News Byte: Energy Management Students Meet New York Activist in Vancouver

Pictured from left: Irene Young, Ed.D.; Assistant Professor Tokunbo Makanju, Ph.D.; Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Remi Charron, Ph.D., associate professor of energy management; Anas Patel (M.S., ’19); and first-year energy management students Atoosa Ghahremani and Samaneh Heshmatzadeh.

Mindful of networking opportunities throughout Metro Vancouver, Irene Young, executive director and campus dean at NYIT-Vancouver, led a group of faculty and students to the 13th annual Surrey Environmental and Business Awards luncheon, where they met U.S. environmental activist and lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., among others.

“All of us at New York Tech-Vancouver recognize the importance of building connections between students and potential employers,” said Assistant Professor of Energy Management Patricia Keen, Ph.D. “This awards event was a terrific networking opportunity,” she added, “with the bonus of listening to a well-known environmental personality with roots in New York.”

Keynote speaker Kennedy, son of the late U.S. senator from New York and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, referenced his work reversing damage to and preserving New York’s Hudson River and Long Island Sound, among other environmental efforts.

Students seized the opportunity to meet representatives of award-winning companies with a demonstrated commitment to environmental sustainability in British Columbia. “It was great to have New York Tech present in the audience among many environmental-related companies and other academic institutions,” said Young.