CUNY Newswire

Brooklyn, NY — When she was a little girl creating houses and pyramids with blocks and Legos, Jessica Castillo loved being a builder. “I was constant thinking about constructing things,” explains Jessica Castillo, the New York City College of Technology’s (City Tech’s) 2013 Salutatorian (second in the graduating class). Castillo, 25, who will receive her bachelor of technology degree in architectural technology at the City Tech commencement on June 4, has been preparing herself for a career as an architect specializing in historic preservation.

When Dany Salas left the Dominican Republic for New York in January 2008 to attend college, he was uncharacteristically silent for the first couple of months in his new country. That’s because he was afraid to speak English; his thick Spanish accent wasn’t understood and he felt self-conscious. But 25-year-old Salas found a way to remedy the situation and hasn’t looked back. At New York City College of Technology’s (City Tech’s) commencement exercises on June 4, he will march at the front of his class as the College’s 2013 valedictorian.

New York City College of Technology (City Tech) will mark the annual rite of passage for graduating students at its 73rd Commencement Exercises on Tuesday, June 4, beginning at 11:30 a.m., at Jacob Javits Center North, 40th Street at 11th Avenue, Manhattan. Delivering the commencement address will be David Hinson, national director of the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA), a bureau within the United States Department of Commerce.

Dr. Anne Zissu, chair of the business department at New York City College of Technology (City Tech), was the lead expert witness in the recent landmark $500 million settlement of a class action suit against Countrywide Financial Corporation.

First-year City Tech students Jessica Guerra and Michael Youmans have taken two top prizes in this year’s City University of New York (CUNY)/Labor Arts “Making Work Visible” Contest.

New York City College of Technology’s (City Tech’s) hospitality management program is the focus of an entire episode of the New York Emmy®-winning Study with the Best — the news magazine show about the CUNY community and its influence in the region and nation.

New York City College of Technology (City Tech) will honor women of visionary accomplishments and organizations that have distinguished themselves in the area of gender equality at its 2013 Best of New York Award Dinner, which will be held on Wednesday, May 8.

Kristen Battaglia, a New York City College of Technology (City Tech) senior majoring in hospitality management, has won the U.S. Pastry Competition’s first annual Junior Pastry Chef Challenge. Battaglia beat nine other students from Monroe College and Pennsylvania School of Culinary Arts to take the grand prize.

New York City College of Technology (City Tech) has chosen English Professor George Guida as its 2013 Scholar on Campus for his outstanding work as a poet, fiction writer, critic, editor and teacher. He will deliver his Scholar on Campus lecture, “Creativity, Language and Life,” and read from his poetry, on Monday, April 22, at 5 p.m., in Namm Hall 119, 300 Jay Street (at Tillary Street), in Downtown Brooklyn.

“Volunteering has become part of my DNA,” says New York City College of Technology (City Tech) senior Patricia Persaud. “I take what I learn from each project and apply it to the next one.” Persaud, a communications design major, has done more volunteering in the past couple of years than most people do in a lifetime. She has made it her job and duty to help others on and off campus. “Volunteering is a great way of being part of something bigger than you,” she says.

Katie Dellamaggiore, director of the acclaimed documentary film Brooklyn Castle (2012) and Pobo Efekoro, one of the student stars of the film, will kick off New York City College of Technology’s (City Tech’s) 32nd Annual Literary Arts Festival, to be held in the College’s Midway Building Community Room, 250 Jay Street (north of Tillary), Downtown Brooklyn, on Thursday, April 18, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

A half-day conference on the evolving culture and impact of the bicycle in Brooklyn, sponsored by New York City College of Technology’s Brooklyn Waterfront Research Center and The City University of New York’s University Transportation Research Center, will take place on Friday, March 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in the College’s Namm Hall, room 119, 300 Jay Street, Downtown Brooklyn.

Members of New York City College of Technology’s (City Tech’s) faculty in the health fields have embarked on a year-long project to explore ways of enhancing students’ understanding of cultural differences among patients.

Kimberly Strickler, assistant professor of vision care technology at New York City College of Technology (City Tech), was recently appointed a voting member of the Commission on Opticianry Accreditation.

Five talented students from New York City College of Technology (City Tech) participated on teams that swept the top three honors in The One Club’s “Creative Boot Camp” competition, held recently at Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York (CUNY).

The American Dental Association’s Joint Commission on National Dental Examinations has tapped City Tech’s Anty Lam to serve on its Test Construction Committee as a community dental health expert.

Health and Wellness in Black Communities” is the theme of New York City College of Technology’s (City Tech’s) series of events on campus in February — including an art exhibition, storytelling, lectures, readings and a panel discussion — to celebrate Black History Month.

Professor Josephine Braneky, internship coordinator for the Department of Computer Systems Technology (CST) at New York City College of Technology (City Tech), recently moderated a workshop for students who began a six-week paid Bridge Internship Program at Goldman Sachs on January 7, 2013. During the last six years, most of City Tech’s Goldman Sachs interns have been accepted for full-time employment following graduation.

Imagine working on a play about a mythical storm and waking up to the reality of Hurricane Sandy. It happened to the cast, crew and New York College of Technology (City Tech) students involved in the Adhesive Theater Project’s acclaimed production of The Service Road, which is being performed on campus January 11-February 2. The Adhesive Theater Project is a 2012-13 Artist in Residence at City Tech.

Robert Ostrom, whose poems have been praised by distinguished poet Lucie Brock-Broido as “sorcery” and “some of the most gifted I’ve ever read,” has published a new collection, The Youngest Butcher in Illinois (YesYes Books, 2012). Ostrom, who teaches developmental writing and composition at New York City College of Technology (City Tech) and poetry at Columbia University, says, “Many of the poems in the manuscript deal with family; two sections are made up of a long poem, ‘Two Show the Living,’ which is in large part an elegy for my grandmother.”