Stony Brook University SUNY Korea

When Camerin Stoldt, Fashion Design MFA ’21, found herself inside for an extended period last year along with everyone else, she observed that she was not only dressing for comfort, function, and how she wanted to be perceived, but also that her language and relationship to clothing had changed.     So she wanted a way to manifest that change in her work. Enter Mimaki, a Japanese company that provides workflow solutions for the sign graphics, textile and apparel, industrial, and 3D markets. FIT partnered with Mimaki to work with first-year Fashion Design MFA students in March of this year. Stoldt’s project was studying a traditional poster artist, but what interested her most was how imagery was put on fabric, and she used the Mimaki technology to develop her own sartorial language.     The Mimaki technology allowed Stoldt to experiment with opposites by printing to transform existing garments into something new—for example, she printed an image of heavy duty Levi’s onto soft virgin wool pants, and an image of a blue oxford cloth shirt off-kilter onto a white sateen shirt. The prints became, she said, almost a conversation with the garments they were printed on.     “I see it as this idea of presenting and being seen, along with wearability and being very practical,” Stoldt says. “Also, I was learning a skill and wanting to know everything about that skill, which was really cool.”     Stoldt’s thesis collection comprised old items which she made new in a way “that’s not forcing them or having to reconfigure them or overwork them,” she explains, “but rather just sort of taking my clothes, copying them and printing them out and calling them new again.”     Since leaving FIT, Stoldt has gone on to consult with a luxury ready-to-wear design company, which she declined to name, but she remains driven by her love of the same process she mastered while earning her MFA. “I don’t know what the next thing is, but the process is the most important thing because I kind of created a method of questioning and studying and research and making that works for me,” she says. “So even in the future, if what I do make next looks different, it comes from the same place.”

Craving the Coney Island Boardwalk     Melanie Reim, MFA, Acting Associate Dean, School of Art and Design:     A day at the Coney Island Boardwalk and Luna Park feels like coming home to me. The bright sun, the smell of the ocean air, mixed with hot dogs and fried clams, and the roar of the bumper cars with the Parachute Jump looming from every view, all evoke vivid memories of my childhood, visiting my grandparents every weekend.     When I travel these days, it is always with a sketchbook by my side, documenting what I see and experience, creating new, vivid memories. The lure of drawing a crowd of people, set against the wild abstractions of shapes of the boardwalk, with those same seductive smells, have brought me to Coney Island over and over again. Every time, I see it a different way, with a different focus.     This body of drawings are some of those rich impressions. Culled from my sketchbooks, they are enlarged and printed on Hahnemuhle German Etching Paper, enhanced with gouache, graphite, and pastel, making each one a monoprint.     My love for line, and creating theatre with it, is inspired by the work of Picasso, Rico Lebrun, Max Beckman and Ralph Steadman.     One cannot find better theatre than a day at the Coney Island Boardwalk.     The Art of Coney Island: A Juried Exhibition Exploring the Spirit of Coney Island, is on view at the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists, 499 Van Brunt Street, Door #7A, in Red Hook, through August 15.

Elijah Huggins-English and Dinasty Ly may change the fashion world once they graduate from FIT. Thanks to a major scholarship from Gucci, lack of funds won’t stand in their way.     Huggins-English and Ly are among the 2021 Gucci Changemakers Scholars announced this month. Huggins-English, a rising sophomore studying Fashion Design, and Ly, a rising senior studying Fashion Business Management, specializing in Product Development, each received up to a $20,000 scholarship, in addition to mentorship and virtual internship opportunities through Gucci America.     The Gucci Changemakers Scholarship is a $1.5 million fund over four years, created to provide need-based scholarships to diverse undergraduates interested in fashion. It is one part of Gucci’s multipronged effort to increase diversity in the industry. This year’s class comprises 22 students.     Huggins-English, originally from Atlanta, didn’t attend school last semester because he couldn’t afford tuition. This scholarship was “a tremendous weight off my shoulders, and will allow me to search for other scholarships and be able do my best work,” he says.     The scholarship has also given him the confidence to set more ambitious goals and to show others that they can achieve what they strive for. “I want to work for a fashion house and expand my knowledge so that I can start my own brand,” he says. “The more I put myself out there, the more things come to me, and I want to motivate others to do the same thing.”     Ly, who is originally from Vietnam and now calls Boston home, believes in the power of positive thinking, and had been taking loans out to pay for school, so when she heard about the Changemakers program, “I think I kind of manifested it myself,” she recalls. “I told myself, ‘I’m going to get this scholarship,’ and I actually did!”     Ly, who is trying to figure out her passion while focusing on her school work and internship, will put the scholarship funds toward her final year at FIT.     “This has given me resources I didn’t have before, and will really help with my last year so I don’t have to take out other loans,” she says.

This year, FIT’s Advertising and Digital Design students won eight Young Ones awards from the One Club for Creativity, the preeminent professional association in the field. These awards included a Gold, Silver, and Bronze Pencil, which honor “big ideas paired with quality execution,” as well as an ADC Silver Cube, which symbolizes “meticulous craftsmanship, design, and innovation.”     Based on these wins, the One Club has ranked the Advertising and Digital Design program No. 5 in the U.S. and No. 10 in the world among similar programs in 23 countries—the highest ranking the college has received.     “The One Club competition is like the Academy Awards for advertising,” says Associate Professor Joseph Staluppi. “It’s a really big deal.”     Students could choose from a selection of briefs, for example, to promote Spotify’s Your Daily Drive playlists at a time when few were commuting. The Gold Pencil and ADC Silver Cube went to “Grand Theft Audio,” a tongue-in-cheek campaign to bring the playlist into the massively popular video game Grand Theft Auto. Students Din Terpuni, Ethan Sims, Yuliya Kosheeva, and Margaret Panoti created and executed the concept.     Image of a earthen archway and partly cloudy sky “Spotify Spots” won a Silver Pencil from the One Club for Creativity. The Silver Pencil went to “Spotify Spots,” a campaign to install Your Daily Drive playlists in national parks and at lookout points across America, for road trippers to enjoy. Victoria Orlovskaya and Michelle Kim worked on that project.     Separately, in the New Blood awards, hosted by the British organization D&AD, Advertising and Digital Design student teams won two Wood Pencils, for a campaign promoting an e-waste recycling program (by Matthew Lafergola, Hasibul Islam, and Daniel Persaud) and a Spotify feature that connects listeners to lesser-known artists (by Hasibul Islam, Victoria Jeon and Emily Xia).     The students developed these entries in a course called Student Competition, taught by Staluppi, to prepare work for a range of industry competitions, which can help them land jobs when they graduate.     Staluppi believes this year’s success can be attributed to the Advertising and Digital Design program’s embrace of digital media. After a recent revamp of the curriculum (including a name change from Advertising Design), the program offers nine creative technology courses, including User Experience (UX) Design, Typography for Digital Content Design, and Digital Product Design. FIT was the first school to offer these courses in a BFA program. Students now graduate with a true 360-degree multimedia focus: digital, print, audio, and video.     “The new program really prepares them to do much better work, award-winning work,” Staluppi says, “on par with the top ten schools in the world.”

New Freshman student at SUNY Korea FIT’s Fashion Business Management Department featured on Naeil Education       “I want to broaden my understanding of humanity through Fashion Business Management, a field where Design and Business Management merge.” Conflicts can occur among high school students attending boarding schools. How great it would be if everyone had good listeners around to talk about our difficulties together. Yewon Maeng chose “Peacemakers Academy” as the most memorable extracurricular activity that she participated in as a high school student. As the co-leader of the club, she was able to mature as a person through various counseling sessions she offered to other students. Through this experience, she became passionate about studying Fashion Business Management, a field that moves people, and Art, her favorite subject.       Studying Abroad in America with a passion in English studies Yewon asked her parents if she could study abroad after completing the first semester of 8th grade. However, her parents disagreed because Yewon’s two older sisters were already abroad and did not want Yewon to leave either. “I wanted to go study in America not because my sisters were there, but because I truly wanted to study English in an environment that would help me to practice and improve my English skills the most,” she remembers. “But it was really difficult the first year there.” She attended a private middle school in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania where her sister attended college. Upon her sister’s college graduation, they both returned to Korea. Yewon decided to study at an international school named Branksome Hall Asia to continue her studies. “Having to participate in the IB curriculum every year seemed daunting at first, but I eventually decided that Branksome would be the best school for me because it specializes in the Arts,” Yewon states.       Striving to make the world a better place through empathy Yewon showed great talent in subjects that required creative problem-solving skills. Her favorite subjects were Visual Arts and Design Technology. During the Visual Arts class, she criticized the amount of plastic that artists used to produce their artwork; in the Design Technology class, she created a hiking stick that was created to ergonomically fit the hands of people with finger arthritis. As for her extracurricular activities, she chose Peacemakers Academy as the most meaningful one. She worked as a listener and empathized with other students who had conflicts with others in this psychological counseling program. “Many people say maintaining a relationship with others is one of the most difficult things in life. Students in their teenage years go through many problems, especially when they have to live with each other in a dormitory. But many of them were able to solve their issues and mature as human beings through the counseling sessions offered at Peacemakers. Learning about others can help students go through not only high school and college life, but also the real world. I discovered a way to better cope with my stress because I learned how to attack problems objectively through listening to their problems,” said Yewon. She began to show interest in Management when she noticed the warmth and respect between people. She found hope that she could create a better world through Business Management, where she will learn how to lead others to reach a single goal while respecting each individual and their strengths. Positive sign from the SUNY Korea Admissions Office Yewon’s ultimate goal is to launch her own jewelry business. FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology) is one of the leading art schools in the US, and therefore is highly popular among students who wish to study Fashion. In particular, FIT’s Fashion Business Management, the major Yewon was accepted to, is the world’s most recognizable program and is also one of FIT’s oldest and largest majors offered at FIT. “FIT has always been my first choice. My school held an online college fair and I hurried into the FIT meeting room. I think the Admissions Officers saw my passion for FIT after asking several questions about the school,” Yewon added. Shortly after the meeting, Yewon received a box of school merchandise from the Admissions Office. In the box was also a letter stating her presence at the fair was memorable. She thought this was a positive sign for her admissions to FIT and became more desperate for her acceptance letter.       2 Years in Korea and 2 Years in New York After the talk with the admissions office, Yewon dedicated her time into studies that she felt she needed to improve on. She was able to show steady improvement in her Business class, completing the course with an exceptional grade. Although it is not required to submit a portfolio for Fashion Business Management applicants, she submitted one to show her passion for art and creativity through her artwork. She was also advised to improve her math scores. In her Math: Applications and Interpretation class, she received a mathematical award for her great improvement. “Although I received the award after my acceptance and scholarship offer to FIT, it gave me confidence to do well in the future at FIT,” she stated. Students from international schools usually apply to colleges all over the world, especially to the ones in the US, England, Canada, and Australia. However, Yewon chose to apply only to schools in Korea. “Most of my friends from Branksome Hall Asia are all over the world now attending colleges, and I was considered a special case. But I thought it would be best for me to stay in Korea until the COVID-19 pandemic settles down. I also think it would be advantageous to study here at SUNY Korea FIT for 2 years since it offers the same education as the FIT New York Campus. After I finish my Associate Degree here in Korea, I plan to spend 2 years at FIT NY to complete my Bachelor’s there. Although I do want to experience working in the fashion industry in America, I ultimately want to launch my own brand in Korea, so I don’t want to lose my Korean identity,” Yewon explained. Hoping for a college life free from COVID-19 Yewon started her college life this September 2021 as a freshman at FIT. Already loaded with assignments, FIT has kept her busy since the school puts much focus on practical education. “Students at FIT are as diverse as the students I met in my secondary international school. Students are graduates from foreign high schools in Seoul, some are from the US, Canada, and Philippines. Some transfer students were even from other worldly recognized fashion schools such as the Parsons School of Design. I joined The Merchandising Society Club and I hope to enjoy my college experience once the pandemic is gone,” Yewon hopes. She also looks forward to the day when she could return to her pre-COVID-19 daily life. By the time she studies at the FIT New York Campus in two years, she dreams of living a busy life to keep up with the trends in the fashion industry while actively participating in various activities.       Read the full article: https://naeiledu.co.kr/29862

Resilience(혁신, 그리고 리질리언스(부제: 위기의 시그널을 깨뜨려라!))     Author Future Industrial Policy Forum(Dr. Johng-lhl Lee, who is a professor at The State university of New York, Korea(SUNY Korea) participated in the forum)     Contents Resilience can be worded as “recovery”. Resilience can help people who are going through hard time and especially for people who are disappointed under COVID19 condition these days. This concept also can be applied to our economy. This book proposes strategies to pursue the co-evolution of economic and socialization through comprehensive innovation policies, strengthen vulnerable technologies to cope with the reorganization of global supply chains, and maintain a super gap in leading technologies in order to secure the resilience. Experts believe that their developed strategies derived throughout research and analysis will materialized into policy in reality and also it will contribute to national competitiveness. R&D Strategy Planning Team of MTI(Ministry of Trade and Industry) has formed a "Future Industrial Policy Forum" and has had meetings over the past year. On this forum, various professionals participated such as experts, professors, and researchers from MTI. Especially, a professor Johng-Ihl Lee from SUNY Korea(The State university of New York, Korea) teaching DTS(Department of Technology and Society) has contributed on the forum and publishing.

Representation Learning for Complex Data and My Experience after Math Major at Stony Brook University   Speaker: Dr. Irene Kim / Place: Online via Zoom, Zoom ID: 997 6634 3524 / Passcode: 556273 Time: Thu, 10/28/2021 - 11:00   Dr. Irene Kim graduated from the University of California at Davis with Ph.D. in Statistics and graduated from Stony Brook University with Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. Her research interests are in Machine Learning, deep learning, representation learning, and uncertainty quantification   AbstractThis talk will be divided into two parts where the first part will be on my current research, and the second part will be focused on sharing my experience at Stony Brook University and studying Math/Applied Math as an undergraduate degree.   PART 1: In this talk, I will take an oil reservoir modeling and a history matching problem as an example to address the challenges of modern data analysis. As modern data become more complex and higher dimensional, finding a way to represent the data in a concise and useful form is an important problem. An auto-encoder can be used to find a low dimensional representation for an oil reservoir data and used for history matching problem.   PART 2: Experience at Stony Brook University as a math major, life after graduation, job interview etc.    

SUNY Korea welcomes you to join our Online Information Sessions for Spring and Fall 2022 Admissions! Join us to learn more about SUNY Korea admissions and programs.     Schedule: Session Date / Time Language 1st November 26 19:00 Korean 2nd November 27 10:00 Korean 3rd November 27 16:00 English 4th November 28 10:00 English *All Date and Time are Korean Standard Time (UTC +9)     Choose the time that you would like to join and sign up through http://apply.sunykorea.ac.kr/portal/admissions_events to receive your Zoom link via email.     For other inquiries, please contact us at admission@sunykorea.ac.kr or +32-626-1030     We hope to see you all at the event!      한국뉴욕주립대학교에서 2022 봄/가을학기 온라인 입학 설명회에 여러분을 초대합니다! 한국뉴욕주립대학교 입학에 관심있으신 분들의 많은 참여 바랍니다.      일정:  세션 날짜 / 시간 언어 1차 11월 26일 19:00 한국어 2차 11월 27일 10:00 한국어 3차 11월 27일 16:00 영어 4차 11월 28일 10:00 영어     참가 신청은 http://apply.sunykorea.ac.kr/portal/admissions_events 에 접속하셔서 원하시는 날짜와 시간을 확인하신 후 등록하시면 설명회 1-2일 전 이메일로 Zoom 링크가 발송됩니다.  한국뉴욕주립대학교 연락처: admission@sunykorea.ac.kr / 032-626-1030

Title: SUNY Korea Graduate Online Application for the Spring 2022 Semester     Dear Prospective Graduate Students,     This is to inform you of the application process for SUNY Korea Graduate admissions for the Spring 2022 semester.     Please see the details below and contact SUNY Korea Graduate Admissions Team at gradadmission@sunykorea.ac.kr if you have any questions.     Eligibility   M.S. degree     - A Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university   - A minimum undergraduate grade point average of 3.00/4.00   - Official English test score. Fulfilled by one of two designated    tests   ·80 or higher of TOEFL iBT   ·6.5 or higher of IELTS * no subsection score under 6.0   Ph.D. degree     - A Master’s degree from an accredited college or university   - Official English test score. Fulfilled by one of two designated    tests   ·90 or higher of TOEFL iBT   ·6.5 or higher of IELTS * no subsection score under 6.0     Required Documents   1.    Online Application   -       M.S. Online Application Link (Click HERE)   -       Ph.D. Online Application Link (Click HERE)   2.    Two Original Copies of Official Transcripts (English)   3.    Official English Test Scores (TOEFL iBT or IELTS)   4.    Official GRE Scores   5.    Statement of Purpose (SoP)   6.    Three Recommendation Letters     * All the required documents will be submitted via online application.     Important Notes   * All documents should be original and written in English.   * Official test scores and GRE scores must be submitted through the testing agency.   ·SUNY Korea Institution Code: TOEFL iBT 7499 (Graduate School) / GRE 7177     * Your official transcripts, official English test scores, and GRE score must be mailed to SUNY Korea Academic Building A201.     Mailing Address:   To: SUNY Korea Graduate Admissions   SUNY Korea Academic Building A201   119-2 Songdo Moonhwa-Ro,   Yeonsu-Gu, Incheon, South Korea 21985     * Statement of Purpose (SoP) is expected to describe your academic or/and professional experiences and short-term and long-term academic goals for the major for which you will apply.     ·For the master’s program, your statement of purpose must include your focus area. Please state your focus area at the top of the personal statement page.     ·For the Ph.D. program, your statement of purpose must include research plan, and the type of research that you expect to conduct while in the program, relating it to one of the department’s research areas.         Should you have any questions or concerns about the application process, please feel free to contact us at gradadmission@sunykorea.ac.kr / 032-626-1121.     Thank you!     Academic Affairs        

Applications for Fall 2022 will open on October 18, 2021. Start your application on the SUNY Korea website to become the next History Makers! Start your application here: http://www.sunykorea.ac.kr/page/apply SBU Deadlines: Priority Deadline: April 30, 2022 Regular Deadline: July 16, 2022 FIT Deadlines: Priority Deadline: February 10, 2022 Regular Deadline: April 30, 2022

Stony Brook University ranked 125th in the United States — and 32nd among public institutions — in the recently released Times Higher Education/Wall Street Journal 2022 College Rankings.     The ranking includes almost 800 universities and uses the results of the THE U.S. Student Survey, which examines a range of key issues including students’ engagement with their studies, their interaction with their teachers and their satisfaction with their experience.     The ranking adopts a balanced scorecard approach, with 15 individual performance indicators combining to create an overall score that reflects the broad strength of the institution.     Data come from a variety of sources: the U.S. government (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System – IPEDS), the College Scorecard, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), the THE US Student Survey, the THE Academic Survey, and the Elsevier bibliometric dataset.     View the complete methodology here.

On August 30, the Career Center held its third Instagram Live marathon with Stony Brook University faculty and staff members to promote this semester’s four industry virtual job and internship fairs and highlight stories of faculty and staff members across campus. Faculty and staff also had the opportunity to share words of wisdom with students related to careers and finding valuable experiences.      Ric mcclendon Ric McClendon, assistant vice president and dean of students, reminded viewers that they should not sell themselves short. In a series of nine Instagram live streams, the Career Center’s ​​Elizabeth Ann Moon, marketing and digital content specialist, met with faculty members from various departments including several academic colleges, the Faculty Student Association and the Division of Student Affairs. During each session, professors, deans and other SBU leaders offered their best advice for students preparing to participate in the upcoming job and internship fairs, and emphasized the importance of persistence.      John Longtin, interim dean of the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, shared that his first job was during high school at a small repair shop where he fixed lawnmowers and chainsaws, among other mechanical tools.      Longtin said, “It was a fantastic experience. It allowed me to learn things like the value of a dollar, the importance of responsibility, dealing with conflict, or if a customer wasn’t happy.”     He added, “Even after all these years, it’s funny how some of those lessons are still front and center on a daily basis.” Longtin’s experience echoed a sentiment shared by Rewa Thompson, clinical assistant professor in the School of Nursing, who said, “There’s no such thing as a wasted experience.”     The social media initiative to inform students of the four upcoming job and internship fairs hosted by the Career Center reached more than 600 views. Audience members were able to send questions for the interviewees and learn more about their experiences.      When asked about job searching in unprecedented times for recent college graduates, Peter Caprariello, professor in the College of Business, mentioned, “When there’s uncertainty, put your resume out there, send out a lot of applications, see who you can get interviews with, anything to get your name out there; and don’t worry about creating enormous pressures to ‘get it right.’ Life will work itself out, but you have to put yourself out there in order to capture the opportunity.”     During the Instagram Live marathon, students were encouraged to take advantage of resources such as resume reviews, mock interviews and career coaching to prepare for the one-on-one sessions with employers offered at the job and internship fairs. Students can register for these sessions through Handshake.      Ric McClendon, assistant vice president and dean of students, reminded the viewers that in these one-on-one sessions and future interviews, they should not “sell themselves short.”      McClendon said, “There are so many skill sets that I think we sell ourselves short on; we miss that window of opportunity to talk about the transferable skill sets. I always tell people, classroom work, club and activity work, volunteer work, all of it is so relevant to every single job because there are skill sets and competencies that we develop over time and it adds such value to the workplace.”      Recordings of the livestream series are ready for viewing on the Career Center’s Instagram account (@SBUCareerCenter). The initiative featured the following faculty members:     Jon Longtin, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences      Robin DeLuca-Acconi, School of Social Welfare     Rewa Thompson, School of Nursing      Chris Paparo, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences      Tara Rider, School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences     Rachel Rodriguez, College of Arts and Sciences      Laura Martorano, Campus Dining      Peter Caprariello, College of Business      Ric McClendon, Division of Student Affairs      Upcoming Career Center Virtual Job and Internship Fairs     Virtual IT and Engineering Job & Internship Fair Friday, September 24, 2021 | 1 pm to 5 pm     Virtual Healthcare, Research, Human Services Job & Internship Fair Friday, October 1, 2021 | 1 pm to 4 pm

Stony Brook University professor Peng Zhang, a SUNY Empire Innovation professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, is leading a statewide team of collaborators in developing “AI-Grid,” an artificial intelligence-enabled, autonomous grid designed to keep power infrastructure resilient from cyberattacks, faults and disastrous accidents.     The work is part of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Convergence Accelerator Program, which supports and builds upon basic research and discovery that involves multidisciplinary work to accelerate solutions toward societal impact.     In September 2020, the program launched the 2020 cohort, which included AI-Grid as a phase 1 awardee and grant funding of a $1 million to further AI-Grid research from an idea to a low-fidelity prototype. The Convergence Accelerator recently selected teams for phase 2, to focus on expanding the solution prototype and to build a sustainability plan beyond the NSF funding. Under phase 2, a new $5 million NSF cooperative agreement will fund the AI-Grid project.     “This project led by Professor Zhang is a great example demonstrating the impact of this novel research on essential infrastructure that we rely on daily, and defines a pathway for enhancing the resiliency and security of our electrical grid systems,” said Stony Brook University Vice President for Research Richard J. Reeder.     “We expect to show that our AI-Grid solution is affordable, lightweight, secure and replicable, thus offering what could be unprecedented flexibility for an approach to transform today’s infrastructures into tomorrow’s autonomous AI-Grid,” said Zhang, the project’s principal investigator. “This project will demonstrate AI-Grid’s capability to empower our nation’s digital economic engines, relieve the pains of those communities suffering from high electricity costs, and knock out low energy reliability and poor resilience.”     Peng Zhang Peng Zhang According to Zhang, the program includes a broad multidisciplinary team of researchers and many academic and industry partnerships key to its success. The AI-Grid team has established more than 30 partnerships that include power utilities, independent system operators, local and state government, industry and university researchers. Zhang said these partnerships have significantly advanced the technology involved in the work that now includes various deep learning methods, online distribution control, encrypted control, active fault management, and a fully programmable microgrid platform.     “The technologies that Peng and his team are developing come at a critical time as the nation pivots toward renewable energy and the inevitable impact it will have on the grid in the coming decade,” said College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) Interim Dean Jon Longtin. “This kind of multidisciplinary collaboration strengthens our research enterprise, while demonstrating to our students how complicated problems are solved in the modern world.”     Collaborative work at Stony Brook includes faculty and students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Computer Science, in conjunction with scientists, engineers and stakeholders affiliated with the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC), and with those from Brookhaven National Laboratory, EIP, RTDS, Hitachi America, Eversource, CCAT, ISO New England, New York Power Authority, PSEG Long Island and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.     Stony Brook co-investigators include Scott Smolka, Scott Stoller, Xin Wang and Yifan Zhou. They will work with Zhang to deploy AI-Grid in the field and verify its replicability and universality at three of the most representative networked microgrid sites in the U.S.     “A convergence approach is essential to solving large-scale societal challenges, which is why the NSF Convergence Accelerator requires our funded teams to include a wide-range of expertise from academia, non-profits, industry, government and other communities,” said Douglas Maughan, head of the NSF Convergence Accelerator program. “The merging of ideas, techniques and approaches combined with human-center design concepts assists our teams in accelerating their ideas toward solutions within three years.”     Most recently, the AI-Grid team established end-user partnerships with Energy and Innovation Park, a fuel cell grid-connected energy project in Connecticut; Epic Institute, a global climate solutions organization that also manages The Plant — an old coal power plant being redeveloped into a global climate exhibition and convention center in New York City; and the Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) owned Bronzeville Community Microgrid (BCM) in Chicago.     These end-users will test, demonstrate and ideally implement the technology. The team will develop an open-access AI-grid technology platform with industry partners.

Stony Brook’s Ellen Pikitch from the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS) is part of an international team of scientists that developed a novel scientific framework to consistently understand, plan, establish, evaluate and monitor ocean protection in Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Published in Science, the guide is the result of a decade of collaborative research and comes at a key time as countries prepare to negotiate the target of protecting at least 30 percent of the ocean by 2030 at the upcoming virtual meeting on Biological Diversity in October.     Ellen Pikitch, Ellen Pikitch, Endowed Professor of Ocean Conservation Science at SoMAS Ellen Pikitch, Endowed Professor of Ocean Conservation Science at SoMAS Authored by 42 marine and social scientists from 38 institutions across six continents, The MPA Guide: A Framework to Achieve Global Goals for the Ocean, enables the global community to advance understanding of ocean protection and achieve global goals to reverse biodiversity loss through MPAs. The MPA Guide categorizes each area according to four levels of protection (full, high, light or minimal), tracks whether protection has been activated in the water, and matches both of those with the benefits the MPA can expect to deliver.     “For the first time, we have an authoritative tool to predict MPA outcomes from actions. We will be able to use this guide to strengthen existing MPAs and build new ones that have a high likelihood of producing major benefits for people and nature,” said Pikitch, Endowed Professor of Ocean Conservation Science at SoMAS.     With more than 20 years of experience working in MPAs around the globe, Pikitch’s contributions to the study focused on developing expected outcomes of MPAs in relation to how strongly they are protected. For example, MPAs that are strictly no-take areas typically produce much more diverse fish communities, with greater numbers and larger sizes of fish than MPAs that permit extensive extractive or destructive activities.     According to the authors, urgent interventions are needed to sustain the health of the ocean, build its resilience to disruption from climate change and other stressors, and enable people to thrive from the full range of benefits provided by healthy and productive ocean ecosystems. These include the provision of food and livelihoods, carbon sequestration and storage, opportunities for recreation, inspiration and cultural heritage. However, sustained exploitation and extraction of the ocean, facilitated by technological advances, has impacted its resilience against multiple threats and its ability to continue delivering benefits for people and nature.     Pikitch explains that the scientific team looked to develop a consistent framework on how to categorize MPAs. While MPAs are a central tool for ocean conservation, not all MPAs are the same. There are wide-ranging types of MPAs with various goals, regulations, and consequently, outcomes. This variety causes confusion. For example, some MPAs allow fishing, aquaculture and anchoring, while others do not. Some MPAs are counted on paper but are not active in the ocean.     By providing the science, evidence and framework to categorize different types of MPAs and track their progress, The MPA Guide aims to equip all stakeholders with the tools and practical guidance they need to ensure MPAs are designed optimally to deliver on their goals, to conserve biodiversity and benefit people.     There are four core components to The MPA Guide:     Stages of Establishment specifies an MPA’s status — whether it only exists on paper or is in operation. Levels of Protection clarifies the degree to which biodiversity is protected from extractive or destructive activities. Enabling Conditions provide the principles and processes needed to plan, design and govern a successful MPA. Outcomes describe the conservation and social results that can be expected from an MPA at a particular stage and level, provided the enabling conditions are in place. The MPA Guide will be continually tested and adjusted by the international team of scientists. National trials are underway in the United States, France and Indonesia, where MPA experts are using the guide to categorize existing MPAs so that communities and governments can make informed decisions.

Graduate student Johnnie Paola Cullinane has found another home at Stony Brook University, one that presents much-desired challenges while making her feel like she belongs.     Studying for a master’s degree in Human Resource Management (HRM) in the School of Professional Development (SPD), Cullinane, who is from Floral Park, NY, graduated from John Jay College with a bachelor’s degree in forensic psychology. She considered becoming a police officer or enlisting in the military, and looked into both extensively, taking the Suffolk County and NYPD exams while contacting Navy and Air Force recruiters.     “The moment that changed everything was when I walked in to the Navy recruiting office,” she said of the turning point in early 2014. “A sense of peace washed over me, and I knew that is where I belonged in that moment.”     After completing basic training, Cullinane attended the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in California, spending the next year learning Persian-Farsi as a cryptologic technician interpretive (CTI) in training. There she would meet her future husband, also a CTI, who was studying Korean.     Cullinane graduated with excellent scores in reading and listening Persian-Farsi at an advanced level, and spoke at an intermediate level. She graduated and then completed her apprenticeship as a cryptologic linguist at Fort Gordon in Augusta, GA. After one year, she and her husband were stationed in Hawaii and they started a family, with “three beautiful little boys.”     “Having children definitely made my experience in the military different than what I thought it would be when it all started,” she recalled. “It certainly changed the direction I thought I was going in, which was to retire in the service. But I am so glad that I was able to serve my country, and still do so in the Naval Reserve, while also be present in my children’s lives, especially at their very young stages of life.”     Cullinane said she is grateful to continue developing as a professional in SPD while still being able to have a positive effect on the lives of those around her.     “Much like how I knew the Navy was the right choice back in 2014, SBU has allowed me to experience that same peace of mind as an HRM graduate student, where I already feel more equipped to handle the next set of challenges a new career has to offer,” she said.     Cullinane steve navy ball Johnnie Paola Cullinane and her husband, Steven Cullinane, at the Navy Ball. Cullinane was impressed with Stony Brook’s course listing and program, and it was her one and only choice. She credited Susan Russo, the assistant director of the program, helping her navigate her course load as a mother who was, at the time, pregnant with her third child.     “She has been so warm and welcoming to all of my needs that I felt as though she is the kind of professional I want to be,” Cullinane said. “I have had the same experience with Pamela Pfeil, assistant director in the Office of Veterans Affairs, who has become a mentor to me as another veteran and working mother who also strives to give back to others, especially veterans and their dependents.”     Cullinane plans to finish her degree by the end of spring next year, and pursue another master of science in either clinical psychology or organizational psychology.     Cullinane, whose parents are from Puerto Rico, said that being a linguist in the Navy taught her the importance of passing down heritage languages to the next generation, and said it is her and her husband’s mission to continue teaching their children Spanish first.     “I feel lucky to experience both the magic of American culture, which is made up of so many cultures, and the wonderful and lively culture of being a Latina in the United States,” said Cullinane, adding that her four-year-old speaks Spanish beautifully, while her two-year-old “is on the same path, but for now mostly only feels comfortable with other Spanish speakers.”     “This is where my thoughts of language being a unifier become prominent in my mind,” she said. “It transcends the issues of race and stereotypes and can join people in ways that I have only seen the love of food do.”     —   Glenn Jochum