May 7, 2024
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Busy spring for SSIE Department includes faculty, student achievements

Distinguished Professor and SSIE Department Chair Mohammad Khasawneh speaks in April at the dedication of the Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari Executive Boardroom in the Engineering Building. Dean Srihari watches in the center background, with Provost Donald Hall seated at right. Distinguished Professor and SSIE Department Chair Mohammad Khasawneh speaks in April at the dedication of the Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari Executive Boardroom in the Engineering Building. Dean Srihari watches in the center background, with Provost Donald Hall seated at right.
Distinguished Professor and SSIE Department Chair Mohammad Khasawneh speaks in April at the dedication of the Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari Executive Boardroom in the Engineering Building. Dean Srihari watches in the center background, with Provost Donald Hall seated at right. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.
By Chris Kocher
June 05, 2023

The semester at Binghamton University wrapped up in May with Commencement ceremonies, and the Department of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science is looking back on a productive spring.

In April, a dedication ceremony for the new Krishnaswami “Hari” Srihari Executive Boardroom brought together Watson College students, faculty, staff, donors and friends to honor Dean Srihai. The boardroom was named thanks to a generous donation from John Mirabito, chairman emeritus of Mirabito Holdings Inc., and his wife Cheryl, who were inspired by Srihari’s exceptional contributions to the University and the Binghamton region.

Student news

As part of a senior capstone project, industrial and systems engineering students collaborated with Locker Room 345, a Binghamton-based charity that redistributes donations from Dick’s Sporting Goods to children in need. The students improved the system used to fulfill the children’s requests for specific clothing items.

Faculty news

The SSIE Department will add seven new faculty members in fall 2023, including SUNY Empire Innovation Professor Carlos Gershenson. The Empire Innovation Program (EIP) supports the recruitment and retention of faculty with strong track records of research accomplishments. EIP faculty are recognized leaders in their fields for outstanding research, scholarly achievements, high-impact publications and significant external funding. Gershenson’s research focuses on using artificial intelligence for improving health outcomes and the healthcare system.

According to a Stanford University study that looks at the impact of scientists worldwide, Assistant Professor Fuda Ning and Professor Hiroki Sayama are among the top 2% of all researchers in the world in their fields in 2021.

At Watson College’s spring luncheon for faculty and staff, Assistant Professor Bing Si won a Watson College Recognition Award for Early Stage Distinguished Research. She recently won a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for her research on “Sleep and Cardiometabolic Subgroup Discovery and Risk Prediction in United States Adolescents and Young Adults.” She will collaborate with colleagues from the Mayo Clinic and Harvard University.

Assistant Professors Yingge Zhou and Fuda Ning talk about the importance of keeping education technology up to date in a story about Watson College’s equipment endowment fund. Highlighted is the Advanced Manufacturing Lab at the Engineering Building, where students get hands-on experience on scaled-down versions of the same mechatronics used in manufacturing.

Alumni news

Michael V. Testani, MS ’02, worked as an engineer for three decades before coming to Watson College, where he is the senior director of outreach and engagement. He thinks it’s important to give back to the college, seeing it as a form of investment similar to when he worked in private industry and participated in employee shareholder programs.