School of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering has record year for research
Student, faculty, and staff successes also celebrated
As Binghamton University’s fall semester wraps up in a few weeks, the School of Systems Science and Industrial Engineering at the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science is looking back at accomplishments in 2026.
The School of SSIE continues to rank among the top units on the Binghamton campus in both research expenditures (#2) and committed funds (#2). According to the most recent fiscal year report (July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026), the SSIE School reached $11,906,401 in research expenditures, following a record $12,692,555 in 2024-25 and $10,971,622 in 2023-24.
Additionally, SSIE is 11.53% of the research expenditures for the University ($103,261,585), and the school is 45.09% of the expenditures within Watson College ($26,403,379), or 53.05% when excluding the Dean's Office ($22,443,607).
New faculty endowment
The Cheryl and John Mirabito Family Faculty Scholar Endowment will provide an SSIE faculty member with extra funding for research assistants, publications, conference participation, and other teaching and outreach initiatives.
John Mirabito — former chairman of Mirabito Holdings Inc. — is a member of the Watson College Advisory Board, which offers feedback from an industrial perspective and makes connections to enhance educational opportunities.
Research news
Assistant Professor Stephanie Tulk Jesso won a $663,724 National Science Foundation CAREER Award for her research on how robots can better assist healthcare workers. She wants to center nurses’ needs while designing artificial intelligence platforms that will work more harmoniously and efficiently with humans.
A research team led by Assistant Professor Congyu “Peter” Wu applied Shannon entropy — a mathematical measure of uncertainty — to determine which guesses for Wordle puzzles provide the most information. In simulations, their approach solved 99% of Wordle puzzles.
Former research fellow Ahmed Abdeen Hamed collaborated with George J. Klir Professor of Systems Science Luis M. Rocha to develop an innovative verification method for curbing wrong medical information from generative AI chatbots. The research was supported by $100,000 in resources on the SUNY AI Platform.
Assistant Professor Kimberly Harry collaborated with researchers from Binghamton’s Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences to explore how individual and community health experiences of adults with sickle-cell disease shape resilience — the capacity to adapt to adversity.
Student news
PhD student Neda Amiri Rad is honoring her late mother’s memory through research on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an invisible autoimmune condition that causes severe deformation and inflammation of the joints and leads to debilitating pain and mobility difficulties. Her work focuses on identifying patterns previously unrecognized in the genes that contribute to RA.
Shreya Agarwal, MS ’26, and PhD student Mohammed-Khalil Ghali, MS ’24, worked with Professor Sangwon Yoon and the Endicott Police Department to improve how it tracks ongoing investigations. The project, organized through the Strategic Partnership for Industrial Resurgence (SPIR) program, built the Police Investigation Management System (PIMS) that integrated what the department needs to build the chain of evidence for prosecutors.
A story in this year’s Watson Review magazine on undergraduate research highlighted Loren Cuomo ’26. As a senior, she worked on a capstone project that aimed to improve the patient experience for women in rural areas during and after pregnancy. Partnering with United Health Services’ Chenango Memorial Hospital, the students surveyed doctors, staff, and patients about three key areas: communication clarity and consistency across care teams; coordination and continuity across prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care; and patient education and hospital discharge preparedness.
Projects from doctoral candidate Tasneem Tawalbeh and master’s student MD Tohidul Islam were among those who received support from the Natural Environmental Change Center (NATCHANGE) Graduate Research Award.
Faculty news
SSIE added three faculty members in 2026: Professor Liping Wang, Professor Abdul Alami, and Assistant Professor Mamun Al-Mamun.
Four SSIE faculty members were recognized in a Stanford University study as among the top 2% of scientists worldwide in 2025: Assistant Professor Safa Elkefi, Professor of Empire Innovation Carlos Gershenson-Garcia, Associate Professor Fuda Ning, and Distinguished Professor Hiroki Sayama.
Sarah Lam, who has been an SSIE faculty member since 1999, was elevated to SUNY distinguished teaching professor. She was recognized for a teaching approach that combines analytical rigor, student mentorship, and real-world problem solving. She has taught and mentored undergraduate and graduate students in systems modeling and optimization, simulation, neural networks, and engineering analytics.
Assistant Professor Kimberly Harry served as co-lead for a service trip to Africa through the Malawi Children’s Mission, which supports children and families through services such as healthcare and education.
Professor Seiichi Takamatsu was among the faculty members who helped to coordinate Binghamton’s first summer microelectronics camp for local high school students.
Staff news
Erin Hornbeck, SSIE’s administrative coordinator, received a Binghamton University Council/Foundation Award for her professional service.