The Albert Dorman Colloquium Series

11:30am - 1:00 pm | Webex Event (Register Here)

Mechanics of Polymer Gels

Speaker: Shawn A. Chester, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Honors Faculty Fellow Colloquium

Shawn Chester is currently an associate professor in Mechanical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Shawn was previously a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Prior to that he obtained his PhD in solid mechanics from the Mechanical Engineering Department at MIT, and obtained both his BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from NJIT. Shawn was a member of the Albert Dorman Honors College as an undergraduate at NJIT.

Shawn’s research focus in the past few years has been the development of experimentally validated continuum level constitutive theories for large-deformation multi-physics behavior of polymeric materials and the associated numerical implementation. His work spans most aspects of mechanics; experimental characterization, theoretical modeling, numerical implementation, and experimental validation. Shawn has been recognized by young investigator awards through an NSF CAREER, and an ASME award.

Many new and exciting phenomena in mechanics are inherently multiphysics. A few examples include, thermally responsive shape-memory polymers, Joule heating causing creep,and pore pressure effects in geo-materials to name just a few. Because so many technologically important phenomena are inherently multiphysics, constitutive models and associated simulation tools must also include all relevant physics to capture the primary features of the materials response to be predictive. In this talk, I will discuss recent and ongoing research on the multiphysics response of polymeric materials, specifically on polymer gels.

A gel is a polymeric material swollen by a fluid, the fluid does not degrade or chemically modify the polymer network. The talk begins with a brief review of a model for the coupled deformation-diffusion of gels. That is followed by some recent attempts for experimental calibration and validation (or lack thereof) on relatively simple gels. Preliminary results have shown that the majority of existing constitutive models are not capable of capturing the observed behavior.

11:30am - 1:00 pm | Webex Event (Register Here)

Why Every College Student Should Take a Course on Entrepreneurship

Speaker: Dr. Suresh U. Kumar, Professor of Practice and Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship Programs, Ying Wu College of Computing

YWCC/ADHC Co-Sponsored Colloquium

Dr Kumar is a highly skilled and resilient organizational leader with an over 20-year proven track record of senior executive leadership that span senior executive roles with large multinational corporations, multiple high-growth entrepreneurial ventures, community organizations, professional/trade organizations, political campaigns, elected officials, and higher education educational institutions. Co-founder of multiple Deloitte Fast 50 and INC 500 ranked high-growth ventures he has Deep expertise in leading change in the practice, research/academics, and economic policy development in the fields of innovation, entrepreneurship, and inclusive economic growth models.

With the rapid acceleration and adoption of technological innovation, graduating college students face work environment characterized by rapid changes in customer behavior and intense global competition. To thrive in this dynamic, complex world, individuals and organizations must learn to think and act quickly to seize fleeting opportunities, learn on the run while making the rapid pivots that moves them forward, faster than competitors. Leaders have to learn how to leverage the strength and diversity of teams and master the art of storytelling. In other words, todays graduates have to learn to cultivate a mindset very similar to that of an entrepreneur. Student who are not prepared for this new work environment will face a severe handicap.

2:30pm - 4:00 pm | Webex Event (Register Here)

The Fruitful City: The Enduring Power of the Urban Food Forest

Speaker: Helena Moncrieff

City Leadership & Civic Engagement Colloquium; CSLA/ADHC Co-Sponsored Colloquium

11:30am - 1:00pm | Campus Center Atrium (Registration required - seating is limited)

Optimism and Self-Immolation: What can today’s technological innovators learn from the history of radiation therapy?

Speaker: Dr. Jeffrey Womack

Medical Humanities Colloquium; CSLA/ADHC Co-Sponsored Colloquium​

Jeffrey Womack, Ph.D., studies technology, medicine, and public health, examining why people succeed—or fail—to understand the hazards around them. His work includes the Mütter Museum exhibits “Going Viral: Infection Through the Ages” and “Healing Energy: Radium in America,” as well as “Nuclear Weapons, Dystopian Deserts, and Science Fiction Cinema,”in Vulcan: the Journal of the History of Military Technology, and Radiation Evangelists: Technology, Therapy, and Uncertainty at the Turn of the Century, available from the University of Pittsburgh Press.

In 1896, doctors conducted the first experiments with using x-rays to treat cancer. Two decades later, a generation of therapists dying of x-ray exposure eagerly turned to...more radiation, contaminating portions of New Jersey and Pennsylvania with radioactive waste in the process. Drawing from his book, Radiation Evangelists, historian Jeffrey Womack will discuss how good medical innovation goes awry and what we can learn about innovation, uncertainty, and ethics from the doctors with the amputated hands.

4:00pm - 6:00pm | Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart (Registration required)

Newark Cathedral Tour (Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart)

Speaker: Rev. Armand Mantia

Learn about the architecture and history of one of Newark’s most majestic buildings, the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart. Located at the edge of Branch Brook Park, the church was built in the French Gothic style and is the fifth largest cathedral in north America. The tour begins at 4:30 p.m. and will last approximately one hour. 

The Rev. Mantia is the pastor of Saint Genevieve Parish, Elizabeth. He has been a tour guide at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart for more than 40 years.

Instructions for those participating in the tour: We will be walking from NJIT to the cathedral as a group. In order to arrive on time (the walk is about 20 minutes), we will be departing from the Warren Street entrance of the Honors College at 4:05 p.m. sharp! (We will also return together as a group.)

For those who wish to drive on their own and meet the tour group there, parking is available behind the cathedral. Please allot extra driving time since it will be rush hour, and traffic on Clifton Avenue at that time moves slowly. 

The cathedral is located at 89 Ridge St., just past the entrance to Branch Brook Park.

City Leadership & Civic Engagement Colloquium

11:30am - 1:00pm | Makerspace Phase 1 (in GITC) (Registration required - spaces are limited) 

 Max. participants: 35

Make102: Intro to CO2 Laser Cutting & Engraving

Speaker: Justin Suriano, Makerspace Manager

NCE/ADHC Co-Sponsored 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. He is now pursuing a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, and his background is in additive manufacturing.

An introductory course required to use the Makerspace's Trotec laser cutters & engravers. Briefly covers the basics of laser engraving and cutting including basic operation, file preparation, starting, monitoring, and removing jobs.

4:00pm - 5:30pm | Albert Dorman Honors Residence Building, room 210 (IDS 1) (Registration required - seating is limited)

Dante: Hell, Heaven & Florence

Speaker: Dean Louis Hamilton

History 329 Honors – is a study-travel course that examines Dante’s Divine Comedy within the context of his contemporary medieval urban Florence. Students enrolled in the course will travel to and Rome, Florence, and Tuscany during Spring Break of 2022 (March 11 - 19).

The class employs a geographic database as a tool for literary analysis. First created for this course in 2006, we will relaunch the database that maps Florence in the Age of Dante. The purpose is to help us construct the logic of Dante’s allegory by applying technology to traditional approaches to the text. This will allow us to create a less indexical model of poetic meaning and enable you to read the poem with greater immediacy. Students are not expected to have prior proficiency in medieval history or these digital humanities methods. Constructing and visualizing the database will allow you to understand and explore the spiritual, political, and artistic topography of Dante’s Florence.

2:30pm - 4:00pm | Campus Center Atrium (Registration required - seating is limited)

Traumatic Brain Injuries: A story of Multisystem Trauma

Speaker: Dr. Chang Yaramothu

NCE/ADHC Co-Sponsored Colloquium

Dr. Chang Yaramothu received all his degrees from NJIT in Biomedical Engineering (B.S. in 2013H, M.S. in 2014 and Ph.D. in 2017). In 2018 he co-founded OculoMotor Technologies, a biotech startup that utilizes virtual reality technology for delivering therapeutic interventions in the optometric and brain injury fields, where he continues to serve as its Chief Technology Officer. Since 2021 he has been an Assistant Professor at NJIT with appointments in School of Applied Engineering & Technology and Department of Biomedical Engineering. He was named Digi-Tech Innovator by NJBiz Magazine and Fellow of American Academy of Optometry in 2020 and was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors in 2021. He is passionate about making medicine objective and quantitative. This has led his research to utilizes cutting edge technologies such a virtual reality headset and novel easy to use tools to automate the practice of medicine. His research concentrates on objectively quantifying eye movements, balance, and neuronal blood flow to diagnose concussions and design personalized therapeutic regimens for recovery. Patient populations of past and currently studies include pediatrics, athletes, and veterans. His work in these fields had resulted in patents around the world with more in the pipeline.

Dr. Yaramothu will discuss his pathway into concussions and traumatic brain injury research, the inclusion of new technologies, and the drive to make clinical medicine more accessible. He will also discuss his entrepreneurial pathway as it relates to scientific research.

11:30am - 1:00pm | GITC Lecture Hall 1400 (Registration required - seating is limited)

Speaker: Lucia Rodriguez-Freire, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, NJIT

Honors Faculty Fellow Colloquium

City Leadership & Civic Engagement Colloquium

Dr. Rodriguez-Freire is an Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at NJIT. Dr. Rodriguez-Freire earned her M.S. and a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Arizona. She also did two postdoctoral works, one at the University of Arizona, and another at the University of New Mexico. Dr. Rodriguez-Freire serves in the Early Career Advisory Board for the Journal of Hazardous Materials, and her research was selected for the Emerging Investigator Series in the journal Environmental Science: Processes and Impact.

Dr. Rodriguez-Freire’s Laboratory of Applied Biogeochemistry for Environmental Sustainability objective is to understand and control the complex mechanisms of contaminant transformations in natural and engineered environments, in order to engineer remediation and resource recovery technologies mimicking natural sustainable processes. In this talk, we will explore how natural processes such as mineral adsorption, microbial reactions, and plant uptake can be used to control the fate of contaminants in the environment, and as drivers to produce and recover resources from traditional waste.

3:30pm - 4:45pm | GITC 3600-Seminar Room (Registration required - seating is limited)

Speaker: Kamalika Sandell, Chief Information Officer, NJIT

Women With STEAM Colloquium; Women in Computing Co-Sponsored Colloquium

The tech world has a unique blend of innovation, ambition, talent, energy, and money. Tech talent is in demand today more than ever, and the demand only continues to increase as you look into the future years. It is a fantastic career proposition for everyone, especially women, because among other aspects it enables a large degree of freedom to choose where you work from and when you work from. However, women, over the years have also highlighted that the pace and culture is not conducive to progressing through the ranks. Most Boards and senior leadership teams in corporations still suffer from fewer women than men. My talk will highlight some challenges as well as strategies to successfully progress as a women executive in tech.

Kamalika Sandell is a technology leader with expertise in transforming organizations, launching products, and operationalizing new business models through technology and process innovations. Kamalika brings to the table more than 25 years’ experience leading initiatives with P&L responsibilities from $20M-$200M in global companies with ambitious targets across multiple industries – financial services, higher education, manufacturing, industrial, and retail. Kamalika is known for her dynamic leadership, creative strategy, robust market research, agile process design, pragmatic technology innovation, and ambitious change management.

(Pizza will be served.)

11:30am - 1:00pm | Webex Event (Register Here)

(New! There is also an option to join us in Ballroom A of the Campus Center to watch the event on the Big Screen and share a free lunch with fellow students!) 

MAKING CHANGE—moving from facts to political action on climate change and environmental justice

Speaker: Rhiana Gunn-Wright, Director of Climate Policy at the Roosevelt Institute & Neil Maher (moderator), Professor, NJIT Federated Department of History

Women With STEAM Colloquium; Murray Center for Women in Technology/ADHC Co-sponsored Colloquium 

Learn from an architect of the Green New Deal how the climate crisis and the racial inequality crisis are intertwined. Brainstorm specific tactics to challenge the systemic power imbalances that drive enviornmental degradation.

2:30pm - 4:00pm | Campus Center Atrium (Registration required - seating is limited)

Small Drones, Big Future!

Speaker: Pramod Abichandani, Robotics Professor and Entrepreneur

NCE/ADHC Co-Sponsored Colloquium

Commercial small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAVs), also popularly known as drones, have been around for almost 15 years now. 2020 was a pivotal year for sUAV technologies. In this talk, we will demonstrate different sUAV designs and discuss modern applications of sUAVs across multiple industries. Finally, we will talk about some open and real challenges that come with the use of sUAVs.

11:30am - 1:00pm | Webex Event (Register Here)

Equitable Access to a Safe Home

Speaker: Vincent J. Reina, Associate Professor of Planning and Urban Economics, Faculty Director of the Housing Initiative at Penn

City Leadership & Civic Engagement Colloquium; Medical Humanities Colloquium; HCAD/ADHC Co-Sponsored Colloquium

Vincent J. Reina is an Associate Professor of Planning and Urban Economics in the Department of City and Regional Planning at the University of Pennsylvania and the Faculty Director of the Housing Initiative at Penn. His research focuses on urban economics, housing policy, and inequality. Dr. Reina work has directly informed local and national housing policy. Dr Reina was the Dean’s Distinguished Visiting Professor at Penn Nursing, a Visiting Scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, a Lincoln Institute for Land Policy Scholar, and the recipient of the Rising Scholar award by the Associate of Collegiate Schools of Planning.

The author will present a paper “Association Between Structural Housing Repairs for Low-Income Homeowners and Neighborhood Crime” that was co-authored with Professor Eugenia C. South and John MacDonald. This paper looks at the question: Are targeted investments in structural repairs to homes of low-income owners associated with reduced crime in Black urban neighborhoods? This talk will frame this paper within a broader discussion about racial inequality in public and private investments in housing and neighborhoods.

2:30pm - 4:00pm | Campus Center Atrium (Registration required - seating is limited)

Urban Ecosystems and the Future of Food for a Hot Planet

Speaker: Maria Stanko, Senior University Lecturer, Dept. of Biological Sciences, NJIT

Honors Faculty Fellow Colloquium

City Leadership & Civic Engagement Colloquium

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.

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. I will share a proposal developed by students enrolled in the course in Spring 2021 and discuss the role of urban ecosystems in the future of food.

7:00pm - 9:00pm | NJIT Jim Wise Theatre, Kupfrian Hall (Registration for the talk-back is required - seating is limited) (Tickets for the performance can be purchased through this link)

Theater Performance & Talk-back - Chasing the Ghost

New Jersey premiere

Chasing the Ghost by Ashley Lauren Rogers 

CoProduced by Step 1 Theatre Project

Directed by Janelle Zapata Castellano

In person, live performance. Talk-back following performance (Students should remain in the theater after curtain call; the author, director, cast, and some crew will then come to the stage to answer questions.)

Masks are Required. 

Kurt was a vlogger in the early days of YouTube where he screamed about video games he hated. But he's left that behind him, finding a wife and keeping his character's anger in check. Until one night where he is visited by a shadow person...who won't stop tickling his feet.

8:45am - 10:00am | Webex Event (Register Here)

Board of Visitors Networking Roundtable (Virtual) 

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

10:00am - 11:00am | Ballroom, Campus Center, NJIT (Full)

NAI-NJIT Chapter Workshop and President’s Forum - Sustainable Societies: Global Environment and Climate Change - Innovations to Global Solutions
In Conjunction with NJIT 2021 Faculty Research Showcase

Sponsored by:
National Academy of Inventors
NJIT Office of Research
Carbon Group Global

NJ Commission of Science, Innovation and Technology

YouTube Live Streaming at https://youtu.be/6glZj1hhWkw
Event Website: https://research.njit.edu/nai/events

Climate change is no longer a distant apocalypse, but an emerging reality experienced on
the ground by regions around the globe. The recent spate of natural disasters – from forest fires,
to searing temperatures, to drought, to hurricanes – injects urgency into the search for
sophisticated data, near-term technological solutions and strategies for coping in an altered
world. Indeed, as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted, “Many of the changes
observed in the climate are unprecedented in thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of years,
and some of the changes already set in motion—such as continued sea level rise—are
irreversible over hundreds to thousands of years.”

Sustained reductions in the emission of greenhouse gases are a top strategic priority that
will require the involvement of communities around the globe and the participation of problem-
focused partnerships among academia, industry, government and private and non-profit policy
advocates. Societal gaps in knowledge about the severity and implications of climate change
within individual countries and the political will to undertake coordinated global policies present
real challenges. This workshop is designed to bring together key stakeholders with an eye toward
developing an integrated approach toward the problem that focuses on education, research,
innovation and technology translation. 

This event is a part of the NAI-NJIT Chapter Workshop Series on “Innovations to Global
Solutions” and the President’s Forum is a featured event in the Albert Dorman Honors College
Colloquium Series and is made possible in part by the generous support of the DeCaprio Family.

2:30pm - 4:00pm | GITC Lecture Hall 1400 (Registration required - seating is limited)

Using Design Thinking to Address Information Gaps

Speaker: Michael J. Lee, Dorman-Bloom Associate Professor of Information

Honors Faculty Fellow Colloquium

City Leadership & Civic Engagement Colloquium

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.

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. It helps us observe and develop empathy with the target user through a highly iterative process. Using this technique, we can challenge assumptions and redefine problems in an attempt to identify alternative strategies and solutions that might not be instantly apparent with our initial level of understanding. 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. How can we begin to think about information gaps, how to identify them, and begin to address them using design thinking?

11:30am - 1:00pm | Virtual Event (Register Here through Handshake)

Inspire Innovation through a Public Sector Career (Virtual) 

Join us for a panel discussion which will introduce the great value of public sector careers. NJIT's Career Development Services will host a panel of mid-high level professionals from various disciplines which align with students' values and occupational interests. These include global warming, energy, health, the environment, individual rights, politics, housing, food security, education, social media and social justice. 

Co-sponsored by ADHC and Career Development Services

2:30pm - 4:00pm | GITC Lecture Hall 1400 (Registration required - seating is limited)

Social Construction of Vulnerable Populations: Age and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Speaker: Dr. Hindy Schachter, Professor of Management​

Medical Humanities Colloquium; MTSM/ADHC Co-Sponsored Colloquium

Dr. Hindy Lauer Schachter is a professor in the Martin Tuchman School of Management at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Besides for articles in academic journals, she authored Reinventing Government or Reinventing Ourselves (State University of New York Press, 1997), Frederick Taylor and the Public Administration Community (State University of New York Press, 1989), and Public Agency Communication (Nelson Hall, 1983). With Kaifeng Yang she co-edited The State of Civic Participation in America (Information Age Publishing, 2012).She has participated in diversity colloquia for federal and local agencies exploring issues in gender and age discrimination.

This talk explores the role of social construction in explaining the differential treatment applied by American public administrators to older Americans as a vulnerable population during the Covid 19 pandemic. The analysis compares how federal and state web sites reacted to information that increases in age and male sex correlated with negative Covid outcomes and relates these differences to hegemonic constructions of each group.

11:30am - 1:00pm | Campus Center Atrium (Registration required for Colloquium attendance tracking, but does not guarantee entry or seating)

NJIT Jazz Ensemble