The Albert Dorman Colloquium Series - Fall 2022

11:30am - 1:00pm | Jim Wise Theater, Kupfrian Hall (Registration required - register here) 

Speaker: Majora Carter

City Leadership and Civic Engagement Colloquium

Despite decades of government and philanthropic money pouring into American low-status communities, they remain economically stagnant -- with the exception of displacement.

Successful communities and corporations promote talent-retention in order to grow and thrive. Too often, successful people from our communities measure their success by how far they get away.

How do we nudge them to stay, invest, and prosper? What is this smaller but pivotal group of people looking for that we can provide?

Majora Carter is a real estate developer, urban revitalization strategy consultant, MacArthur Fellow and Peabody Award winning broadcaster. She's responsible for the creation of numerous economic development, technology inclusion & green-infrastructure projects, policies and job training & placement systems. She is also a lecturer at Princeton University's Keller Center.

Majora is quoted on the walls of the Smithsonian Museum of African-American History and Culture in DC: "Nobody should have to move out of their neighborhood to live in a better one” - which is also the subtitle of her 2022 book, Reclaiming Your Community. http://www.majoracartergroup.com/bio.html

7:00pm - 9:00pm | Jim Wise Theater, Kupfrian Hall (Registration required - register here) 

Why is We Americans? - movie screening and discussion

City Leadership and Civic Engagement Colloquium

Being streamed online here until Monday, Sept. 26, 2022. The password is @WIWA.

11:30am - 1:00pm | Makerspace Phase 2 Training Room (GITC 1223) (Registration required - register here) 

Speaker: Justin Suriano

MAKE104: Intro to CAD is an interactive training that will cover the basics of 2D & 3D modeling utilizing Autodesk Fusion 360 software, offered for free to students and others in academia. 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! To get the most from this training, participants are strongly encouraged to bring laptops installed with Fusion 360 and an active Autodesk account. A 3-button mouse is also strongly encouraged to effectively use the modeling software.

Justin Suriano is the manager/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.

Participation is limited to 23 scholars.

2:30pm - 4:00pm | Agile Strategy Lab (CKB L-70) (Registration required - register here)

Innovating for a Better Tomorrow: How Companies Leverage Science and Technology to Drive Positive Social Impact

Technology plays a central role in so much of our daily lives, from how we shop, how we drive, and how we work to how we play. But as we look ahead to an uncertain future, companies increasingly are turning to innovations in science and technology to create a healthier, happier, and more sustainable world.

In this discussion, technology leaders from across industries will explore the ways in which technology has enabled the rapid development of life-saving vaccines, expanded opportunities to create sustainable food systems, and sparked new conversations about how technology can create a more equitable society. Speakers will also discuss how today's college students can serve as a force for positive change as we contemplate the world-changing innovations to come.

MODERATOR: Steven Norton, Co-head of CIO Networks, Research and Media at Metis Strategy

Steven Norton oversees podcasts, events, research and executive networks at Metis Strategy, an advisory firm at the intersection of business, technology, and innovation. In this role, he works to nurture a vibrant community of technology executives and other leaders at the forefront of corporate innovation. He also collaborates with colleagues on a variety of editorial projects, including articles, whitepapers, and podcasts.

Steven previously was a journalist at The Wall Street Journal, where he covered enterprise technology executives and the rise of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain. Prior to joining WSJ, he helped launch an online community for financial professionals at Thomson Reuters and completed business reporting internships at Bloomberg News and The Charlotte Observer.

Steven holds a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with minors in business journalism and Spanish. He is the former chair of the Alumni Association board of directors at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, his high school alma mater. Follow him on @Steven_Norton.

PANELIST: Namrata Shah, Managing Director, PwC

Namrata H Shah is a PwC Advisory Managing Director in the Microsoft Practice and is located in Jersey City, NJ. She has more than 22 years of professional information technology consulting experience and is a leader with a track record of establishing and expanding relationships with her clients. In her present role, Nam works with clients to develop a competitive advantage through cloud technology leveraging AI/ML and orchestrates cost-effective and reliable solutions for global organizations.

Prior to joining PwC, Namrata was Sr. Director - Cloud, Software Engineering & Application Modernization Sr. Director for Avanade, a global IT consulting firm. In that role she was responsible for application transformation and development. Before joining Avanade, she was Regional Director - Applications and Cloud Technologies for Capgemini, also an IT consulting firm.

Namrata has a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology and Biotechnology and a Master's in Computer and Software Applications from K.J. Somaiya Institute, Bombay. She is the recipient of Microsoft’s Prestigious Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for two consecutive years, and is an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Hero. Namrata is an active publisher of AWS tutorials on Facebook and YouTube. Follow Namrata at @CNamratha.

PANELIST: Rusmir Niksic, Senior Vice President North America, Croda, Inc.

Russ Niksic is responsible for the commercial and operational functions of the company’s life sciences and consumer care businesses, including sales, marketing, and research and development. His responsibilities support Croda's broad range of bio-based ingredients used in products that touch our lives every day, from life-saving pharmaceuticals and sun protection to crop yields and seed enhancement.

Russ has a wealth of experience and a successful record of leading regional and global business units. Prior to joining Croda in 2021, Russ was the Senior VP – Head of Global BU with Clariant, where he filled several roles over the last decade, in both Switzerland and the United States. Prior to Clariant, he worked at SABIC in Saudi Arabia.  

He holds a BA in Chemistry from Wittenberg University, an MBA from The Open University, and completed sustainability coursework with the University of Cambridge. Croda, a 2021 World Sustainability Award Winner, is recognized as having an outstanding graduate internship program. Croda’s purpose, Smart science to improve lives™, is reflected throughout all aspects of the business including STEM outreach, employee volunteerism, and philanthropy.

PANELIST: Michelle Milentijevic, Vice President, Talent Acquisition at Fiserv

Michelle Milentijevic is Vice President, Talent Acquisition at Fiserv, a global fintech company that moves money and information in a way that moves the world.  She joined Fiserv in January 2022 and is thrilled to lead the talent acquisition efforts to build one of the largest Fintech hubs on the East Coast, Fiserv Innovation @ The Park in Berkeley Heights, NJ which opened in September 2022.

Michelle is a transformational leader with experience in innovative strategies and talent transformations within financial institutions, big data and fintech.  She loves relationship building and developing & coaching high performing teams. Prior to joining Fiserv, Michelle spent 7 years with Dun & Bradstreet, a leading provider of business decisioning data and analytics; 10 years with AllianceBernstein, a global asset management firm in New York City; and 10 years with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Michelle brings the A to STEAM and earned a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from West Virginia University and pursued graduate studies at New York University. She loves the fast pace and intellectual curiosity of the finance and tech worlds.

PANELIST: Nabil Mouline, Director, Pfizer

Nabil Mouline is Director of Business Innovation at Pfizer, responsible for the company’s strategy, business development, portfolio management, pipeline prioritization and formation of new business ventures. In this role, Nabil works on strategies to bring Pfizer innovative medicine and vaccines to the largest number of patients and
markets around the world.

For the 20 years prior to rejoining Pfizer, Nabil held various roles across the healthcare ecosystem, working for both payors and providers, leading a healthtech startup, and providing consulting services to a variety of innovation based Pharmaceutical and Medical devices companies. Nabil started his career as an Engineer in the Utilities industry, servicing Water and Electricity operators in Europe, Africa, and Latin America.

Nabil Holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Technologies of Compiegne in France, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from INSEAD. Outside of work, Nabil is a member of the Board of Directors of JerseySTEM, a nonprofit dedicated to bridging the gender gap in STEM education and careers by bringing afterschool STEM education to underserved middle school girls across New Jersey. Nabil lives with his family in Chatham, NJ.

This colloquium is co-sponsored by JerseySTEM.

2:30pm - 4:00pm | Agile Strategy Lab (CKB L-70) (Registration required - register here)

Speaker: Gabriel A Vecchi Ph.D., Professor of Geosciences - Princeton University

Discuss climate prediction, extreme weather events, and hurricanes.

Gabriel Vecchi is a Professor in the Department of Geosciences and the High Meadows Environmental Institute and is Director of the Cooperative Institute for Modeling the Earth System. Prior to coming to Princeton University in 2017, he was a Research Oceanographer and the Head of the Climate Variations and Predictability Group at the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory (GFDL) in Princeton, New Jersey, where he was since 2003. His research focuses on understanding short- and long-term changes to the oceans and atmosphere, including the monsoons, El Niño, and the impact of climate on tropical cyclones, weather extremes, and global patterns of rainfall and drought.  

Gabriel has received a number of awards including the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the American Meteorological Society’s Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award, the Ascent Award from the Atmospheric Sciences Section of the American Geophysical Union, the Daniel L. Albritton Outstanding Science Communicator Award, and the U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal. Gabriel’s Ph.D. in Oceanography is from the University of Washington. His undergraduate degree in Mathematics is from Rutgers University.

Gabriel is a member of NOAA’s Climate Observing Systems Council, the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Earth System Model Scientific Steering Committee and U.S. National Committee for Geodesy and Geophysics at the National Academy of Sciences. Gabriel was a Lead Author in Working Group I of the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report. He has authored or coauthored of over 200 peer-reviewed publications.

Co-sponsored by Center for Natural Resources & Technology and Society Forum

Pizza will be provided

11:30am - 1:00pm | IDS 1 (2nd floor of Honors building) (Registration required - register here)

Speaker: Saikat Pal

Exoskeletons have tremendous potential to improve mobility and quality of life. However, these devices are relatively new and there are several barriers to successful translation of these devices for in-home and community use. We are developing new technologies to address these barriers and accelerate translation for widespread use. 

Saikat Pal is an Assistant Professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department at New Jersey Institute of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Denver in 2008. Dr. Pal is a member of the Orthopaedic Research Society, the American Society of Biomechanics, and the International Society of Biomechanics. He has authored more than 25 journal articles and 50 conference presentations. Dr. Pal is the director of the Computational Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation Engineering lab and the Life Sciences Motion Capture lab at NJIT. 

Newark College of Engineering (NCE) Co-sponsored Colloquium

2:30pm - 4:00pm | GITC 1100 (Registration required - register here)

Speaker: Suzanne Ishee, Director of NJIT Hub for Creative Placemaking at MTSM, Events Manager and Associate Administrator of Paul Profeta Real Estate Center

Who are we doing this for?  Why are we doing it?  And how do we keep it going?  In this session, we will discuss a collaborative and creative approach to the making of “place” that is conducted with, for and by the people who live and work in the community.  A focus of this approach is longterm thinking, planning and “doing” for sustainable impact and stewardship.

Suzanne Ishee is an Emmy and Drama Desk Award winning producer, actor and playwright veteran of the theatre and concert stages. In 2009, she expanded her arts career into Creative Placemaking supporting the advancement of the field of practice through promotion, thought leadership, and training. She designs and develops CP content for numerous sector-specific workshops  (Real Estate, Downtown Management, Conservation, Public Art et al). She developed the curriculum for the Certificate in Creative Placemaking at NJIT and provides external expertise as Co-Chair of the Livable Task Force for NJ Transportation Planning Authority, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation “Food Security in NJ” working group, the Morris Canal Greenway Redevelopment Working Group, the stewardship council of the 3-state/9-county Scenic, Wild Delaware River Geotourism Initiative. Since its inception, she remains an active member of Sustainable Jersey’s Arts and Creative Culture Task Force through evaluation of NJ municipality’s annual submissions.

Martin Tuchman School of Management (MTSM) Co-sponsored Colloquium

3:45 pm - 5:00 pm | Agile Strategy Lab (CKB L-70) (Registration required - register here)

Bloomberg Businessweek radio hosts Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec will moderate a 1-hour live broadcast from the NJIT campus, talking with a panel of leading experts about challenges and advances in green energy and climate adaptation, with particularly attention paid to coastal and waterfront issues.

Dr. Steven Cowley is director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, a world leader in fusion energy research. PPPL is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory managed by Princeton University. Dr. Cowley, a theoretical physicist and international authority on fusion energy, became the seventh Director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory in 2018, and a Princeton professor of astrophysical sciences. Most recently president of Corpus Christi College and professor of physics at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom since 2016, Cowley previously was chief executive officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and head of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy.

Lathrop Craig, PSEG senior vice president and chief commercial officer, leads PSEG’s offshore wind ventures, which include partnerships in multiple generation and transmission development projects in the Mid-Atlantic region. PSEG is partnering with Danish energy giant Ørsted, which has developed more than 28 offshore wind farms and 17 offshore transmission systems across the world’s oceans. PSEG owns and maintains over 2,044 miles of underground and aboveground transmission lines, and its New Jersey-based utility has been recognized as the most reliable utility in the Mid-Atlantic for the past 20 years.

Dena Prastos is a marine architect, civil engineer and founder of Nyack-based environmental consulting firm Indigo River, a women-owned transdisciplinary design firm focused on waterfront architecture, resiliency, and climate adaptation. Dena has consulted on a range of projects, including lower Manhattan's $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) Project and Robert De Niro’s $600 million Wildflower Studios project in Astoria, Queens. Dena is an Alaska native and graduate of NJIT. 

Carol Massar is an anchor with Bloomberg Radio and Television, co-host of “Bloomberg Businessweek” Radio. An award-winning journalist with more than 25 years of experience, Carol joined Bloomberg TV in 1999 and has anchored and reported around the globe including from World Economic Forum in India, APEC Women and the Economy Summit, Milken Global Conference, World Business Forum, and more. She was a correspondent for “The Asian Wall Street Journal Report” and “The Wall Street Journal Report” produced by Dow Jones and later by CNBC. 

Tim Stenovec is an anchor at Bloomberg “Quicktake" and the co-host of "Bloomberg Businessweek” Radio. Bloomberg “Quicktake" is a 24/7 streaming news network that provides a global view on the biggest stories for a new generation of leaders and professionals. Tim has reported from The White House, Capitol Hill, the New York Stock Exchange, and in the field throughout the US.

2:30pm - 4:00pm | Virtual via Webex (Registration required - register here)

Speaker: Vicki Salemi, Nationally recognized career expert

If you need help when it comes to networking with everyone from classmates to board members and building professional relationships, we've got your back. If you're not sure how to build your LinkedIn profile (and what to do with it once it's live), how to leverage informational interviews, and how to ultimately negotiate your salary and beyond, this Colloquium is for you! We'll cover all of these topics and include time for q&a.

Vicki Salemi is a career expert for Monster and has previously worked in corporate HR and recruiting for 15 years. She’s an author, speaker, ghostwriter, career coach, HR/people officer consultant, and nationally syndicated columnist, writing “Vicki on Careers” for Tribune. She writes for Forbes, AARP, Hearst, and The New York Post’s @work section. She has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, national and local broadcasts and is quoted regularly in outlets such as the New York Times, CNN.com and Insider. More info: www.vickisalemi.com @vickisalemi on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

8:30am - 2:00pm | Ballroom A/B and Gallery, Campus Center, NJIT (Registration required before Oct. 10 - register here) 

NAI-NJIT Chapter Workshop
Sustainable Societies: Data Revolution

Innovations to Global Solutions for and Next Generation Cyber-infrastructure

October 27, 2022; 8.30 AM – 2.00 PM
Ballroom A/B and Gallery, Campus Center, NJIT

Abstract: Advances in computers, mobile devices, nanotechnologies and cyberinfrastructure are at the vanguard of profound transformations across society, in communications, healthcare, business and commerce, defense and even politics. Fueling this revolution are vast amounts of data and data analytics, gathered from a proliferating number of sources, that bring new information to manage almost every application around us to co-evolve in the society.

As we grow more reliant on high-performing digital infrastructure, however, it is paramount that we ensure the integrity and security of the data we’re processing. From social networking to point-of-care technologies in healthcare, to, more generally, data analytics that help us manage and mitigate risks around us, peoples’ lives depend on it. Data that is inaccurate, partial, or manipulated, that is viewed out of context or that fails to represent diverse populations, for example, can be more harmful than no data at all.

This National Academies of Inventors-NJIT Workshop on Sustainable Societies, the third in a series launched last year, will provide an open forum for researchers, policymakers, government regulators and business and nonprofit leaders to share their different perspectives and niche expertise on the data revolution. Among other topics, we will hear about the state of advances in data analytics, informatics infrastructure, data-fueled approaches in healthcare including cancer management along with the experiences of a serial technology entrepreneur. The Open forum will also focus on current and future trends in using data analytics, machine learning and AI in addressing complex societal and technology needs but also learn how to evolve with the trustworthy dependence on their use in our lives.

Draft Program Agenda
8.30 AM – 9.00 AM: Breakfast, Registration and Electronic PPT Poster Set-up
9.00 AM – 9.10 AM: Welcome Remarks:

Atam Dhawan, Interim Provost and Senior Executive VP, NJIT
Teik Lim, President, NJIT

Office of Research

9.10 AM – 9.40 AM: Distinguished Keynote Remarks: Innovation and Patents

Elizabeth L. Dougherty, Eastern Regional Outreach Director, Office of
the Under Secretary and Director, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
9.40 AM – 9.50 AM: NAI-NJIT Workshop Series on Sustainable Societies: Data Revolution;

Introduction to Distinguished Keynote Speaker
Atam Dhawan, Interim Provost and Senior Executive VP, NJIT

9.50 AM – 10.20 AM: Distinguished Keynote Talk

Michael Doyle, PhD, Entrepreneur and Former Director for the Center for Knowledge Management at the University of California, San Francisco
10.20 AM – 11.20 PM: Panel Discussion

Kamalika Sandell (Chair), CIO, NJIT
David Bader, PhD, DP, Director IDS, NJIT
David Foran, PhD, CIO, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
Kunal Shah, Global Head of Enterprise Architecture at Newmark
Akshay Dhawan, Senior Director, Data Straggles, Informa

11.20 AM -11.25 PM Introduction to Distinguished Keynote Speaker

Atam Dhawan

11.25 PM – 12.55 PM: Distinguished Keynote Talk

Benjamin Shneiderman, PhD, Distinguished

University Professor, Computer Science, and Founding Director: Human Computer Interaction Lab University of Maryland; NAI Fellow, NAE Member
11.55 PM – 12.00 PM: Closing Remarks
Atam Dhawan
12.00 PM – 1.00 PM: Lunch and Networking
1.00 PM – 2.00 PM: Data Science, AI and Research Computing Showcase

NJIT Research Computing and IT
IDS: Center for AI Research; Center for Big Data; Cybersecurity Center;
SABOC
CAMS
AI and VR Research Labs

ADHC scholars are expected to attend at least 2 hours of the workshop to receive credit.

12:00noon - 5:30pm  | Bus will depart from NJIT Honors Hall to Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York City) (Registration required and spots are limited - register here) 

Visit and tour the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York City) with fellow ADHC scholars. 

2:30pm - 4:00pm | GITC 1100 (Registration required - register here)

Speaker: Dr. Aminur Rahman

The world around us can be overwhelmingly complex. Yet, at the most fundamental level this complexity often arises from simple interactions. The simple interactions can be modeled using mathematical equations that are accessible to a large variety of individuals. Complex jargon and notation, while necessary at times, may impede discussions and lead to exclusion. In our ever more interconnected world it is imperative to make sure individuals from a diverse variety of backgrounds feel included in discussions to solve future problems in an equitable manner. Let us explore problems from Physics, Engineering, Biology, and Sociology using simple accessible mathematical models.

Dr. Aminur Rahman is an instructor of applied mathematics at the University of Washington in Seattle. Amin's research involves formulating mechanistic models that agree with experiments of real world systems and analyzing them via rigorous mathematics. Currently, his focus is on modeling damped-driven systems and developing physics-inspired models in the life sciences. He has also been fortunate to work with a diverse group of graduate, undergraduate, and high school students on many of these projects. Amin received his PhD in Applied Mathematics from the New Jersey Institute of Technology under the guidance of Professor Denis Blackmore.

2:30pm - 4:00pm | IDS 1 (2nd floor of Honors building) (Registration required - register here) 

Speaker: Maria Stanko

Can we be hopeful about the future of food for a hot planet?

This colloquium will introduce students to the ADHC Faculty Fellows course BIOL 498 - Food for a Hot Planet. Human food systems have profound effects on our planet’s ecosystems. The climate changes that result from those ecosystem effects will shape the food systems of the future. The course focuses on the intersections between climate change and food and involves extensive reading, discussions, and actions on these topics. Is it possible to have learn about the impacts of climate change on global food systems and remain hopeful about the future of food? I will share the outcomes of course projects from past semesters of the course as examples of how students in the course might take action to communicate hope about the future of food.

Maria L. Stanko, PhD, is a community ecologist and Senior University Lecturer in the Dept. of Biological Sciences at NJIT, where she focuses on curriculum development and undergraduate teaching and research.  Dr. Stanko’s research examines the role of species interactions, especially between flowering plants and pollinators, in biodiversity maintenance and investigates the community-wide consequences of the disruption of these interactions through loss of biodiversity, species invasion, and global change. Her teaching and research interests also include scientific teaching, urban agriculture, and invertebrate conservation.  She is a co-director of the Urban Ecology Lab at NJIT.

Honors Faculty Fellow

8:30am - 10:00am | IDS2 (2nd floor of Honors Hall) (Registration required - register here)

Scholars will have the opportunity to learn from and network with Board of Visitor members of the Honors College in a roundtable format.

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

Speakers: Dr. Julie R. Ancis, Distinguished Professor and Interim Chair Department of Informatics NJIT; Mark Clauburg, Director of Vitriol; Dr. MaryBeth Boger, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students

This colloquium will feature an engaging short documentary which explores social media interactions from both sides of the political spectrum. Issues of belonging, virtue signaling, toxic tribalism, and misinformation are explored through humor, personal stories, and academic analysis. The film includes media personalities, political figures and NJIT Distinguished Professor Julie Ancis. A Q&A will follow.

Dr. Julie R. Ancis is a Distinguished Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Informatics. She served as Founding Director of the Cyberpsychology Program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Dr. Ancis’ scholarly publications have focused on diversity, multicultural competence, and cyberpsychology. Ancis launched a Cyberpsychology Seminar Series which features international scholars and researchers in the field of cyberpsychology and created the first Cyberpsychology Page as an expert blogger in Psychology Today. Ancis’ 2020 article entitled The Age of Cyberpsychology provides a framework and foundation in this interdisciplinary area. It has been published in the first volume and issue of the new American Psychological Association (APA) journal Technology, Mind, and Behavior.

Mark Clauberg began his career as an educator, teaching high school and college video production in the early 2000s. He later transitioned to leadership positions in higher education where he remains today. He is a principal member of Grey Machine Films, a collective of filmmakers and musicians from New Jersey who have been working together on various film and music projects since 2005. Most recently, the group has produced several award-winning films, including The Last Visit and The Time in Between the Seconds.

As Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Marybeth Boger’s role is instrumental in one of the primary goals at NJIT- educating the whole student.  The areas under her leadership include Residence Life, Counseling and Psychological Services, Health Services at St. Michaels, and Student Life. Dr. Boger leads her team in fostering a vibrant and coordinated campus experience where students are supported to develop and use their intellectual, professional, emotional, social, and relational skills to achieve academic success.   In addition to chairing the University Senate Committee on Campus Life, Dean Boger serves on several committees committed to enhancing the overall student experience in and outside the classroom.  Dean Boger is very committed to DEIB initiatives and co-led NJIT’s first-ever campus climate study. She earned her MA and Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Policy (with a concentration in Global Education) from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Through the student's perception, her research examined the school climate in a German Gesamtschule.  Dean Boger was a recipient of a DAAD fellowship and a Fulbright scholarship Dean Boger allowing her to conduct her research in Germany.

YWCC Co-Sponsored Colloquium

7:00pm | Black Box Theatre, 3rd floor, 110 Warren Street on the Rutgers campus (Registration required - register here)

Ticket purchase also required (be sure to select the Thursday performance)

Coordinated by Emily Edwards. Short plays that are directed, managed, and performed by the students of the Joint Theatre Program with Rutgers-Newark and NJIT. They will range from comedy, satire, drama, and crazy. Always a fun time. Curtain 7:00 pm and talkback following plays.

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

Honors Faculty Fellow Michael J. Lee, PhD (Dorman-Bloom Associate Professor of Information) will present on Design Thinking: Addressing Structural Inequality. 

This topic will be offered as an honors course in spring 2023 and will include a service learning component. 

Using Design Thinking to Address Information Gaps

This colloquium will give an overview on the ideas, theories, and exercises regarding design thinking and how we may use it to address issues arising from information gaps. Design Thinking revolves around a deep interest in developing an understanding of the people for whom we are designing products or services. Information Gaps are ideas, information, or knowledge that someone is missing to complete a task. Sometimes, someone may know they are lacking information, but at other times, a person might be completely unaware they are missing something. 

Dr. Michael J. Lee is the Dorman-Bloom Associate Professor of Informatics at NJIT, where he directs the Gidget Lab. His work focuses on increasing diversity and representation in computing, as well as designing, creating, and testing technology-focused educational tools. Dr. Lee's research in computing education is funded by the National Science Foundation, NJ Department of Education, and Oculus Research. He has published more than 30 research articles, several of which have received best paper awards. He holds a PhD in Information Science from the University of Washington, a master’s degree from UC Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree from UC San Diego.

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

Speaker: Joachim D. Sackey, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical and Preventive Nutrition Sciences, School of Health Professions, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

This colloquium will define and explain the dimensions of food insecurity in the US, explain how it is measured, and present statistics on food insecurity in the country, state, and county. It will also describe the health impacts of food insecurity and end with some solutions which if implemented can end food insecurity and hunger in the US.

Joachim Sackey, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical and Preventive Nutrition Sciences at Rutgers University School of Health Professions. Dr. Sackey is a nutritional epidemiologist with interests in food insecurity, HIV-related comorbidities associated with poor diet as well as racial and sexual minority health. Sackey currently conducts research in Newark, Botswana, and Senegal. Sackey received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Nutritional Epidemiology from the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and an MPhil from the University of Ghana in Dietetics.

Medical Humanities Colloquium

Co-Sponsored by NJIT's Pre-Health Society and Students for Hunger Relief

12:00 noon | Campus Center Atrium (Registration required - register here)