Old Westbury, NY – New York Institute of Technology's School of Engineering and Computing Sciences today held its first-ever competition for high school students at its Old Westbury campus to showcase their science and technology projects. Eleven teams representing Brooklyn Tech High School, Commack High School, John F. Kennedy High School Plainview-Old Bethpage, Massapequa High School, and the Girl Scouts of Nassau County vied in this inaugural competition, which was judged by industry representatives, alumni, NYIT faculty, and several students.

Students competed for cash awards and certificates; the top winner was a team from Commack High School that designed a project using electronically-controlled stuffed animals programmed to move in coordination with audio tracks and flashing lights. NYIT also presented other awards, including those for sportsmanship, teamwork, innovation, science, and engineering excellence.

"We are happy to provide young students with an opportunity to showcase their ongoing science, technology and engineering projects in a nurturing environment, and promote scientific discovery and K-12 education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math," said Nada M. Anid, Dean of the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences.

Anid commended all teams that participated, as well as their teachers and advisers. She added that as NYIT encourages women to pursue STEM education, she was thrilled to see so many girls in today's competition. New York Community Bank Foundation-Roslyn Savings Foundation sponsored the event, which was a joint partnership between NYIT and ConnectToTech.

Judges for today's competition included: John. D. Cameron, Jr. of Cameron Engineering & Associates; Mary Frost Distler (MA, '09), Founder and CEO of Power to Change US; Judith Murrah, Senior Director of IT for Motorola and a ConnecttoTech representative; Dawn A. Kogler (BS '87), Director of Systems Development for the Long Island Railroad; and Andrew Parton; Executive Director of the Cradle of Aviation Museum. Special guests included Rosalind Hudnell (pictured above at far right), Chief Diversity Officer, Global Director of Education and External Relations of Intel; Peter Curtis (BT '83, MS '95), President of Power Management Concepts LLC; Kenneth White, Manager, Office of Educational Programs, Brookhaven National Laboratory,; and David Schieren (MS '06), CEO of EmPower.

Student judges were: Patrick Guillaume, John Koziatek, Kurbra Kuzu, and James Marsanico. Dr. Frank Lee, chair of the electrical and computer engineering/computer science department and Assistant Professor Sabiha Wadoo served as faculty judges.

A participating team from John F. Kennedy High School Plainview-Old Bethpage noted that the opportunity to interact live with the judges and NYIT faculty during the competition was very helpful, as many STEM-related competitions are online and therefore do not offer that benefit.

---

About NYIT

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) offers 90 degree programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees, in more than 50 fields of study, including architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine. A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has 14,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT sponsors 11 NCAA Division II programs and one Division I team.

Led by President Edward Guiliano, NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. To date, 89,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.

Elizabeth Sullivan
Public Relations Strategist
516.686.3761