Stony Brook University SUNY Korea

SUNY Korea’s Application Support Center was successfully held on December 16-18 at COEX to help students with their Spring-Fall 2022 Applications.     Around 250 visitors had the opportunity to consult with the Admissions Counselors before the Spring 2022 Application Final Deadline on January 31, 2022. Selected participants were selected to receive the new SUNY Korea gifts!     If you were unable to attend, or still have questions about your application, you can always contact the Admissions Office at admission@sunykorea.ac.kr or +82-32-626-1030.     For more information on each department, check out the upcoming 2022 Online Preview Week. To register, visit: https://apply.sunykorea.ac.kr/portal/admissions_events.

   

  Dear SUNY Korea Community, We will come together to celebrate the commencement of the Class of Fall 2021 and confer the hard-earned degrees on Saturday, December 18 at 11:00 a.m. KST.  This special tribute to the graduating class includes remarks from Dr. Wonki Min (President of SUNY Korea), Dr. Maurie McInnis (President of Stony Brook University), and Dr. Hyun-Soon Lee (Former Vice Chairman of Doosan Group).  This year, SUNY Korea is holding the ceremony in person only for RSVP'd graduation candidates under strict COVID prevention measures. The ceremony will also be live-streamed via SUNY Korea's YouTube channel. RSVP'd students may accompany guests to the event, where guests will be able to watch the live-streamed ceremony in separate rooms. You can access the Live-streaming on SUNY Korea’s official YouTube channel. ※ Please subscribe to our channel to receive an alarm for the commencement. ■ Date & Time: Saturday, December 18 at 11:00 a.m. (KST) Please join us in celebrating the achievements of our graduating students

On Dec. 8, FIT launched an unprecedented initiative to transform the lives and careers of people of color in the creative industries. Through a multifaceted, comprehensive approach, the Social Justice Center at FIT (SJC) is designed to increase opportunity and accelerate social equity for those whom the industry might otherwise leave behind.     People of color make up only about one in five workers in the creative industries. Because the problem of underrepresentation is deeply rooted, the solution cannot be one-dimensional. BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) individuals in these industries face systemic barriers at every stage of their lives, beginning in childhood and lasting through retirement. That is why the SJC is building a seamless and sustained support network that addresses early education, college mentorship and training, and professional career support.     “The focus for the Social Justice Center at FIT is on the whole individual,” says FIT President Joyce F. Brown, who spearheaded this first-of-its-kind initiative in higher education. “We will intervene early with BIPOC youth so they can make informed decisions about their future and the careers they might choose to pursue. While they are in college, we will provide exposure to the inner workings of industry as well as concentrated support and training. Our partners in industry will then mentor, guide, and provide opportunities to accelerate their career potential.”     The SJC aims to nurture a racially and ethnically diverse talent pipeline, from the middle school classroom to the executive level. If successful, it will break down systemic barriers and ensure that BIPOC professionals achieve their full potential. It will provide scholarships for middle school, high school, and college students, and offer a pathway to advancement through internships, mentorships, and apprenticeships with SJC partners.     This approach is supported by four pillars:     collaboration among leading corporate and nonprofit CEOs who are committed to this vision, the talent, creativity, and expertise of FIT faculty, staff, and students, a sustained commitment to funding scholarships and programs, and ongoing accountability that will identify and measure the advancement of BIPOC professionals. Dr. Joyce Brown and Jeff Tweedy in the Pomerantz Center lobby at FIT     The SJC has received substantial industry support, including $1 million pledges from the foundations of PVH Corp., owner of iconic brands including Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger; Capri Holdings Limited, whose luxury portfolio includes Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, and Versace; and Tapestry, Inc., which owns Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman. G-III Apparel Group made the establishing gift to the SJC Scholarship Fund, which already has reached more than $1.5 million in contributions.     Stefan Larsson, chief executive officer of PVH Corp., hopes that his company’s early involvement will encourage further investment by industry: “It is only by coming together that we can make a real and lasting, positive change.”     Numerous scholarships are already available: the Social Justice Center Endowed Scholarship, the Amsale Aspire Initiative, the Art Smith Memorial Endowed Scholarship, the Black Student Illustrators Graduation Award, and the Prada Scholarship at FIT, among others.      Jeffrey Tweedy, former president and chief executive officer of Sean John and a Menswear Design and Marketing alumnus, will be a special advisor to President Brown to help build and expand the center. A search for an executive director is underway. Additionally, an industry advisory council of 16 executives has been established to counsel, collaborate, and help measure progress toward equity.     “After George Floyd’s murder, it occurred to me that we were in a very different place than a lot of the people and companies who simply wanted to do something,” President Brown says. “We were really very privileged to be in a position to make a difference. I wanted to create a different kind of pathway for people of color, so that we could see a different kind of outcome.”

Brookhaven National Laboratory has received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for “Battery500 Phase 2,” which involves research aimed at understanding and improving materials for electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Stony Brook is a partner in Brookhaven Science Associates LLC, managing the Laboratory for the DOE.     Enyuan Hu (front) and Peter Khalifah, two of the principal investigators for battery research projects that just received DOE funding, at Brookhaven Lab’s NSLS-II X-ray Powder Diffraction beamline.     “President Biden’s administration wants to make it easier for millions of American families and businesses to make the switch to electric vehicles,” said Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm in a DOE statement announcing the funding. “By developing smarter vehicle batteries, we can make these technologies cheaper and more accessible, while positioning America to be become a global leader of EV infrastructure production and clean energy jobs.”     As partners in Battery500 Phase 2, which is led by DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a team of scientists — including Peter Khalifah, a professor in the Department of Chemistry at Stony Brook University who holds a joint appointment at Brookhaven Lab — will conduct studies to identify battery electrode materials with increased energy density. Such materials could reduce the size and weight of batteries used in electric vehicles and/or extend the vehicle’s driving distance for a given battery weight with better safety characteristics. Identifying lower-cost materials is another primary goal.     The total budget of Battery500 Phase 2 is $75 million for the next five years. It is a renewal of funding for the original Battery500 Consortium, which was established in 2016.     Under the new funding arrangement, Brookhaven Lab will receive $1.3 million per year for the next five years. Khalifah, along with Brookhaven associate chemist Enyuan Hu, will serve as the two leaders of a cross-cutting thrust on materials characterization within the consortium.      In the next five years, the Brookhaven team will continue their efforts to develop and deploy sensitive characterization techniques that can illuminate the changes that occur in lithium metal anodes, metal oxide and sulfur cathodes, and new electrolytes during their use in rechargeable batteries. These efforts will help understand and overcome the factors limiting the performance of this exceptionally high-energy density class of batteries and will accelerate the rate at which this technology can become commercially viable.

On Friday, December 3, musicians from the Stony Brook Department of Music caroled throughout the Children’s Hospital, spreading holiday cheer and joy to the children, families and staff. The Staller Center’s Instrument Petting Zoo is a program that helps the Staller Center for the Arts reach out to the community and share live interactive musical experiences. This program helps inspire an appreciation of music and instruments for young people.      “To be able to spend time at the Children’s Hospital and see the smiles on the kids faces and the tears of joy in the parents eyes as the musicians performed holiday music was emotional, but we’re so happy we were able to come together and collaborate in this way,” said Staller Center’s Outreach Director Paul Newland. “We are grateful to Island Federal who helped provide the support for this initiative, and we’re already planning more musical visits.”   

Stony Brook alumna Emily Carll ’20, who majored in Political Science and Asian and Asian-American Studies, has been selected for the nationally competitive Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Program Fellowship. Carll will become SBU’s first-ever Pickering Fellow, and receive $84,000 to pursue a Master’s degree in the field of international affairs.     Carll is a previous recipient of the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) in Hindi, and is currently serving as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Serbia. She is also guaranteed placement as a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State upon completion of her degree.     “I am so proud of Emily and excited to see where she goes from here,” said Jen Green, director for Fellowships Advising and Professional Development at the Stony Brook University Graduate School. “She is already one of our most decorated alumni in terms of success in external fellowships competitions. Emily was also selected for a highly competitive State Department internship, during which she had the opportunity to serve in Washington, D.C. and at the U.S. embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I am thrilled, but not entirely surprised, that she was selected as Stony Brook’s first Pickering Fellow.”     “Emily is our first fellow from Stony Brook, and I am confident that the education and skills she gained there helped her compete in this rigorous selection process,” said Lily Lopez-McGee, director for the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Program. “Her experiences and skills are sure to help her success in graduate school and eventually the Foreign Service. We are looking forward to seeing all that she will accomplish. I hope that more Stony Brook students and alumni will follow Emily’s lead into this rewarding career of international service.”     Carll recognized the community of mentors who supported her throughout her undergraduate career at Stony Brook, particularly Harsh Bhasin (Political Science), Anna Geisherik (European Languages), and Gregory Ruf (Asian and Asian-American Studies).     In order to be selected as a Pickering Fellow, candidates must successfully navigate a high-stakes interview at the national level, and a committee of Stony Brook faculty and staff helped Carll prepare, including Jennifer Carlino (Undergraduate Academic Affairs), Rosalia Davi (Graduate School), Miguel Garcia-Diaz (Pharmacology and the Graduate School), Lisa Ospitale (Graduate School), and Tara Rider (SoMAS).

Interested in becoming the next History Maker at SUNY Korea? Need help with your SUNY Korea applications? Stuck on your personal statement?     SUNY Korea invites you to the Application Support Center! 1:1 consultations are offered at free of charge. Choose the date you wish to come and register here https://apply.sunykorea.ac.kr/portal/admissions_events     *Please bring all your application documents and we will guide you through the process     Date and Time: December 16th -19th | 9AM – 6PM KST Place: Conference Room #315, COEX, Seoul, South Korea     Inquiry: admission@sunykorea.ac.kr | +82-32-626-1030     *Walk-ins are also available without registration *All attendees will receive a small gift         한국뉴욕주립대학교 지원 중인 학생 분들을 위해 원서지원센터를 운영합니다. 입학팀과 1:1 상담을 통하여 온라인 지원서 작성, 자기소개서 작성, 입학서류 업로드 방법을 안내해드립니다.     *지참서류: 고등학교 성적표, 자기소개서, 공인영어성적 및 기타서류     사전신청 링크: https://apply.sunykorea.ac.kr/portal/admissions_events     일시: 12월 16-19일 | 오전9시 부터 오후 6시     장소: 코엑스 컨퍼런스룸(남) 315호     문의: admission@sunykorea.ac.kr | 032-626-1030     *별도 예약 없이 현장방문 상담도 가능합니다 *현장에 방문하시는 모든 분께 소정의 기념품이 제공됩니다

On a cold winter day in New York, there’s nothing like strolling past the holiday windows of upper Fifth Avenue. Luxe retailer Bergdorf Goodman mounts the ne plus ultra of window extravaganzas, and this year Fashion Illustration faculty member and alum Carlos Aponte, Illustration MFA ’21, is a creative force behind one of them.     The project began in June when David Hoey, who directs the Bergdorf windows, reached out to Aponte. Hoey envisioned a building exterior with a view inside the apartments, and cats sitting on the fire escapes. Someone proposed including an artwork that portrayed a cat, and then the ideas started flowing, Aponte says. “Once I began sketching it was obvious that all the rooms needed to be about cats. … Suddenly the concept turned into a massive cat dollhouse.”        “I had to design 15 apartments, and I decided to make each one different to show the diversity of the city of New York—classical, retro, Latin-inspired, etc. I sketched all the ideas. Once they were approved, I did a color version.” The apartments would be rendered in 3D, with exaggerated perspectives, and foam-core models were created. Once those were approved, they were printed in color and assembled. “I’ve never done paperwork in 3D, so this was an opportunity to be creative outside the flat image,” Aponte says.     Look carefully at the finished product for witty details, like a painting of a cat made to look like an Andy Warhol Marilyn Monroe portrait. There’s also a Roman emperor feline bust and a Picasso-inspired Cubist kitty. “I was very proud of creating a pattern to make a disco ball out of paper that really looks like a disco ball,” Aponte says. “It took me a while to figure that one out.”     The window was certainly a team effort, with contributions from Bergdorf artists Carl Tallent and Sebastian Montoya. Artist Samantha Smith created the furry cats that clamber across the composition. And Aponte learned something as well. “I had no idea how to do this project,” he says. “Having no idea of how to do something opens the possibility of play, and play leads to other creative realms.” 

USC SUNY Korea hosted 2021 Club Festival this week.     Third one was a "Mate Performance".     On Wednesday, December 1st, Mate, Acting club at SUNY Korea had a performance at Multi-Complex Building.

She almost didn’t escape.     In August, the United States began withdrawing forces from Afghanistan, ending the longest war in U.S. history. New York Times journalist Fatima Faizi was living in Kabul, the capital. As the Taliban started to reclaim the country, Faizi gathered her family together and prepared to evacuate. “Don’t worry about bringing clothes or shoes,” a friend advised. “You can replace those. Just bring things that remind you of home.” In the end, she carried only a knapsack and a tiny painting from Bamyan, a city she loved.     On November 11, Faizi spoke virtually about her experiences as an Afghan journalist and women’s rights advocate for FIT’s Department of Social Sciences’ World Affairs Lecture. The annual talk, which is open to the public, offers students a firsthand account of global events that might seem removed from daily life in the U.S.. Souzeina Mushtaq, a faculty member of the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, interviewed her.      When Faizi arrived at the Kabul airport, the scene was chaotic, with the sounds of gunfire and crowds of people desperate to escape the shooting. Faizi and her family raced from one corner of the building to another. Eventually, a member of the Taliban told them they had to return home. “There are no planes,” he told Faizi. She and her family hid out in a journalist colleague’s house for several stressful days. Ironically, when air transport finally became available, members of the Taliban escorted Faizi to the plane, and to safety.     Growing up, Faizi wanted to be a journalist, but her family was opposed to the idea; so she studied photography. She got her break at a protest in 2015. A friend at the news channel Al Jazeera knew of her work and asked for photographs; she had also done a few interviews, so she sent both, and the outlet published them. Two years later, a friend who was leaving the Afghanistan Times bureau told her to apply for the job and explained how to get in touch with the bureau chief. Faizi got the gig. As a woman journalist in Afghanistan, she had better access to women’s stories than most men. But in conservative or rural areas, she stood out; once, a male subject told her that her trendy sneakers signaled that she was an outsider.     Mushtaq pointed out grim realities of reporting in Afghanistan, and asked how Faizi dealt with trauma. “I go for walks, and I cry a lot,” she replied. “Sometimes, I don’t sleep for two weeks.”     One student wanted to know what strategy, as a journalist, Faizi used to keep readers from feeling desensitized by the tragedies in Afghanistan. “When it’s just numbers, no one pays attention,” Faiza said. “‘500 people were killed somewhere’? It is just a number. But when we tell stories about personal experiences, personal lives? Then they become human beings, and people pay attention.”     This lecture was organized by Praveen Chaudhry, professor of Social Sciences, and presented in partnership with the Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Presidential Scholars Program, and the Office of International Programs.

Robert Crease, professor and chair of the Department of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the 2021 Institute of Physics (IOP) William Thomson, Lord Kelvin Medal and Prize. Crease has received this award for his 21 years writing Physics World’s outstanding “Critical Point” column, devoted to describing key humanities concepts for scientists, and explaining the significance of key scientific ideas for humanists.     Crease has written, co-written, translated, and edited nearly 20 books on the history and philosophy of science, several of which sprang from material in “Critical Point.” These books have been reviewed in places as diverse as The Economist, the London Review of Books, and the Wall Street Journal, and translated into a total of 10 languages. One book in particular, The Quantum Moment: How Planck, Bohr, Einstein, and Heisenberg Taught Us to Love Uncertainty, is about the real and fanciful impact that quantum mechanics has had on philosophy, culture, and life. The book stemmed from an innovative class that Crease and physicist Alfred Goldhaber co-taught at Stony Brook University.     “My sincere congratulations to Bob on his receipt of the William Thomson, Lord Kelvin Medal and Prize,” said Nicole Sampson, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and distinguished professor of chemistry. “His decades-long contribution to the sciences from a humanist’s perspective, through his “Critical Point” column and numerous publications as well as inventive course offerings that blend the arts and sciences, is testament to the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration as we navigate our ever-changing world. I applaud Bob for his commitment to communicating ideas and knowledge from his own area of expertise for the benefit of other disciplines.”     Crease is also co-editor-in-chief of Physics in Perspective, whose mission is to “bridge the gulf between physicists and non-physicists through historical and philosophical studies that typically display the unpredictable as well as the cross-disciplinary interplay of observation, experiment, and theory that has occurred over extended periods of time in academic, governmental, and industrial settings and in allied disciplines such as astrophysics, chemical physics, and geophysics.”     “I’m thrilled to get this award,” said Crease. “The IOP, a century-old scientific organization, gave it to me for more than 20 years of writing the column, “Critical Point” for Physics World. It’s a good sign for the humanities, for the column explores the numerous intersections between humanities and the sciences. In a science-dominated world, I think, the vitality of the humanities is threatened, not by interacting too much with the sciences, but too little. By the way, Kelvin, the scientist for whom the award is named, occupied what at the time was called a ‘Chair of Natural Philosophy.’ ”     Other books include Philosophy of Physics, an IOP ebook, and the final portion of J. Robert Oppenheimer: A Life, which was begun by physicist Abraham Pais and left incomplete with his death. Crease also edited Science Policy Up Close by physicist and U.S. Presidential Science Advisor John H. Marburger III. For these and other contributions to history and philosophy of science, Crease was elected a fellow of the APS and IOP.     Crease received BA from Amherst College and PhD from Columbia University. He has written more than 75 reviews, editorials, and other short pieces on philosophy, history, and science for academic journals and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Nature, Newsday, and more. Crease has also appeared on a range of radio programs, from the BBC to the offbeat “Talk Nerdy.”     “On behalf of the Institute of Physics, I warmly congratulate all of this year’s Award winners,” said Professor Sheila Rowan, president of the Institute of Physics. “Each and every one of them has made a significant and positive impact in their profession, whether as a researcher, teacher, industrialist, technician or apprentice. Recent events have underlined the absolute necessity to encourage and reward our scientists and those who teach and encourage future generations. We rely on their dedication and innovation to improve many aspects of the lives of individuals and of our wider society.”     The Institute of Physics is the professional body and learned society for physics, and the leading body for practising physicists, in the UK and Ireland. The IOP awards celebrate physicists at every stage of their career; from those just starting out through to physicists at the peak of their careers, and those with a distinguished career behind them. They also recognize and celebrate companies which are successful in the application of physics and innovation, as well as employers who demonstrate their commitment and contribution to scientific and engineering apprenticeship schemes.

USC SUNY Korea hosted 2021 Club Festival this week.     Second one was a "Da Capo Concert".     On Tuesday, November 30th, Da Capo, Orchestra & Chorus club at SUNY Korea had a concert at IGC Auditorium.     The title of the concert was "The First Concert". Hopefully lots of people had a chance to enjoy beautiful concert!

Ephraim Bryski ’22 — the URECA researcher of the month for December 2021 — is a senior civil engineering major who joined the Coastal and Hydraulic Engineering Research Lab of Ali Farhadzadeh, assistant professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, as a freshman. Bryski works on designs to increase the effectiveness of oyster reefs for wave attenuation and shore protection. His previous work in Farhadzadeh’s group on the motion of flood-borne debris led to a URECA presentation in 2019 as well as a recently co-authored publication in the Journal of Hydraulic Engineering.      In his sophomore year, Bryski also joined the Materials and Mechanics Lab of Kedar Kirane, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, where he has learned to use molecular dynamics to study quasi-brittle strength distribution in silica, has analyzed the size effect of creep in brittle rock, and developed models of rock beams and run simulations in Abaqus.      In Summer 2019, Bryski participated in the NHERI REU (National Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure – Research Experiences for Undergraduates) program at O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, Oregon State University.      On campus, Bryski has been involved as a peer tutor in the Academic Success and Tutoring Center since September 2019, and as a member of the Concrete Canoe Team since 2019. He also served as secretary of the Stony Brook Student Chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers (August 2019-August 2021). Bryski plans to continue at Stony Brook in the accelerated master’s program in Civil Engineering following his graduation in May.    

While it may not be the season for beach going and barbecues, people continue to work and gather outside in many settings. Is that cause for concern in these latest stages of the pandemic, and new variants? Not necessarily, but a new study indicates that low wind speeds and stale air are associated with a higher incidence of contracting COVID-19 when people socialize outside — perhaps as much as 45 percent more compared to when winds are stronger. Led by Sean Clouston, associate professor in the Program in Public Health, and the Department of Family, Population, and Preventive Medicine at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University, the study is published in BMC Infectious Diseases.     The findings are based on COVID-19 incidence in Suffolk County, NY, from March 16, 2020, to December 31, 2020, from public health data of more than 96,000 cases. The researchers used these data in combination with daily reports by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on the region’s average wind speed and maximal daily temperatures.     “The issue is really about an increased danger of infection spread in the presence of stale air as opposed to indoor versus outdoor settings,” explains Clouston. “The findings imply we are all safer when air flow is more significant.”     Clouston and colleagues developed a statistical modeling program which determined from the public health data and weather reports that warmer days with little wind when people socialized outside resulted in significantly more COVID-19 transmission. Their overall analysis revealed that days with temperatures ranging from 16 to 28 degrees C (approximately 61 to 82 degrees F) where wind speed was less than 8.85 kilometers per hour (approximately 5 mph) had significantly increased COVID-19 incidence compared to similar days with an average wind speed of greater than 8.85 kilometers per hour.