Provost’s Lecture Series
Previous Lectures
The purpose of the Provost's Lecture Series is to give SUNYIT faculty an opportunity to present their scholarly interests and to interact and network to expand their research work and opportunities.
If you would like to present in the future please contact
Holly Jones at jonesh1@sunyit.edu or ext. 7343.
The Provost's Lecture presentations are held monthly during the academic year in
Donovan Hall, Room G152, from noon to 2 p.m.
Previous Provost Lecture Series Presentations
December 14, 2012
Topic: Gamification
By: Dr. Ibrahim Yucel
Dr. Yucel, Assistant Professor of Communications, Humanities and Technology, is a scholar of New Media, Digital Culture and Online Communities. His research focuses on the evolving forms of communication and community taking place within Internet-enabled social groups. His dissertation is entitled “How to Make Friends and Influence People on the Internet: a Dissertation on Popular Comments on Online Blogs.” In it, he discusses his theoretical concept of mimetic primers – mechanisms that influence the duration and intensity of a threaded online/blog conversation, as well as it's potential influence on future online communication.
Project - The Game 2.0 Revolution: The innovation that powered the Web 2.0 was placing easy to use tools in the hands of those using the internet, allowing a wave of content and creativity to spread among the web. Now game developers are releasing the tools of development to the masses, enabling the creation of games by a new and growing indie community. Gamification is the use of these tools outside the traditional industry, making the everyday more like a video game. This is the Game 2.0 revolution, where everyone can make games that engage, teach, and entertain.
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November 16, 2012
Topic: Digital Politics, Circa 2012: Explorations in Cyberarcheology
By: Dr. Steven Schneider
Dr. Steven Schneider, Professor in the Communications and Humanities Department, has studied the role of the Internet in American society since 1988. He is the co-author of Web Campaigning (MIT Press, 2006) and many journal articles, book chapters and conference presentations examining the interaction between the Internet and the American electoral systems. He has also developed software systems to capture, study and present archives of digital artifacts, and co-authored several articles on Web historiography.
Project: The 2012 campaign marks the 20th year in which Internet-based communications have been used in presidential campaigns. Over that time, scholars examining the role of the Internet have developed tools and techniques to harvest and examine digital artifacts from the campaign, and to array these artifacts in collections available to other scholars. This talk will explore artifacts collected during the 2012 campaign by SUNYIT students, and discuss the ways in which digital politics circa in 2012 can be distinguished from previous electoral cycles.
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October 12, 2012
TOPIC: Using Technology to Improve Teaching and Learning
(An overview of projects funded through the Innovative Instruction Technology Grant program)
Presenters and Projects:
(1) Dr. Glenn Van Knowe with Christopher Urban - Development of an Interactive Case Study - The focus of their Interactive Case Study project is to engage the student by putting the student in the role of decision maker of simulated real-world technical situations.
- Dr. Van Knowe has a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Science from Saint Louis University, is Vice President and Director of Research at MESO Inc. in Troy, NY, and an adjunct lecturer here at SUNYIT. His current research is in developing models to support renewable energy and education technology areas. Glen is the co-PI for this Case Study.
- Christopher Urban , PI for this project, is a lecturer in SUNYIT's Computer Science Department. Chris has an extensive background in Information Systems as well as National Security and Strategic Studies.
(2) Dr. Steven Schneider - Digital Critique Platform (DCrit) - Dr. Schneider is a Professor in the Communications and Humanities Department, and is currently the Coordinator of the Communication & Information Design program at SUNYIT. That program is currently undergoing a redesign, and will become a program focused on studio-based courses with student-created projects. As part of that program, student work will be critiqued by program faculty, professionals in the field, and student peers. Dr. Schneider was motivated to propose the Innovation Grant by this specific program need, and has now developed a broader interest in systems available for critiquing student work, and the role these systems can play in providing varied feedback to students as well as in program assessment.
(3) Dr. Ronald Sarner - Video Capture of Lecture - Dr. Sarner is a Distinguished Service Professor, Computer Science. He has held a number of administrative positions at SUNYIT, including Director of Information Services, Interim Dean of ISET, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Chair of the Computer Science Department.
September 28, 2012
Presenter: Dr. M. Abdallah
Topic: “Reconfigurable Systems-on-a-chip for Embedded Applications"
Presentation (pdf)
An embedded system is a special-purpose computer system, which is completely encapsulated by the device it controls. Systems-on-a-chip (SoC) technology integrates various computational modules on one chip. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) chips are complex programmable logic devices that are manufactured with a high density of configurable functional blocks and configurable interconnects. The use of FPGA chips in implementing SoC adds flexibility, since the designer can re-configure chip to change its functionality (in portion or as a whole) after the FPGA chip is placed on the circuit board.
This presentation will focus on different research opportunities that use reconfigurable SoC technology in various embedded applications such as heterogeneous multichannel data acquisition for home healthcare devices, and smart grid.
To acquire human body signals, a fixed sampling rate is not the optimal solution. The proposed dynamic scheduler achieves the optimal solution for large number of channels. It also reduces total power consumption and memory requirements.
This presentation also introduces a new approach for smart grid load shedding. The proposed approach takes the magnitude and the location of generation drop into account. In addition, it avoids the overfrequency problem in smart grids and achieves a higher customer satisfaction level.
April 27, 2012
Presenter: L. David Pye, Ph.D., Visiting Professor of Materials Science and Engineering
Topic: "The Nanotechnology Paradigm"
The advent of the nanotechnology era, while not necessarily rising to the level of an abrupt, Kuhn-type paradigm shift in science, has arguably become the foremost conduit for focusing on how modern materials are viewed, researched, made, characterized, and applied across society. This presentation will review the advent of this new era in both a historical and modern sense, and illustrate its impact on research, education, and manufacturing across the world. Concluding remarks will examine what the future might hold for this ostensibly newest branch of science and engineering and its impact on society.
L. David Pye is Dean and Professor of Glass Science, Emeritus, the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. He is an honored teacher, scholar and researcher and has served as President of the International Commission on Glass and the American Ceramic Society(ACerS). He is a Distinguished Life Member of ACerS, an honorary member of the German Society of Glass Technology, and an Honorary Fellow of the British Society of Glass Technology - one of 6 Americans citizens to receive this honor over the last century. He is a past recipient of the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Scholarship and Creativity and is a member of the World Academy Ceramics. He presently serves as a Visiting Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at SUNY IT, Editor of The International Journal of Applied Glass Science published by ACerS, and Chief Executive Officer of Empire State Glassworks, LLC. He is also an aspiring stained glass artist.
March 23, 2012
Presenter: Steven Wei, Ph.D., P.E., Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering
Topic: "Environmental Research for Sustainability"
Summary: Environmental Research for Sustainability
In view of the growing amount and type of pollution from industrial, agricultural, and residential sources, protecting the environment and providing safe drinking water are becoming increasingly difficult. This presentation demonstrates the positive steps can be made towards environmental sustainability through innovative environmental research. Magnetite nanoparticles can be made using the metals recovered from mine water and the nanoparticles can be used to remove heavy metals from wastewater. Magnetic silica microspheres can be potentially used to detect and quantify the nanoparticles in the environmental media. Natural biopolymer has shown great potential in water quality improvement. Waste sludge can be used to remove nutrients from municipal wastewater effluents.
February 24, 2012
Presenter: SUNYIT Provost Dr. William W. Durgin
Topic: "Electric General Aviation Aircraft"
The technology necessary to support electric general aviation airplanes is at hand. It is likely we will soon be able to purchase a certificated e-plane. The NASA Green Flight Challenge produced two aircraft that exceeded 100 passenger miles per gallon equivalent – both electric. One of the AIAA Student Aircraft Design Contests this past year focused on the design of a 2 - place general aviation e – plane capable of takeoff, landing, 1 hour cruise at 80 kt, and a 30 minute reserve.
This presentation will focus on the design process used by the winning AIAA student team, the project – based learning pedagogy utilized, specific constraints resulting from electric propulsion, and the implications for the aircraft that may soon be readily available.
Biography – Dr. William W. Durgin
Dr. William W. Durgin is Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Professor of Engineering at SUNY Institute of Technology. Previously he held positions as a professor of Mechanical Engineering and of Aerospace Engineering at the California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). Additionally, he served as University Executive for Research and External Support and as Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. His prior academic post had been that of Associate Provost and Vice President for Research at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He has made major contributions to undergraduate and graduate academic programs, research programs, and adult education programs for all engineering, agriculture, science, management, and humanities and arts programs. Professor Durgin is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Dr. Durgin received the Sc.B. (1964) and Ph.D. (1970) degrees in mechanical engineering from Brown University and the M.S. (1966) degree from the University of Rhode Island. He is well known for research in the fluid mechanics area including precision flow measurement, sound propagation through turbulence, biomedical flows, and hydro/aeromechanics. He has made substantial contributions to engineering education through his work on project-based learning. He received the ASME Curriculum Innovation Award, the ASME Service Award, and a NASA Significant Achievement Award. He has served as chair of the Committee on Honors of the ASME International.
Dr. Durgin served on the Engineering in Mass Collaborative, identifying and implementing best practices in K-12 STEM education in support of the Massachusetts Frameworks. He served on the Central Mass Biomedical Initiative board, the Manufacturing Assistance Center board, the Massachusetts Extension Partnership board, and is a proponent of economic development through strengthening of the high technology base. He has succeeded in bringing engineering, science, and management resources together to form the Bioengineering Institute that was successfully launched in 2004. He has served on the P-16 Council in San Luis Obispo and the California Competitive Crisis Council. Currently, he is a member of the California Energy Future task force and is the Director of the Center for Renewable Energy and Alternative Transportation Technologies.
Dr. Durgin has held many positions in professional societies and in organizations supporting engineering research and education at the national and state levels. He is a member of Sigma Xi, Phi Kappa Phi, and Tau Beta Pi. A professional engineer, Dr. Durgin is registered in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Florida. He has served on boards, study groups, and editorial boards for NASA, ASME and other organizations. He is the author of more than seventy journal articles, edited and contributed to several books, and holds two patents. Dr. Durgin has served as a member of the Executive Committee on the Engineering Deans Council, and served as a member of the ASEE Public Policy Committee.