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March 3, 2021 While college is a stepping stone to greater things for many people, a growing number of Stony Brook students have dreams that include launching businesses of their own, some even while still in school. WolfieTank — Stony Brook’s cross-campus pitch competition — is designed with these students in mind, providing a challenging event that not only is fun, but also sparks the innovative and creative minds of entrepreneurial students. Inspired by the popular TV show “Shark Tank,” WolfieTank was conducted virtually on February 24, giving teams a unique opportunity to showcase their talents. Alumni judges included Dipita Chakraborty, client partner at Fractal Analytics Inc.; Derek Peterson, CEO and founder of Soter Technologies; and Bob Williams, president of IV Matters Inc. Five teams delivered prerecorded presentations featuring the following business ideas: Active Sight – an exercise tool for visually impaired people IO-Rem – an IV product for medical emergencies EOS Solar — technology to deliver efficient solar energy to more communities C.E.N.T.S. — a smart device for emergency stretcher data collection “Hocus Pocus” by Ultrasound Simulation – a portable ultrasound training tool for hospitals and first responders After a series of live Q&A sessions that followed each presentation, Hocus Pocus was named the winning business idea, taking the top prize of $1,500. “The judges felt that their solution was extremely well designed, researched, good marketing plan and a detailed business model for implementation,” said event moderator David Ecker, director of iCREATE at Stony Brook, which sponsors WolfieTank. “I felt that ultrasound simulation for medical training is very timely with the pandemic, solutions that are implementing engineering driven medicine are vital for our work in the future of healthcare.” The winning team is part of the Medical Device Innovation Clinic, a multidisciplinary group of medical professionals, masters students and undergraduates across majors. The team is part of Stony Brook’s VIP (Vertically Integrated Projects) Program.  “We heard about this market need from Lauren Maloney, our clinical mentor, who is the director for paramedics at Stony Brook Hospital,” said Ultrasound Simulation co-presenter Alex Eichert, a junior majoring in biomedical engineering and chemistry. “She had written a paper about the lack of medical ultrasound training for first responders and had just published it at the beginning of the fall semester. She suggested it as a potential project for us and we decided to run with it.” Eichert explained that EMTs and paramedics make critical decisions in determining to which facility patients go and what intervention might be necessary to save a life. Sometimes a key step is obtaining ultrasound information to diagnose a potentially fatal condition. In order to make an accurate diagnosis, users need to be well-trained in the complex ultrasound technology. “Physicians and medical students have access to ultrasound training technology that adequately represents a hospital environment,” said Eichert. “However, EMTs and paramedics have no such device to prepare them for using an ultrasound in a moving environment like an ambulance or helicopter; 305 of collapsed lung cases have been misdiagnosed in ambulance settings due to an unfamiliarity with the technology from lack of training. This is what we are setting out to correct.” Click here to read the original article 

March 3, 2021 Stony Brook University’s Facilities & Services Division is proud to announce the completed construction of Building K in the West Apartments.  Maintaining a consistent layout with other student housing across the West side of campus, this new, three-story apartment style residence hall features 173 beds across 30 suites. Each suite consists of four to six single bedrooms, one kitchen, two bathrooms and a common living/dining area. The building also includes communal laundry rooms for residents to share. The ground-up construction project will be available to upperclass students for occupancy in the fall semester, and will be included in room selection this spring for residents to choose from.  Visit the Campus Residences website or more information about West Apartments and other undergraduate housing options. Click here to read the original article 

February 28, 2021 Connect with the Alumni Association from home with our robust calendar of Virtual Programming. Catch up on past discussions and mark your calendar with upcoming programs!  Heroines in Politics: A Black History Month EventA Black History Month Panel Discussion with the Black and Latino Alumni Network and the Department of Africana Studies. A Bird’s Eye View of the Massive Upheaval of the Media and Advertising EcosystemsAn AMS Spotlight Series discussion with  Howard Shimmel ’79, President of Janus Strategy and Insights, LLC. Brought to you by the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Stony Brook Career Center and the Alumni Association. A Quantum Leap: Peg DiOrio’s Journey from Math Teacher to Quantitative Financial ExpertAn AMS Spotlight Series discussion with Peg DiOrio ’89, Head of Quantitative Equity Portfolio Management, Voya Investment Management.  Brought to you by the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Stony Brook Career Center and the Alumni Association. AMS Spotlight Series: Analytics & Technology in the Music IndustryA discussion with Howie Singer ’74, Adjunct Professor in the NYU Music Business Program and Former Chief Strategic Technologist for Warner Music Group. Brought to you by the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the Stony Brook Career Center and the Alumni Association. Alumni Career Services Presents: Advice from Alumni that Successfully Landed Jobs During COVID-19A discussion with alumni panelists that landed jobs during COVID-19. Hear about their process and the steps that they took to lead them to success during a difficult job market. From Batteries to Drugs: Stony Brook Chemistry in 2020A discussion led by Dr. Peter Tonge, distinguished professor and chair, to hear more about the past, present and future of the Department, including research highlights and our response to COVID-19. Brought to you by the Stony Brook Alumni Association and the College of Arts and Sciences.  STAY HOMEcoming: Micro-Mentoring Program Kick-OffAlumni Career Services is excited to roll out our 2020 Micro-Mentoring Program Kick-Off. Join us to learn about how to volunteer to be a mentor or sign-up as a mentee. STAY HOMEcoming: Election Predictions from Stony Brook Experts Hear from an expert panel as they discuss the 2020 presidential election and share their predictions. Special thanks to our moderator, Professor Leonie Huddy, chair of the Department of Political Science, as well as our expert panelists from the Department, Professors Helmut Norpoth and Stanley Feldman and Associate Professor Yanna Krupnikov. This event was hosted by the Stony Brook Alumni Association and the College of Arts and Sciences.   “Surviving My First Decade In Corporate America”An Exclusive Interview with Alumni Author Stephanie Hayman ’12, ’18   An energizing interview with alumna and former career center intern, Stephanie Hayman (Marketing Manager at Global Payments Integrated). Kimberly Dixon (Director of Employer Engagement and Diversity Recruitment) was her mentor. Together, they have open conversation to discuss Stephanie’s recently published first book. Brought to you by the Career Center, College of Business and the Stony Brook Alumni Association. Inaugural Globalization Studies and International Relations Virtual Forum       An inaugural event in celebration of the College of Arts and Sciences new BA in Globalization Studies and International Relations major! Hear from distinguished alumni who will share their career trajectories, global contributions, and some of the grand challenges their particular industry is facing at this time, as well as how people in their respective fields are making a difference in the world. They will also provide valuable insight for students and those in our community who are interested in global studies careers, fields or topics. Presented by the College of Arts and Sciences Institute for Globalization Studies  Undergraduate Biology and the Life Sciences: Living and Learning in the Times of COVID-19   Peter Gergen, PhD, Director of the Undergraduate Biology Program is joined by a student and alumni panel to share information about the program and the life sciences at Stony Brook today. You’ll be inspired by student and alumni stories of resilience in overcoming the pandemic’s impact on research and education. Brought to you by the Stony Brook Alumni Association and the College of Arts and Sciences Undergraduate Biology Program. Business & COVID 19: You’ve Opened, Now What?Associate Professor Stacey Finkelstein of the College of Business joins a Newsday panel to provide critical information for small businesses during coronavirus. Ethics, Values and Changes within Public Health During a PandemicProfessor Andrew Flescher, PhD discusses why the Humanities are critical to STEM, public health, biomedical ethics and medical humanities at Stony Brook University. Presented in partnership with the College of Arts and Sciences FAQ of Social MediaA panel discussion with a concrete toolkit to solve common business problems. Presented in partnership with the College of Business.     Click here to read the original article 

February 26, 2021 PhD student Huy Vu has found a creative way to explain his thesis — by writing, directing, producing and dancing in a video. The third-year PhD candidate in the Department of Computer Science at Stony Brook University, created the video for the 13th annual worldwide "Dance Your PhD" competition run by the American Association for the Advancement of Science and its research journal, Science. The contest requires students to explain their PhD thesis through dance and body movements. Huy’s video also delivers messages about LGBTQ inclusion, the struggles of researchers and the meaning of doing research. It also suggests balancing work and life by pursuing and enjoying your hobbies. He sees the video as more than just a way to win the Dance Your PhD contest. “As you can see in the video, there are many messages that I wanted to share with my PhD peers and hopefully with anyone who’s thinking about getting an PhD: What you do is meaningful. It is very hard though. But keep working on it, don’t give up! Every researcher struggles. So don’t ever feel down when things are not working out. We researchers can be really cool too! Honestly, I feel like having many people watch and get inspired from it is my biggest reward. I do want to win of course, not because of the money prize, but because it will help my video get promoted and reach more people, hopefully inspire more researchers. So if you like the video, please share it with your friends.”  The idea for Huy’s thesis began with a very interesting paper by his advisor, Professor H. Andrew Schwartz, in which he uses a data-driven method to look for language keywords corresponding to different personalities used by social media users. The method has many pros, but it also has a con — keywords in word clouds are sparse and difficult to understand without context. So Huy proposed building a generative model to generate full, complete sentences corresponding to each personality trait. These sentences potentially contain richer information, with full contexts that deliver the semantics in a more natural, interpretable way than with word clouds.     Huy works with Professor Schwartz in the HLAB (Human Language Analysis Beings) at Stony Brook, which develops large and scalable language analyses for health and social sciences. Utilizing natural language processing and machine learning techniques, the lab seeks to discover new behavioral and psychological factors of health and well-being as shown through language in social media. The HLAB attempts to change the way natural language processing is done to focus more on the humans behind the language and change the way psychological and health research is done by introducing rigorous data-driven and behavior-based analyses that unlock answers to big questions that are difficult to answer with traditional techniques. Huy’s research centers on the intersection of computer science and psychology. “I love applying data science and natural language processing methods to analyze human thoughts, their characteristics and behaviors,” he said. “Isn’t it cool to transform a person’s thought, something very abstract, into a concrete numeric vector space and then manipulate and analyze these vectors. Finally, map them back to the human’s thought space to predict their next behavior or to predict their mental health state.” His main research direction is text generation conditioned on human mental health and psychological traits such as personalities, with the goal of understanding human psychology with another perspective, as well as building more human-like, sympathetic conversation robots. “I have a great interest in machine learning, especially natural language processing and its application to psychology and social science,” he added. “I always believe that the collisions of different scientific fields are the origins of novel and exciting innovations.” In 2017 Huy earned a bachelors degree in mathematics and computer science from Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City University of Science, where he was leader of the university’s dance club.  Although Huy considers his strength is in logical thinking, he always had a big love for art, starting with dancing, since it’s a great way to experience and understand a great span of human emotions. Interestingly, Professor Schwartz’s research is at the intersection of the two — logical thinking from computer science and understanding emotions from psychology research. In fact, it’s the reason he decided to attend Stony Brook after learning about Schwartz’s work on the HLAB website.  Huy is still deciding between working in industry or in academia after graduation. He likes the idea of freedom to do research in academia, but also likes the practical approach in problem solving found in the industry. About the Contest   Winners are selected based on the combination of three scores: scientific merit, artistic merit and creative combination of the science and art. Entrants are classified into one of four categories based on the scientific field of their thesis: Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Social Sciences. This year, individuals can also enter a dance in the newly created COVID-19 category based on research that explains the disease and its consequences to health and society. Normal category winners receive $750, the COVID-19 category has a $500 award and the overall winner receives an extra $2,000. Winners will be announced in a few weeks. Click here to read the original article  

February 25, 2021       Before the winter break, 30 middle school students and their supervisors joined the Stony Brook Women in Computer Science (WICS) club online for an introduction to coding.       For the third year in a row, WICS  hosted an Hour of Coding event for local schools. In the past, they’ve hosted in-person visits to campus, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, the group pivoted to online instruction. “WICS didn’t want to take away an opportunity for students to learn about computer science and develop new skills that will help them in the future,” said Regina Wong, WICS treasurer. They reached out to the Stony Brook University Community Relations office, which connected them with two local schools from underserved communities – the Milton L. Olive Middle School in Wyandanch and the J. Taylor Finley Middle School in Huntington.  Each student was able to follow along on their own computer as their WICS host, Regina Wong, led them in a step-by-step activity through the Zoom platform. Wong was joined by fellow club members Anna Zhang, WICS secretary, and Katheryn Martinez Hernandez, WICS public relations officer, to help out with any questions or problems that students might encounter. “I like to volunteer for Hour of Code,” said Hernandez, “because I like to show our young generation how cool computer science can be, especially for girls. But in the end, their enthusiasm and curiosity reminded me of that instead.” The students were taught about a Python module, Turtle, which they utilized to create various graphics by controlling a digital “turtle.” Python Turtle is a popular tool for introducing young students to coding because it allows them to see what happens on the screen as they experiment with their code when running the program. The club leaders patiently helped each individual student be successful with their project. “It always amazes me to see these students going beyond expectations and taking what they learned to the next level,” said  Zhang. In the end, students were creating beautiful and intricate designs with the tools they had learned. They were shown how to save their codes as well so that they could continue practicing with them at home.  This virtual lab experience was coordinated through the Community Relations office and the Long Island Latinos Teachers Association (LILTA) as a part of an outreach program to encourage and inspire grade school students.     Click here to read the original article   

February 23, 2021 Hack@CEWIT 2021— the annual student hackathon run by the Center of Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology (CEWIT) at Stony Brook University, will take place virtually this year due for 43 consecutive hours from February 26 through 28, 2021.  More than 300 college students from across the country will take part in the virtual Hack. With this year’s theme, “Innovating through a Pandemic,” the Hack will feature projects centered around areas such as telemedicine, online education, working from home and pandemic innovations; and the technologies used will focus on blockchain, machine learning, IoT and much more. The event will culminate in a virtual science fair and award ceremony in which several prizes will be awarded, including Best in Show for both graduate and undergraduate students.   Click here to read the original article 

February 19, 2021 How Alumni and Seniors Can Connect with Sr. Alumni Career Coach, Marie Parziale: Drop-Ins Career Communities and Affinity/Select Program drop-ins will be available at the Career Center virtually via Zoom.  Marie will be offering Drop-Ins for seniors and alumni Fridays from 10 AM-12 PM.Drop-Ins Portal: Virtual Alumni Career Chats     Virtual Alumni Career Chats   We offer small-group career chats for seniors and alumni to help navigate the transition from college to career! Join fellow alumni alongside Sr. Alumni Career Coach, Marie Parziale! Every Wednesday:  3 PM to 4 PM on Zoom. Career Coaching Appointments  Marie Parziale will be offering 1:1 career alumni coaching appointments every week. Alumni can sign up for these appointments on Handshake to review their resume/cover letter, have a mock interview, discuss their job and internship search, review employers, learn about career paths, and more. Micro-Mentoring Program  If you are interested in having a 1:1 conversation with an alumnus who is working in your preferred career field, sign up for one of these micro-mentoring workshops! Be sure to fill out this Google Form with your information and sign up below! Dates: February 18 at 2 PM.    March 3 at 1 PM.    March 30 at 11 AM.    April 13 at 2 PM.  Upcoming Events: Get Career Advice at the Virtual Alumni Networking Mixer Join us for an evening with alumni and friends to grow your professional network and increase your career knowledge! There will be various careers represented at the event organized by career communities!  March 18th at 6 PM – 8 PM.  Networking Prep Event for Students Join us for an hour of training and discussion on best networking practices and how to build professional relationships. This will be your opportunity to get ready, ask questions, and polish up your elevator pitch for our virtual networking event on March 18, 2021!  March 10th at 1 PM – 2 PM.  I’m Graduating – Now What? Marie will also be offering a workshop designed for graduating seniors who are unsure of their career path looking for their first full-time job. Join us to learn how to clarify your career interests and create a solid job search plan! April 13th-2 PM-3 PM.  Looking to become a Mentor? 2020-2021 SBU Career Volunteering | Mentor Sign-up The Alumni Association and the Career Center offer a variety of ways for alumni and friends to give back to Stony Brook University. In addition, the Career Center offers ways that faculty and staff can be more involved in our Career Communities framework. Career volunteer opportunities include: being a mentor, hosting a site visit, providing a job shadow, hiring interns, mentoring or participating in our educational workshops.  Share Your Advice at the Virtual Alumni Networking Mixer Students and recent graduates are interested in your career path and experiences. Share your story, and your advice, at the 10th Annual Students and Alumni Networking Mixer.  March 18th at 6 PM – 8 PM.  Networking Prep Event for Mentors/Alumni Join us for an open discussion with both new and experienced alumni mentors and friends. This event is designed to educate and explain the process of informational interviewing and talk about the upcoming networking mixer. March 9 at 5 PM-6 PM.      Click here to read the original article 

February 19, 2021 The Department of Physics in the College of Arts and Sciences was once again entered into the The 5+Club — the highest award available for teacher preparation from the Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC). The Department received this impressive recognition for graduating five qualified physics teachers during the academic year 2019-2020, putting Stony Brook in the 99th percentile of all US colleges and universities with physics teacher preparation programs.     “Stony Brook University has been established as a regional leader in physics teacher education in the United States, given our recent success in achieving recognition in the PhysTEC 5+ Club in six of the past seven years,” said Angela Kelly, associate professor in the Department of Physics and associate director of the Institute for STEM Education. “This places SBU as one of the top nine producers of physics teachers nationwide. The MAT Physics Program collaboration between the Department of Physics and the Institute for STEM Education has established a rigorous focus on disciplinary preparation, clinical practice and reform-based pedagogy.” This exciting news arrived in the midst of a severe nationwide shortage of physics teachers. In its 2014 report, the American Association for Employment in Education found that the teacher shortage in physics is number one among 59 education fields. As PhysTEC reports, of the approximately 3,100 teachers who are new to teaching physics each year, only about 1,100 (35 percent) have a degree in physics or physics education.  “Stony Brook University has a long rich history of physics teacher education and is one of the largest producers of physics teachers in the country,” said Keith Sheppard, associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology and director of the Institute for STEM Education. “The physics teachers become certified at the University through a longstanding partnership between the Physics and Astronomy Department and the Institute for STEM Education.” “Why are we so good at placing physics teachers?” asked Robert McCarthy, professor in the Department of Physics and the undergraduate and graduate advisor for Physics Science Education. “The reason is simple. Our students graduate with a BS in Physics from Stony Brook, so they actually know physics. Many physics teachers from other universities are education majors.” Stony Brook’s physics teacher program is exemplary not only in terms of the number of graduates, but also in terms of the quality of education offered. “A unique aspect of the preparation that the SBU physics candidates receive relates to the University’s strong emphasis on physics research and the connection to Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL),” explained Linda Padwa, associate director of the Science Teacher Preparation Program and co-coordinator for the NYS Master Teacher Program cohort that is housed at SBU. “The experience that candidates gain by doing physics research helps them to develop into stronger physics teachers. In addition, the experience that candidates gain by working with faculty as TAs in the undergraduate physics program at SBU contributes to the strength that they eventually bring to their high school classes when they begin their careers as teachers. The SBU Physics Teacher Preparation Program provides an excellent blend of physics content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge for teaching physics, along with the opportunity to be part of physics research teams on campus and at BNL.”  PhysTEC is a partnership between the American Physical Society and the American Association of Physics Teachers. Since 2001, PhysTEC has helped universities transform their physics teacher education programs into national models. The Science Teacher Preparation Program at Stony Brook University is committed to excellence in science teaching and learning, offering a palette of coursework, clinical practice, seminars and special projects that prepares students to assume teaching positions in grades 7-12. The program includes three options that lead to New York State teacher certification: undergraduate, graduate, and combined undergraduate and graduate degrees. Areas of science certification include biology, chemistry, earth sciences and physics. For more information, visit the Science Teacher Preparation Program website.  Click here to read the original article 

February 11, 2021 The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all areas of our life and has completely changed the world around us. Small businesses have suffered significantly as they reconsider ways of functioning due to safety and health restrictions, lack of consumer access, and new customer expectations. The Technology Enhancement Assistance Program was launched by the Stony Brook Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in partnership with the Suffolk County Forward Program and Stony Brook University College of Business and College of Engineering & Applied Sciences (CEAS) to help Suffolk County small business owners enhance online technology capabilities to compete in this rapidly increasing e-commerce environment. The Technology Enhancement Program assesses small businesses’ current technology profile, pinpoints needs and assists in developing solutions. In a very short time, the program has proven to be successful and beneficial for both small businesses and students. Companies get resources to improve their operations, IT infrastructure, and learn to adapt their business model to the new and rapidly changing environment, while students develop expertise, acquire new experiences and learn the importance of pivoting their business model to enable them to compete in the rapidly changing environment.The need for the program was identified by an online small business survey posted by the Suffolk County Small Business Recovery Unit in March, and after receiving an overwhelming response, the program was launched in Spring 2020. It is co-managed by Michael Chiang, SBDC’s entrepreneur-in-residence, and Ann-Marie Scheidt, director of Economic Development at Stony Brook. Students from the College of Business and CEAS were engaged to develop technology solutions for the small businesses during the pandemic, including designing websites and developing marketing strategies. The program aims to assist industries most negatively affected by the pandemic: restaurants, retail and manufacturing. The SBU student teams have already delivered solutions for multiple businesses, and there are many more to come. Chiang explained that each project takes a month or two, as it involves a lot of research and analytics. There is usually a group of two to three students from different areas — engineering, business and marketing — working together on one case. “We are gathering the smartest students from the university and putting them in front of actual businesses that are hurting right now,” said Chiang. “They are learning about real-world business situations up close and helping be part of the solution while learning various tools and processes it takes to run a business in a COVID-19 world. For the business owners, this is a fighting chance to help ensure their business is leveraging all the available technological resources on the market to help them stay afloat. And for us, the administrators of the program, there’s nothing more impactful than helping our community survive and making sure small businesses in Suffolk persevere and grow.”     Click here to read the original article   

February 8, 2021     Studying abroad is one of the most valuable investments students can make to prepare for the future. We are living in unprecedented times right now — global knowledge and understanding of the value of culture is a priceless asset in all areas and industry. Stony Brook’s International Academic Programs (IAP) supports the University’s goal to educate successful citizens of the world.     IAP’s programs are diverse, unique and top ranked. Students benefit from prestigious study abroad opportunities and gain exposure to language, experiential learning, internships and much more.  IAP offers programs in almost 30 different countries with diverse programming that allows access for all students. A rich selection of opportunities is available every term (winter, spring, summer and fall). More than 80 partner universities and many faculty-led programs open the door to once-in-a-lifetime cross-cultural experiences around the globe. Explore programs and learn about the application process.       Learn more at the Spring Fair on Wednesday, February 24, from 11 am to 2 pm. IAP program coordinators will be available to answer questions about programs, scholarships and more — plus you’ll have the chance to win multiple $500 awards for future programs.   Be ready for your future — prepare for your study abroad experience now Click here to read the original article 

February 1, 2021 Gilvir Gill — the URECA Undergraduate Researcher of the Month for February 2021 — is a junior double majoring in computer science and mathematics with a minor in political science. He has been a member of the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) PoliTech team since August 2019. Under the mentorship of Computer Science Professor Robert Kelly, the VIP-PoliTech team has been working to develop and optimize an algorithm for the Automated Redistricting System — a system for randomly generating congressional district maps using graph partition techniques and Markov Chain Monte Carlo approaches.  Gill has contributed to the project by aggregating census and election data from various sources, coordinating three subteams to improve and visualize redistricting algorithms, and creating a frontend visualization as part of the PoliTech Automated Redistricting System to smoothly display tens of thousands of electoral precincts simultaneously in large states. Gill is in the computer science honors program and has served as a teaching assistant for CSE Honors Theory of Computation.  Click here to read the original article 

January 26, 2021     Postdoctoral researchers play a special role in academic research, bringing in new ideas and energy while they advance their careers into independent scholars. Stony Brook’s Institute for AI-Driven Discovery and Innovation is benefiting from two new postdoctoral associates, Baojian Zhou and Naoya Inoue, both of whom were welcomed to the team this past year. They are spearheading new research that will advance our understanding of online optimization, explainable AI, natural language processing and machine learning. By working with diverse faculty and graduate students across many research groups, their presence amplifies activities across the Institute.     Ai postdocs Baojian and NaoyaTheir stories are revealing. Zhou’s path started with his education at Anhui University in China, now the home of a study program with Stony Brook. His interest was piqued when he encountered combinatorial problems from discrete mathematics and graph theory in his undergraduate algorithms course. After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Anhui University and his master’s degree from Beihang University, Zhou made the concerted effort to earn a PhD in the United States. He landed at the University of Albany, where he concentrated his studies in data mining and machine learning to continue his exploration of mathematical models. Zhou graduated with his PhD in computer science and a master’s degree in mathematics early in 2020.     A chance meeting with a Stony Brook graduate student at the ACM Knowledge and Data Discovery Conference tipped Zhou off about postdoctoral positions at the Institute. Zhou went on to meet Steven Skiena, director of Stony Brook’s AI Institute, and they bonded over shared research interests in data mining, data science and machine learning. “I discovered that Stony Brook is the perfect place to work with diligent and inspired faculty, and to expand my research experience,” said Zhou.     Zhou has dedicated his Stony Brook research predominantly toward graphical representation learning, with the goal to design models that can comprehend network data. Coupled with his focus in online optimization, these two domains create a platform to amplify knowledge of user behavior in social media.     “Through embarking on this new research, we can garner a better understanding of social media users’ behavioral patterns,” said Zhou. In a society dominated with social networking, this behavioral understanding lends itself to its impact on a corporate, academic and personal level.     Since arriving at Stony Brook, he has been working with several faculty members at the university, including Yifan Sun, assistant professor of Computer Science. Professor Sun, an expert in online optimization, has been working closely with Zhou to further his progress in optimization to deal with graphical data. Zhou credits both Professors Skiena and Sun as being cornerstones of his research.     The second postdoctoral scholar, Naoya Inoue, left a faculty position in Japan to join the Institute. He was inspired by artificial intelligence in childhood and blossomed with his introduction to programming,     “When I was 10 years old my father was trying to learn programming, and following in his footsteps, I hand-typed a sample game program into the computer. From then on I fell in love with programming,” said Inoue.     In his home country of Japan, Inoue received his bachelor’s degree in economics. Although this field strays from artificial intelligence, “I enjoyed seeing how human behaviors are modeled in a mathematical manner,” he said. After graduating, Inoue was introduced to Natural Language Processing and went on to receive a master’s degree in the field from Nara Institute of Science and Technology in 2010. Just three years later, he earned his PhD in information science from Tohoku University. But Inoue wanted to gain research experience in the United States.     The value of working with those from diverse backgrounds is indispensable. Inoue says that “the AI Institute at Stony Brook is a great choice for me because it has researchers and students from diverse backgrounds, and its research vision matched with my vision of AI.”     While Stony Brook was enticing, Inoue’s decision was not so simple. With his family and wife back in Yamanashi, Japan, leaving them was a difficult decision, particularly in a pandemic. However, with the unwavering support from his family and the Institute, Inoue rests assured that he made the best decision as he embarks on his new research endeavors at Stony Brook.     Inoue has set his research focus toward machine learning applied to natural language processing and machine reading comprehension. He has tried to tackle disparities within machine intelligence to develop machines that can think and explain their own thinking.     “Some studies report that computers already have a reading comprehension ability almost equivalent to that of humans,” said Inoue. “The truth is that machines are not so strong because they cheat.”     Inoue has focused his research toward quantifying machines’ true level of reading comprehension. This extends itself to “explainable AI,” which is artificial intelligence that can explain its own thinking. Inoue’s work with AI faculty members and students has greatly advanced this work. With respect to his research in developing quantitative data, Inoue has been working closely with Niranjan Balasubramanian, assistant professor of Computer Science, and several graduate students. The group meets weekly to discuss their research progress. He is also working with Steven Skiena and his students to advance their research with explainable AI.     “All of these collaborations will make for better research and will make for a better contribution to the AI community,” added Inoue.     These two young scholars have brought a strong sense of vigor and energy to the Institute.     “Baojian is always the last person to leave the Computer Science building each night, while Naoya has started projects with multiple of our faculty,” said Professor Skiena.     Looking forward, Zhou and Inoue both say that they cannot wait to work in a more in-person, collaborative environment. The research collaborations conducted by both postdocs would have never been possible without the unwavering camaraderie and drive within the Institute. Zhou and Inoue anticipate a productive year in 2021, supplemented by collaboration and diligence.     — Alyssa Dey, Communications Assistant, Institute for AI-Driven Discovery and Innovation     Click here to read the full article

Resident Kisa King receives the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, administered by Pharmacist Ian Pak.     December 16, 2020     After caring for thousands of patients battling COVID-19, Stony Brook University Hospital (SBUH) has received the coronavirus vaccine and has begun vaccinating hospital workers at the highest risk of exposure. Kisa King, a resident in the Department of Emergency Medicine at SBUH, received the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, administered by Ian Pak, a pharmacist at the Hospital.     “I am so excited and thankful to be a part of the solution,” said King. “Not only does this mean that I can continue delivering care to my patients, but it also means I am providing protection to my family, friends and community.”     Based on guidance from the New York State Department of Health, more than 250 personnel working in emergency rooms, critical care units and other high-risk hospital units are scheduled to receive the vaccine at SBUH by the end of the day. The vaccine administration will be staggered in such a way as to ensure staff have the ability to continue providing necessary patient care. Stony Brook Medicine expects to receive additional doses of vaccine in the coming weeks.     This major milestone comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the first emergency use authorization for a vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19 in individuals 16 years of age and older. The emergency use authorization allows the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed in the U.S. The vaccine has been found to be more than 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 after two doses.     Click here to read the original article 

September 21, 2020             The following was written by Stony Brook School of Journalism alumna Taylor Ha ’18. Taylor is currently a staff writer for the Marketing and Communications Department at Fordham University.      When I accepted my first full-time job, I felt like I had betrayed my original dream. I’d graduated as the co-valedictorian of Stony Brook University’s School of Journalism, but I wasn’t about to begin a nationally renowned fellowship, nor a job as a local reporter for a newspaper. Instead, I would become a staff writer for the Marketing and Communications Department at Fordham University.     After I graduated and moved back into my childhood home, I applied to more than 100 entry-level jobs. I never heard back from most of them. In July, I landed an interview at Forbes’ Jersey City office. Two editors were looking for a reporter in diversity and inclusion, and they were impressed by my senior capstone project on the lack of teacher diversity on Long Island. But there was another job that had caught my eye. It was the job at Fordham. The school was looking for someone with strong writing skills, good news judgment, experience with SLR cameras, a commitment to accuracy and the ability to meet deadlines. The job required weekly travel between Manhattan and the Bronx, but I was thrilled. (I prefer public transportation to driving because the latter makes me anxious.) If I hadn’t known any better, I would’ve thought the job application at Fordham was for any newsroom I’d visited on a Professional Fridays trip.     Ten days after I applied, a Fordham editor emailed me and asked if I could come in for an interview. And ten days after that, I was officially hired.     I took the job for several reasons. I was wooed by the starting salary, $65,000 — much more than I had expected as a recent college graduate in the writing field. I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to drive around unfamiliar towns and cities, like a traditional reporter does. But most of all, I was happy I could continue doing what I love most: telling people’s stories with a pen, notebook and camera, as I had done for the past four years.     Since August 2018, I’ve told more than 160 stories. I’ve spoken with a silver-haired rabbi and a young Palestinian activist who share an unlikely friendship. I met the first living Iraq War veteran to receive the national Medal of Honor. I’ve penned obituaries for a Fordham freshman who passed away after a severe asthma attack and a man who mentored Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists. More recently, I independently shot and produced a video profile on an Irish step dancer, which won a university-wide award, and moderated a Q&A on achieving antiracism at Fordham. I’ve accomplished more than I thought I could ever achieve as a writer for a private university.     Being a reporter for a newspaper or TV station is wonderful and rewarding. But time has taught me that you can find that joy at other places, too. There are hundreds of opportunities outside traditional newsrooms. (FYI: If you work at a university, you can earn a tuition-free master’s degree from your employer, the way I did.)     Two summers ago, Forbes turned me down. Now I think of it as a blessing in disguise. I still interview people, document their stories, and share them with the world. It’s a smaller world, but a vibrant world nonetheless.         Click here to read the original article

August 5, 2020 Stony Brook University is among the top 100 universities in the world for reducing inequalities in higher education based on the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings 2020 — ranking #1 among all U.S. institutions and #27 worldwide. The Impact Rankings show which universities are successfully reducing inequalities in higher education for first generation students or students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.     Campus fall 19The ranking is based on how universities around the world are committing to the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a global call to action to tackle poverty, climate change and inequality. SDG 10 covers reducing inequalities.      According to Times Higher Education, some of the metrics that helped to measure which universities were excelling at reducing inequalities were:     - The number of first generation students - The number of students from developing countries - The proportion of students and staff with disabilities - The measures against discrimination - The amount of research a university undertakes on reduced inequalities     More information on the methodology can be found here.     Click here to read the original article