study these subjects at NJIT. This fall, the university will launch the Science and Technology Enrichment Program (STEP), where high school students eager to learn hands-on science and technology can enroll in exciting courses taught by some of NJIT’s best professors. For more information, contact Associate Professor Michael Baltrush at 973-596-3386.

Leon M. Lederman, Nobel Laureate, director emeritus of the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and founder and resident scholar at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, will discuss the crisis in U.S. science education and science literacy at a Technology and Society forum on April 20, 2005, 3-4:30 p.m. in the Jim Wise Theatre, Kupfrian Hall. The lecture, which is free and open to the public, will be webcast live that day by logging on to http://speakerforum.njit.edu/.  Contact: Jay Kappraff, 973-596-3490 or email: kappraff@adm.njit.edu.

U.S. Senator Jon S. Corzine will speak on "The Economy and Technology" on March 22, 2005 at 10 a.m. in the Campus Center Atrium.  All students, faculty and staff are welcome

Nine high-school teams from Newark, all coached by students and technicians from NJIT, will compete in the New Jersey FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Regional Robotics Competition on March 18 and 19 in the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton. The contest will feature five-foot tall, 100-pound robots lifting and stacking pyramid-shaped blocks of pipe and wood within a two-minute deadline.

Supertron, a start-up technology company housed in the small business incubators at NJIT, announced today that it has begun developing a cryogenic coil to improve Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners. Erzhen Gao, PhD, director of research and development for the company, will lead the effort. “Eventually, we hope to see our system upgrade existing MRI scanners because our coils can enhance installed MRIs, enabling them to produce cleaner, clearer and easier-to-read images at an affordable price,” he said.

Students at the County College of Morris (CCM) who earn an associate degree in applied science can now transfer seamlessly to NJIT to pursue a bachelor’s degree in engineering technology. Marilyn Ayres, dean of CCM, and Robert English, chair of the engineering technology department at NJIT, signed a joint-admissions agreement recently at the CCM campus. “Over the years, many CCM graduates have gone on to become outstanding graduates of NJIT as well, and we think this articulation agreement will promote interest in the engineering technology programs at both institutions,”  said English.

Do you want to learn more about opportunities in the greater New Jersey region for commercializing nanotechnology research?  Then you won’t want to miss “Commercializing Nanotechnology in the Greater Garden State Region: The Next Step,” a workshop Dec.14, 2004, at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).

We are contracting out primary responsibility for running elections to private companies who are not publicly accountable,” warned New York City Board of Elections Commissioner Douglas Kellner.  Kellner’s comments along with Harvard University e-voting expert Rebecca Mercuri were delivered at a Sept. 23 forum about electronic voting technology at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).  Both speakers explained the vulnerability of electronic voting systems to insider and outsider attacks which they believe creates new opportunities for large scale vote fraud in the 2004 election and beyond.

Students, faculty and businesspeople interested in learning about Small Business Innovative Research and Technology Transfer funding mechanisms are invited to attend one or both NJIT Technology Commercialization & Grant Development Workshops to be held on September 20, 2004. Attendees will receive practical guidance from grant development experts and a chance to network with prospective business, technology and entrepreneurial collaborators. Participants may sign up for Workshop #1 (8:30 am-12 noon; Engineering Sciences audience) and/or Workshop #2 (1:00-4:30 p.m.; Life Sciences audience). Admission is free. RSVP by September 13 to Daya Sooryadas (Sooryadas@ctp-nj.com).

“Can technology be used to steal the 2004 presidential election?” asked Jay M. Kappraff, PhD., associate professor of mathematics, at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).  Kappraff, who leads a faculty group authorized to create the university’s new lecture series, has invited two well-known speakers to address this important issue.

Daniel Perez, a senior at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) who recently received two of NJIT’s top academic awards, will attend MIT this fall on full scholarship to study chemical engineering.     “Danny is the first graduating senior from our department to be directly admitted to the doctoral program at MIT in at least 20 years,” said Basil Baltzis, Ph.D., chairman of the Otto York Department of Chemical Engineering at NJIT.  “We are very proud of him and certain he will have an outstanding career.”

The School of Management at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) will host an open house for professionals who want to learn more about NJIT’s Executive MBA Program. The information session is scheduled for Thursday, April 22, from 6– 8 p.m., in the Central Avenue Building at the intersection of Summit and Central avenues.

New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is doing its part to bridge the digital divide between the West and the developing world: students in 14 sub-Saharan African countries are benefiting from NJIT courses without leaving their continent, thanks to NJIT’s collaboration with the African Virtual University (AVU).

To help detect and study genetic changes in cells more quickly and efficiently, Timothy Chang, Ph.D., associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) was recently awarded a three-year, $640,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.

Congressman Rush Holt, 54, the congressional representative for New Jersey’s 12th District, will speak Monday, Oct. 20, 11:30 a.m.- 1 p.m., at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Holt, a physicist who was associated for more than a decade with the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory at Princeton University, is one of the few scientists in Congress.

The FEMME summer program (Women in Engineering and Technology Initiative), which helps girls overcome the gender gap in math, science and engineering, will end with a rocket launch. Fifth-grade girls, who studied the fundamentals of aeronautical engineering, will launch model rockets they assembled in class. Other Femme classes will display projects they designed such as roller coasters, bridges and artificial bones.

When NJIT's Suzanne quizzes quizzes the girls who arrive on campus every summer to study science as part of a program called FEMME,  she asks their opinion of engineers.   Mostly, Heyman says, the students agree that "engineers are nerds," that engineering is not a viable career choice for women, and that science is not something many of them are considering.   What a difference a few weeks of imaginative, exciting teaching can make, she says.   This year's class, 120 girls in grades four through eight, arrived on campus recently and will attend classes through August 7 as day students.   Most are either black or Hispanic and all are within commuting distance of Newark. Many come from low-income families.   But all are bright students who must get A's and B's in math and science and three letters of recommendation from teachers and guidance counselors.   The girls are grouped by grade and spend the summer on one of five interest areas, environment, aerospace science, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and biomedical engineering.   The faculty design kid-friendly experiments and learning exercises.   For instance, this year's chemical engineering class is learning what makes a polymer turn into "slime," the slippery, gooey plastic sold as a toy.  They learn how chemical reactions change polymers from slimy to hard, says Heyman.   Another class is learning engineering principles by building bridges out of match sticks.   Working in teams--like real engineers--and using a glue gun, the girls design then secure their structures. They will later test their model bridges by placing 10-lb bags of sand on them. Heyman predicts the girls will learn that using cross-braced toothpicks makes a stronger bridge than when the toothpicks are glued together at right angles.   "They come up with some amazing designs," she says.   But in addition to the specifics these girls will learn, the real achievement of FEMME is opening the students' eyes to the possibilities science, math, and engineering offer women.   Nationally, over 90 percent of the jobs in math and science are held by men, according to FEMME data.   Heyman believes that through programs like NJIT's that trend will start to change.   Already about half of FEMME's alumnae who have finished college have gone on to math or science careers, says Heyman.   No one expects that the program will make a scientist of every girl who enters, but Heyman believes FEMME works. It starts wih changing thinking, she says.   At the end of last year's session, the students were again polled on their attitudes toward math, science, and engineering.   To the question "Girls can be engineers, do you agree or disagree?", only 19 percent had said they agreed at the start of the program. By the end of the session, 38 percent said they agreed.

Where do grade-school girls launch rockets, design roller coasters and analyze chocolate? … At the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), which offers eight summer workshops for elementary and high-school students.

Students in the class of David Washington, Ph.D., an assistant professor of engineering technology at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), recently visited a New Jersey quarry known to be the largest producer of granite in the United States.

Twelve students at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) recently received scholarships from the Construction Industry Advancement Program of New Jersey (CIAP), based in Edison.