An Alumnus Gives Back to His Alma Mater

A Jamaica native, Oneil Gayle (B.S. ’01) came to New York Institute of Technology on a track and field scholarship to study mechanical engineering. Despite being from another country, he never felt out of place at New York Tech.

^{Oneil Gayle}

“As an international student, it would have been easy to feel lonely, as I was a long way away from home and from a different culture,” Gayle says. “But my first morning waking up on [the Central Islip] campus, I saw other students outside playing cricket, a sport we played in Jamaica. So I went out and played with them. Being able to connect with others immediately was great.”

Gayle has always had a knack for connecting with people, a trait that helped him rise to the top at Loring Consulting Engineers, a New York-based consulting engineering firm where he was the chief operating officer for seven years and then, in December 2023, became the chief executive officer (CEO). He took on the role 22 years after starting at Loring as a summer intern, fresh out of New York Tech, and is now the majority owner of the company.

He gives much credit to his professors for preparing him for success in the corporate world. They emphasized dressing professionally for project presentations, and he learned that taking an exam with an open textbook was often acceptable and sometimes even encouraged.

“I was never allowed to do that in Jamaica, but my New York Tech professor explained that real life is an open book,” Gayle says. “He explained that his job was to teach us how to research and find the information needed to apply and solve the problem you are working on rather than just regurgitate it. That changed my perspective.”

Just as the rules for testing were unexpected, New York Tech’s approach to encouraging diversity on campus was also unusual at the time. The university’s dedication to diversity and bias training—long before it was commonplace—fostered Gayle’s ability to bring people together. He received many opportunities to hone that talent as a resident assistant (RA), then a senior RA, a hall director, and other leadership positions. He has continued to be a role model in his professional career, saying he’s proud of what he represents as Loring’s CEO—modeling to young African American and international students what they can achieve with hard work and patience.

“I get joy from providing opportunities for others,” says Gayle, who has hired many New York Tech graduates over the years. He recalls one student in particular who wanted to do an internship at Loring two years ago and now works there full time after graduating from New York Tech.

“She immediately proved herself to be one of the best electrical engineering interns we’ve had in years,” Gayle remembers. “After learning she had financial challenges, we put her in touch with various industry scholarship organizations to help her finish school. That’s what brings me joy.”

Loring will soon become a Co-op (Cooperative Education) Program partner of the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences, so students will be able to get paid for working at the company. And after they graduate, they can work at Loring full time.

“I wanted to start giving back to New York Tech, and now’s the time to start doing more,” Gayle says. “Loring opened an office in Jamaica last year, and we hired a Jamaican New York Tech graduate as one of the employees. Any opportunity I have to provide jobs to qualified New York Tech graduates, I’ll jump at it.”

By Ashley Festa