Connections Vol.4 No.2

connectionsSpring 2012 Vol. 4, No. 2New York City College of Technology

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OUTSTANDINGGUESTSPEAKERSHIGHLIGHTFALL/SPRINGSEMESTERS

connections

Chefs Celebrate City Tech at Scholarship Fundraiser

Professor Named One of 25 Top Women in Dentistry

Author Matt de la Peña Reads from ‘Mexican Whiteboy’

Poetry on the Plaza Features Noted Poet Willie Perdomo

Pulitzer Prize Winner Junot Diaz to Headline Literary Arts Festival

Connections is the online magazine of New York City College of Technology of The City University of New York300 Jay Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201-1909, © 2012. All rights reserved.

Dale TarnowieskiEditor-in-Chief

Jewel Escobar

Michele Forsten

Jessica MalavezContributing Editors

Jamie MarkowitzGraphic Designer

One of the open questions still facing NewYork City is what to do with Brooklyn’swaterfront. The pause in developmentactivity caused by the economic slowdownhas provided time to plan strategically andcreatively for the waterfront’s contestedfuture. Should it be residential, commercial,recreational or industrial – and if industrial,what industries? Can there be a blend ofuses? Is there still the possibility formaritime uses? If so, what kind?

These and related questions have beenaddressed by research fellows of New YorkCity College of Technology’s BrooklynWaterfront Research Center in reports thatwere released at an October 2011conference held at Brooklyn’s BoroughHall. The conference featured keynotespeakers and panelists addressing these

and other issues related to the future ofthe Brooklyn waterfront.

“What we do along the Brooklynwaterfront,” said City Tech Professor RichardE. Hanley, director of the BrooklynWaterfront Research Center, “will shape theway New Yorkers live, work and play forgenerations.”

The conference opened with keynoteaddresses by Brooklyn Borough PresidentMarty Markowitz and Nicholas Brooke,chairman of the Hong Kong HarbourfrontCommission. Other speakers and panelistsincluded Seth Pinsky, president of the NYCEconomic Development Corporation;Kenneth D. Daly, New York president forNational Grid; Bonnie Harken, president ofNautilus International Development and aleading consultant for the Port Authority

of New York and New Jersey; Regina Myer, president of Brooklyn Bridge ParkCorporation; Michael Marrella, director of waterfront and open space planning,NYC Department of City Planning; CarterCraft, principal of Outside New York and co-founder of the MetropolitanWaterfront Alliance; and Roland Lewis,chief executive officer of the MetropolitanWaterfront Alliance.

The Brooklyn Waterfront Research Centerwas established with a three-fold mission:to support faculty research on topics relatedto the Brooklyn waterfront; to help facultydevelop a place-based interdisciplinarycurriculum; and to offer public lectures,seminars and forums that inform publicdialogue on issues related to Brooklyn’shistoric waterfront.

CITY TECH CONVENES OCTOBER CONFERENCE ONFUTURE OF BROOKLYN WATERFRONT

http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/alumni | connections 1

The Center for Theoretical Physics (CTP) atCity Tech, a unified research and teachingfacility focused on fundamental physics, isnow in its second groundbreaking year.During 2011 alone, CTP brought to campusmore than a dozen distinguished guestspeakers from leading scientific researchcenters worldwide.

“City Tech has become one of the leadingCity University of New York colleges intheoretical physics,” says Department ofPhysics Chair Roman Kezerashvili.

CTP at City Tech’s primary mission is topromote excellence in theoretical physicsresearch with significant focus onmathematical physics, computational physics,condensed matter physics, particle physics,

nuclear physics and astrophysics. The centeralso aims to educate graduate andundergraduate students in the theoretical andcomputational aspects of the discipline and tocommunicate its activities to the general publicthrough public lectures and other activities.

Those activities include seminars,workshops, colloquia and conferences,collaborative and individual research. CTPsupports collaborative research between itsown faculty members and those from otheracademic institutions worldwide. It alsosupports research by graduate andundergraduate students. CTP seminars enablethe dissemination and discussion of currentresearch and provide an opportunity todiscuss new joint projects with collaborators.

Speakers include CUNY faculty and visitingscholars from leading scientific and academicinstitutions both in the U.S. and abroad.

The center is currently home to fourNational Science Foundation-funded researchgrants. Collaborative and individual researchprojects include those examining string theory,which is based on the notion that every objectin our universe is composed of microscopicvibrating filaments (strings) of energy.Scientists like Professor Justin Vazquez-Poritzhope that string theory will unlock one of thegreat mysteries of the universe – how gravityand quantum physics fit together.

Other projects involve Large Hadron Collider(LHC) physics, astrophysics at the highestenergies down through nuclei at the lowenergy scale, and nanophysics and interactionof light with matter. Professor Andrea Ferrogliarecently received his first NSF grant for “Top-Quark Pair Production Beyond NLO (Next-to-Leading Order),” while Vazquez-Poritz receivedadditional funding for his current project,“Constraining Gravity Dual Models of StronglyCoupled Plasmas,” and Professor GiovanniOssola received a second NSF grant for hisresearch, “Automated Computation of One-loop Scattering Amplitudes.”

Professor Kezerashvili serves as CTP’s director.The center has two assistant directors,Vazquez-Poritz, who is responsible for High EnergyPhysics, and Professor Oleg Berman, who isresponsible for Condensed Matter Physics. Fivecenter faculty members also teach at the CUNYGraduate Center. They are Professors Ari Mallerand Giovanni Ossola, in addition to Kezerashvili,Vazquez-Poritz and Berman.

2 connections | http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/alumni

Center for Theoretical Physics Putting City Tech’s Physics Program on the Map

Kevin Hom, AIA, LEED©, the founder andpresident of the award-winning design firmKevin Hom & Andrew Goldman Architects,was appointed interim dean of City Tech’sSchool of Technology & Design in fall 2011.

Dean Hom’s professional career hasspanned 37 years, including 22 at the firmbearing his name, which specializes ineducation facility projects throughout thenation. Under his guidance, the practice haswon numerous awards, including the “2008Firm of the Year” from the Society ofAmerican Registered Architects/New YorkCouncil. Hom is recognized as a leader inthe advancement of design and better useof spaces at major colleges and universities.

His expertise focuses on designing projectsthat combine design achievement andprogramming excellence. These include

academic, commercial, corporate,research, convention, hotel,theater and master planningprojects. Among the numerousinstitutional and educationalclients for which he has designednew projects and renovations arethe State University of New York(SUNY), New York University,Norfolk State University,University of San Diego, VirginiaState University, Colorado StateUniversity, Fashion Institute ofTechnology, Barnard College,Rutgers University, the New YorkCity Department of Parks &Recreation and 20 New York Citypublic schools.

Dean Hom has worked atsome of the world’s mostrenowned design firms and haslectured widely in the U.S. andCanada at numerous nationalconferences, including theAssociation of College UnionsInternational and the Society ofCollege University Planners. Hehas also taught or lectured atColumbia, UCLA, Pratt, NewYork University and The CUNYGraduate Center, and haswritten on a wide range oftopics from planning Universitycampuses to the impact ofFederal legislation on urbanhousing design.

Kevin Hom Appointed Interim Dean of School of Technology & Design

Kevin Hom

10TH ANNIVERSARY REFLECTION ON 9/11


In September 2011, Professor JuliaJordan and Dr. Stephen Soiffer led NewYork City College of Technology’sremembrance of 9/11, reflecting on thelives of those members of the City Techcommunity who were lost that day andthe role City Tech played as tens ofthousands of survivors streamed off theBrooklyn Bridge into the borough’sdowntown area on their long walk home.At the conclusion of the program, SEEKDirector Dorie Clay movingly read AdamZagajewski’s “Try to Praise the MutilatedWorld,” a poem that appeared in TheNew Yorker and received worldwideattention following the 9/11 attacks.

In New York City, September 11, 2001dawned as a pleasantly sunny late-summermorning as millions of New Yorkers madetheir way to work and school and otherdestinations. As they went about theirtasks that morning, what likely was on theminds of most was that the day wouldconsist of business as usual, whatever thenature of that business. But as with allthings in life, there is a before and an after,and 8:46 and 9:03 a.m. would mark twominutes on the clock that day that wouldseparate New York City’s past from itsfuture and alter America’s sense of itselfand the world around it.

About an hour after the two planes outof Boston struck the World Trade Center,scores of City Tech students, faculty andstaff were on the streets surrounding theCollege, prepared to respond to the needsof the great wave of displaced personswho eventually rounded the curve of theBrooklyn Bridge exit onto Adams andTillary Streets. As stream after stream of

soot-covered men, women and childrenmade their way off the bridge, few of themwere talking. Those who stopped to availthemselves of the hundreds of hastily-made sandwiches, containers of water,bandages to cover minor wounds, andother amenities that the City Techstudents, faculty and staff offered had littleto say, except perhaps to ask for thelocation of the nearest pay phone and fordirections to such and such a secondarystreet. The words most often uttered by thecountless thousands left all but speechlessby the morning’s events were “thank you.”

It would be several days before whathad happened fully sank in and peoplebegan to speak at any length and in anydepth about what it all meant. September11, 2001 had pulled many rugs from underour city’s feet, as New York was clobberednot by a nuclear attack or by some naturaldisaster of devastating dimensions, but bythe price of a handful of airline tickets. Fora time the face that our city and nationpresented to the world was one of bothhumility and resolve, and we were kind toone another and set aside both the pettyand more serious differences that earlierhad consumed much of our energy.

Someone once wittingly observed that“time wounds all heals,” and thingseventually returned to a semblance ofnormal. Each year we have observed theanniversary of that terrible Tuesday byreflecting on the losses our nation sufferedthat day. But as we repeatedly examinethe events of September 11, 2001, havewe taken a sufficient look at what it wasthat made those who attacked New Yorkdislike America so much?

‘BACK IN THE HEIGHTS’WITH PLAYWRIGHTQUIARA ALEGRIA HUDES

In December 2011, New York City Collegeof Technology and Theatreworkssponsored a lecture/demonstration byplaywright Quiara Alegria Hudes, whoseIn the Heights received four Tony Awardsin 2008. In the Heights also earned herthe Lucille Lortel Award and the OuterCritics Circle Award.

A musical about the importance ofhome, family and finding where youbelong, In the Heights tells the universaltale of a vibrant community inManhattan’sWashingtonHeights – aplace wherethe coffee fromthe cornerbodega is lightand sweet, thewindows arealways open,and the breezecarries therhythm of threegenerations ofmusic. It’s acommunity on the brink of change, full ofhopes, dreams and pressures, where thebiggest struggles can be deciding whichtraditions you take with you and whichones you leave behind.

Quiara Alegria Hudes was born andraised in West Philadelphia and now lives in New York. Her plays, includingYemaya’s Belly (Portland StageCompany), Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue(Page 73 Productions) and TheAdventures of Barrio Grrrl! (MiracleTheatre), have been produced at theatersnationwide and will soon be published by Dramatists Play Service.

Hudes has been called “one of the mostimportant playwrights of her generation”(Atlanta Journal Constitution) with “aconfident and arresting voice” (The NewYork Times). She is also a composer andearned a BA in Music Composition fromYale and an MFA in Playwriting fromBrown. In addition to Hudes’presentation, the December 1 eventincluded dance performances.


More than 200 alumni, students, facultyand guests attended the Department ofHospitality Management-hosted “ChefsCelebrate City Tech” in October 2011, anevent that featured more than two dozenchefs who wowed diners with theirdelectable signature dishes and desserts.The department, working in collaborationwith the City Tech Foundation and Office ofDevelopment, raised nearly $40,000toward student scholarships.

The evening began with live jazz,courtesy of Sophisticated Sounds featuringRon Carlton, as guests were greeted byhospitality management students offeringBrooklyn Brewery’s Local 2 beer, PasternakCabernet Sauvignon and ginger cocktailsserved in sculptured glasses made of ice,courtesy of Icydrink. Guests bid on auctionitems that included dinner for six at theFour Seasons Restaurant and Porter HouseNew York, a Disney vacation, Manhattanweekend hotel accommodations andBroadway tickets.

Other highlights of the evening includedgrand tours of the department’s newlyrenovated main teaching kitchen, whereguests sampled more tasty treats likeshrimp with risotto from Union SquareCafé, house made duck confit sausage

from Lighthouse/Pier 60 and crab crustedhalibut from Morton’s The Steakhouse, toname a few.

President Russell K. Hotzler read aproclamation from New York City MayorMichael Bloomberg designating October4th “City Tech Hospitality Day” and a letterfrom President Barack Obamacongratulating the College and itsDepartment of Hospitality Management ontheir continued success in providing qualityeducation to students.

Chef Michael Lomonaco ‘84 of PorterHouse New York presented City Techgraduate and Foundation Board ChairMartin Jaffe ‘65 with a chef’s jacketcommemorating the event. And who couldforget the affable Brooklyn BoroughPresident Marty Markowitz remindingguests of how great Brooklyn is and howmany of City Tech’s amazing culinary andpastry arts graduates have helped to makethe borough an even more popular placeto dine.

MORE THAN TWO DOZEN CHEFS AND RESTAURATEURSWOW GUESTS AT CITY TECH SCHOLARSHIP FUNDRAISER

On October 6, 2011, Aisha Umar was theguest speaker at the B. J. Denihan LectureSeries at City Tech. A capacity audience waspresent as Umar chronicled her rise fromservice agent to a senior managementposition within the Denihan HospitalityGroup (DHG). Umar has held managementpositions at the Eastgate Tower and Affinia

Dumont, and is presently employed at the DHG corporate office in the ExecutiveSales Division.

Introduced by Professor PatrickO’Halloran, who coordinates the DenihanLecture Series, Umar is a 1989 graduate ofCity Tech’s baccalaureate program inhospitality management. She told the

October 6 audience that her success waslargely due to the solid education shereceived at City Tech.

Then, on October 27, ProfessorO’Halloran extended a welcome to ChrissyDenihan and John Barrett of the DHGcorporate office. Both Denihan and Barrettare grandchildren of the late B.J. Denihan,whose family sponsors City Tech’s B.J.Denihan Scholarship Program forhospitality students.

The guest speaker was Ms. PurnimaTiwari of Affinia Shelburne, a part of theDenihan Hospitality organization. Ms.Tiwari chronicled her day-to-day dutiesand responsibilities and provided insightsinto the hospitality industry and how it is changing.

FALL 2011 DENIHAN LECTURE SERIES

(l to r) MartinJaffe, JewelEscobar, MichaelLomonaco, LisaNiccolini, JulianNiccolini (hidden),Marty Markowitz,Russell K. Hotzler

A little rain didn’t dampen the spirit of CityTech’s Poetry on the Plaza fall 2011 event.Instead of being held outdoors in Cadman PlazaPark, the event was moved to Klitgord CenterAuditorium. Poet Willie Perdomo, City TechPeace Officer David Edwards (aka Poetic Justice)and City Tech students, faculty and alumni readand performed their work in front of anenthusiastic crowd of several hundred people.

“A Brooklyn Book Festival Bookend event,Poetry on the Plaza placed City Tech’s talentedstudents solidly within the arts community inBrooklyn,” said Professor of English CarolineHellman, who organized the event. “We werethrilled to partner with spoken word poet WilliePerdomo, and to be a part of the Brooklyn BookFestival, which took place right outside ourcampus.” The Brooklyn Book Festival is the largestfree literary event in New York City presenting anarray of literary stars and emerging authors.

Willie Perdomo is the author Where a NickelCosts a Dime and Smoking Lovely, whichreceived a PEN America Beyond Margins Award.He has also been published in The New YorkTimes Magazine, Bomb, Mr. Beller’sNeighborhood and Centro Journal. His children’sbook, Visiting Langston, received a Coretta ScottKing Honor. He is a New York Foundation for theArts Fellowship winner, Pushcart Prize nominee,an Urban Artists Initiative/NYC grant recipient,and was recently a Woolrich Fellow in CreativeWriting at Columbia University. He is currentlyartist-in-residence at Workspace, LowerManhattan Cultural Council and co-founder/publisher of Cypher Books.

David Edwards, a peace officer at City Techwho is known as Poetic Justice, was born andraised in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. Edwardscombines his love of life, pursuit of justice andprofound knowledge of African and African-American history in his poetry. “Poetic Justicerepresents the extraordinary talent emanatingfrom students, faculty and staff alike that issometimes rendered invisible at a college of oursize. David Edwards protects our campus duringthe day and regales us with poetry in theevening,” noted Professor Hellman.

Among the students who performed wereAceDaGod, aka Anthony Clark, who hastransformed his poetry into music that speaksof his Brooklyn roots and the struggle to be anartist in a material world. Spoken word artistHonest Abe, aka Abraham Benjamin, a CityTech alumnus whose works include “Ode tothe Poet” and “Brooklyn’s Lost Son,” was onthe bill, as were City Tech Professors GeorgeGuida and Monique Ferrell.

‘POETRY ON THE PLAZA’ BROOKLYNBOOK FESTIVAL BOOKEND EVENT Firehouse Chef

Uses His Noodle to Win City Tech-Hosted BrooklynRound of DailyNews FDNY 5Alarm CookoffFirehouse chef Jing Kong of Station32 in Carroll Gardens took tophonors in the City Tech-hostedBrooklyn Round of the Daily NewsFDNY 5 Alarm Cookoff in October2011. His winning dish – a zestypork belly negimaki stuff with pullduck and served over chilled ricenoodles – wonhim the right togo on tocompeteagainstfirehouse chefsfrom otherboroughsduring theultimateshowdown onthe “Rachel Ray” show.

Judges for the City Tech roundwere Professor Elizabeth Schaible,chair of the College’s Departmentof Hospitality Management,Morton’s The Steakhouse managerand sommelier Joe Roken, and JoeMorrone from P.C. Richards & Son,a co-sponsor of the event.


Dr. Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of theSchomburg Center for Research in Black Culture,spoke on “Historical Literacy in the 21st Century:Arturo Alfonso Schomburg’s Legacy – Then andNow” at City Tech in November 2011. The eventwas part of the College’s annual celebration ofBlack Solidarity Day, which this year had thetheme “Empowering Black America: Continuingthe Legacy of Arturo Schomburg.”

Arturo Schomburg was a Puerto Rican bornarchivist, who was inspired to start collectingthe works of Black writers after he was told bywhite teachers that people of African descenthad made no significant contributions to the

society, according to Marta Effinger-Crichlow,chairperson of City Tech’s Department ofAfrican American Studies.

A former professor of African-Americanhistory at Indiana University, Dr. Muhammadwas selected in late 2010 to take over thehelm of the historic Schomburg Center,currently celebrating its 85th year. In his talk,he shared his vision for the Schomburg as wellas explained its valuable research holdings tothe City Tech community.

As an academic, Dr. Muhammad is at theforefront of scholarship on the enduring linkbetween race and crime that has shaped and

limited opportunities for African Americans. He isthe author of The Condemnation of Blackness:Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern UrbanAmerica, published recently by HarvardUniversity Press. A great-grandson of ElijahMuhammad, he has deep roots in Black historyand in Harlem. His father is the noted PulitzerPrize-winning New York Times photographerOzier Muhammad. Dr. Muhammad is nowworking on his second book, Disappearing Acts:The End of White Criminality in the Age of JimCrow, which traces the historical roots of thechanging demographics of crime andpunishment so evident today.

Black Solidarity Day Observance Features Schomburg Center Director


Menachem Z. Rosensaft, general counsel ofthe World Jewish Congress and the son ofsurvivors of the Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen Nazi death camps, was featuredspeaker on November 10, 2011 at the CityTech Jewish Faculty & Staff Association’s(JFSA) annual observance of Kristallnacht.Professor Rosensaft’s remarks focused on hisparent’s concentration camp experiencesand the roles played by leaders of theGerman and other Jewish communities intheir efforts to save the greatest possiblenumber of lives during the Nazi reign ofterror. Rosensaft asked that we “not judgetheir sometimes controversial actions, as wewere not there.”

Introduced by renowned author andjournalist Pete Hamill, Professor Rosensaftwas born in 1948 in the displaced personscamp of Bergen-Belsen and has been aprominent leader in Holocaust remembranceactivities. He is the founding chairman of theInternational Network of Children of JewishHolocaust Survivors, chairman of theeditorial board of the Holocaust Survivors’Memoirs Project (a joint publishing endeavor

with Yad Vashem in Jerusalem), and vicepresident of the American Gathering ofJewish Holocaust Survivors and TheirDescendants.

“If Elie Wiesel deservedly is considered thepreeminent voice of Holocaust survivors,”says retired Former Acting Dean ofContinuing Education James Goldman, whohas spearheaded JFSA’s DistinguishedSpeakers Series since 1988, “thenMenachem Rosensaft is surely among theforemost eloquent voices of the children ofHolocaust survivors.”

During the program, Professor Rosensaftwas presented JFSA’s 2011 DistinguishedHumanitarian Award by Hamill. Also honoredwas Sonia Beker, author of Symphony onFire: A Story of Music and SpiritualResistance During the Holocaust, a stirringaccount of her parents, violinist Max Bekerand pianist Fania Durmashkin-Beker,members of well-known Vilnius musicianfamilies killed in the Holocaust. Britishcomposer Ronald Senator (“HolocaustRequiem”) presented the 2011 DistinguishedAchievement Award to Beker.

‘LAW OF GENOCIDE AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY’ FOCUS OF NOVEMBER 2011 TALK AT CITY TECH

Matt de la Peña,author of fournovels, read fromhis book, MexicanWhiteboy, andtalked about his lifeas a writer in aNovember 2011presentation at CityTech. The readingwas coordinated byProfessor of EnglishCarole Harris.

Mexican Whiteboy is a youngadult novel about 16-year-oldDanny Lopez, a biracial youth wholives in a wealthy northern SanDiego county. Danny’s mother iswhite and his father, who left himand his mother, is Mexican. Thiscomplicates Danny’s sense of

identity. Does hebelong in whitesociety orMexican society?

One summer,Danny travels toMexico in searchof his father’s sideof the family tobetter understandhis Mexicanancestry. Uponarriving in Mexico,

Danny is frustrated because hedoes not speak Spanish anddoesn’t feel like he fits in. Whenhis cousins introduce him topeople in their neighborhood,Danny gets punched by a boynamed Uno. Their initial tensionprompts a friendship and Danny

and Uno eventually find that theyhave a lot in common.

In one scene, Uno invites Dannyto a place at the bottom of abridge. A train approaches and Unoinstructs Danny to hold onto a pillarreally tightly. Uno assures Dannythat he will be all right if he holdson tight. The train rambles abovethem and the pillars shake violently.This is an important event in theirfriendship that helps foster Danny’sability to trust close relationships.

Critics have praised de la Peña’sability to focus on difficultsubjects. Young readers ofMexican Whiteboy relate to thestruggles with identity that are atthe heart of the book, which wasnamed a Top 10 Pick by theAmerican Library Association.

‘Mexican Whiteboy’ Author Examines Youthful Identity Crises in City Tech Talk WE’RE

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The 2012 Literary Arts Festival at New York City College of Technology, to be held onThursday, April 5, will feature contemporaryDominican-American writer and PulitzerPrize winner Junot Diaz, who moved to theUnited States with his parents at age six.Central to Díaz’s work is the duality of theimmigrant experience.

Born in Villa Juana, a barrio in Santo Domingo,Dominican Republic, he relocated to Parlin,New Jersey, where he attended Madison ParkElementary and became a voracious reader. In time,Díaz became fascinated with apocalyptic books andfilms, especially the works of John Christopher, theoriginal Planet of the Apes films and the BBC mini-series Edge of Darkness.

Díaz went on to graduate from Cedar Ridge HighSchool in Old Bridge, New Jersey, and later attendedKean College in Union, New Jersey, before transferringand ultimately completing his BA at Rutgers College,where he majored in English. After graduating from Rutgers hewas employed at Rutgers University Press as an editorial assistant.In 1995, he earned his MFA from Cornell University in Ithaca, NewYork, where he wrote most of his first collection.

Active in the Dominican community, Díaz teaches creativewriting at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is

also the fiction editor for the Boston Review. He is a founding member of the Voices of WritingWorkshop, a writing workshop focused on writersof color. His fiction has appeared in The NewYorker magazine which listed him as one of the20 top writers of the 21st century. He has alsobeen published in Story, The Paris Review, andin the anthologies Best American Short Storiesand African Voices.

He is best known for his two major works,the short story collection Drown (1996) andthe novel The Brief Wondrous Life of OscarWao (2007), for which he won the PulitzerPrize for distinguished fiction by an Americanauthor in 2008. He has received a Eugene

McDermott Award, a fellowship from the John SimonGuggenheim Memorial Foundation, a Lila AchesonWallace Readers Digest Award, the 2002 Pen/Malamud

Award, the 2003 US-Japan Creative Artist Fellowship fromthe National Endowment for the Arts, a fellowship at the

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard Universityand the Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts andLetters. He won the 2007 Sargant First Novel Prize and wasselected as one of the 39 most important Latin Americanwriters under the age of 39 by the Bogotá Book Capital ofWorld and the Hay Festival.

COMING THIS SPRING!2012 Literary Arts Festival to FeaturePulitzer Prize Winner Junot Diaz

MAKING THEIR MARK ON AND OFF CAMPUS STUDENT ACHIEVERS


Three talented graduates of City Tech’saward-winning hospitality managementprogram won first place prizes in the96th annual InternationalHotel/Motel & Restaurant Showheld in November 2011 at JacobJavits Center in Manhattan. Inaddition, the “Poularde” on theCity Tech table won aFelicitations of the Salon specialmention. The event attracted atotal of nearly 24,000 hospitalityindustry and other attendees.

Competing alum were AnthonySmith ‘96, who did a chocolate piecethat won a first place prize; WingyiuWong ‘10, who won a first place prizefor her chocolate sculptureentitled “Symphony;” andMichele Kelly ‘96, who alongwith Smith won a first place fortheir modern “Celebration”cake. While Monroe Collegestudents won the Sarrazin Cupat the 2011 competition, CityTech students placed secondonly 1.5 points behind.

Ebow Dadzie, a 2003 CityTech graduate who was named

Chef of the Year in 2007, coached theMonroe College pastry team. FrankCostantino ‘86, also a City Tech graduate

and a former professor in the College’shospitality management program, iscurrently dean of the Monroe Collegeculinary program.

The City Tech student team wascoached by Professors Thomas Harris,

Mark Hellermann and AnthonySmith. Supporting faculty

included Professors JeanClaude, Joanne Jacus, ClaireStewart and Susan Lowry.“All our students did

exceptional work this year,”says Professor Hellermann,“putting in extra hours overmany late nights in order to

present their work in thisprestigious show. It’s

amazing to seestudents take their

own idea from thesketch and development stagesto the creation of a beautiful

showpiece made out ofvarious forms of sugar andchocolate.”

BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORYSUMMER 2011 INTERNS ANTONIO AGUIRRE & AGOSSA SEGLA

City TechAdvertisingDesign & GraphicArts student PakYin Chan andProfessor DouglasDavis participatedin the JWT‘Differenter’ FallCollege Art Battlein November 2011. Chan tied for firstplace in the competition, receiving a $500scholarship, and Davis was a judge.

The Spring 2011 Art Battle foradvertising agencies was the first of itskind and highly successful with industryleaders from Global Hue, JWT, Y&R,Merkley & Partners, Concept Farm and HillHolliday. The fall 2011 competitionshowcased up and coming creative youngart students from local colleges. Each ador design student was assigned a themearound the topic of diversity and a list ofart materials that were provided at theevent 24 hours later. During thecompetition, each artist was given a blankcanvas, a painter’s kit and 90 minutes tocreate an artistic expression of the theme.

CITY TECH STUDENTS AND ALUMNI SCOREWINS IN 2011 INTERNATIONAL HOTEL/MOTEL& RESTAURANT SHOW COMPETITIONS

JWT ‘Differenter’ Fall College Art BattleAward Winner Pak Yin Chan

During summer 2011, Professor Viviana Vladutescu, Electrical and TelecommunicationsEngineering Technology, and two of her students, Antonio Aguirre and Agossa Segla,participated in an Intensive Observational Period (IOP) measurement campaign ofatmospheric aerosols’ optical, physical and chemical properties at Brookhaven NationalLaboratory (BNL) in Upton, NY. Their participation was supported by BNL’s FaST program(Office of Educational Programs) and the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participationprogram at CUNY. More about the students’ experience at Brookhaven can be found athttp://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/remote_sensing/bnl-internship/.Antonio Aguirre and Agossa Segla


MORE STUDENT ACHIEVERS

City Tech Hands-On Home Repair Workshop Featured on WPIX

CONTINUING EDUCATIONIn September 2011, WPIX Channel 11 did a video shoot at City Tech’sContinuing Studies Center for a series called “Learn Something.” Thisseries details one-day classes and seminars being offered around NewYork City on everything from knitting to pizza tossing to home repair.

The shoot focused on two City Tech Hands-On Home RepairWorkshops – Simple Home Repair and Plumbing. Instructor RichardCrabbe described the kinds of skills and techniques students acquirethrough the workshops and talked about the kinds of people who takethem. The WPIX video can be viewed on the Continuing Studies websiteat http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/continuinged/spotlight.aspx.

The hands-on workshops teach students how to fix a toilet, patchand plaster a wall, install a light fixture, put in a lock, unclog a trap,spackle a wall and become a competent handyperson. These skillscan save homeowners lots of money and teach them skills that willserve them well. Each workshop is $50.00 and interested partiescan register by calling 718.552.1170. A full listing of workshops isavailable at www.citytech.cuny.edu/academics/continuinged. Instructor Richard Crabbe

VISION CARE TECHNOLOGYSTUDENTS HONORED AT AWARDS CEREMONIES

Three outstanding City Tech students were honoredduring the 2011 spring semester in ceremonies hostedby the Department of Vision Care Technology: VincentSalerno was presented with the New York State Societyof Opticians’ (NYSSO) 2011 Future of OpticianryScholarship Award by NYSSO representative StephanieGallo-Hess in recognition of his academic achievementsand promising future in the field.

Also honored with a NYSSO Student Scholarshippresented by Professor Robert Russo was studentJoanna Bettini. Professor Russo also presented theJoseph L. Bacotti Scholarship Award to outstandingstudent Ruth Ruben on behalf of the Opticians Allianceof New York. Professor Bacotti founded the City Techprogram more than 40 years ago and the scholarship inhis memory is presented to an honoree who hasdisplayed high ethical and moral conduct as a student.

NURSING PROFESSOR FORGES MERCK/CITY TECH PARTNERSHIP

Professor Patricia A. Cholewka, a nursingtechnology expert at City Tech, was busydeveloping and implementing a newteaching model to prepare student nurses forthe health care technology revolution whenshe read about aseries of mobileapps Merck hadlaunched to help patients manage ailmentsranging from cancer to diabetes to migraines.

“I phoned Merck after reading thearticle,” Dr. Cholewka says, “and proposed aprivate-public partnership for a work-studypilot with the Merck IT Innovation group.

The Merck/City Tech work-studyinternship program started during fall 2011with three students from the bachelor’sdegree in nursing program, all of whom arealready New York State Registered Nursesand were chosen by Merck to participate.

The students engaged in research andexperiments with Merck and also learnedthe business aspects of what is involved inworking as a team to design, implementand manage health care IT.

According to Dr. Cholewka, “This initiativeis training nursing students to fully engagein the unfolding digital era. The new Merckmobile phone apps – iManage Migraine,Vree for Diabetes and iChemoDiary –represent a useful and creative use of healthcare technology that appeals to students,”Dr. Cholewka adds.

The City Tech student nurses and Merck ITprofessionals will collaborate to developnew mobile apps and perhaps otherinnovations, such as game apps forFacebook, electronic guidance for medicineadministration, avatars and video messages,and may be available in multiple languages.

FACULTY & STAFF

Patricia A. Cholewka


CITY TECH PROFESSOR NAMED ONE OF TOP 25 WOMEN IN DENTISTRYRenata Budny, an alumna and professor of restorative dentistry at City Tech, hasbeen named one of the top 25 women in dentistry in the U.S. by Dental ProductsReport magazine, a leading tradepublication in the field.

Professor Budny is an expert on indirectcomposite resins, which are materials usedin crown, bridge and ceramic restorations.They involve techniques of fabricatinginlays, onlays, crowns, bridges and veneersoutside of the patient’s mouth.

Her research has a dual focus. First, shecompares the indirect composite resinmaterials available on the market for thepurpose of properly applying them to thetype of restorations to be made for thepatient. She also studies and applies in herclassroom the variety of techniques used torestore natural dentition using restorations

made in the dentallaboratory.

Professor Budny,who was raised inWolow, Poland, a townnear Wroclaw, liked topaint and sculpt as agirl and wanted tobecome an interiordesigner. Completingadvanced certificatesin interior design aftermoving to New York,she was encouragedto pursue a career in dental laboratorytechnology by a friend.

“I saw that this field not only requiresartistic talent, but imagination, intelligence,design and engineering skills with the goalof making a beautiful smile for a patient. It

was a good fit for my talents and interests,”she explains.

Professor Budny is active in professionalorganizations, serving as president and clinicdirector of the Greater New York CDT StudyGroup, for which she organizes four to sixlectures a year.

Renata Budny


“I want peopleto know thatmental illnessis not someonehaving a badday or badweek, but achronic diseasethat surelycauses as much

suffering as a serious physicalillness on both the afflicted andtheir loved ones,” says ProfessorNina Bannett, author of LithiumWitness, a poetry chapbook that

chronicles her life growing up witha mother who suffered from bi-polar disorder.

Four years old when her motherwas initially diagnosed, Bannettexplores what it’s like to be theyoung child of someone who livesin her own fluctuating reality andalso what it was like growing upsurrounded by both mental illnessand the strongest bonds of love.Her poems take the reader througha 30-year-long painful cycle ofseparations and reunions, depictingan unbreakable mother-daughter

relationship tested by anxiety,illness and ultimately death.

The 26 poems communicate thepsychological, medical and financialimpact of mental illness as well asBannett’s struggle to come to termswith her mother’s unexpected deathin 2004 from undiagnosed coloncancer. Lithium Witness addressesthe themes of mental illness,mother-daughter relationships, andthe woman as artist.

According to poet Kate Falvey,Bannett’s City Tech colleague andan editorial member of

the Bellevue Literary Review,“Spare, precise, exquisitely made,these poems unfold like strange origami shapes,disclosing in each tuck and fold, the primal, often anguishedlove of a bereft daughter for hermentally ill mother.”

“I was an only child and neededto stay at home to try to providethe emotional support my motherneeded,” explains Bannett, whosays Lithium Witness is meant tobe “a tribute to my mother and away to keep her in my life.”

LITHIUM WITNESS PROFESSOR NINA BANNETT

DOMESTICITY AND DESIGN IN AMERICAN WOMEN’S LIVES AND LITERATURE: STOWE, ALCOTT, CATHER, AND WHARTON WRITING HOME PROFESSOR CAROLINE HELLMAN

UNSTEADY Professor Monique Ferrell

The ways inwhich fourmajor Americanwomen writers– HarrietBeecher Stowe,Louisa MayAlcott, WillaCather and EdithWharton – dealt

with their domestic roles and howthey portrayed this domesticity intheir work is the focus of a newbook by Professor Caroline Hellman.

Domesticity and Design inAmerican Women’s Lives andLiterature: Stowe, Alcott, Cather,

and Wharton Writing Home is thestory of independent femaleauthors who had unusualrelationships with home; theymoved frequently either torepeatedly begin anew theprocesses of designing anddecorating or to avoid domesticobligation altogether.

It is also the story of thesewomen authors creating femalecharacters who had strikinglydifferent relationships withdomesticity as they contended withsignificant burdens of housekeepingin an oppressive domesticenvironment. As an example,

Hellman says that although Stowewas an author of domestic advicemanuals and numerous works offiction portraying traditionaldomesticity, she herself labored asmuch as possible to avoidhousework. According to Hellman,a real contradiction existed betweenStowe’s domestic life and thedomestic life she advocated in her texts.

Hellman comes to the conclusionthat the authors she writes abouthave used their domesticcircumstances as a springboardfrom which to address a widerange of issues from health and

social welfare to world war –economy, health and social welfare in the case of Stowe,material feminism for Alcott, thelandscape for Cather and WorldWar I for Wharton.

As for her relationship to herown domesticity, Hellman explainsthat it has evolved. She used tofind her scholarly interestssomewhat ironic because while she took pleasure in interiordesign, she had little enthusiasmfor housework of any sort. Morerecently she has become intriguedby other domestic arts like cooking and baking.

“I wanted touse this book toconvey that‘unsteadiness’is normal andcan lend itselfto self-discovery andlimitlesscreativity.”

So says Monique Ferrell about hernew book, Unsteady, a collection ofpoems and dramatic monologues.The 24 pieces in the collectionexamine the social, cultural,

political and gender issues thataffect her as a student of life, awoman and a person of color. Thecover of Unsteady was designed byone of Ferrell’s former students,Patricia Jade Persaud, who will bereceiving her bachelor’s degree incommunication design from CityTech this spring.

“Maybe it’s the Buddhist in me,but everything about the world Ilive in, and everything that hasinformed who I’ve become, mattersnow more than ever. Mygrandmother’s stories, music,

politics, ‘celebutants,’ our violentand beautiful world – thinkingabout these kinds of things canmake you feel ‘unsteady,’ as theycan be as off-putting as they areenlightening.”

“Limitless creativity” is a goodway of describing the whirl ofactivity Ferrell finds herself in now.She is putting the finishing toucheson a short fiction collection, calledImpetus, and is working on a bookof feminist criticism titled Her OwnWorst Enemy: The Eternal InternalGender Wars of Our Sisters.

But before these two books arereleased, Ferrell will see thepublication of the second editionof her book Good Writing MadeSimple (co-authored with City TechProfessors Julian Williams andMark Noonan) and the thirdedition of Lead, Follow, or MoveOut of the Way: GlobalPerspectives in Literature (co-edited with Willams). The latterbook is being used at 11 differentcolleges and high schools acrossthe country.

Bookshelf


FACULTY & STAFF

Artist C Bangs and City Tech Adjunct Professorand NASA consultant Gregory Matloff are longtime partners and collaborators whose mutualinterests and complementary talents serve themwell. For many years, Bangs has been the artistwho provides the visual expression to Matloff’sscientific content. After eight books together andnumerous NASA consultations and residencies,Bangs and Matloff have taken theirwork in a new direction.

In this graphic interpretation oftheir scientific books, they haveachieved another level; their workhas never before been so wellintegrated, as they have found amethod where text and imagebecome one, rather than oneillustrating the other. The moreesoteric points of Matloff’s researchfind an accessibility, while Bangsmore than ever seamlessly offers us, throughimagery, a lyrical telling of their story for the questto access solar system resources for the Earth.

The melding of art and science is not alwaysan easy one, and when the scientific narrative issuch a compelling one, it is easy for the artist tobe overwhelmed. Through the experience of

years, however, Bangs and Matloff have beenable to whittle down their complex ideas intosimplified language of both the literal and visualkind. Within this unconventional book format,they manage to maintain the essence of the ideain a more unusual form. The emphasis on theimage in their joint work was a new challengefor the pair. With it also came the ability to reach

a wider audience consisting ofmany who would not be familiarwith Matloff’s research, butnaturally have a curiosity forsuch work. In fact, outer spaceis a fascination commonamong us all, yet Bangs andMatloff have presented us witha fresh approach, a uniqueway to explore the place ofconstant exploration.

“Today,” says Matloff, “ourcivilization stands at a crossroad. If we choosethe right path, all humans can live well byexploiting the vast resources of our solar system.If we take the alternative path, we can continueto degrade the home planet’s environment muchto the cost of people and the other species withwhich we share the biosphere.”

BIOSPHERE EXTENSION: SOLARSYSTEM RESOURCES FOR THE EARTHPROFESSOR GREGORY MATLOFF AND ARTIST C BANGS

Dental Hygiene ClinicLOW-COST DENTAL HYGIENE SERVICES

Pearl Building 2nd Floor259 Adams Street (south of Tillary),Downtown Brooklyn

By appointment only

College community/alumni/general public

Clinic schedule and otherinformation/appointment at 718.260.5074

Eyeglasses Clinic

REDUCED-COST SERVICES

Pearl Building 3rd Floor259 Adams Street(south of Tillary),Downtown Brooklyn

By appointment only


Clinic schedule and otherinformation/appointment at718.260.5298

Immigration ClinicFREE IMMIGRATION ANDCITIZENSHIP COUNSELING ANDREFERRAL SERVICES

Namm Hall 622300 Jay Street(at Tillary)Downtown Brooklyn

By appointment/walk-in


Clinic schedule and otherinformation/appointment at718.260.5597


Professors John Akana, AmitMehrotra and PatrickO’Halloran, hospitalitymanagement, presented theirresearch paper, “ComparativeAnalysis of Credit Card Debt AmongUndergraduate Students – the Caseof City Tech HospitalityManagement Students,” inSeptember 2011 at the InternationalAcademy of Business ResearchConference in Atlantic City.

On the heels of recent majordisasters in New Orleans, Haiti andJapan, three Honors Scholars studentresearchers – Erik Jester, HibaNafe and Long Ruan – active inCity Tech’s Architectural DesignStudio (ADS) directed by ProfessorIllya Azaroff, architecturaltechnology, received honorablemention from the ACSA last Octoberfor their competition entry in “BeingResourceful.” In addition, they alsopresented their design, “Designingfor Disaster, HIBAtat,” atArchitecture for Humanity’s 2011Design Like You Give a DamnConference in Manhattan. Thestudents reported on their DesignStudio work on deployable firstresponse emergency shelters withbuilt-in cradle-to-cradle featuresrequired for disaster relief.

Professor Karl Botchway, whoformerly served as chair of theDepartment of African AmericanStudies, has been name interim deanof the School of Arts & Sciences.

Professor Anthony Cioffi, chair,construction management and civilengineering technology, wasinstrumental in early 2011 inenabling students at CityPolytechnic High School ofEngineering, Architecture andTechnology in Brooklyn to establishthe first high school civilengineering club in the country tobe supported by ASCE (AmericanSociety of Civil Engineers).

Last fall SEEK Director Dorie Claywas named as New York City

College of Technology’s academicintegrity officer. The academicintegrity officer serves as the initialcontact person with facultymembers should they need toreport incidents of suspectedacademic dishonesty.

Professor Marilyn Cortell, RDH,MS, FAADH, dental hygiene,published an article,“Inflammation: Are you burning toknow the facts,” in the August 4,2011 online edition of DentistryIQ.

Professor Joycelyn Dillion,RDH, MA, chair of the Departmentof Dental Hygiene, was honoredon October 20, 2011, at a dinnerat Qattro Gatti in Manhattan.Sponsored by the New York StateBoard for Dentistry, the eventrecognized Professor Dillon forher ten years of “meritorious anddedicated service” as a memberof the board. She has now beenapproved for appointment toserve on peer panels as anextended member of the StateBoard for Dentistry.

Professor Marta Effinger-Crichlow has been named to serveas interim chair of the Departmentof African American Studies.

Professor Kathleen Falk, nursing,who heads Children of Promise (amentoring program for children ofincarcerated parents), discussed inOctober 2011 the difficulty of tryingto bring the program to StatenIsland and shared challenges inmaking contacts with the publicschool system at a meeting of theCircle of Love Prison Support Groupat the Central Family Life Center inStapleton, NY.

Adjunct Gary Friedman, visioncare technology, was honored inOctober 2011 by CongregationOhav Sholom in Merrick, NY, asChatan Torah (Groom of the Torah).

Professor John Huntington,entertainment technology, wasinterviewed last fall on AVNation’s

AV Week Podcast about theentertainment industry, the CityTech academic program and its“Gravesend Inn” theme-park-quality Halloween attraction.

Professor Delaram Kahrobael,mathematics, recently received threeNational Science Foundation (NSF)awards – funding for a collaborativeproject with NYU Polytechnic (2011-2013), “Building CybersecurityCapacity by Means of a NationalHigh School Digital ForensicsChallenge;” an NSF Association ofWomen in Mathematics award(2011); and an NSF-FORWARD toProfessorship grant (2011-2012)through grants by GeorgeWashington University, University ofOttawa and Gallaudet University.

Yelena Melikian, director,Business & Industry TrainingCenter, served on the steeringcommittee of the BlueGreenAlliance’s Building the Future: NewYork State Transit ManufacturingConference, which was held onSeptember 27, 2011 at theBrooklyn Navy Yard and looked atjob creation potential of transitmanufacturing in New York State.

Professor Patrick O’Halloran,hospitality management, recentlypublished his third edition of “TheJournal,” which lays thefoundation for financial andeducational strategies that willhelp readers develop a proactivedefense against today’s economicand academic challenges.O’Halloran also presented a paper,“The Creation of Bullying ResistantSchools,” at the InternationalAcademy of Business ResearchConference in Atlantic City inSeptember 2011.

Professor Annette Saddik,English, discussed TennesseeWilliams, the origins of “SuddenlyLast Summer,” and theplaywright’s fascination with thedarker aspects of humanexperience at the Westport

Country Playhouse SundaySymposium in August 2011. InNovember, Saddik gave a talk onWilliams at a celebratory event atthe CUNY Graduate Centerfollowing the reading of a newplay based on Williams’ life.

Professor Elizabeth Schaible,chair of the Department ofHospitality Management, and son,Alex, were the subject of an “All inthe Family!” news item on theCUNY BA website. Schaible is afaculty mentor for the CUNY BAprogram and Alex is a CUNY BAstudent at City College of NewYork with two concentrations,Music and Photography.

Dean Carol Sonnenblick, Divisionof Continuing Education, wasappointed to the board of trustees ofthe Staten Island Community CharterSchool (SICCS) in September 2011.The school’s mission emphasizescollaboration among students,school, home and community.

Professor Christine Thorpe hasbeen appointed chair of theDepartment of Human Services.She holds a doctorate in healtheducation and a master’s degree in international educationaldevelopment from TeachersCollege at Columbia University.

Professor Liana Tsenova, MD,biological sciences, presented her research work on tuberculosisat the Gordon ResearchConference, “Tuberculosis: DrugDevelopment,” held in Lucca(Barga), Italy, in July 2011.

Who’s News?

InMemoriam Herbert MillerProfessor EmeritusEnglish


The City Tech Foundation is working withNew York City College of Technology’sDepartment of Nursing on plans for a 50th Anniversary Reception, Dinner & SilentAuction on Friday, April 20, 2012, from 6 to 9:00 p.m., commemorating theestablishment of the department. Alumni,

corporate and community leaders, and othergood friends of the College will gather to help raise funds to benefit students currently enrolled in the College’s nursing program. Location TBA. Foradditional information, contact theDepartment of Nursing at 718.260.5668.

FOUNDATION CORNER

COMING SOON!Major GiftsCampaignand NamingOpportunities

Watch for details!

FOUNDATION WORKING WITH DEPARTMENT OF NURSING ON 50TH ANNIVERSARY SCHOLARSHIP FUNDRAISER

SAVE THE

DATE!Best of New York

Award DinnerMonday, May 14, 2012

6:00 - 9:30pmHilton New YorkTrianon Ballroom

Manhattan

PLANNED GIVINGContact the City Tech Foundation [email protected] for a free bookleton How to Make a Will That Works. Completeinformation on remembering City Tech in your willis available athttp://www.citytech.cuny.edu/aboutus/foundation/giving.shtml.

For a complete list of2011 donors click here

THANKYOU 2011DONORS

http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/files/aboutus/foundation/DonorList2011.pdf

http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/aboutus/foundation/giving.shtml

http://www.citytech.cuny.edu/aboutus/foundation/giving.shtml


ALUMNI NEWS

It has been 25 years since Joyce Turcotte ‘73(formerly Joyce Tassone), owner and founderof Professional Learning Services (PLS) inMonroe, Connecticut, started her businessout of the guest room in her home. Turcottewas driven by her goal to be the first tooffer dental hygienists an alternative way tostay on top of the latest trends in the fieldwhile allowing them to fulfill their statelicensing requirements.

“I am well aware that my successes havebeen made possible by my loyal customersand supportive peers,” Turcott explains, “It

says a lot that I’ve been able to operate PLSas a small, local business.”

To celebrate 25 years of achievement, sheis making 2012 something all dentalprofessionals can smile about. Her guestspeakers series will feature Dr. Esther Wilkins,Dr. Robert Fazio, Dr. JoAnn Gurenlian, Dr. AnnEshenaur-Spolarich, Forensics expert Dr.Henry Lee, Carol Jahn RDH, MS and JudyBendit, RDH, BS, who will be presenting oncutting edge topics. For more informationplease call Professional Learning Services at203.261.2857 or visit www.pls.org.

Alumna Celebrates 25thAnniversary of ‘Learning Services’for Dental Hygienists

In September, Jessica Malavez ‘01,a City Tech graduate and theCollege’s new director of alumnirelations, met more than two dozencurrent students and graduates ofCity Tech’s award-winninghospitality management programhard at work at the 16th AnnualHarvest in the Square food and winetasting extravaganza in Manhattan.

Malavez and other guests enjoyedunlimited tastings and wine pairingsfrom more than 50 of the UnionSquare district’s finest restaurants andeateries. The annual event supportsthe Union Square Partnership’songoing efforts to beautify andrevitalize Union Square Park. Theevent is one of New York City’s largestand best attended culinary events.

New Alumni Relations Director GreetsHospitality Grads at 16th AnnualHarvest in the Square Extravaganza

Alum ScottMalsin ’11Takes FirstPrize inNationalFederation of OpticianrySchools College Bowl

Congratulationsto City Techgraduate ScottMalsin ‘11, whowon first prizein the NationalFederation ofOpticianrySchools CollegeBowl inSeptember2011. Malsin is a third-generationoptician. Lloyd, his father, is also a CityTech graduate and owns ClairmontNichols Opticians in New York City andWestchester. Scott intends to join hisfather in Manhattan, where they planon opening additional stores. Scott isshown with Professor Robert J. Russo,chair of City Tech’s Department ofVision Care Technology.

COMING IN MARCH 2012March 2012 Manhattan AlumniNetworking Event!

Watch Alumni website for details.

THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION WANTS YOU!The City Tech Alumni Association is currentlyseeking graduates to serve as Class Agentsand as members of the association’s Boardof Directors.

Board membership offers rewardingopportunities to shape the direction of theAlumni Association by promoting andstrengthening relationships with City Tech

alum, assist with cultivation and have fun.Led by the board president and guided bythe director of alumni relations, the boardmeets several times throughout the year.

Please e-mail a letter detailing the reasonsyou are interested in joining along with yourrésumé to [email protected]. Thankyou for your interest.

Jessica Malavez


ALUMNI NEWS

“My work is my bio,” says KingsHighway/Brooklyn resident Kah Hoe Wan, aprofessional photographer and 2010graduate of City Tech’s baccalaureateprogram in communication design. Notinclined to say a lot about himself, thebiographical sketch on his website is a merefive words long: “Born and lives on Earth.”

Born in Malaysia, Kah came to America atthe age of five. As a very young man in bothhis native land and the U.S., he took pencilto paper and drew all the time. He laterdeveloped an interest in photography andsaved the money to purchase his firstcamera, having been told as a youngsterthat he had a great eye for taking pictures.

Kah’s photography, as evidenced byexamples on his website, clearly demonstratesthat a picture can indeed be worth a thousandwords. A prime example is “The Weary Ones,”a collection of portraits and other shots of across section of New Yorkers that he believesrepresent some of his best work, to date.

“As I took these pictures,” says Kah, “I waswitnessing a moment in the lives of the peoplein the photos. I found myself wondering whatwent on in their larger lives, what it would belike to be them, to be in their shoes. As I staredat their faces staring back at mine, I feltintimately connected with them, despite thefact that they were strangers. And wonderingabout them made me wonder about myself –about my own aims and ambitions, aboutwhat I was doing and hoped to accomplish inlife. In this regard, my work as a photographerhas been a very enriching experience.”

Kah credits several of his City Techinstructors for strongly influencing histhinking and approach to photography. “I amgrateful to communication design ProfessorDouglas Davis, who really taught me how tothink conceptually, and to Literature ProfessorJulian Williams for all that I learned from himabout self-reliance. I also appreciate whatcommunication design Professor RobertHolden taught me about low-anglephotography and about how to meticulouslycraft and fine tune my photographs. I doubtthey really know how much I experimentedwith everything they told me and how greatlythey inspired me, and am glad to have thisopportunity to let them know now.”

Once asked to present a lecture in one of hisCity Tech classes, Kah shared his perspectiveson self-reliance, among other topics, with hisclassmates. “Self-reliance is critical to successin anything. Giving that talk was an awesomeexperience, and teaching others is one of thethings I would like to do down the road. It’sanother way I can give back to a world thathas given so much to me.”

For Kah, life is beautiful and he strives tofind the beauty in everything that attracts himand in everything he does, from photographyto cooking to working out at the gym. “There’sbeauty to be found in all things,” he says, “andeveryone should endeavor to apply themselvesin ways that bring that beauty out. To seebeauty in what others might brush off as anunattractive thing is, for me, a profoundlymoving experience.”

Kah asked why City Tech wanted to featurehim in the “Class Act!” section of Connectionsmagazine. “I haven’t come close to achievingthe goals I’ve set for myself in life and to oneday perhaps contribute something meaningfulto the photographic and artistic communities,”he says. “I have created my own website,which features work with which I am pleasedand about which visitors have had nice thingsto say. But until I’ve made that trulymeaningful contribution, I’m not sure that Iand my work ought to be thought of as a classact. Maybe if my work is exhibited in a galleryor museum one day, I’ll think differently. Butfor now, I think of what I have accomplishedso far not as a class act, but as ‘act one’ in acareer that is just getting started.”

See Kah Hoe Wan’s photography athttp://www.kahhoewan.com/noct9to5.php

Class Act!Kah Hoe Wan ‘10‘My Work is My Bio’

ALUMNI AUTO, HOME ANDRENTERSINSURANCEPROGRAM

The Alumni Insurance Program is anexcellent resource for quality auto,home and renters insurance productsfor alumni and their families. When youpurchase insurance through the alumniprogram, you not only get qualitycoverage but also help raise funds forthe City Tech Alumni Association.Liberty Mutual offers an auto, homeand renters insurance program for CityTech alumni. For more information,please call 1-800-524-9400 or visitwww.libertymutual.com/citytechalumni

MARCH 2012DEFENSIVE DRIVINGCOURSE FOR ALUMNI

Completion of a 6-hour Saturday defensivedriving course for alumni sponsored byLiberty Mutual will entitle participants to a discount on their Liberty Mutual autoinsurance offered through the City TechAlumni Association. Watch the Alumniwebsite for details.

Documents

Connections Vol.4 No.2