Extreme Weather Architects: A New Profession?

Jun 23, 2013

Graduate Daniel Horn was featured in Yahoo Finance speaking about NYIT's 3C Competition, which provides architects around the world with a chance to submit design and urban reconstruction plans for areas facing future challenges caused by climate change.

Horn is pursuing a career that focuses on environmentally minded architecture, and his idea for the competition stemmed from a design question: how do you raise effectively plan and design the elevation of neighborhood by eight to ten feet to avoid future flooding or to comply with new laws? Horn says "extreme architecture" should use a holistic approach and think beyond conceptual ideas as they consider the best ways to reshape construction in shoreline areas.

 

NSA Q&A with SoECS Associate Dean and Professor Babak Beheshti

Jun 19, 2013

“There is no such thing as anonymity anymore,” says School of Engineering Associate Dean and Professor Babak Beheshti, Ph.D., in a Q&A feature in NY Press. “All of this data is stored somewhere. The question remains who and in what capacity will they use that information. The question is policy as opposed to technology.”

In “Living in a PRISM State,” Beheshti notes that the Edward Snowden case “speaks to the gaps in the protocol” that allow for privacy to be compromised. While our personal information is accessible, it’s another issue to have the ability to download and take information off-site, says Beheshti.  

 

Dong Offers Tips for Keeping Kids Safe and Smart on their Smartphones

Jun 18, 2013

"The ever-changing, fast-paced world of the Internet and mobile technology presents unique challenges to parents of tweens and teens,” says Cecilia Dong, Ph.D. Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, in a blog post for uknowkids.com.

“We want our children to be computer-savvy and technologically literate, but safety should be our main priority. It’s often difficult to provide parental guidance when we feel like we know less about the cyber world than our children.”

 

Microgrids Offer Opportunities to Keep the Lights Shining

Jun 14, 2013

The miniature, self-contained energy systems known as microgrids may help prevent long-term outages and allow researchers to study new energy generation and storage methods, says NYIT Dean of Engineering and Computing Sciences Nada Anid, Ph.D., in Long Island Business News (subscription required). Anid envisions a system where a fleet of hybrid vehicles or fully electric vehicles could serve as electrical sources during an emergency.

 

NYIT Energy Conference 2013: Extreme Weather

Jun 13, 2013

“The life that we would see forty or fifty years from now will be a life of much more hardship, much more challenge," due to the effects of climate change on land and the oceans, says Sarah Meyland, associate professor of Environmental Technology, on a live broadcast of The Richard French Show during NYIT's annual Energy Conference.  "The only way we can protect our children and those who come after our children is to do what we can now."  Meyland was among the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences organizers of the conference, which focused on extreme weather and its severe social, political, and economic implications.  WBCS-TV, Fios1News, and WINS-1010 AM also covered the conference.

 

Expensive Yet Effective: The Dilemma with Biologic Drugs

Jun 05, 2013

"To some extent, health care is becoming a commodity where, basically, if you can afford it, then you can have it," says Brian Harper, M.D., medical director, Academic Health Care Center of NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, in Newsday (subscription required). Biologic drugs, those made through special biological processes or even manufactured using patients' cells, are expensive but often very effective. Adds Harper: "From my perspective as a physician, I feel a patient in need should have whatever medicine is required."

 

Introverts Can Overcome Shyness During Panel Interviews

May 30, 2013

Panel interviews for healthcare positions are often stressful but even introverted candidates can reduce anxiety, say NYIT School of Health Professions nursing faculty members Carol Caico, Ph.D., CS, NP and Pam Treister, MSN, CNS, RN, in Health Callings. “To an introvert the stress is magnified and the fear they experience may result in cancelled interviews or poor performance,” says Caico, assistant professor of nursing, who advises anxious interview candidates to consider relaxation techniques or cognitive therapy to overcome severe anxiety. Treister, a clinical instructor, says  “practice is even more essential," and using a tape recorder to practice answering questions can help introverts reduce their fears.

 

How the Turtle Got its Shell

May 30, 2013

The origin of the turtle shell is a "hot topic," according to Gaberiel Bever, Ph.D., assistant professor of anatomy at New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine. In Elsevier Connect , Bever explains that he and a team of researchers have concluded that a 260-million-year-old reptile from South Africa, Eunotosaurus africanus, is the earliest known version of a turtle, in part because of its distinctive T-shaped ribs. "Like other complex structures, the shell evolved over million of years and was gradually modified into its present-day shape," says Bever. The team's findings were published in Current Biology.

 

Physicians Adopt Mobile Technology

May 24, 2013

William Blazey, DO, assistant professor in the family medicine department at NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, is using an iPAD to access electronic medical records as he treats patients, but he tells AMN Healthcare that while mobile technology improves how he cares for his patients, it does not decrease the time most patients spend in office visits. Yet, mobile software applications for physicians are growing, and Blazey is among the increasing number of physicians using tablets and smartphones on the job.

 

Glazer in Campus Technology: Strike a Balance When Building an Online Course

May 08, 2013

"Using too many types of media, tools, applications, and/or software is bewildering to students," says Francine Glazer, Ph.D., assistant provost and director of NYIT's Center for Teaching and Learning, in Campus Technology. Glazer, is widely quoted in "The 'Dos and Don'ts' of Synchronous Online Learning," and offers numerous tips for faculty members setting up or improving their online learning programs.

"Factor in your students' available bandwidth, what devices they are using and how current their software is," says Glazer. "Just one or two students who haven't updated their computer software, for example, and who need help troubleshooting, can hold up the whole class."  Glazer also advises that professors keep in mind that all students learn at different paces. "Cram in too much content without the opportunity for reflection, application, and integration and you'll wind up with an unengaged group that doesn't get what's going on."