People in the Engineering Design Division

The EDD program provides an environment that encourages and supports a diverse faculty as well as graduate teaching assistants, undergraduate course assistants and staff.

We focus on the skills, talents, knowledge and abilities that individuals bring to our collective effort to provide the best possible education to our engineering first-year students.

Our faculty and graduate teaching assistants represent each engineering department within Watson College.

Our adjunct lecturers represent the liberal arts, the humanities, art and the legal profession as well as engineering.

Contact Us

Engineering Design Division
Binghamton University
4400 Vestal Parkway East
PO Box 6000
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000

Phone: (607) 777-2500

(Please note there may be a 24-hour turnaround response time.)

How to Find Us

Here is a map showing directions from the visitors' paid parking lot to the Engineering Design Division.

You will see a pedestrian walking ramp between the Engineering Building and the Bartle Library. Walk up that ramp and follow the arrows on the map. The arrows point you to a walking area between the Technology Hub and the Bartle Library. There is an outside door designated by the star on the map. Go in that door, take the stairs down to the bottom, turn right, and you will come directly into the Engineering Design Division area. The main office is LN-G110.

  • Pong-Yu 'Peter' Huang, Director

    phuang@binghamton.edu 

    Office:  Library North, G110B
    Phone: 607-777-2306

    Peter Huang

    Huang is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and has been the director of the Engineering Design Division since 2023. Prior to joining the EDD, he was the director of undergraduate studies in the Mechanical Engineering Department from 2016 to 2023. He also served as the chair of the Watson Undergraduate Studies Committee from 2017 to 2023. Huang was a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award of Excellence in Teaching in 2019.

    Huang received his BA in physics from Cornell University, and his ScM and PhD degrees in engineering from Brown University. Prior to joining Binghamton University, he was a postdoctoral research scientist at the Biomedical Engineering Department at Tufts University. His current research interests encompass the field of micro- and nanoscale mass transport, lab-on-a-chip systems for biomedical applications, biomechanics and mechanobiology of tissues, and cerebral fluid transport.

    Huang is a member of the ASME and volunteers as a mechanical engineering program evaluator for ABET.

  • Koen Gieskes, Assistant Director

    gieskes@binghamton.edu

    Office:  Library North, G110B
    Phone: 607-777-2308

    Koen Gieskes

    After joining the Engineering Design Division as a graduate student in 2004, Gieskes was hired as a full-time lecture rin 2009, and he became the assistant director in 2017. From 2022-23, he served as the interim director. 

    Along with his roles for the first-year engineering program, Gieskes teaches Sustainability Engineering courses, serves as co-director for the Upward Bound Math Science (UBMS) program and Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), and has taught in STEM and STEAM summer camps for K-12 students for over 15 years. In 2019, Gieskes received a Chancellor's Award in Teaching.

    Gieskes received both his BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from Binghamton University. His research is primarily focused on engineering education. 

    Gieskes was born in the Netherlands, and after moving to the U.S. in the early 1990s, he currently resides in Binghamton.  In his free time, he experiments with many forms of art including sculpture, painting and etching.

    Courses taught:
    EDD 103/111 -- Engineering Communications I/Introduction to Engineering Design
    EDD 104/112 -- Engineering Communications II/Introduction to Engineering Analysis
    EDD 305 -- Intro to Sustainable Engineering & Design
    EDD 306 -- Engineering Sustainable Energy (co-taught)
    EDD 492 -- Practicum in Engineering Education
    ME 211 -- Solid Mechanics (Summer Session -- Distance Learning Course)
    ME 273 -- Statics (Summer Session -- Distance Learning Course)
    WTSN 301 -- Graduate School Prep
    WTSN 380B/CINE 417A -- Interactive Installation Art

  • Melissa Simonik, Instructor

    msimonik@binghamton.edu

    Office: Library North, G106                           Melissa Simonik

    Simonik started at Binghamton University in 2015 as a mechanical engineering doctoral student. She served as a teaching assistant (TA) for Watson capstone projects for two years. She continued as a TA for the Engineering Design Division in 2017, where she taught both EDD 111/112 labs and EDD103/104 communications classes. She became a full-time instructor in 2020 and serves as the engineering communications coordinator for the EDD 103/104 courses.

    Melissa received her BS in mechanical engineering from Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.) in 2014 and her MEng degree in biomedical engineering from Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.) in 2015. She completed her PhD in mechanical engineering from Binghamton University in 2020.

    Her research interests include design, biomechanics and finite element modeling.

    Courses taught:
    EDD 103 -- Engineering Communications I
    EDD 104 -- Engineering Communications II
    EDD 111 -- Introduction to Engineering Design
    EDD 112 -- Introduction to Engineering Analysis
    EDD 492 -- Practicum in Engineering Education

  • Senada Serifovski, Administrative Assistant

    sserifovski@binghamton.edu 

    Office: Library North, G110
    Phone: 607-777-2500

    Serifovski has been an administration assistant in the Engineering Design Division since August 2023. She received her AAS in business information management from SUNY Broome Community College in 2021. Before coming to Binghamton University, Serifovski worked at SUNY Broome as an office assistant for two years. While she was a student at SUNY Broome, she joined the International Student Club, and she later became the president.

  • Juliet Berling, Adjunct Instructor

    jberling@binghamton.edu

    Berling has taught EDD 307 Ecology for Engineers for the Sustainability Engineering Minor since fall 2015.  She is also an adjunct faculty in the Geology and Environmental Studies Department while working full-time for the City of Binghamton as director of planning, housing and community \development. Berling previously served as planning commissioner for the City of Binghamton and the director of environmental sustainability and stewardship for the Department of Green Initiatives at Lourdes Memorial Hospital.

    Berling has received numerous awards, including the Practice GreenHealth Partner Recognition Award, Who’s Who in America Listing, Department of Energy Meritorious Performance Award, and Secretary of Energy Gold Medal Award.

    Berling received her BS in environmental science from Binghamton University; MS in environmental science and law from Baylor University; and her PhD in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University.

  • Sarah Wallace, Half-Time Instructor

    swallace@binghamton.edu

    wallace

    Office: Library North, G314

    Wallace joined Binghamton University in 2021 as a lecturer in the Engineering Design Division.

    Wallace works as a mental health therapist at Intuitive Strengths Family Services. She graduated with her BS and MS in Social Work from Roberts Wesleyan College. She is currently a Licensed LCSW.

    Wallace has lived in the Binghamton area her whole life. Her interests include communicating with others and hearing people’s stories, and spending time with her dog. 

  • Bill Schiesser, Half-Time Instructor

    wschiess@binghamton.edu

    Office: Library North, G316Bill

    Prior to joining the Engineering Design Division in 2021, William E. Schiesser was a consulting patent agent at IBM Corp. Schiesser is admitted to practice in patent cases before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.  He has deep expertise in patent strategy, portfolio management and international patent practice, including prosecuting cases filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the Paris Convention.

    Schiesser received his BS in computer engineering from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa., and his MS in computer engineering from Syracuse University.  His research interests include hardening computing infrastructure against cyber-attacks by minimizing attack surfaces, as well as abstraction and virtualization of computing resources, such as cloud and edge computing.

    Schiesser's other interests include astronomy, planetary science, paleoanthropology, aviation and aerospace, cruiser and sport motorcycles, motogp and stock car racing, and classical music — especially Beethoven, Puccini and Tchaikovsky!

  • Alyssa Leonard, Adjunct Instructor

    awheelo1@binghamton.edu

    Office: Library North, G105alyssa

    Alyssa currently works as a K-12 teacher for the Montrose Area School District. She lives in Vestal, N.Y., with her husband and three children. Her interests include running, biking, gardening, paddle boarding and playing the piano. 

    She graduated from Binghamton University in '06 with a BS in human development. She received her MAT in elementary education in 2015 and her EdD in curriculum development and Instruction in 2021 from Liberty University.

2022-2023 EDD Student Advisory Board

2022-2023 EDD Internal Advisory Board

  • L. William (Bill) Kazmierczak, PhD
    Director of Calculus, Department of Mathematical Sciences
    WH 228
    kaz@math.binghamton.edu
    607.777.4276
  • Mohammad T. Khasawneh, PhD
    Chair, Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering
    Director, Watson Institute for Systems Excellence (WISE)
    BI 1608
    mkhasawn@binghamton.edu
    607.777.4408
  • Aiyakrishnan Meenakshi, PhD
    Teaching Associate Professor, Department of Physics, Applied Physics and
      Astronomy
    S2 156
    ameenaks@binghamton.edu
    607.777.4288
  • Paul Chiarot, PhD
    Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering
    ES 1312
    pchiarot@binghamton.edu
    607.777.3208
  • Alexsa Silva, PhD
    Director of Instruction and Outreach, Department of Chemistry
    S2 123
    asilva@binghamton.edu
    607.777.3829
  • Douglas Summerville, PhD
    Chair, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
    ES 2312
    dsummer@binghamton.edu
    607.777.2942
  • Kaiming Ye, PhD
    Chair, Department of Biomedical Engineering
    BI 2623
    kye@binghamton.edu
    607.777.5887

2022-2023 EDD External Advisory Board