https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/ en Tue, 06 Jun 2023 16:26:05 -0400 https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccny-and-bloom-energy-announce-innovation-fellowships In partnership with the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York, Bloom Energy introduced the first cohort of Colin Powell Bloom Energy Innovation Fellows at a ceremony in the rotunda of New York City Hall. The 11 Fellows will gain extensive work and professional development experience through a cohort-based program at Bloom’s San Jose, Calif. headquarters this summer. The program will provide students with experience in various business areas at Bloom Energy, a leading manufacturer in the fuel cell industry, including: mechanical, electrical and manufacturing engineering; human resources; marketing; finance; legal; business and data analytics; and information technology. Bloom Energy and CCNY created this internship program to invest in the future of the clean energy workforce and to honor General Powell, a 1958 graduate of CCNY and a Bloom Energy Board member, as well as the company’s chief mission and values officer. By training students for success in the clean energy field, Bloom and CCNY are carrying out Powell’s vision of fostering the next generation of diverse global leaders. “This initiative is an important new component of the efforts by CUNY and the City of New York to diversify the ranks of teach and clean energy. Efforts that aim to position to New York City and New Yorkers – and especially younger New Yorkers – at the center of these industries and the good jobs they produce for our city and society,” Colin Powell School Dean Andrew Rich said in introducing the program. “Over the last two decades, Bloom Energy has become one of the leading producers of platforms for distributing lower carbon energy. It is a company that believes that a diverse workforce – and diverse leaders – are essential to building a better company and a stronger.” Dean Rich was followed by Linda Powell, Gen. Powell’s daughter and the chair of the Colin Powell School Board of Visitors. She recalled how much time her father spent with CCNY students in his last years because, as she said, “they reminded him so much of himself.” She said that he spoke about his students often with Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar. “He believed in Bloom’s mission to expand the uses of technology, to leverage our innovative spirit to produce cleaner energy and a better environment,” she said. “Dad would be thrilled with this new fellowship program, and I am so proud that we are continuing his mission -- one of his most important missions – to provide our students with quality of access to a wide range of opportunities.” In his remarks, CCNY President Vince Boudreau noted Gen. Powell’s enthusiasm for new technologies, saying that it was akin to that of “a kid with an erector set.” “General Powell had a tremendous affinity and excitement for new technology—not just the interest of a policymaker solving problems, but kid in a candy store excitement,” he said.  “The first time I ever saw a Kindle was a beta version that he’d been given to test, and he lay down on the desk and said with amazement that all his books were on this new device.  He had one of the first 10 Fisker electric cars to roll off the lot and loved to talk about its range and battery capacity. At about that same time, though, he started describing something he called a “Bloom Box,” and a company, Bloom Energy, on which he served. The device could revolutionize energy—it was a box you could put outside your office or home to generate power using totally new technology.” Gen. Powell’s not entirely accurate description of Bloom’s microgrid technology drew a smile from Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar. “He was so excited at the prospect of what this could open up for society and for humanity and thrilled to be part of it,” continued Boudreau. “This is the kind of thing that City College students, in his School, could work on. It was thrilling to him and thrilling to us as well.” Sridhar spoke of his respect and affection for Gen. Powell during their long association. “He really believed in the mission of clean energy for people around the world,” he said. Seeing himself in the 11 student fellows standing on the steps behind him, he added, “They remind me, in many ways, of me,” as many of them were people of color and immigrants. “That’s me. Carrying a suitcase and coming here in search of my fortune. Only in this country. I look forward to learning with you, teaching you and learning from you.” Two of the Fellows also spoke. Economics junior Kazi Ahmed said that he was inspired to attend CCNY by his sister’s achievements as a CCNY student. “I am grateful for the decision I made,” he said. “As I prepare to embark on this fellowship journey, I am overwhelmed with excitement,” he said. “The opportunity to immerse myself in this environment, connect with like-minded individuals, and contribute to Bloom Energy’s mission of driving renewable energy practices fills me with enthusiasm and determination.” Another economics junior, Steven Fernandez, spoke of his family’s journey from rural Dominican Republic in search of a better future. He will support the accounting team at Bloom as a finance intern. “This opportunity will provide me with the support and hands-on experience needed to break into corporate America,” he said. “I aspire to leverage my skills for the benefit of my community and economic development, helping individuals and corporations make good and ethical decisions that promote equity, equality, and growth.” The event concluded with the introduction of the rest of the fellows: Amreen Nasir, an business administration major and university relations intern; Aysha Asif, a business administration junior and marketing intern; Henry Suarez, a computer science junior and IT automation intern; Jannatoul Ferdous, a mechanical engineering junior and engineering intern; Laiba Laisee, a mechanical engineering senior and mechanical engineering intern; Lhakpa Sherpa, a psychology junior and human resources intern; Nyi Zin, an electrical engineering junior and electrical engineering intern; Nymul Islam, an economics junior and supply chain intern; and Ondrea Kanwhen, an electrical engineering junior and product management intern. About Bloom EnergyBloom Energy empowers businesses and communities to responsibly take charge of their energy. The company’s leading solid oxide platform for distributed generation of electricity and hydrogen is changing the future of energy. Fortune 100 companies around the world turn to Bloom Energy as a trusted partner to deliver lower carbon energy today and a net-zero future. For more information, visit www.bloomenergy.com. About the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global LeadershipEstablished in 2013, the Colin Powell School is home to the social science departments at CCNY as well as the core leadership development and public service programs of the College. With almost 4,000 students, and graduating the most CCNY students annually, the Colin Powell School mission is to transform the nation’s most diverse student body into tomorrow’s global leaders. Half of our students are immigrants; more than seventy percent are first-generation college students. Eighty percent are people of color. Most come from lower income backgrounds. The Colin Powell School and City College remain among the most effective engines of economic and social mobility in the United States. The School is led by a faculty dedicated to the highest standards of research and to the university’s democratic and public obligations. Read more about the Colin Powell School About the City College of New YorkSince 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit. Tue, 06 Jun 2023 16:26:05 -0400 /news/ccny-and-bloom-energy-announce-innovation-fellowships https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/colin-powell-schools-moynihan-center-introduces-inaugural-public-scholars-fellows The Daniel Patrick Moynihan Center of the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership at The City College of New York has announced its inaugural cohort of the Moynihan Public Scholars Fellowship. The four 2023–24 Moynihan Public Scholars and their projects are: Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University, who will work on a comprehensive history of African American electoral leadership in New York City and New York State; Daphne Lundi, deputy director for Living Streets & Public Spaces at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice (OCEJ), who will leverage her experience as an urban planner, policymaker, artist, and designer to develop a framework for how science fiction writing can and should inform city planning; Yascha Mounk, professor of the practice of international affairs at Johns Hopkins University known for his work on the crisis of democracy and the defense of philosophically liberal values, who will develop a left-liberal critique of the identitarian turn in Western liberal democracies; and   Laurence Pevsner, director of speechwriting for United States Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who will explore how public apologies shape our politics and our lives, and make the case for why the world needs to get better at saying sorry, through a series of essays culminating in a book project. Each Moynihan Public Scholar will receive an unrestricted award of up to $100,000 and will spend one year at CCNY writing, teaching, and engaging in public conversations on critical issues in public affairs. The Fellowship is administered by the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Center, which was established in 2023 with the purpose of supporting new leaders to make a difference in public affairs. “The Moynihan Public Scholars will bring the Moynihan Center to life, and they will bring new intellectual and instructional energy to all corners of the Colin Powell School. We welcome their energy, ideas, and mentorship of our students, so many of whom are hungry to find their own paths to public service leadership,” said Andrew Rich, the Richard J. Henley and Susan L. Davis Dean of the Colin Powell School. “This inaugural cohort exemplifies the Moynihan Center’s commitment to bold ideas, open debate, and scholarship that serves the public interest,” said the program’s executive director, Professor of Political Science Carlo Invernizzi Accetti. “The Moynihan Public Scholars will demonstrate that rigorous research, public service, and popular communication can and must go hand in hand,” said Distinguished Lecturer of Political Science Michael Miller, the managing director of the Moynihan Center. The Moynihan Public Scholars program is made possible with generous support from the Leon Levy Foundation and the Achelis & Bodman Foundation. About the Moynihan CenterThe Daniel Patrick Moynihan Center at The City College of New York (CCNY) advances the twin goals of public scholarship and public service. Taking inspiration from Senator Moynihan’s celebrated career, the Center cultivates leaders who cross the boundaries between critical thinking, public service practice, and popular communication. Through signature fellowship programs and a rich slate of public events, the Center works to ensure that the next generation of public scholars and public servants reflects the diversity of viewpoints and lived experiences represented at City College and beyond. About the Colin Powell School for Civic and Global LeadershipEstablished in 2013, the Colin Powell School is home to the social science departments at CCNY as well as the core leadership development and public service programs of the College. With almost 4,000 students, and graduating the most CCNY students annually, the Colin Powell School mission is to transform the nation’s most diverse student body into tomorrow’s global leaders. Half of our students are immigrants; more than seventy percent are first-generation college students. Eighty percent are people of color. Most come from lower income backgrounds. The Colin Powell School and City College remain among the most effective engines of economic and social mobility in the United States. The School is led by a faculty dedicated to the highest standards of research and to the university’s democratic and public obligations. Read more about the Colin Powell School. About the City College of New YorkSince 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit. Mon, 05 Jun 2023 13:37:40 -0400 /news/colin-powell-schools-moynihan-center-introduces-inaugural-public-scholars-fellows https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/seven-ccny-undergrads-receive-2023-mellon-mays-fellowships-embark-doctoral-paths Seven undergraduates, the 31st cohort since The City College of New York joined the exclusive nationwide program, are the latest recipients of Mellon Mays Fellowships. The program’s goal is to help increase diversity in the faculty ranks of higher education by identifying and supporting exceptional undergraduates from traditionally underrepresented groups.  The students, all juniors, their majors and research topics are: Ramatoulaye Diarra (sociology) – she will investigate solutions to lessen food insecurity and increase communities’ independence.  Devin Chand Mehra (philosophy) – his research will focus on ontology, a subfield of philosophy. Ontology is the study of the nature of things, which is often performed via the use of categories.  Michael Navas (history BA/MA) – Navas, who’s in CCNY’s combined BA/MA program in history, will study the different roles colonialism played in the spread and emergence of modernity in the 19th and 20th centuries. Ridwan Rahman (history) – mainstream history is devoid of Medieval South Asian influences on other parts of the world. Rahman hopes to change that. She specifically plans to focus on the influences that the Sultanate of Bengal had in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa in the late medieval period of India. Allan Romero (history) – his research goal is the creation of a timeline that covers political, social, and economic events of 15th century Spain. Kiara Severino (history BA/MA) – another BA/MA student, Severino will research how racial mixing and mestizaje -- the  process of interracial and/or intercultural mixing --  affected the people of the African diaspora during the Mexican Spanish Colonial era. Sachem Torres (history/philosophy) – the double major will look into the circumstances that led to the creation of safe spaces for people who would be queer, as well as, how these safe spaces evolved with their communities. Since 2001, support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is credited for guiding nearly two dozen talented CCNY graduates to PhDs in the humanities and social sciences. There are more than 30 Mellon Mays Fellows from City College in PhD programs. Nationally, 1,100 Mellon Fellows have completed PhDs with 429 currently on track for doctorates.  About the City College of New York Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.   Wed, 31 May 2023 00:09:11 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/seven-ccny-undergrads-receive-2023-mellon-mays-fellowships-embark-doctoral-paths https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/brazilian-academy-sciences-elects-ccny-distinguished-professor-hernan-makse-member Hernan A. Makse, Distinguished Professor of Physics in the Benjamin Levich Institute for Physico-Chemical Hydrodynamics at The City College of New York, is the newest member of the Academia Brasileira de Ciencias (Brazilian Academy of Sciences). He was elected a corresponding member of the 107-year-old Academy in Rio de Janeiro. The Academy cited Makse, “for his pioneering contributions to the field of complex networks and disordered systems across a variety of interdisciplinary fields ranging from biological to social systems using a blend of statistical physics, graph theory, and artificial intelligence. In particular, his discovery of fractality and renormalization group in complex networks, influencer identification in networks, symmetries in biological networks, and the phase diagram of jammed matter.” World renowned in his field, Makse heads the Complex Networks and Data Science Lab at the Levich Institute in CCNY’s Department of Physics. The lab’s focus is the theoretical understanding of Complex Systems from a Statistical Physics viewpoint.  In a recent grant, Makse received $1,064,970 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a three-year a study entitled: “Application of the principle of symmetry to neural circuitry: From building blocks to neural synchronization in the connectome.” It seeks to determine if the same symmetry principles that explain physics can be applied to the organizing principle of living systems.  Maske’s other accolades include: Distinguished Board Member of the Center of Energy and Sustainability, Bar-Ilan University, Israel;   Fellow of the American Physical Society;   New York City Mayor’s Young Investigator Award for Excellence in Science and Technology, New York Academy of Sciences; and   Specialty Chief Editor, Section Multi and Cross-disciplinary Complex Systems, Frontiers in Complex Systems About the City College of New York Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit. Tue, 30 May 2023 10:25:54 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/brazilian-academy-sciences-elects-ccny-distinguished-professor-hernan-makse-member https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccny-names-mario-h-ramirez-new-associate-dean-and-chief-librarian Mario H. Ramirez, a vastly experienced archivist, scholar, and information professional, is the new Associate Dean and Chief Librarian at The City College of New York. His appointment was announced by CCNY Provost Tony M. Liss. “Dr. Ramirez’s rich and varied experience as an archivist, scholar, and information professional provide an outstanding basis for his work in the CCNY Libraries,” said Liss. “Most recently as head of special collections and archives at the California State University, Los Angeles, his vision and leadership supported the equitable representation of immigrants, women, LGBTQIA communities and communities of color in special collections and archives. He served for eight years as project archivist for the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College, CUNY, and we are happy to welcome him home to New York City in his new role.” As chief librarian, Ramirez will oversee the eight highly active libraries on campus which serve a very diverse community of scholarly interests. He will be responsible for developing and leading the libraries’ direction in line with the College’s strategic vision. The libraries’ collection includes more than 1.44 million books, 50,000 periodicals, 1,000,000 digital images and 240 databases. Ramirez said he is particularly interested in contributing to the development and transformation of library-wide strategic directions. “I want to support community engagement and student and library services, and to foster an equity minded and collaborative work environment across the libraries that emphasizes the diversity, power, and impact of institutions like CCNY.” He’s a graduate of UCLA where he completed his PhD in the Department of Information Studies. His research focused on the documentation of human rights violations in El Salvador. Ramirez was a CLIR/DLF-Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Data Curation for Latin American and Caribbean Studies in the Digital Collections Department at Indiana University, Bloomington. In that capacity, he developed a migration plan for the Archivo Mesoamericano, a collection of videos documenting the history, social movements, culture, and indigenous languages of Mexico, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. He also served as an affiliated researcher in the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at IU. Ramirez previously spent close to a decade as an archivist in the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley and the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College/CUNY. He also served a three-year term as a member of the governing Council of the Society of American Archivists from 2019-2022. About the City College of New York Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit. Fri, 19 May 2023 12:50:04 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/ccny-names-mario-h-ramirez-new-associate-dean-and-chief-librarian https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/spitzer-school-architecture-professor-frank-melendez-wins-italian-fellowship Associate Professor Frank Melendez of the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture at The City College of New York is the recipient of an international Fellowship from the Italian organization Nature, Art & Habitat Residency (NAHR). He is one of seven fellows who have been awarded the one-month summer residency in the Taleggio Valley, a rural region in the Italian Alps.   The theme for the 2023 Fellowship is “AIR.” Fellows will explore the function, mechanism, importance, and state of air from a range of perspectives, and reflect on the impacts of air pollution and air quality degradation. During this time, Melendez will focus on research developing connections between architecture, clay, lichens, air, and technology. “I am honored to be selected as a NAHR fellow and look forward to participating in this residency with such a talented group of interdisciplinary artists and designers, focusing on environmental issues. I look forward to having the time and space within the setting of Italy’s Taleggio Valley to develop my research exploring the relationship between atmospheres, living organisms, technology, and architecture, as a means of expanding upon current ecological design practices.” The NAHR Fellowship offers a lively space to for artists to come together, while taking advantage of the surrounding natural landscapes, and Italy’s rich material culture that combines vernacular traditions with innovative approaches to space, place, people, and their communities   Artists spend time in the unique area, experience the environment, visit sites, and connect with local communities, while experimenting and working with traditional and innovative materials, technology, promoting their works in public happenings, as well as producing the final documentation for the open studio weekend and for NAHR archive. All works will represent the resiliency of nature in the following four domains: Regenerative Economy; Bio-Inspired Design and Architecture; Body Performing Nature; Designed Futures, Technology and New Media. In other news, Melendez is  participating in an exhibition titled: “rE-ordering architecture: Making Machine and Material Kin” at the Usagi NY Gallery in Brooklyn. The exhibition consists of digitally fabricated clay columns, each representing a new ‘order’ – a seed or fragment of a future entwinement between architecture and environment. A closing reception will be held on the last day of the show, Thursday, May 25 from 6p.m. to 8 p.m. The exhibition is part of the NYCxDESIGN Festival 2023. Other participants in the group show also hail from academia. For more information, visit Instagram: @nahr.it @frankpmelendez @biomatters.llc  @reordering_architecture @whatonatssa About the City College of New York Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.   Wed, 17 May 2023 13:58:24 -0400 Thea Klapwald /news/spitzer-school-architecture-professor-frank-melendez-wins-italian-fellowship https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccny-researchers-use-structured-light-chip-another-photonics-breakthrough In everyday life we experience light in one of its simplest forms – optical rays or beams. However, light can exist in much more exotic forms. Thus, even beams can be shaped to take the form of spirals; so-called vortex beams, endowed with unusual properties. Such beams can make dust particles to spin, just like they indeed move along some intangible spirals.   Light modes with such added structure are called “structured,” and even more exotic forms of structured light can be attained in artificial optical materials – metamaterials, where multiple light waves come together and combine to create the most complex forms of light.  In their two recent works, published back-to-back in the top journals “Science Advances,” and “Nature Nanotechnology,” City College of New York  researchers from Alexander Khanikaev’s group have created structured light on a silicon chip, and used this added structure to attain new functionalities and control not available before.  To this aim, two-dimensional optical metamaterials, referred to as metasurfaces, and hosting a special kind of structured light spinning around just like vortex beams were created. By experiments carried out in  Khanikaev’s laboratory at The City College, researchers demonstrated a new kind of trap to confine structured optical modes and to guide them on the chip. In their “Science Advances” work, researchers show that, by slowly changing the pattern of metasurface in two directions, one can create optical resonators which trap structured light and radiate it. Interestingly, this underlying structure gave rise to unusual patterns of the radiated light – optical vortex beams. Applying similar slow change in the pattern in one direction, as reported in “Nature Nanotechnology” work, researchers have created waveguided for structured light. These channels allow guiding optical signals while preserving the internal structure of light. As such, this is similar to the flow of currents in wires, if we could have wires with two flavors of charges. Interestingly, such currents have been of enormous interest in electronics recently, and a completely new class of electronic devices, commonly referred to as spintronic or valleytronic, was envisioned. In such devices it is not the flow of charge by itself that would transfer signals, but spin or valley of electrons, which promises a plethora of advantages in comparison to conventional electronic devices. Khanikaev’s work envisions a similar concept, but with light rather than electrons. However, in contrast to electronic systems, optics and photonics have one significant advantage – optical modes do not suffer from decoherence to the same degree as electrons, which can be vital for quantum technologies. The demonstrations by Khanikaev’s group can be useful for quantum applications for several reasons. Thus, the added structure of optical modes can be used to encode quantum information in the form of quantum bits. This information can then be transported on a chip or emitted into free space for communicating quantum information between remote systems.  Moving in this direction, the Khanikaev group is currently working on implementing these ideas with quantum states of structured light and realizing quantum logic in their photonic nanostructures.  About the City College of New York Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.   Wed, 17 May 2023 10:22:16 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/ccny-researchers-use-structured-light-chip-another-photonics-breakthrough https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/butterfly-tree-life-reveals-origin-north-america About 100 million years ago, a group of moths with legume-eating caterpillars started flying during the day rather than at night. That chance event led to the evolution of all butterflies.   Before reaching these conclusions, researchers from dozens of countries assembled the world’s largest butterfly tree of life using DNA from more than 2,000 species representing all butterfly families and 92% of genera. Using this framework, they traced the movements and feeding habits of butterflies through time in a four-dimensional puzzle that led back to North and Central America. According to their results, published in the journal "Nature Ecology and Evolution," this is where the first butterflies took flight. For senior author David Lohman, associate professor of biology at The City College of New York, the project was a long time coming. “We live in the age of ‘big data,’ and this revolution has impacted biodiversity science profoundly,” said Lohman. "The problem is that comprehensive, global datasets only exist for vertebrates and a few plant groups. Insects are about half of all species, but there were virtually no ‘big data’ for bugs.” There are over 19,000 butterfly species, and piecing together their evolutionary history required information about their modern distributions and associated host plants. To kick-start the massive task of assembling data needed for a global analysis, Lohman assembled a core team of researchers from Georgetown, Harvard, Yale, and the University of Florida. From there, they recruited colleagues from all over the globe to form a network of butterfly biologists called “ButterflyNet.” With the collective expertise of these 80+ scientists from 28 countries, they set about amassing the biological data and samples into central repositories. The team concluded that butterflies first appeared somewhere in western North America.  Once they became established around the globe, butterflies quickly diversified alongside their host plants.  The ButterflyNet team extracted records of caterpillar diets from their database to explore the relationship between plants, insects, and evolution. “Among other conclusions, we were able to support a longstanding hypothesis that legumes (the pea and bean family) were eaten by the ancestor of all butterflies.” In summary, Lohman said, “This study demonstrates the power of international teamwork and cooperation. Not only have we learned much about the evolution of a large and charismatic insect group, but we now have datasets and an evolutionary framework for butterflies that will stimulate  additional global studies on their biology and conservation.” About the City College of New York Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit. Sun, 14 May 2023 21:04:46 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/butterfly-tree-life-reveals-origin-north-america https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/grove-schools-anil-agrawal-new-asce-distinguished-member Anil K. Agrawal, Herbert G. Keyser Professor of Civil Engineering in the Grove School of Engineering at The City College of New York, is one of 10 top professionals elected American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) distinguished members. The class of 2023 will be inducted at ceremonies during the ASCE 2023 Convention, Oct. 18-21 in Chicago. Distinguished membership is the highest honor ASCE can bestow upon a member. It is reserved for civil engineers who are either ASCE members or fellows and have attained recognized superiority in position, character, and achievement through significant contributions to the profession. Founded in 1852, ASCE represents more than 150,000 members of the  profession in 177 countries.  Agrawal is recognized by his peers worldwide as a pioneering researcher in bridge structures. His distinguished membership is for “significant and definitive contributions in extreme hazards and mitigation for bridges and service to the Society as editor of ASCE’s Journal of Bridge Engineering.” He served as editor-in-chief of the ASCE’s “Bridge Engineering” (2009- 2021), which in 2017 was ranked #18 among structural engineering journals by Google Scholar metrics. This success garnered him 2019’s Richard R. Torrens Award for outstanding performance. In addition, Agrawal chaired the Society’s SEI Committee on Bridge Inspection, Rehabilitation, and Monitoring, as well as the SEI Committee on Structural Control and Sensing. He has also headed the Engineering Mechanics Committee of the ASCE Metropolitan Section since 2013. He is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including CUNY’s Performance Excellence Award in 2000 and ASCE’s 2019 Arthur M. Wellington Prize for the paper “Heavy Truck Collision with Bridge Piers: Computational Simulation Study,” as well as the Society’s Ernest E. Howard Award last year.  Aside from other recognitions attesting to his stellar character and teaching excellence, the models Agrawal developed have resulted in over 100 dissertations. His work on impact on bridges by over-Height vehicles is being followed by researchers around the world. In 2022 he was awarded a patent on his Laser Ranging Over-Height Vehicle Detector System (LRA-OHVD) by the U.S. Patent Office. During the past 24 years he has received some $15 million in research funding. About the City College of New York Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.   Thu, 11 May 2023 17:40:19 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/grove-schools-anil-agrawal-new-asce-distinguished-member https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/bryan-stevenson-ccny-commencement-speaker-june-2-honors-architect-joseph-l-fleischer-65-66 Civil rights attorney Bryan A. Stevenson, Esq., founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, is the keynote speaker at The City College of New York’s 170th commencement ceremony on Friday, June 2 at 10 a.m. He will receive the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. City College will also honor architect Joseph L. Fleischer, FAIA ’65, ’66 with the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa. Stevenson is being recognized for his outstanding career in law, and his dedication to criminal justice reform and social justice. Growing up in an era of "informal segregation” in rural southern Delaware, he went on to graduate from Eastern University, magna cum laude, the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Law School. He founded the Equal Justice Initiative, of which he remains executive director, in 1989 to provide legal representation to people who have believe they have been illegally convicted, unfairly sentenced, or abused in state jails and prisons. Since the EJI’s founding, he and his staff have won reversals, relief, or release from prison for more than 135 wrongly condemned prisoners on death row, and have won relief for hundreds of others wrongly convicted or unfairly sentenced. EJI also provides research and recommendations to assist advocates and policymakers in the work of criminal justice reform. He has garnered numerous awards for his work, including the MacArthur Fellowship (“Genius Grant”) and the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Medal of Liberty. Click here to read more. Fleischer is being recognized for his outstanding career in architecture as well as his dedication to CCNY. In the course of his 45-year career, he has managed the design of facilities across the United States and the world, and his projects have been recognized with numerous awards. He has remained actively involved at CCNY, serving as president of the Alumni Association of The City College of New York for three years and has served on The Foundation for City College Board since 2021. He set up a gift trust—along with his wife, Carolyn Fleischer ’68 – to both the Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, and the School of Education through the college’s 1847 Society. In 1999, the Alumni Association awarded him its prestigious Townsend Harris Medal for Professional Achievement in the field of architecture. He is the recipient of the Architecture Group’s Professional Achievement Award, as well as the Alumni Association’s Service Award. He is a Lifetime Member of the Alumni Association’s Executive Board. About the City College of New York Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. Education research organization Degree Choices ranks CCNY #1 nationally among universities for economic return on investment. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 15,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. This year, CCNY launched its most expansive fundraising campaign, ever. The campaign, titled “Doing Remarkable Things Together” seeks to bring the College’s Foundation to more than $1 billion in total assets in support of the College mission. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit. Mon, 08 May 2023 22:36:01 -0400 /news/bryan-stevenson-ccny-commencement-speaker-june-2-honors-architect-joseph-l-fleischer-65-66