Celebrating Excellence in Engineering

On April 24, the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences hosted its fourth annual Ingenium Awards reception to honor luminaries in the engineering field. The guests, including staff, faculty, alumni, students, and industry collaborators, gathered at NYIT de Seversky Mansion on the Long Island campus to celebrate the achievements of the college and its partners.

Dean Babak D. Beheshti, Ph.D., began the award ceremony by welcoming guests and praising students’ research and innovation. “As a university,” he said, “we are not only disseminating knowledge but actively creating new knowledge.” He provided the audience with a brief recap of the year’s accomplishments, including new partnerships, facilities, and initiatives, demonstrating how the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences continues to expand its horizons.

Following Beheshti’s opening remarks, President Hank Foley, Ph.D., shared his aspirations for the future of the college and its students. “We believe that a university should be more than a place of learning. It should be a catalyst for innovation and entrepreneurship,” he said. “By investing in our students, New York Tech will empower them to grow this economy and help shape it for the future.”

The award presentations began with the Rising Star Honoree, bestowed upon a recent graduate who demonstrated early professional achievements and the promise of continued success. Last year’s winner, Omair Khanzada (B.S. ’16), executive vice president of Tower Consulting Engineers, presented the award to Khalid Hachil (M.S. ’19), an electrical engineer at Stantec. Hachil is a LEED-accredited engineer, teacher, published writer, and founder of his own company. In his acceptance speech, Hachil encouraged engineers to learn how to market themselves. “We need to highlight their personalities,” he said. “Engineers, drop the calculators for once and pick up Instagram!”

Andra Voicu (B.S. ’08) received the first Mid-Career Excellence Award, an honor presented to an alumnus with significant professional advancement, leadership, and contributions to their field. Voicu, president of Mac Fhionnghaile and Sons Electrical Contracting Inc., has worked with numerous city and state agencies and is an active leader in the movement to increase opportunities for girls in engineering and nontraditional career paths. Voicu spoke of the difficulties she faced as a woman pursuing engineering in the construction field but emphasized her appreciation for New York Tech’s early support. “It’s great to see how much New York Tech has grown and how many more opportunities there are for students,” she said.

The inaugural Government-University Innovation Excellence Award recognizes outstanding collaboration and commitment to advancing technological innovation through academia. This year’s honoree was the NASA Technology Transfer (T2) program. The T2 program ensures that technological innovations are available to the public by allowing communities across the country to access hundreds of NASA patents and software programs. The Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC), led by Director Michael Nizich, Ph.D., partners with the NASA T2 program to help students gain hands-on engineering experience by building prototypes from NASA patents. Christie Funk, NASA T2X program manager, accepted the award. Speaking to the ETIC students in attendance, she said, “With Dr. Nizich’s leadership and your ingenuity, you are all contributing to the NASA mission to help us bring our technological innovations to life. It has been our privilege to work alongside such highly talented professionals,” she said. “We are grateful and look forward to what we can innovate in the future.”

Next was the Industry Partner of the Year Award, presented in recognition of a company’s high-level contributions that enrich the student experience and ensure the college’s innovative success. Arnie Leap (B.S. ’93), chief information officer of last year’s winner, 1-800-Flowers.com, presented the award to A+ Technology and Security Solutions. President David Antar accepted the award on behalf of the company, a school and city safety and security supplier. Antar shared his company’s commitment to providing resources to promote interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) in K-12 education. “The key is getting to kids early and getting them excited about engineering,” he said.

The Hall of Fame Alumnus of the Year is given in recognition of professional achievements and ongoing service and support of New York Tech. Last year’s winner, Wilson Milian (B.S. ’92), chief executive officer and principal of Milian Consultants, LLC, presented the award to Soyeb Barot (M.S. ’05), vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner, Inc., and adjunct professor of computer science at New York Tech. Barot is a data science industry expert and a key player in leading digital transformation initiatives for Fortune 250 enterprises globally. Barot expressed deep gratitude for his educational experience at New York Tech. “This university introduced me to the world,” he said. “Not just the world of technology, but the world of possibility. It taught me how to think critically, adapt quickly, and never stop learning.”

The final awards celebrated standout student engineers who demonstrated dedication and commitment to academic excellence, professional development, and community engagement. Peter Goldsmith, M.B.A., director of industry relations at New York Tech, presented the Co-op Awards to three past and present students of the cooperative (co-op education) programs: Meng Cheng (M.S. ’24), who studied cybersecurity at New York Tech’s Vancouver campus, and computer science students Marcus Fredericks and Terry Yi.

Student representatives were also in attendance to showcase examples of the innovative projects taking place at the College of Engineering and Computing Science through the ETIC and the Necessary Eleven Steps to Tech Startup (NESTS) course. Guests enjoyed speaking with the talented students and engaging with their NASA-patented prototypes and award-winning technology startups.

By Sophie Yoakum