The Albert Dorman Colloquium Series Spring 2021

2:30 pm - 3:50 pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Technology: How it Can Greatly Impact Non-Traditional Business Settings

Speakers: Haley Gwen Price, Maria Gronda, Thierry Demorre 

Organized by JerseySTEM

How do you quickly pivot from the In-Person NYC Marathon to a 100% Virtual Event? How do you re-structure, build and roll-out new technology to quickly assist a traditionally non-virtual business like Healthcare or other office-based environments? The Pandemic has completely changed the way we do business, so please join us as we host 3 experts to explore case studies and solutions developed to keep business going strong in this new digital world.

City Leadership and Civic Engagement Track Colloquium 

2:30 pm - 3:50 pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Life Beyond Engineering: A Conversation with Clifford Samuel '88H, '19 (Hon), member National Academy of Engineering

Speakers: Clifford Samuel

ADHC 25th Anniversary Colloquium

Clifford Samuel, Principal at PCMS1 Consulting, has 25+ years of commercial leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with more than two decades at Gilead Sciences in leadership roles across sales, managed markets, and global commercial operations.

For the last five years, he served as Senior Vice President (SVP), Global Patient Solutions, with responsibility for more than 140 countries. Propelled by his mission to ensure large-scale access to Gilead’s life-saving medicines, Clifford identified market potential and enabled the delivery of medicines to millions in emerging markets, while increasing revenue by billions. He spearheaded Gilead’s entry into generic licensing agreements with companies in China, India and South Africa that created a competitive market for generic HIV and hepatitis B & C medicines. Executed, at dramatically reduced prices, his efforts deliver medicines to more than 15 million people in these resource-limited countries.

In devising and implementing innovative manufacturing, distribution, and go-to-market strategies, Clifford leverages his operational excellence skills, as well as his knowledge of the regulatory landscape and distribution network across the globe. He built multiple global strategic partnerships, including collaborations with governments, non-governmental organizations, and generic drug manufacturers.

Clifford’s successful strategies in resource-challenged, emerging markets drove both access to medicines and ROI in geographies spanning Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, South/Southeast Asia Pacific, and Eastern Europe.

Clifford has been recognized for pioneering new and developing fields of technology, making major advancements in traditional fields of engineering, developing and implementing innovative approaches to engineering education. A graduate of the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) with a BS in Mechanical Engineering, he received an Honorary PhD from his alma mater and sits as an NJIT Honor Program Board Member. He is also the recipient of an Edward F. Weston Medal for Professional Achievement and was inducted into the National Academy of Engineers in 2019.

2:30pm - 3:50pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Alumni Entrepreneurship

Speaker: Áine O'Dwyer, Enovate Engineering; Richard Schatzberg, NeST Technologies Inc.; Samir Saini, Mobility Insight

ADHC 25th Anniversary Colloquium

Áine is the Principal and CEO of Enovate Engineering, an Engineering and Construction Management Firm with offices in New York and New Jersey. Starting the company in 2017, Enovate specializes in public and private sector CM/PM, Transportation Engineering, and Surveying services. They have worked on monumental projects such as the new Moynihan Train Hall, JFK Redevelopment Project, Brooklyn Bridge and the new New York Islanders UBS Arena.

Prior to Enovate, Áine worked for a large privately held International infrastructure development and construction firm. There, she worked her way from a field engineer to Vice President, running Engineering globally for the firm. She has worked on both national and international development projects, such as the $2.3B Anaklia Deep Sea Port project in the Republic of Georgia.

She is a licensed Professional Engineer in thirteen states. She is the recipient of the Engineering News Record (ENR) National 2018 Top 20 under 40, ENR New York 2018 Top 20 under 40, 2019 NJBIZ Best 50 Women in Business and has received a Proclamation from the City of New York as well as a Citation of Merit from the Bronx Borough President for her achievements in Gaelic Football.

Hailing from her native Ireland, Áine graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering from NJIT and a Master’s in Civil Engineering, also from NJIT. Whilst at NJIT, Áine played Division I basketball for 4 years and soccer for 2 years, actively involved in sports throughout all 5 of her years at NJIT. She sits on the Industry Advisory Board of the Civil Engineering Department and the Albert Dorman Honors College Board of Visitors at NJIT, and also sits on the National Board of the Professional Women in Construction (PWC) organization. She remains active locally on a number of initiatives and actively plays soccer, basketball, golf, hikes and snowboards in the winter months.

Richard is the Chief Commercial Officer of NeST Technologies, Inc., a global software services and business/knowledge process outsourcing (BPO/KPO) firm. In this capacity, he leads North American operations and provides sales and business development leadership in other global markets, including Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Mr. Schatzberg is a technology entrepreneur, having founded various businesses that leverage technology to create positive social, economic and business impact, including the National Cloud Technologists Association (NCTA) that provides training, certification and services in the area of cloud computing, network security, and business continuity services. He was also the founder of Aequus Technologies, a company that leveraged technologies to provide access to employment, education and community for people with disabilities.

In addition to serving as the Chairperson of the Board of Visitors for the Albert Dorman Honors College at New Jersey Institute of Technology, Richard serves on various Boards, including Abilities, Inc. and the National Business and Disability Center (NBDC), both a part of The Henry Viscardi Center, and Ruh Global, a for-profit company providing accessibility and communication services for the community of people with disabilities. He has also served as Treasurer of The Abilities Fund, a non-profit organization providing seed capital to entrepreneurs with disabilities, as a founding Board member of Runway of Dreams, a non-profit providing adaptive clothing for people with physical disabilities, and as Business Advisory Chairperson for two federally funded grants supporting training and employment for people with disabilities.

Samir is the Chief Business Officer for Mobi, a software company providing the world’s first turnkey, AI-powered SaaS platform to reduce traffic congestion and optimize traffic flow across any road network.

Samir is an urban technology leader with a proven history partnering with business and governments leaders to build smart and connected cities that improve quality of life. He has over 23 years of IT expertise in the government, public housing, energy and hospitality sectors.

His career includes multiple CIO roles including the City of New York, City of Atlanta, Hartsfield-Jackson Int’l Airport, the Atlanta Housing Authority, MGM Resorts Int’l, and General Electric. He graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and currently serves on their Board of Visitors. Samir resides in Brooklyn, NY and enjoys traveling, hiking, and spending time with his family in New Jersey.

11:00am - 12:20pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Make 103

Speaker: Justin Suriano

NCE/ADHC Joint Colloquium

Justin Suriano is the manager 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. Mr. Suriano's background is in additive manufacturing.

5:00pm - 6:20pm | Join the Webex Virtual Event Here

Saving Slave Houses: Jobie Hill in conversation with Gabrielle Esperdy

HCAD/ADHC Joint Colloquium

City Leadership & Civic Engagement Track Colloquium 

11:00am - 12:20pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

The Professional Engineer: Tackling 21 st Century Challenges In Technology And Infrastructure

Speaker: Dr. Vatsal Shah

Theranos- Silicon Valley’s revolutionary blood testing startup; Flint, Michigan- the face of America’s aging infrastructure; and Volkwagen Auto Group- diesel technology gone bad. What do these three seemingly-different topics share in common? Engineers from all discliplines- biomedical, mechanical, and civil, for these examples, stand behind the innovations for the underlying technology and infrastructure that improve our society. Each contribution reinforces the public trust in our profession, but recent issues and loosening of regulations makes it easier to miss the line which separates a degreed graduate and a Professional Engineer.

This colloquium will discuss what it means to be an engineer in the 21st Century- from ethics, to professional licensure, and lessons learned. The colloquium will provide a preview of the Fall 2021 course to be taught by Dr. Shah in understanding the process of forensic engineering and learning through previously-documented failures. As many of the prospective students will be concurrently taking technical courses where design assumptions and judgement will be necessary, the course will be meant to help students understand the weight and importance of sound engineering judgement and the risks and consequences associated when improper standards of care, technical oversight, and miscommunication occur.

12:00 PM - 1:30 PM | Join the Webex Virtual Event

Mohamed Elshahed on his Recent Book: Cairo Since 1900 : An Architectural Guide

Speaker: Mohamed Elshahed

HCAD/ADHC Joint Colloquium

2:30pm - 3:50pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Stryker: MedTech, Innovation using 3D Printing

Speaker: Robert Cohen

Medical Humanities Colloquium

The world of medical device design is benefiting in amazing ways from new technologies. At Stryker, our R&D quest is to improve patient outcomes with the acceleration of innovation. 3D printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing, has allowed engineers to design and produce orthopedic implants in unique shapes with unique properties that conventional manufacturing processes of years past haven't allowed. Whether the 3D printing of polymers or metals, novel designs can now be considered that can provide enhanced function and better relate to the individual needs of a patient. This webinar will provide an overview of the Stryker competency for 3D printing product development and a glimpse into our internal production capability.

Mr. Cohen currently holds the position of President of Stryker’s Digital, Robotics, and Enabling Technologies. He has worked in the medical device industry for over thirty-five years. Mr Cohen has focused on innovation that can improve patient outcomes and has managed R&D, manufacturing, regulatory, clinical research, quality and marketing functions. Prior to his current position, Mr. Cohen served as the Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for the Joint Replacement division since rejoining Stryker in 2013 as part of the Mako acquisition. Prior to this, he held the position of Senior Vice President, Clinical and Market Development, for MAKO Surgical Corp., an orthopedic robotics company, as well as having the role of General Manager of their New Jersey implant R&D and additive- manufacturing facility. From 2007 until MAKO’s purchase of Pipeline Biomedical, a company founded by Mr. Cohen, he served as its Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of R&D. Prior to that, he served as Vice President of Product Development for Implex Corp, a developer of advanced joint replacement and spinal implants fabricated from a novel porous metal biomaterial trademarked as Trabecular Metal. Following the acquisition of Implex Corp by Zimmer Inc, a large manufacturer and supplier of orthopedic implants in 2004, Mr. Cohen served as Zimmer’s General Manager of their New Jersey engineering and manufacturing operations through 2006. From 1984 to 1992, he held various engineering positions at Stryker’s joint replacement division Osteonics, including Director of Product Development. Mr. Cohen has over 25 patents and speaks globally at medical education conferences. He also serves on numerous boards and is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the New Jersey Institute of Technology, a leading US polytechnic university with over 12,000 students. Mr. Cohen has been inducted as a Fellow to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Mr. Cohen has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science in Engineering Management, all from New Jersey Institute of Technology.

11:00 am - 12:20pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

EVERY-01: Based on Everyman, a morality play

Speaker: Louis Wells

Death comes for Everyone. In the middle of a global pandemic in which our entire community has faced inconceivable sickness, the NJIT/Rutgers-Newark Theatre Program is proud to share our latest production, EVERY-01: Based on Everyman, a morality play. This adaptation brings together performance, animation, original music, and film for an original and contemporary retelling of medieval play, Everyman.

Online posting of the play will be on Wednesday, March 3rd at 7:00 pm. The play will remain on the NJIT website for the semester, here.

Honors Colloquium Talk-back will be on Friday, March 5th at 11:00 Common Hour.

4:00 pm - 5:30 pm | Register for the Zoom Virtual Event

Women with STEAM - Virtual Roundtable in Honor of Lois Chipepo

Speakers: 16 Alumnae from Various Departments at NJIT

This event is designed to be a round table discussion between Honors NJIT alumnae who graduated with a science, technology, engineering, architecture/design, or mathematics (STEAM) degree or are currently working in a STEAM field and current Honors Scholar. This is an opportunity to discuss gender roles in a professional and academic environment and for you to share your stories, struggles and successes, to mentor Dorman Honors Scholars. Everyone is welcome.

2:30pm - 3:50pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Ride with the Tide in this Big Time

Speaker: Guiling (Grace) Wang, PhD, CFA  

Abstract: Technology has been changing our lives constantly, but at a different pace. Now we are in a big different time with exciting new technologies, such as AI, Quantum Computing, and Blockchain. We are fed with an explosive amount of information that is hard to be fully digested. Challenges, fierce competitions, and opportunities are presented simultaneously. The speaker will share with the ADHC young talents her thoughts on the new technologies, our positions in this big time and our preparations for it.

Bio: Grace Wang (PhD, CFA) is currently a professor and the associate dean for research of Ying Wu College of Computing. She also holds a joint appointment at the Martin Tuchman School of Management. She joined NJIT in 2006 as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to full professor in 2016. She received her Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering and a minor in Statistics from The Pennsylvania State University in 2006. Her research in applied deep learning, blockchain technologies, intelligent transportation, and mobile computing has been highly recognized in the field and cited over 5000 times by research articles according to Google Scholar.

2:30pm - 3:50pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Sickle Cell Disease, Equity, and Justice: A Stagnant History

Speaker: Dr. Melissa Creary

Medical Humanities Colloquium

Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has helped focus many people's attention on racism as a crisis in public health. But how exactly do public policy, ideas about race, and human lived experiences intersect? This colloquium will discuss racism in public health through an examination of sickle cell disease (SCD). SCD is a genetic blood disorder that is often ascribed to African ancestry, but is in fact a marker for heritage from a geographic location where malaria is or was prevalent. Its association with Blackness opens up deeper conversations about race, racism, and health equity. This talk will use SCD to illustrate three levels of racism in public health and medicine—institutionalized, personally-mediated, and internalized. It will discuss how social movements, institutions, and community-based organizations have historically attempted to attain justice for people with SCD, but continually fall short.

In Q and A, students will have a chance to learn about diverse career paths and forms of research and advocacy in the field of Public Health.

Bio:

Melissa Creary, PhD, MPH is the Senior Director of the Office of Public Health Initiatives for the American Thrombosis and Hemostasis Network and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Management and Policy in the School of Public Health at the University of Michigan. She received her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies (focusing on Health, History, and Culture) at the Graduate Institute for the Liberal Arts (ILA) and Masters in Public Health at Emory University. Over a nine-year career at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Division of Blood Disorders, she helped create and lead the first national program and data collection system for sickle cell disease (SCD) at the agency. Dr. Creary’s research and teaching interests broadly include how science, culture, and policy intersect. Through a health equity lens and using historical and ethnographic methods, she investigates how national policy for SCD is influenced by race and other notions of belonging. Her research also interrogates how inclusion and knowledge production are at odds with structural barriers. In her most recent project, she analyzes how equity-based scientific and public health policies are incongruent to the very justice they are trying to produce. She speaks on topics of justice, racism and anti-racism in health and biomedicine, COVID-19, identity politics in health, and bioethics. She has published work in Social Science and Medicine, Genetics in Medicine, The American Journal of Bioethics, and The Huffington Post.

11:00am - 12:20pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Inspiring Future Women in STEM

Speaker: Dr. Camelia Prodan, Dr. Antje Ihlefeld, Dr Penelope Georges

In honor of Women’s History Month, this colloquium will focus on female educators in STEM and their journeys as women in STEM. The speakers presenting will be Dr. Camelia Prodan, an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics, Dr. Antje Ihlefeld Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, and Dr. Penelope Georges, formerly a professor of Biomedical Engineering at NJIT and current Assistant Director of STEM education at Princeton University. All three speakers will discuss their inspirations for their careers, their journey to their current positions, careers before joining NJIT, their research, and the inspiration behind becoming an educator. The achievements and applaudable paths conveyed will serve as an inspiration, motivating the student body. With their guidance, students can work towards careers as engineers and scientists!

4:00pm - 5:20pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Innovations in Synthetic Chemistry at Merck: Striving for the Ideal Commercial Manufacturing Process

Speaker: Kevin Campos

CSLA/ADHC Joint Colloquium, Medical Humanities Colloquium

At Merck, we believe that innovation in synthetic chemistry is pivotal to our goal to invent, develop, and commercialize important new medicines “better and faster” than ever before. While there appears to have been a trend over the last decade toward viewing synthetic chemistry as a mature science, our experience and intent is completely opposite to this. At, Merck we see massive opportunity for innovation and impact in synthetic chemistry, and this is central to our mission in Process Research & Development: to launch every new product, regardless of molecular complexity, with the best conceivable chemistry, converting easily sourced commodity materials into the active pharmaceutical ingredient with a chemical synthesis that is lowest cost, easiest to run, safe, efficient, and environmentally sustainable. This presentation describes our strategy to achieve this goal, using a recent example from our labs.

Biosketch: Kevin Campos received a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Virginia Tech in 1993. In 1999, he obtained his PhD in organic chemistry from Harvard University and joined the Department of Process Research at Merck as a Senior Research Chemist. Over the last 20 years, Kevin has established himself as a leader in both drug discovery and development, and an advocate for Diversity and Inclusion. In 2007, he was the recipient of the ACS Young Industrial Investigator's Award and in 2008, he was the recipient of the Marcy Garb Award for Education and Training at Merck for his continued passion for development and training of employees across MRL. This passion ultimately led to a rotational assignment well outside his comfort zone, reporting to the NJ Discovery Site Head, providing operational oversight for all discovery programs in New Jersey and leading the renovation of K-15, a one-million square foot Discovery research facility in Kenilworth, NJ. He is currently Associate Vice President and Head of Small Molecule Process Research and Development, where he manages a group of 250 scientists, including experts in synthetic chemistry, chemical engineering, catalysis, biocatalysis, protein engineering, automation, flow chemistry, and radiolabeled synthesis. Together, they are responsible for the Merck Small Molecule pipeline, shepherding programs from Discovery into pre-clinical development, to the clinic and on to commercialization. Under his leadership, several commercial manufacturing routes for novel therapies have been launched, including ZEPATIER™, PREVYMIS™, PIFELTRO™, ZERBAXA™ and RECARBRIO™. Kevin has a track record of developing diverse talent and building diverse and inclusive teams. He is a sponsor and mentor in the Merck Women’s Network, the Process R&D Continuing Education Team, the head of the RY Site Coordination team, responsible Rahway’s annual Bring Your Child to Work Day, and executive sponsor of NJ State Science Day. After serving as a member for several years, Kevin was recently appointed to chairman of the R&D Council of New Jersey.

4:00pm - 5:20pm | Register for the Virtual Event

“Ask for it!” (You're Worth It)--a Workshop on Women and Negotiation

Speaker: Marybeth Boger

This colloquium is on negotiation and creative risk-taking in our careers. The pandemic has been particularly devastating for women economically—especially for women of color—but crisis also creates opportunity for change; and that’s the conversation we want to jump-start in this series: creating a genuinely new ‘New Normal’ for women, individually and collectively.

On Monday, April 5 from 4:00-5:30, the Murray Center and Dean of Students Marybeth Boger are co-sponsoring a hands-on workshop featuring internationally-known expert in negotiation, Sara Laschever— hosted by Diane Montalto, Co-Vice Chair of the NJIT Board of Trustees.

2:30pm - 3:50pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Women With Steam: HearstLab Panel

Speaker: Tea Fougner, Editorial Director, Comics, King Features; Carla Silva, Vice President & General Manager, Global Head of Licensing, King Features; Denitza Ouzounova, Senior Director, Head of Product Specialists, Fitch Solutions

11:00am - 12:20pm | Join the Webex Virtual Event

The Sustainable Campus: ADHC First-Year Seminar Biodiversity and Sustainability Initiatives

Speaker: Andrew Christ, Senior Vice President, Real Estate Development and Capital Operations

ADHC First-Year Scholar Finalists 

2:30pm - 3:50pm | Register for the Zoom Virtual Event

Passing the Torch

Speaker: TBA

ADHC 25th Anniversary Colloquium

"Passing the Torch" is a networking event for Honors alumni and students that them together in two 40-minute breakout sessions. Each breakout session will start with a 30-second to 1-minute introduction by each alumnus/a, followed by Q&A with students. Students will come prepared with questions.

11:00am - 2:00pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

NJIT Digital Humanities Showcase 2021

See colloquium agenda here

4:00pm - 5:20pm | Join the Webex Virtual Event

Fellowships for International Experiences and Research

Speakers: Daniela Bushiri, Divjyot Singh, Joey Torsiello, Lindsey Riggs, Matthew Cherrey, Micaela Quisbert Mendoza, Noah Roselli, Samir Peshori, Sara Abdelhamid, Sydney Sweet, Will Andrews

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 - 3:50pm | Register for the Webex Virtual Event

Value in Creation Space

Speaker: Dr. Raja Roy 

MTSM/ADHC Joint Colloquium 

Dr. Roy will discuss insights on his research on technological innovations by NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization. He will also discuss some of the emerging entrepreneurial opportunities in space.

Dr. Raja Roy is an Assistant Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Martin Tuchman School of Management, NJIT. He earned his Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA. His research explores the role of firm-level capabilities, such as access to complementary technologies and in-house users, during technological disruption in machine tools, industrial robotics, and image sensors; and appears in the Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Research Policy, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of International Business Studies, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Advances in Strategic Management, Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, and IEEE TEM. He holds a B.E. in Production Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. Dr. Roy is a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Strategic Management Journal and Organization Science. 

4:30pm - 5:50pm | WebEx Link

Advances in Engineering Education Research

Speaker: Dr. Prateek Shekhar

NCE/ADHC Joint Colloquium

Dr. Prateek Shekhar is an Assistant Professor - Engineering Education in the School of Applied Engineering and Technology at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. His research is focused on examining the translation of education research into practice and broadening exposure to entrepreneurship education in STEM disciplines. He holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas - Austin, an MS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, and a BS in Electronics and Communication Engineering. Dr. Shekhar also holds a Graduate Certificate in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech. Prior to his current appointment, he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher and Assistant Research Scientist at University of Michigan. He is the recipient of 2018 Outstanding Postdoctoral Researcher Award at University of Michigan. He is the Associate Editor of Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, and International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education. He is also the Program-Chair for the Year 2020-21 for the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Division of American Society of Engineering Education.