Spring 2020 Colloquium Series

Friday, January 31

The Startup Life

A discussion regarding entrepreneurism at the college stage, through real stories from your fellow NJITpeers' startups as they discuss their ideas, journeys, and thoughts in their respective ventures thus far. 

Learn how to get involved in the startup community on campus with your own idea, interest, or innovation, or just come out to hear more about the startup realm and what it has to offer.

1) Samir Peshori (Junior, Computer Science and Information Technology)

Venture's Name: Glyde

Description: An application that allows for users to order and pay within food establishments directly from their phone.

2) Yashwee Kothari (Sophomore, Computer Science)

Venture's Name: ReLeaf

Description: An early stage health technology startup focusing on reliable and efficient patient-data monitoring systems.

3) Monica Weglarz (Sophomore, Business and Law)

Venture's Name: Règlements

Description: Règlements is a developing non-governmental organization that is fighting the silence and taboos that surround menstruation globally through providing period education and hygiene products.

4) Parth Agrawal (Junior, Biomedical Engineering)

Venture's Name: Comito 

Description: Streamlining communication between emergency medical services and hospital care.

Tuesday, February 4

4-5pm

IDS room 1

**One Surgeon's Journey to a Successful Private Practice

Speaker: Dr. Jason Baynes, NJIT Board of Trustee Member

Dr. Baynes will discuss the path through college, research, med school, residency process and then career opportunities in the medical field and important characteristics that are essential to be successful in medicine. 

** This colloquium fulfills the Medical Humanities colloquium requirement

Friday, February 7

11:30am-1:00pm

Atrium

Jim Stamatis CE BS '85, CEO of Louis Berger, a WSP Company

Demetrios Stamatis is the President and CEO at The Louis Berger Group, Inc. 61-year-old Jim was born in Greece, emigrating to the U.S. when he was ten-years-old. He began his collegiate education at Penn State where his excellent soccer skills allowed him to be part of the U-23 national team at the 1979 Pan American Games in preparation for the 1980 Summer Olympics. He attended Penn State and completed his undergraduate degree at NJIT. His wife’s home state of New Jersey attracted him to NJIT where he continued playing soccer. He played professional soccer for three leagues before back injuries cut short his playing career.

Shortly after his graduation from NJIT, Jim joined The Louis Berger Group where he has held several positions of increasing responsibilities including serving as the President of Louis Berger International from 2012 to 2015 and has held his current role since June 2015. In 2017, Louis Berger was given the Most Innovative Engagement Award by Career Development Services.

Canadian engineering firm, WSP Global, announced its acquisition of Louis Berger for $400M in August 2018. Gregory A. Kelly 1991 MS CE is the President and CEO, US and Latin America of WSP/Parsons Brinckerhoff.

In December 2018, Jim pledged $100k to create the Anna I. and John B. Stamatis Scholarship/John P. and Edna A. Malczynski Memorial Scholarship, his largest gift to date. Jim’s brother-in-law is John C. Malczynski 1985 BS BSIA.

Wednesday, February 12

2:30-4:00pm

Atrium

HUMOR THAT WORKS: How to Engineer Success and Happiness at Work

Speaker: Andrew Tarvin

Andrew Tarvin is an author, speaker, and corporate humorist. He graduated with distinction from The Ohio State University with a degree in Computer Science & Engineering. After graduating, he started working for Procter & Gamble as an international project manager and customer analyst. He currently lives in New York City where he is the Chief Humorist of Humor That Works, curator of the blog Humor’s Office and performs improv around the city and across the US on teams at The Magnet and ComedySportz NYC.​

Friday, February 14 

11:30-1:00pm

Atrium

Smart Cities: Efficient Management of Water, Food, Energy Nexus

Speaker: Dr. Shihab Kuran, Founder of Edison Energy

Smart Cities is an all-encompassing expression that represents an optimal situation for operating cities while maximizing the benefit to their citizens. A successful Smart Cities approach would also incorporate forward-looking management strategies, such as clean energy. The talk, led by Dr. Shihab Kuran, founder of Power Edison, will address how these concepts are implemented throughout the globe with a focus on New Jersey. We will also present case studies of cities, including Newark, New Jersey, that made major strides towards Smart Cities. Also covered will be approaches for New Jersey to achieve 100% clean energy by 2050, while creating an export economy in New Jersey based on innovations in Smart Cities. We dedicate a special effort to energy storage, which is considered the “holy grail” of the power sector. We will also address the energy, water and food nexus which cannot be tackled using traditional approaches, and that innovative solutions are required. We will end the talk by discussing the expected role of academia and the skill sets needed for university graduates.

Dr. Kuran is an investor, serial entrepreneur and a seasoned executive in the global semiconductor, power and clean tech sectors. He founded and ran several private companies and served as an executive and board member at six public companies. In the semiconductor space, he developed a business that became the sole supplier to
Intel as they launched their coveted Centrino platform. In the cleantech space, he founded and ran Petra Solar (now Systems) where he led the development of smart solar on poles throughout the PSE&G service area. Prior to founding Power Edison, he served as the President of Strategic Development at NRG, one of the largest independent power producers in the United States where he launched and ran the company’s energy storage and water-energy nexuses businesses.

Dr. Kuran was named by Greentech Media as one of the “100 People You Must Know in Smart Grid in 2012.” In 2011, he was named by NJBIZ as one of “The 100 Most Powerful People in New Jersey Business,” and his company, Petra Solar, was awarded the American Technology Award in both Smart Grid and Clean Tech. In 2010, E&Y
recognized him as the New Jersey Green Tech Entrepreneur of the Year, and Fortnightly Magazine named him as a “top guru” in the solar industry. His efforts are fueled by a vision for a peaceful world with universal access to clean and sustainable sources of food, energy and water. Dr. Kuran holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the City
University of New York and an Executive Management degree from Harvard Business School.

Tuesday, February 18

4-5pm

IDS room 1, ADHC

LAW, SCIENCE AND POLITICS—What I have learned as an environmental lawyer

Speakers: Dr. Dennis Toft and John McKinney​

Widely recognized among New Jersey’s leading environmental attorneys, Dennis Toft serves as Chair of the Environmental Group of Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC, a more than 160-attorney law firm headquartered in West Orange, NJ. He advises on all aspects of environmental law – including regulatory counseling, environmental due diligence, permitting, enforcement and environmental litigation, real estate development and environmental insurance. Known as one of state’s leading Brownfields redevelopment practitioners, he is an inductee of NAIOP New Jersey’s Hall of Fame – a recognition reserved for chapter members who have played an enduring role in support of the state’s commercial real estate sector – and was awarded with NJBIZ’s Icon Honors Award in 2019.   Mr. Toft is a member of the NJIT Board of Trustees, and holds a degree in Physics for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a law degree from Columbia University School of law. 

John McKinney delivers more than 40 years of experience in representing corporate clients facing serious environmental and occupational safety and health issues. He brings an understanding of the client’s perspective – gained from serving as in-house counsel earlier in his law career – to his law practice. An experienced Superfund, Spill Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) practitioner, John represents companies in connection with site remediations and the allocation of remediation costs associated with waste sites located in New Jersey and elsewhere.

Thursday, February 20

5-6pm

Eberhardt Hall, NJIT Alumni Center

Live Bloomberg Radio Broadcast: "The Future of Work: Impact of A.I. and Robotics” 

Arrive: 4:30 pm  /  Broadcast: 5-6 pm

Bloomberg Businessweek news anchors Carol Massar and Jason Kelly will be at NJIT for a live broadcast during which they will interview tech leaders from three of the largest and most innovative corporations in the world. 

Virginie Maillard — Head of Corporate Technology US / Head of Simulation & Digital Twin for Siemens AG       https://www.linkedin.com/in/virginiemaillard/
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe with large operations in the U.S. and globally.

Joe Miletich – Senior VP Discovery, Preclinical and Early Development at Merck & Co.       https://www.linkedin.com/in/joe-miletich-4467685/
Headquartered in New Jersey, Merck & Co., Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. 

Tuesday, February 25

4-5pm

IDS room 1, ADHC

How NJIT students and researchers tackled the two major oil spills in the US

Speakers: Michel C. Boufadel, PhD, PE​,  ADHC Faculty Fellows; and Professor, John A. Reif, Jr., Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Director, Center for Natural Resources​, NJIT​

Researchers in the Center for Natural Resources at NJIT worked closely with students to develop mitigation strategies for dealing with oil spills.  For the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, CNR personnel set up observation points at various beaches in Prince William Sound, Alaska, and analyzed the results using advanced groundwater models.  The investigation revealed that the lack of oxygen in the beach pore water prevented the microbially-mediated degradation (i.e., biodegradation) of oil.  A bioremediation study was conducted by injecting oxygen and nutrient into four beaches, and the technologies showed enhancements of degradation by many folds.  For the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the CNR personnel pursued a similar approach but also conducted studies in relation to the behavior of oil in the open water.  The personnel developed a model to predict the size of oil droplets from the wellhead, as the size plays a crucial role in the trajectory and fate of oil; large oil droplets rise rapidly (within hours) to the surface while small ones could stay submerged for months, during which they could dissolve or biodegrade.  The investigation addressed also the formation of oil particle aggregates (OPA) that form when oil interacts with sediments, and the movement of oil due to waves.  Most projects involved an experimental and numerical component. 

Thursday, March 5, Theater

7:00-9:00pm

Jim Wise Theater, Kupfrian Hall
NJIT Campus​

The Drowsy Chaperone

Music & Lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison
Book by Bob Martin and Don Mckellar
Directed by Dr. Michael Kerley

General Admission: $15  (Students can purchase tickets at the box office or at Eventbrite listed on the poster).

Wednesday, March 11

2:30-4:30pm

Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart​

**Postponed until Fall 2020

**Study Tour of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart​ in Newark

Guide: Miriam Ascarelli

This is a study tour of the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the fifth-largest cathedral in North America, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark. Please meet in the downstairs lobby of ADHC and wear appropriate footwear and clothing as attendees will walk to the cathedral.

Click here to watch a video about the Cathedral.

**This colloquium fulfills the Leadership and Civic Engagement colloquium requirement

**Postponed - to be rescheduled for Fall 2020

Friday, March 27

11:30-1:00pm

Atrium

**Postponed until Fall 2020

2020 WOMEN DESIGNING THE FUTURE CONFERENCE— “Imagining Change! New Strategies for Inspiring Community Action on Climate Change and Environmental Disruption.”

Over 360,000 babies will be born in the world this year. If climate change continues unchecked, within their lifetimes, the earth will become hotter than it has been in millions of years, triggering a cascade of environmental calamities from which no one will be immune. In recent months especially, the media has paid increasing attention to this unfolding crisis. Nevertheless, more than a third of all Americans don’t believe that global warming is real and/or that it is being caused by human actions; and less than 20% understand the strength of the scientific consensus on these points. More disturbing still, two-thirds of Americans rarely if ever discuss global warming with their family and friends.

Why?

On 27 March 2020, the NJIT’s sixth annual Women Designing the Future Conference will bring together women scientists, thought-leaders, story-tellers, artists, and innovators from many disciplines to answer that question and to explore new ways of communicating environmental realities that stimulate greater community engagement. The March conference is being hosted on NJIT’s Newark campus by the Murray Center for Women in Technology, which is celebrating its 25 anniversary this year.​

Co-sponsored by the Murray Center

**Postponed - rescheduled for  October 30, 2020

Wednesday, April 1

2:30-4pm

Atrium

**Postponed until Fall 2020

**Making Babies, Making Miscarriages: Ultrasound, Home Pregnancy Testing, and Early Pregnancy Loss​

Speaker: Lara Freidenfelds ​

Historical transformations in the experience of pregnancy over the past two centuries have made early pregnancies losses more emotionally fraught today than they were in the past. This talk examines the role of technology in this transformation, in particular, how the rituals we have developed around obstetric ultrasound and home pregnancy tests serve to make the baby “real” and encourage bonding earlier and earlier in pregnancy, at a stage when many pregnancies are destined to miscarry.
 

Bio:

Lara Freidenfelds is the author of The Myth of the Perfect Pregnancy: A History of Miscarriage in America and The Modern Period: Menstruation in Twentieth-Century America. She is a regular contributor to the peer-reviewed blog Nursing Clio and has written on miscarriage for the Washington Post. She holds a Ph.D. in history of science and an A.B. in anthropology from Harvard University, and works as an independent scholar affiliated with the Princeton Research Forum and the Independent Women Scholars’ Salon.

** This colloquium fulfills the Medical Humanities colloquium requirement.

**Postponed - to be rescheduled for Fall 2020

Friday, April 3

11:30am-1pm

Jim Wise Theater

**Canceled

Wednesday, April 8

2:30-4:00pm

Atrium

Sustainability Student Showcase

**Canceled

Wednesday, April 15

2:30-4:00pm

Virtual Discussion

Discussion on Urban League's Newark Kids Code program and the Tech House

Speaker: Darrin S. Sharif, Chief Administrative Officer & Director of Newark Kids Code, Urban League of Essex County

WebEx information will be provided to Dorman Scholars via the Honors Weekly Update.

Bio:

Darrin Sharif was born in Beth Israel Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. He attended elementary school in Newark, and middle and high school in West Orange, New Jersey. After high school Darrin attended Rutgers University where he majored in Business Management (concentration in finance), graduating Magna Cum Laude. After college, Darrin held a number of positions in the public and private sector. He developed a detailed knowledge of computers and technology after holding positions at the Summit Medical Group as a Computer Network Specialist, and as a Microsoft Office User Specialist for New Horizons, a corporate computer software training firm catering to fortune 500 companies. His knowledge of nonprofit management and program design came from serving as the Director of Operations for the Urban League of Essex County from 2004 - 2010. Darrin was introduced to local government serving as the Chief of Staff to United States Senator Cory A. Booker who from 1998 – 2002 served on the Newark Municipal Council representing the Central Ward. Darrin would later represent the Central Ward from 2010 – 2014. During Darrin’s time in office, the Central Ward led the State of New Jersey in commercial and multi-family development. Also, while in office, Darrin worked with many cross sector institutional leaders and community based organizations to make important “Human Development” investments in the most challenging, but deserving neighborhoods in the Central Ward. Darrin currently is the Chief Administrative Officer at the Urban League of Essex County, and the Director of Newark Kids Code, an exciting initiative designed to create the next generation of software engineers and introduce at-risk and technologically underrepresented youth to coding, App development, and web design, and other forms of digital technology.

**Study tour of the Tech House will be rescheduled for Fall 2020

Friday, April 17

11:30am-1:00pm

Virtual

Tuesday, April 21

4:00-5:30pm

Virtual

Graduate Programs in the Ying Wu College of Computing

 Graduating seniors will have an opportunity to learn more about the graduate programs available in the Ying Wu College of Computing.

WebEx information will be provided to Dorman Scholars via the Honors Weekly Update.

Graduate Programs in the Martin Tuchman School of Management

Graduating seniors will have an opportunity to learn more about the graduate programs available in the Martin Tuchman School of Management.

WebEx information will be provided to Dorman Scholars via the Honors Weekly Update.

Wednesday, April 22

2:30-4:00pm

Virtual

Passing the Torch Alumni Networking Colloquium

Students will have the opportunity to learn from and network with Board of Visitor members of the Honors College.​ Business casual attire is recommended.​

WebEx information will be provided to Dorman Scholars via the Honors Weekly Update.

Thursday, April 23

10:00-11:00am

Ballroom A and B, Campus Center​

*Postponed to Fall 2020

President's Forum and 2020 NJIT Faculty Research Showcase​

Speaker: Dr. Colin Brenan

Colin J.H. Brenan is a serial life sciences entrepreneur and senior executive with over 30 years of experience in building high growth, early-stage life science companies based on in-licensed university research.  Dr. Brenan is presently Founder/CEO and Director of the single cell instrumentation company 1CellBio Inc.; formerly Founder/Chief Commercial Officer and Director of antibody drug developer HiFiBiO Ltd (www.hifibio.com); and, a Managing Partner of the seed stage investment fund 7Pines Holding BV.  Previously he was Managing Director of the Monsanto-Atlas Seed Fund Alliance at Atlas Venture (Cambridge, USA) where he identified and invested in seed and early-stage life science companies. Prior to Atlas, Dr. Brenan was Director of Strategic Relationships for the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT) – a Partners Healthcare innovation center (Boston, MA). 

Before joining CIMIT, Dr. Brenan was the Founder, Chief Technology Officer, SVP, Business Development and a Director of BioTrove Inc. (Woburn, USA), a life science nanofluidic tools company spun-out from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and acquired by Life Technologies Inc. (LIFE:NASDAQ); and a Founder of Biocius Inc., a drug discovery instrument and service provider spun-out from BioTrove and acquired by Agilent Inc. (A:NYSE).  

Dr. Brenan is the inventor on 26 US patents, 27 non-US patents, +60 patent applications and published +50 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and reports in the fields of bio-microsystems, confocal microscopy, spectroscopic imaging, drug discovery and microsurgical robotics.  He has over a decade of experience in consulting for the US National Institutes of Health and is a reviewer for IEEE, IEE, and AIP journals.   

Dr. Brenan is an IEEE Senior Member, serves currently as the IEEE-EMBS VP of Technical Activities and is formerly Editor-in-Chief of IEEE PULSE Magazine.  He received his B.Sc. (Honors Physics), M. Eng. (Electrical), and Ph.D. (Biomedical Engineering) from McGill University (Montreal, Canada) and completed postdoctoral training at MIT (Cambridge, USA). 

Agenda

10.00 AM - 10.10 AM:  Welcome Remarks

                                     Fadi Deek, Provost and Senior Executive VP

                                    Vince DeCaprio, Vice Chair, BOT

                                    Atam Dhawan, Senior Vice Provost for Research

10.10 AM - 11.00 AM:  President’s Forum: Keynote Lecture

                                     Dr. Colin Brenan, Founder/CEO and Director of the single cell instrumentation company 1CellBio Inc.

11.00 AM - 12.30 PM:  New Faculty Presentations: Session-1 (NCE, CSLA)

12.30 PM – 1.00 PM:    Lunch and Networking

1.00 PM - 2.00 PM:      New Faculty Presentations: Session-2 (YWCC, MTSM and CoAD)

                                      TITA Seed Grant Recipients

2.00 PM - 3.00 PM:     Poster Presentations and Networking Session:

                                     New Faculty, Faculty Seed Grant and TITA Seed Grant Recipients

Friday, April 24

11:30am-1pm​

Virtual

Graduate Programs in the Hillier College of Architecture and Design

Graduating seniors will have an opportunity to learn more about the graduate programs available in the Hillier College of Architecture and Design.

WebEx information will be provided to Dorman Scholars via the Honors Weekly Update.

Tuesday, April 28

4pm-5:30pm​

Virtual

Graduate Programs in the Newark College of Engineering

Graduating seniors will have an opportunity to learn more about the graduate programs available in the Newark College of Engineering.

WebEx information will be provided to Dorman Scholars via the Honors Weekly Update.

Wednesday, April 29

2:30pm-4pm​

Virtual

Fellowships for International Experiences and Research

Dr. Lorna Ronald discusses fellowship opportunities available to scholars..

WebEx information will be provided to Dorman Scholars via the Honors Weekly Update.

Friday, May 1

11:30am-1pm​

Virtual

Graduate Programs in the College of Science and Liberal Arts

Graduating seniors will have an opportunity to learn more about the graduate programs available in the College of Science and Liberal Arts.

WebEx information will be provided to Dorman Scholars via the Honors Weekly Update.

Tuesday, May 5

4pm-5:30pm​

Virtual

JerseySTEM

WebEx information will be provided to Dorman Scholars via the Honors Weekly Update.

Wednesday, May 6

2:30-4:00pm​

Atrium

** Postponed until Fall 2020

Wind and String Ensemble

NJIT Music Initiative that features wind musicians and string musicians.​

Seating is limited to first 200 students to RSVP. If you do not RSVP, you will not be allowed to enter the colloquium.