91社区

The Student Activity Center was a hot spot on 91社区鈥檚 Long Island campus on March 29 when faculty and staff gathered in person once again to celebrate one another鈥檚 academic research and achievements at the Annual Faculty Scholars Reception. 

This event commends 91社区鈥檚 full-time and adjunct faculty and staff for the scholarly and creative achievements completed during the preceding calendar year in any of the academic fields represented by the university鈥檚 schools or colleges. Qualifying achievements include receiving a grant, publishing original research articles in a nationally recognized peer-reviewed journal or book, and obtaining a patent, among others.

鈥淚 am so impressed by all of you who are able to teach and do research at the same time,鈥� said 91社区 President Hank Foley, Ph.D. 鈥淲e want to make sure that all of you grow as scholars, researchers, and, ultimately, teachers.鈥�

President Foley then described the university鈥檚 goals to invest in the research enterprise over the next few years, including obtaining more advanced imaging technology and performing building renovations and optimizations. This is in line with 91社区鈥檚 goal to achieve R2 status as a doctoral university with high research activity.

Amid posters and papers on display from dozens of participants, four faculty members formally presented an overview of their most recent work:聽Batu Chalise, Ph.D., assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering in the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences;聽Robert Cody (B.Arch. 鈥�94), teaching associate professor of architecture in the School of Architecture and Design;聽Sophia Domokos, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences; and聽Michael Granatosky, Ph.D., assistant professor of basic sciences in the College of Osteopathic Medicine.

2022 Faculty Research by the Numbers:

• 77 authors with 189 publication credits
• 43 presenters with 114 conference presentations
• 14 honorees with 30 awards
• 6 designers with 6 exhibits
• 51 grant recipients with 57 grants received (internal and external)

Chalise kicked off the slideshow presentations with his research in signal processing for radar and communications. He discussed the recent uptick in balloon detection in United States airspace due to recent changes in radar filters so that reflections from slow-moving objects are no longer filtered out. A challenge with detecting slow-moving objects, he says, is radar struggling to find the objects in harsh weather conditions like fog, rain, and snow. He posits that a solution to this is using distributed radar sensing鈥攁 collection of radar sensors that share partial information with each other to create more complete information about a target鈥攖o enhance existing radar systems. Chalise states his research,聽funded聽by the Department of Defense, aims to develop signal processing algorithms and machine learning techniques to enable this type of radar technology.

Cody followed with an introduction to the book he and his wife Angela Amoia, M.Arch. (B.Arch. 鈥�93), wrote, Alvar Aalto and the Future of Architecture. Finnish modern architect and designer Alvar Aalto, who had big ideas for integrating art, technology, and environmental considerations into his architecture, served as inspiration for the pair鈥檚 latest published text. Cody discussed the ways in which architects might become better stewards of the environment by creating buildings that are optimized for their location. He references MIT鈥檚 Baker House dormitory building鈥攄esigned by Aalto to optimize natural light and views of the Charles River. He also noted a trip he took with 91社区 students to Aalto鈥檚 native Finland during winter to observe how buildings look, feel, and integrate with their environment.

Domokos delivered the penultimate presentation with a conversation about physics. She described her work examining the inner working of matter鈥攕upported by a聽grant聽from the National Science Foundation. Her work is in string theory and particle physics; she will use holographic duality, a string theory concept, to understand fundamental physical systems and the mathematics used to describe them. Domokos鈥� goal is to uncover the mystery behind the exact mechanisms allowing elementary particles to create new orders, like quarks and gluons clumping together to form protons and neutrons in atomic nuclei. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like I have a kitchen and I can take all the different ingredients, make a universe, and then use math to see what鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f you know the math that dictates how the different pieces fit together then you can create any universe you want to, and sometimes these universes are helpful for learning more about our own.鈥�

Granatosky finished up with a discussion of his studies surrounding animal movement. 鈥淎nimal movement helps us appreciate our natural world, and it helps us ask questions that we never thought were possible,鈥� he says. He then described his work with his students and the trips they take to collect data on animals in other states and other countries. He noted the similarities between a mouse lemur and a human baby鈥攖he way they use such small fingers to grasp things鈥攁nd then questioned the variations in the biomechanics behind grasping. With a聽grant聽from the Leakey Foundation and the Duke Lemur Center in North Carolina, Granatosky will collect data from specialized force and grasp sensors to classify and calculate what grip force strength in primates looks like and how it changes as they age. He will also apply this data to humans as he and his students travel to schools and teach about biomechanics while learning about human grip force strength variations.