The Albert Dorman Colloquium Series - Spring 2023

11:30am - 1:00pm | GITC room 2311 (Dieter Weissenreider Lab) (Registration required - register here)

Speaker: Justin Suriano, Assistant Director of Experiential Learning and Making

MAKE104 is an interactive training that will cover the basics of 2D & 3D modeling utilizing Autodesk Fusion 360 software, offered for free to students. Participants will learn to navigate Fusion 360 software and its features, as well as the basics of creating 2D sketches and the 3D modeling operations that can be done with them. Focus is placed on how modeling software plays a part in manufacturing, specifically at the Makerspace! Participants are strongly encouraged to bring to training laptops with Fusion 360 installed and an active Autodesk account. A 3-button mouse is also strongly encouraged. You must have taken Make 101 prior to taking this course.

Justin Suriano is the Assistant Director of Experiential Learning and Making of the New Jersey Institute of Technology’s academic Makerspace, which opened December 2018. Prior to managing the NJIT Makerspace, Mr. Suriano could be found on the sets of major motion pictures and television shows in Los Angeles, working as a set lighting technician. He returned to school in the summer of 2014 for a bachelor’s and master's degree in mechanical engineering, completing both degrees at NJIT by December of 2020. His background is in all forms of additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing.

Newark College of Engineering (NCE) - ADHC co-sponsored colloquium

Maximum 24 participants

2:30pm - 4:00pm | Atrium, NJIT Campus Center (Registration required - register here)

Speakers:  Paulo B. Pinho, MD, FAAP, FACP – VP and Medical Director of Innovation; Availity & Owais Aftab, BS, MS2 – 2nd year medical Student at Rutgers-NJMS

This colloquium will focus on:

1. The ubiquity of electronic health records (EHRs) in clinical practice for the documentation of care journeys
2. Trends in science, technology, medicine and data and how medical knowledge has advance, data volumes have increased, patient volume and complexity has increased
3. Are standards and technology truly harnessing the full potential of developments in science and medicine the way they do in other industries?
4. Reasons and challenges posed by data volume, velocity and variety in clinical data
5. Why EHR is the answer and explain solutions that are necessary to enhance EHR usability
6. Data equity based on a study performed based on the collaboration of Diameter Health and students at Rutgers Medical School

Dr. Paulo Pinho is currently the Vice President & Medical Director of Innovation for Diameter Health (now part of Availity). He provides clinical expertise and thought leadership on existing and emerging regulations, quality measures, healthcare data standards and technologies relevant to Diameter Health solutions.
Prior to his current role, he was the Chief Medical Officer at Optimum Life Reinsurance and the Lead Medical Director for Prudential International Insurance responsible for global innovation for Prudential’s markets in Asia and Latin America.
Paulo has practiced Medicine for close to 20 years – he is dual board certified in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics and is a Diplomat of the Board of Insurance Medicine. He remains clinically active, while also heavily involved in public speaking and publication in industry journals.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science from New Jersey Institute of Technology and his medical degree from Rutgers – New Jersey Medical School. He is an active volunteer in local and national leadership roles with the Arthritis Foundation and in an organization that provides on-site and remote care to a village-based clinic near Leogane, Haiti. He enjoys running and has completed a half marathon in all 50 states.

Owais Aftab is a second-year medical student at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, New Jersey pursuing an M.D. with a Distinction in Urban Health that matriculated as a part of the seven-year medical program in coordination with the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Owais graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and worked at Johnson & Johnson: Ethicon as an engineering intern in supply chain mastering data management and in research & development for a year. Owais also won a Best Early-Stage Startup Award from Nokia Bell Labs for an automated auditory diagnostic app idea, and he worked as an intern at the New Jersey Health Foundation’s Foundation Venture Capital Group. Owais is interested in the intersection of medicine, technology, and business, and he hopes to use his medical education to both serve patients while driving broader societal impact through innovation.

Medical Humanities Colloquium

11:30am - 1:00pm | IDS1, 2nd floor Honors Hall (Registration required - register here)

Speaker: Farid Alisafaei, Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Physical changes in the extracellular environment, due to aging or diseases such as fibrosis, obesity, and diabetes, affect various cellular functions such as gene expression, proliferation, and differentiation. Understanding how cells sense and respond to physical changes can lead to novel therapeutic modalities and pathways against diseases. In this talk, an integrated theoretical and experimental approach is presented to elucidate how cells sense and respond to mechanical signals from the extracellular environment, enabling us to understand and harness the role of force and mechanics in physiological and pathological processes.

Dr. Farid Alisafaei came to NJIT from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was an NIH-T32 (National Institute of Health) postdoctoral fellow and member of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Engineering Mechanobiology. His lab develops integrated computational and experimental tools to understand and harness the role of mechanics in physiological processes such as wound healing and stem cell migration as well as in pathological processes such as fibrosis and cancer progression.

Newark College of Engineering (NCE) - ADHC co-sponsored colloquium

Medical Humanities Colloquium

2:30pm - 4:00pm | Atrium, NJIT Campus Center (Registration required - register here)

Honors first year scholars will present their proposals for increasing and sustaining biodiversity through a campus planting. The NJIT Urban Ecology Lab and Real Estate Development & Capital Operations teams will provide the context for this project and select the winning team. Join us to support the scholars and learn about our sustainability efforts.

City Leadership & Civic Engagement Colloquium

2:30pm - 4:00pm | CKB room 303 (Registration required - register here)

Speaker: Jared M. Green, PE, D.GE, F.ASCE, Principal, Langan Engineering

Hear from civil/geotechnical engineer Jared Green, PE, D.GE., F.ASCE as he discusses his rise in the industry as a black engineer. Jared Green comes to NJIT during Black History Month to shed light on his personal and professional experiences as an engineer in the industry. Expect him to talk about his biggest challenges, engineering ethics, his career path, hopes for the future, and a message to the youth. 

Jared is a geotechnical engineer and land development engineering consultant with extensive experience ranging from initial due diligence and subsurface explorations to construction phase oversight for complex projects throughout the New York Metropolitan Area, Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware and throughout the Mid-Atlantic Region. He leads multi-discipline projects that include the monitoring of geotechnical instrumentation; analysis, design and construction inspection of foundation systems and retaining structures; evaluation of earth and rock slope stability; and preparation of geotechnical engineering reports. Throughout his career, Mr. Green has worked on numerous projects in various vertical markets requiring creative design solutions in order to perform excavation alongside historic structures and sensitive below-grade transit tunnels.

Jared serves on the Executive Committee for the Salvadori Center as the Development Chair; Board of Directors of the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York as Vice Chair and Programs Chair; was a past chair of the American Society of Civil Engineers Metropolitan Section – Geotechnical Institute; is on the Micropile Technical Committee for the Deep Foundations Institute; and is the host of the Geotechnical Engineering Podcast through the Engineering Management Institute.

Jared’s professional achievements have been recognized by many awards programs over the years. In 2017, Jared was named one of ENR New York’s Top 20 Under 40. He was also selected for New York On Tech’s 2019 Innovator & Disruptor Award in Engineering and named one of GlobeSt. Real Estate Forum’s 50 Under 40. In 2019, he was inducted into the Academy of Geo-Professionals as a Diplomat of Geotechnical Engineering, making him (at the time) one of the youngest engineers in the world to receive this certification. The Chi Epsilon Chapter at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign initiated Jared as a Chapter Honor Member. Crain’s New York Business selected Jared as one of the 2021 Notable Black Leaders and Executives.

With over two decades of practical geotechnical engineering experience, Jared has been considered a reliable and relatable resource for real estate professionals. He is a geotechnical practice leader that has managed major projects throughout New York, including VIA 57 West, Waterline Square, and the New York City Police Academy. He now leads the geotechnical teams in Langan’s Philadelphia and Pittsburgh offices, where he continues to provide creative and cost-effective design solutions for complex projects with challenging below grade conditions.

event co-sponsors: NJIT American Society of Civil Engineers, NJIT National Society of Black Engineers, Albert Dorman Honors College

City Leadership & Civic Engagement Colloquium

3:00pm - 4:30pm | NJII Agile Strategy Lab (CKB L-70) (Registration required - register here)

At the start of your career, raising a salary offer by just $2,000 can yield $480,000 in incremental earnings across your working lifetime! Knowing how to advocate for yourself can be tough, especially for those transitioning out of college. This workshop will empower you through key mindset shifts and strategies for compensation research & conversations, with ample time for Q & A.

Workshop Highlights:
 Perspective shifts to reduce fear and deepen your confidence
 Understanding elements of compensation beyond annual salary
 Avenues for compensation data research, including hidden gems
 Anticipating tricky recruiter conversations and how you’ll respond
 How bias affects pay for women in tech
 Your rights under New Jersey’s Equal Pay Act & other local legislation

Shell Bobev is the founder of Disrupt The Gap, a platform to empower women’s lifelong financial independence through a multi-front disruption of the gender pay gap. After more than a dozen years of corporate experience, she recognized a calling to address this pervasive issue in inclusive and innovative ways. Among other degrees, Shell holds a Masters of Adult & Continuing Education from Rutgers, a Certification in Human Resources Development from Rutgers, and a Certification in Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion from CADIA. As an educator, she has developed thousands of people across corporate, university, and community settings, and is a frequent presenter at NJIT.

www.WeDisruptTheGap.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shellbobev/

Ying Wu College of Computing (YWCC) - ADHC co-sponsored colloquium

Women With STEAM (WWS) Colloquium

11:45 am - 1:00pm | Newark Museum of Art (49 Washington St, Newark) - meet at the museum at 11:45am

(Registration required and spaces are limited - register here)

Join us for a guided tour at the Newark Museum of Art featuring museum highlights. Advanced registration required. Max. 25 participants. Meet at the Newark Museum of Art at 11:45am.

City Leadership & Civic Engagement Colloquium

1:00pm - 2:30pm | Tiernan Lecture 2 (Registration required - register here)

Speaker: Dr. Manuel de Lera Ruiz, Principal Scientist, Discovery Chemistry, Merck

Malaria is a devastating disease that directly effects over half a million people each year with the most devastating and debilitating effects on young children.
Antimalarial drug discovery by and large is focused on the identification of novel drugs to treat and prevent the disease due to the emergence and spread of Plasmodium strains resistant to existing medicines. In particular arteminisin resistance which has now spread from SE Asia and is firmly established in Africa (as reported at ASTMH in Seattle Oct 2022).
The Merck Research Labs and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) (led by Prof. Alan Cowman), have teamed up on identifying novel drug candidates by targeting the Plasmodium parasite via newly identified essential aspartyl proteases. The team has been greatly assisted in this endeavor with generous funding for the collaboration from the Wellcome Trust. The team was successful at identifying potent dual protease targeting hits that lead to the identification of an important tool compound WM382 with subnanomolar inhibitory potency in vitro. This was accomplished through targeted phenotypic screening and structure-guided medicinal chemistry to optimize orhan (MoA unknown) hit compounds. WM382 was also used to establish impressive in vivo proof-of-concept efficacy not only on blood stage parasitemia but also potent pharmacodynamic effects in the sexual/mosquito and liver stages of replication. Finally, Justin Boddey’s team determined that defective parasites under WM382
drug coverage yield some interesting immunological effects in vivo that may be discussed. This work was supported by The Wellcome Trust (109662/Z/15/Z, 2027/Z/16/Z).

Manuel de Lera Ruiz received his B.Sc. in chemistry from the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid in 1997. After completion of his Ph.D. in 2001 from the University of Nottingham, he joined Professor Leo A. Paquette research labs as a postdoctoral fellow. In 2003, he started a career in Medicinal Chemistry at Schering-Plough
Research Institute in New Jersey. Manuel moved to Merck's West Point site in 2012 where he worked for three and a half years in Discovery Process Chemistry. In 2016 he moved back to medicinal chemistry at West Point where he is currently co-leading the Malaria plasmepsin inhibitors program.

CSLA - ADHC co-sponsored colloquium

Medical Humanities Colloquium

7:00pm | Jim Wise Theatre, Kupfrian Hall, NJIT (Registration and ticket purchase required - register here)

Purchase tickets here ($15)

In a Gotham-like city, a terrible water shortage, caused by a 20-year drought, has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The citizens must use public amenities, regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging admission for one of humanity's most basic needs. Amid the people, a hero decides that he's had enough and plans a revolution to lead them all to freedom! 

11:30am - 1:00pm | Atrium, NJIT Campus Center (Registration required - register here)

"The Metaverse” was one of the top buzzwords for 2022. Following Facebook’s re-branding to Meta and extensive advertising for Virtual Reality, many have been wondering what exactly the Metaverse is, when it will be real, and what it will mean for their day-to-day experiences. This colloquium will breakdown where “The Metaverse” comes from, what it might be like, what the technologies are that will make it possible, and how they are already impacting our day to day.  

Maggie Smith is an Experience Design Lead at Avanade (a global consulting firm created by Accenture and Microsoft). She grew up on Long Island and began her career with Avanade as intern during her study of Business Administration and Visual Arts. Maggie specializes in experience strategy and user research and has experience designing digital products for a variety of industries. In her spare time, she experiments with emerging technologies and exploring cognitive psychology research.

Martin Tuchman School of Management (MTSM) - ADHC co-sponsored colloquium

2:30pm - 4:30pm | Atrium, NJIT Campus Center (Registration required - register here)

Join us for a conversation with Richard Sweeney '82, '18 (HON) (Keurig Founding Engineer) who will discuss the topic Infantry to Industry: Training, Teamwork and Leadership.

9:00am - 3:00pm | Campus Center Ballroom A (Registration required - register here)

Scholars may attend any of these sessions to count for the colloquium:

9 - 11: SESSION #1: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE—UNDERSTANDING THE ISSUES & OPPORTUNITIES

11 - 12: SESSION #2: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE

(lunch)

12:30 - 2: SESSION #3: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, THE ENVIRONMENT & THE GLOBAL SOUTH

NJIT’s annual Women Designing the Future Conference takes place on March 31 this year and focuses on the theme “Artificial Intelligence/ Real Human Lives: making technology work for all of us.” Conference speakers will drill below the surface of the current hype about an imminent AI takeover and explore genuine ethical concerns about fairness, accountability, and transparency in data science practice—exploring the ways in which we can prevent advances in A.I. from exacerbating existing systemic discrimination and social injustice. 

Conference speakers include Dr Julia Stoyanovich, Associate Professor in NYU’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Tandon School of Engineering, and the Center for Data Science.

Women With STEAM colloquium

4:00pm - 5:30pm | Weston Gallery (Registration required - register here) 

Speaker: Christine Gaspar, Community Engaged Designer and former Executive Director of the Center for Urban Pedagogy

So much of our daily lives is the product of some form of design—the home we live in, the streets we navigate, the policies that determine what rights we have. But who gets to design those things? Who is design for and who is it by? And what power do designers really have to change things? Christine Gaspar will draw on her experiences working in public policy and community-engaged design practice to explore what it means to design for social change, how we as designers navigate our own power, and what we owe to communities impacted by our work.

Christine Gaspar is a designer and planner with over 15 years of experience in community-engaged design practice. From 2009 to 2022, she was the Executive Director of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a New York-based nonprofit whose mission is to use the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement in partnership with historically marginalized communities. Prior to that, she was Assistant Director of the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio in Biloxi, Mississippi, where she provided architectural design and community planning services to low-income communities of color recovering from Hurricane Katrina. She is a founding member of the Design Futures Student Leadership Forum Advisory Board, and holds Masters in Architecture and in Urban Planning from MIT, and Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from Brown University. Her work is driven by a belief that design can be a powerful tool, particularly when it’s used to support community-led visions for change.

ADHC - HCAD co-sponsored colloquium

11:30am - 1:00pm | GITC 1400 (Registration required - register here)

Hear from current and former students about why and how to apply for prestigious fellowships that help you to travel internationally and gain research experience. They will share tips about the process and how it is has helped them to think through and write about their goals.

2:30pm - 4:00pm | Atrium, NJIT Campus Center (Registration required - register here)

"Passing the Torch" is a networking roundtable event for Honors alumni and students.

See participants bios here.

7:00pm | Jim Wise Theater, NJIT Campus (Registration and ticket purchase required - register here)

Ticket purchase is required ($15)

The Oak Table By Michèle Raper Rittenhouse.   Directed by Rodney Reyes and Intimacy Directed by Emily Edwards.

Elaine is in a slump.  The landlord is after money for rent, her girlfriend, a perpetual house guest who just lost her job and can't help, and all her neighborhood friends (mostly men) are spirling in for the now free recent divorcee, Elaine who is desperate to write a book that will solve all her problems.  During all this chaos, the street people are on the go under the blue moon which reflects the passion of the night.  The unhoused woman park neighbor is a poet and artist and sees everything and never misses a beat in Tompkins Square Park as Elaine's friends descend on her small apartment and set up a rent party to 'help' set things right.  And in the midst of all this craziness, a lost diary of the fourteenth-century Sister Agatha is discovered and hidden in Elane's portfolio much to her chagrin.  Everyone finds excitement as they wander the streets and hallways in this 1980 retro romance. 

11:30am - 1:00pm | Campus Center Atrium (Registration required - register here) 

Senator Raymond Lesniak and Paul Profeta will discuss Senator Lesniak's new book, Cultivating Justice in the Garden State, My Life in the Colorful World of New Jersey Politics. Described as a "Must-read masterpiece", Profeta will ask Senator Lesniak questions about how he learned the American political system and about his American success story.  There will be a Q&A and opportunity to meet Senator Lesniak as you receive a signed copy of his book.

Senator Lesniak, a US Army veteran, graduated from Rutgers University and St. John’s Law School. He served for forty years in the State Assembly and in the State Senate until 2018.

During his legislative tenure, Senator Lesniak sponsored the most significant environmental protection laws in the nation, abolished New Jersey’s death penalty and eliminated mass incarceration by repealing mandatory minimum sentences and expanding eligibility for treatment in place of incarceration for drug offenders.

Senator Lesniak has authored four books including Cultivating Justice in the Garden State: My Life in the Colorful World of New Jersey Politics.

After leaving the Legislature, Senator Lesniak is the Founder and President of the Lesniak Institute For American Leadership at Kean University.

Paul Profeta graduated from Harvard College and Harvard Business School. Since graduation, his career has followed three paths:

Business: Paul V. Profeta & Associates, Inc., opened in 1976, a real estate investment company that is actively engaged in procuring “value added” investment properties and net leased properties throughout the country.

Education: Profeta has lectured at Harvard, Columbia, John Hopkins and Rutgers. He has also been an integral part in collegiate educational programs at Rutgers and NJIT including The Paul Profeta Real Estate Technology, Design, and Innovation Center.

Philanthropy: Profeta has led many efforts in building up both the image and people of Newark. He also has funded many scholarships focusing on educating future business entrepreneurs and volunteered on boards including, NJIT’s Board of Overseers and Board of Trustees. 

1:00pm - 5:00pm | (Registration required and spaces are limited - register here)

Join us for a tour of NJ's Great Swamp led by a naturalist from the Somerset County park's Environmental Education Center. We will tour the land and learn about topics including the local ecology, biodiversity, sustainability and environmental threats. 

We will depart by bus from the Honors College hall at 1:00pm and return to campus around 5:00pm.

This tour is limited to 30 scholars.

2:30pm - 4:30pm | Atrium, NJIT Campus Center (Registration required - register here)