M A G A Z I N E

S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 ■ V O L U M E 9 ■ N U M B E R 3

NYIT alumni do theirpart in helping create asustainable world

Mentor Program EarnsHigh Marks

Professors Bestow aLegacy of Learning

Graduate Gets a Royal Education

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FEATU R ES

C O N T E N T S S U M M E R 2 0 1 1 ■ V O L . 9 N O . 3M AG A Z I N E

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PRESIDENT’S NOTE

4 ■ Education Through CollaborationNYIT’s global academic and businesspartnerships present opportunities thatfoster 21st-century prosperity.

CAM PUS BUZZ

6 ■ A Global Celebration!Congratulations to the Class of 2011 at the university’s New York, Nanjing,Abu Dhabi, Jordan, Bahrain, and Van-couver campuses.

8 ■ Students Gain Global Perspective

During NYIT’s first Alternative SpringBreak Project in Peru, students apply theirskills to help a community in need.

10 ■ NYIT Partners with Verizon to Enhance Educational Tech

A $160,000 grant from the VerizonFoundation will fund training for NewYork teachers and community leaders.

13 ■ Stars of Cinema and TV Take theStage at NYIT-Manhattan

Top actors screen films and discuss their careers at the NYIT Auditorium on Broadway.

SCOREBOARD

14 ■ Courting SuccessVolleyball player Melanie Li Foo Wingaces interior design.

15 ■ Del Cid Kick-Starts New Seasonwith Veteran Talent

The men’s soccer team looks to recap-ture the national spotlight this fall.

2 2 ■ GREEN GRADS

Meet five alumni who are using their NYIT degrees to improve energy efficiency and sustainability to help businesses, governments, and consumers.

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16 ■ LEGACIES OF LEARNING

NYIT bids farewell to retiring professorsAdrienne O’Brien, Ph.D., and MelvynDrossman, Ph.D., and looks back on their contributions to the university.

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ALUM N I NOTES

28 ■ Grads on the Go

33 ■ Alumni Spotlight

Emergency physician Tara Khan (D.O. ’04)has found a high-tech solution to bringingspecialized services and better information topatients with her website, DocMatcher.com.

Summer 2011 ■ MAGAZINE ■ nyit.edu ■ 3

18 ■ MENTORINGMATTERS

NYIT’s Alumni Mentor Program pairs graduates with students for the ultimate in professional development.

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hen A.J. Mesiti (M.S. ’10) first learned about NYIT’senergy management program, it was like a light bulb had lit up inhis head—one that uses 75 percent less energy, lasts five timeslonger, and saves hundreds of dollars in electricity costs per year.

The Baldwin, N.Y., native serves as operations manager forMount Sinai Medical Center in New York City. His mission: todesign and implement energy management programs for thefive-million-square-foot academic medical facility. Thisincludes a comprehensive infrastructure survey to improve andconserve energy use for plumbing, lighting, information tech-nology, and heating/venting/air conditioning.

“When I first started, I generated data on the center’s energyuses and then designed 12 programs, each of them focusing onways to save energy,” says Mesiti. “I set out to determine thebiggest bang for the buck, finding ways to improve energy effi-ciency in areas such as heating and cooling by sequencing themto operate at different loads.”

These “low-cost/high-efficiency” measures saved 8 percentin energy consumption—even though Mesiti’s original goal was only 2 percent. “This translates into millions of dollars inenergy savings,” he says.

Mesiti is among the hundreds of NYIT alumni harnessing thepower of environmental or green technology, helping compa-nies, governments, and consumers reduce power costs throughsustainable methods that lead to a healthier, more energy-effi-cient planet. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics,jobs in the green technology sector are expected to outpace

other careers by 20 percent annually through 2018. The fieldof energy management is experiencing unprecedentedgrowth, due to the restructuring of the utility industry, the

automation of building management systems, and globalcorporations using technology to improve and stream-

line all areas of operational efficiency. Trained profes-sionals skilled in monitoring energy use among soft-

ware, hardware, security, and system managementare at a premium.

Mesiti’s interest in energy managementactually stems from his childhood love of

robots. As a boy, he created small robotsusing household motors, read science fiction novels, and once converted amechanized Santa Claus doll into analien for Halloween.

“The Santa Claus robot held a candleand was waving it around,” says Mesiti.

“So I stripped it down to make it an alienmoving around and holding a

laser gun. I was always able takethings apart and get them to do what I wanted.”

When it came time to choose a graduateschool, NYIT’s robotics program interested him but the energymanagement curriculum gothim hooked.

A.J. Mesiti (M.S. ’10) serves as operationsmanager for Mount Sinai Medical Centerin New York City, where he designs and implements energy managementsolutions for the five-million-square-foot facility.

Summer 2011 ■ MAGAZINE ■ nyit.edu ■ 23

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