Live streaming social media platforms such as Twitch are shrinking the distance between broadcasters and their viewers, who watch them and comment in real time. But these interactive forums also bring added layers of intensity to online bullying: trolls who post negative comments can observe the impact of their nastiness instantaneously on the shocked faces of streamers.

"When you post something online and someone comments, you don’t have to look. But there is no way for people who are streaming to shield themselves from what others are saying,” notes Yvette Wohn, an assistant professor of informatics at NJIT who researches both harassment and emerging methods for controlling it.

With grants from the National Science Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation, Wohn is currently focusing on the growing use of volunteer moderators by Twitch broadcasters, who set their own rules of engagement based on the types of communities they are trying to create. She’s looking closely at minority broadcasters and moderators, including those from the LGBT community.

Her goal is to develop tools to combat bullying. They will not all be technical. Among other options, “broadcasters can ban you – or engage you in conversation,” she says. “Some people simply don’t know what’s socially appropriate. What people don’t realize is that what people say online has a direct consequence offline. What happens online doesn’t stay online.”

While she studies harassment, Wohn, the director of NJIT’s Social Interaction Laboratory, is equally interested in the ways that technology connects people, through social supports such as virtual communities for women on campus and for people recovering from opioid addiction.

“There is a lot of discussion about whether technology makes us more lonely or less, and I think the answer is that it depends on the way you use it. I want to develop technologies to help people who are disconnected, but want to engage with other people.”

For more information on her research into online bullying and the emerging technical and human means to control it, contact Yvette Wohn here: donghee.y.wohn@njit.edu or NJIT's Office of Strategic Communications.

Ying Wu '88, chairman of China Capital Group, is in the business of connecting people and countries, specifically the United States and China. One of his main goals is to bring the benefits of advanced telecommunications technology developed in the U.S. to the people of his native country. The demand for access to telecom services is growing rapidly in China, which Wu says presents major opportunities for U.S. companies.

Since earning his master’s in electrical engineering at NJIT, Wu has become a widely known and widely respected figure in the field of telecommunications and international economic development. In 2003, China Central TV named him one of the “Top 10 Most Influential Persons” in that country’s economy. But Wu recounts that when he came to the U.S. for graduate study at NJIT he had less than $30.

In China, he had been teaching at Beijing Polytechnic University, now Beijing University of Technology. It was a time of significant change in China’s relations with Western nations, and talented individuals were encouraged to improve their knowledge and skills abroad. The downside was that the Chinese government could not provide resources adequate to fund this quest. Researching his options, Wu had determined that NJIT would be a good place for him to gain the academic credential he wanted. And at NJIT he found a very welcoming environment, along with the teaching assistantship he needed to complete his degree. “I really liked how my professors brought real-world problems into the courses,” Wu says. “That’s a very important foundation for a good education and for success later on.”

The success that Wu himself achieved after graduation began with work at Bell Communications Research and AT&T Bell Labs. Wu subsequently set an entrepreneurial course that led to producing wireline and wireless products based on U.S. technology for markets in Asia. In 1991, he co-founded Starcom Network Systems Inc. in New Jersey, which several years later merged with Unitech Telecom, Inc., a California developer of digital and wireless transmission systems. Wu became executive vice president and vice chairman of the board of directors of the new UTStarcom, as well as the founder and CEO of its China-based subsidiary, UTStarcom (China) Ltd. In addition to his current business commitments as chairman of China Capital Group, Wu is a consultant to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and senior Internet consultant to the government of Shenzhen City. Located in Guangdong Province near Hong Kong, the Shenzhen area became China’s first Special Economic Zone and one of its most successful.

Further recognition has been accorded Wu in being named an honorary professor at Beijing Industrial University and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. Generously acknowledging the role that NJIT has had in his success, Wu pledged $1.5 million in 2005 to establish the Ying Wu Endowed Chair in Wireless Communications in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. More recently, he helped to organize the NJIT Alumni Association’s most distant Regional Club, in China, and presided at the group’s first gathering. The dozen Ph.D. alumni attending elected Wu the first chair of the club by acclamation.

One of his main goals is to bring the benefits of advanced telecommunications technology developed in the U.S. to the people of his native country. The demand for access to telecom services is growing rapidly in China, which Wu says presents major opportunities for U.S. companies. Since earning his master’s in electrical engineering at NJIT, Wu has become a widely known and widely respected figure in the field of telecommunications and international economic development.

In 2003, China Central TV named him one of the “Top 10 Most Influential Persons” in that country’s economy. But Wu recounts that when he came to the U.S. for graduate study at NJIT he had less than $30. In China, he had been teaching at Beijing Polytechnic University, now Beijing University of Technology. It was a time of significant change in China’s relations with Western nations, and talented individuals were encouraged to improve their knowledge and skills abroad. The downside was that the Chinese government could not provide resources adequate to fund this quest. Researching his options, Wu had determined that NJIT would be a good place for him to gain the academic credential he wanted. And at NJIT he found a very welcoming environment, along with the teaching assistantship he needed to complete his degree. “I really liked how my professors brought real-world problems into the courses,” Wu says. “That’s a very important foundation for a good education and for success later on.” The success that Wu himself achieved after graduation began with work at Bell Communications Research and AT&T Bell Labs.

Wu subsequently set an entrepreneurial course that led to producing wireline and wireless products based on U.S. technology for markets in Asia. In 1991, he co-founded Starcom Network Systems Inc. in New Jersey, which several years later merged with Unitech Telecom, Inc., a California developer of digital and wireless transmission systems. Wu became executive vice president and vice chairman of the board of directors of the new UTStarcom, as well as the founder and CEO of its China-based subsidiary, UTStarcom (China) Ltd.

In addition to his current business commitments as chairman of China Capital Group, Wu is a consultant to the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the State Council and senior Internet consultant to the government of Shenzhen City. Located in Guangdong Province near Hong Kong, the Shenzhen area became China’s first Special Economic Zone and one of its most successful. Further recognition has been accorded Wu in being named an honorary professor at Beijing Industrial University and Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.

Generously acknowledging the role that NJIT has had in his success, Wu pledged $1.5 million in 2005 to establish the Ying Wu Endowed Chair in Wireless Communications in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. More recently, he helped to organize the NJIT Alumni Association’s most distant Regional Club, in China, and presided at the group’s first gathering. The dozen Ph.D. alumni attending elected Wu the first chair of the club by acclamation.

While an automotive engineer at Railway Express Agency, he and his colleagues developed a new standard for intermodal containers and chassis, which allows for interchangeability of equipment in every mode—rail, truck and ship. The standard is still in use. He later helped form Interpool, one of the nation’s leading container leasing corporations, and Trac Lease, now one of the largest chassis leasing companies in the United States.

The Tuchman Foundation works closely with Parkinson’s research organizations seeking grants and approvals from the National Institute of Health.

Martin has been named Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young and received a Hero Medal at The Smithsonian Institute.

Albert Dorman’s career includes numerous highlights, including service in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at the end of World War II and his work on the design and construction of Disneyland.

In fact, he is the civil engineer on record for the theme park. Al is a dedicated supporter of his community, notably having served as a trustee of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, and Director of the California and Los Angeles Chambers of Commerce, among numerous other positions.

Among the many awards and recognition he has earned—including election to the National Academy of Engineering in 1998—Al is a Distinguished Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers as well as a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. He is the only individual ever to have achieved this dual distinction.

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