NJIT in the News

Imagine beaming electric power from space as a viable solar energy option. Engineer and researcher Martin Hoffert, professor emeritus and former chair of the department of applied science at New York University, will discuss this theory further in a free lecture, open to the public, on Nov. 4, 2009 at NJIT, from 3-4:30 p.m. in the NJIT Campus Center Atrium.

Dickson D. Despommier, a professor of environmental health sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, discussed vertical farms, the agriculture for the 21st century, at the NJIT Technology and Society Forum Series yesterday.  Vertical urban farms could help to repair many of the world’s damaged ecosystems and moderate global climate change, says Despommier. Social benefits include fostering a sustainable urban environment that encourages good health, new employment opportunities, fewer abandoned lots and buildings, cleaner air, and an abundant supply of safe drinking water. Despommier’s lecture drew a large number of community organizers, including Newark Councilman Donald M. Payne, City of Newark Sustainability Officer Chelsea Arbusher, and Greater Newark Conservancy Executive Director Robin Dougherty, in addition to representatives from the Trust for Public Land, Newark Public Schools, Rutgers University and the Ironbound Community Corporation.

A farm on the 40th floor? That’s a distinct possibility, according to Dickson D. Despommier, an advocate of  vertical farming. Despommier, who is a professor of environmental health sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, has long been interested in the environment and the ecology of infectious disease transmission. Despommier will discuss vertical farms, the agriculture for the 21st century, on Sept. 30, 2009 at NJIT. 

A farm on the 40th floor? That’s a distinct possibility, according to Dickson D. Despommier, an advocate of  vertical farming. Despommier will discuss vertical farms, the agriculture for the 21st century, on Sept. 30, 2009 at NJIT. 

"The Value of Scientific Societies" is the topic of a presentation by Jerome F. Baker, PhD, executive director of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, on April 6, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Campus Center Atrium. The lecture, which is part of the NJIT Technology and Society Forum Series, will focus on how Sigma Xi is working to assist its members in adding value to their lives and to the lives of those impacted by engineering and science. 

NJIT Humanities Professor and clarinetist David Rothenberg brings a unique perspective to interpreting our relationship with nature through words and music—a perspective he will share when he performs at NJIT on April 1, 3-4:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Atrium. The event, which wraps up the Spring 2009 Technology and Society Forum Series at NJIT, is free and open to the public.

It takes much more than the appropriate technology to create a sustainable green environment and organizational culture. Learn about the challenges of such a transformation at the Technology and Society Forum presentation by Leith Sharp on Wednesday, March 25 from 3-4:30 pm in NJIT’s Campus Center Ballroom.

Music is an expression of creativity that spans all eras and cultures.  On Feb. 25, 2009 at the NJIT Campus Center Atrium from 3-4:30 p.m., the NJIT Technology and Society Forum will celebrate this aspect of creativity when artists from the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) will perform the work of five noted composers.

Ralph Izzo believes that our society is steering a very unsustainable course when it comes to energy — and he speaks with authority. In the first Technology and Society Forum presentation at NJIT for spring 2009, Izzo will explore how the impacts of climate change and an uncertain economy make it imperative to redefine our complex relationship with energy.

There’s something for everyone this spring at NJIT’s semi-annual Technology and Society Forum Series.  In two weeks, Ralph Izzo, chairman and chief executive officer of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) opens the event with a closer look at sustainability.  

Dealing effectively with climate change presents political challenges that can be even more complex than the science involved. David W. Orr, PhD, the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College and the James Marsh Professor at the University of Vermont, will explore critical climate-change issues in the context of U.S. politics and policy decisions in "Some Like It Hot—Many More Don't," the final Fall Technology and Society Forum presentation on Nov. 12, 3-4:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Ballroom.

Miquela Craytor, executive director of Sustainable South Bronx (SSBx), will speak Oct. 1, 2008, at NJIT about how green technology can meet the growing climate crisis and also benefit the nation’s distressed urban centers.

Charles M. Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering and president emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology will speak about educating engineers for a multi-faceted role in the global economy at NJIT on April 30 from 3-4:30 p.m. in NJIT’s Campus Center Ballroom.

Charles M. Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering and president emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology will speak about educating engineers for a multi-faceted role in the global economy at NJIT on April 30. The distinguished engineer and educator will deliver his lecture from 3-4:30 p.m. in NJIT’s Campus Center Ballroom.

The NJIT Technology and Society Forum has scheduled two free musical events on April 2 and April 7 for its Spring 2008 Series. The public is invited to both of them. On April 7 from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., NJIT Math Professor Jay Kappraff will join Rieko Kawabata on violin in a performance of the Vivaldi double concerto.

The “Evolution of Life: Sex and Other Mergers” will be the subject of an upcoming talk at NJIT by noted University of Massachusetts (UM) scientist and author Lynn Margulis, an expert on the “Gaia” hypothesis. The public is invited to the free talk set for March 31, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Campus Center Ballroom at NJIT.

Members of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will perform Schubert's octet scored for two violins, viola, cello, double bass, clarinet and French horn on April 2, 3-4:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Atrium. The performance is part of NJIT's Spring 2008 Technology and Society Forum Series.

The “Evolution of Life: Sex and Other Mergers” will be the subject of an upcoming talk at NJIT by noted University of Massachusetts (UM) scientist and author Lynn Margulis, an expert on the “Gaia” hypothesis. 

“Sustainability”—it’s a term that has risen to critical prominence in assessing our planet’s resources and the future well-being of society. In NJIT’s upcoming Technology and Society Forum presentation, Jon Plaut will explore the antecedents of concerns with sustainability, including the agricultural and industrial revolutions, and increasing population. The public is invited to the free talk set for Feb. 25, 11:30 a.m., in the NJIT Campus Center Ballroom. 

Cheng Li, the William R. Kenan Professor of Government at Hamilton College, will analyze China in the 21st century at NJIT’s Technology and Society Forum presentation. The free public event is set for Oct. 10, 3-4 p.m. in the Campus Center Atrium.

James E. West, PhD, a research professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at Johns Hopkins University, will make two presentations on April 9. The first talk, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Campus Center Ballroom, will feature an overview of the Black heritage in technology. From 4-5:30 p.m. in Tiernan Lecture Hall I, West will discuss the increasing awareness of noise as being detrimental to health in hospitals.

Margaret Leinen, PhD, chief science officer and vice president of Climos, will discuss "Global Change: The Challenges for Research in a World Aware of Change" on Feb. 12, 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. in the Campus Center Ballroom at NJIT. The public is invited to the talk, which is part of NJIT’s Technology and Society Forum Series.

Humans may soon have the super powers of superheroes now found only in comic books and movies, says bestselling author and social commentator Joel Garreau, who will speak on Nov. 9, 4-5:30 p.m. at NJIT's Campus Center. The talk is part of NJIT's Technology and Society Forum series.

America’s energy future is choice, not fate, and U.S. dependence on oil can be eliminated with proven technologies that create wealth and strengthen security. That’s the message Nathan Glasgow of the Rocky Mountain Institute will bring to NJIT in his presentation on Oct. 25 at NJIT’s Technology and Society Forum.

Once again, the NJIT Technology and Society Forum will present speakers whose ideas excite and challenge. The first lecture, “Creative Thinking and Problem Solving, An Essential Skill for the New Millennium,” is set for Sept. 27, 3-4:30 p.m. in the NJIT Campus Center Ballroom. Gerard J. Puccio, PhD, the department chair and professor of the International Center for Studies in Creativity at Buffalo State, SUNY, will explore the nature of creativity and how people may enhance their potential for thinking.

Chris Phoenix, director of research at the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, will lecture at NJIT on a promising yet potentially dangerous nanotechnology called molecular manufacturing. Phoenix’s lecture, free and open to the public, is scheduled for April 5, 3-4:30 p.m., in the NJIT Campus Center Ballroom.

Robots have been to the moon, to Mars and even, in the form of vacuum cleaners, to shopping malls. But where they haven't been, and where they might be most useful, is in our homes, said Cynthia Breazeal, PhD, one of the nation’s leading roboticists who spoke yesterday at NJIT. “For robots, the final frontier isn’t space; it’s your living room," Breazeal said.

Energy security demands innovation and innovation requires an investment in intellectual security,” Shirley Ann Jackson, PhD, president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute told some 200 faculty, staff, students and others on Feb. 9. Jackson said that energy security and the “quiet crisis”—stemming from the gap between the nation’s growing need for scientists, engineers, and other technically skilled workers and its production of them—are “inextricably linked” and, if permitted to continue unmitigated, could reverse the global leadership Americans currently enjoy. “We can no longer drill our way to energy security,” Jackson said. “We must innovate our way to energy security.”

The NJIT Technology and Society Forum's spring program kicked off on Feb. 1 with a performance by the Advanced Mixed Chorus from Newark's Arts High School and vocalist Yvette Glover. Co-sponsored by the NJIT Educational Opportunity Program, the concert is part of the university's recognition of Black History Month and celebration of our nation's rich diversity.

The Advanced Mixed Chorus from Newark’s Arts High School and jazz singer Yvette Glover will perform at NJIT on Feb. 1, 2006 at 4 p.m. as part of the university’s celebration of Black History Month.The concert, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the NJIT Technology and Society Forum Series and the Educational Opportunity Program at NJIT.