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We write Stevens history VOLUME CXX No. 6
HOBOKEN, NJ | OCTOBER 14, 2022
NEW STUTE EVERY FRIDAY • EST. 1904
DR. LIU AND DR. SUCHOW APPOINTED AS PRESIDENTIAL FELLOWS BY EVAN PAPAGEORGE, STAFF WRITER
At Stevens, one of the most prestigious honors a young professor can achieve is to be a Presidential Fellow. A Presidential Fellow recognizes a staff member at Stevens and the achievements of their research and potential contributions to the institution in the future. This year, President Farvardin and Provost Qu announced that Dr. Hang Liu, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science, and Dr. Jordan Suchow, Assistant Professor in the School of Business, were appointed as Presidential Fellows. Dr. Liu earned a B.E. in Software Engineering from Huazhong University of Science & Technology in 2011 and went on to his Ph.D. from George Washington University in High-Performance Computing in 2017. He started at Stevens in 2019, and his work focuses primarily on data science, machine learning, and cybersecurity. In his time here at Stevens, Dr. Liu has received three National Science Foundation (NSF) Awards totaling over $1.1 million, including the NSF
CAREER award. Recently, he won the IEEE Computer Society Technical Community on High-Performance Computing (IEEE CS TCHPC) Early Career Researchers Award for Excellence in High-Performance Computing 2022. Dr. Liu also won the Stevens’ Early Career Award for Research Excellence as a 2022 recipient. Dr. Suchow earned his B.S. in Computer Science from Brandeis University in 2009, his Ph.D. from Harvard University for Cognitive Psychology in 2014, and completed his postdoc at the University of Southern California, Berkeley. Dr. Suchow started at Stevens in 2019, leading much research in artificial intelligence due to his background in cognitive studies and computer science. His work focuses on developing computational models regarding group and individualistic thinking, learning, and decision-making. In a recent project funded by The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Dr. Suchow developed technologies that help in experimental and social science data at scaled levels. Since his time here at Stevens, he has been awarded a patent and has had articles published or accepted by 18
Career Center Executive Director delineates outlook on career fairs BY BENJAMIN KNOBLOCH, STAFF WRITER The Stevens Career Center has shed more light on the challenges of running last month’s campus-wide Career Fair, as well as the University’s aspirations for making future fairs run smoothly and facilitating more interactions between students and employers. This information was obtained via an email interview by The Stute with Cherena Walker, Executive Director of the Stevens Career Center. Many Career Fair attendees were frustrated by the multi-hour-long lines for the event’s venues, with many students who couldn’t attend in the morning due to classes ultimately not being admitted by closing time. Since each employer was stationed at only one of the two venues, attendees likely would have had to wait in both lines to interact with all the employers on their lists. The Stute asked about venue selection and employer allocation, and whether problems were due to incorrect assumptions
about attendance numbers and space limitations. “The challenges to this year’s Career Fair were generally due to space limitations, increased student enrollment, and the presence of unregistered individuals both in line, and in some cases, at the Career Fair through the sharing of Stevens ID cards,” Walker wrote. As outlined in several pre-Career Fair emails, attendees were supposed to enroll for the fair in advance through the Handshake platform. While high student demand and a limited selection of possible venues across campus are not new challenges, she explained, the scale of the demand as well as the low rate of proper enrollment via Handshake led to difficulties with crowd management. “By design, the registration process limits the number of employers and students consistent with our capacity to accommodate demand,” Walker wrote. She noted that the chosen venues were the largest available on campus and that employer
SEE CAREER PAGE 2
NEWS (2)
SCIENCE (4)
Stevens welcomes largest business class in history The class of 2026 welcomes students who are excited to get involved with the School of Business.
Why whales get brain damage when they swim. Can animals feel hurricanes? Read to learn more about these topics and more PULSE (10)
SPORTS (3)
Read more about the Stevens field hockey team and the Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Meet
Read answers from the Stevens community to our weekly Roving Reporter, plus solve our weekly crossword puzzle and sudoku
papers, most of which are high-impact publications. Being a Presidential Fellow is a keystone moment in a professor’s career. According to Dr. Liu, “It means a great recognition to my group, as well as my teaching to our students and service to the university and my community. It cheers my students up— they knew that their advisor got this award, in part, because of their hard work.” Beyond being recognized for outstanding work and research, the Presidential Fellowship also offers a new perspective on the future of their work. Dr. Liu explains that winning the award means, “I will have to stay closer to my inner peace such that I can think deeper and produce better research, teaching and service.” Being a Presidential Fellow is a great honor. Dr. Suchow and Dr. Liu received this recognition because of their incredible work and embodiment of Stevens. Being at the forefront of their fields, both recipients are sure to continue their remarkable research to better Stevens and the greater society. For more information, please see the announcement from President Farvardin.
DR. JORDAN SUCHOW ASSISTANT PROFESSOR IN THE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
DR. HANG LIU ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ELECTRICAL AND COMPUTER ENGINEERING
PHOTO COURTESY OF STEVENS.EDU
Class of 2026 largest ever for the School of Business BY ADVAIT DANTULURI, CONTRIBUTOR According to the stevens. edu webpage, the School of Business has welcomed its largest and most diverse class in school history, with 201 students enrolling this fall. As the article’s title also suggests, this incoming class is also one of its most diverse classes, with 40% of students being women, and 57 students also athletes across multiple sports teams. The Dean of the School of Business, Gregory Pratacos, credits the strong interest in business to “top faculty, up-to-date curriculum, ex-
cellent student placements, and unique location of the university.” Pratacos states how the School of Business is “excited to welcome these new students to our campus, and [the school is] committed to educating and inspiring the leaders of today’s technology-centric world.” One student, Tanya Avadia, chose to attend Stevens because of the unique programs that would set her apart from her peers, as well as the fact that graduates of Stevens experience one of the lowest gender gaps in pay. Avadia said, “The reason why I chose Stevens, and specifically the School
SEE 2026 PAGE 2
KATIE NG FOR THE STUTE
Quantitative Sigma social science Delta Tau major debuts growth week BY ANNA DABROWSKI, CONTRIBUTOR
BY NICOLE GIARDINO, STAFF WRITER
As of Fall 2022, the former Social Science major is being replaced by a newly developed major, Quantitative Social Science, or QSS. Professor Kowal of the Computational Social Science department defines QSS as the “convergence of new innovations in data, computation, and statistics with a focus on how these tools can be better used to understand the broader society around us.” In more simple terms, QSS combines data, programming, and statistics with an understanding of how society works. Professor Kowal says that these skills are becoming highly sought after in the job market as large companies, such as Meta, are looking for people who can navigate the intersection of society and technology, to have enough technical skills to work with software engineers but also communicate with social scientists. He hopes that in “5 years we will see our graduates working as researchers
This past week, the Sigma Delta Tau sorority hosted its annual Growth Week. Held every year in the fall semester, this week is described as being dedicated to self-improvement, growth, and development. The Vice President, Elena Davis, ran the week of events, and said that “every year of events is different, but the week is always centered on becoming a better version of oneself.” She mentioned how at a school such as Stevens, it can be difficult to prioritize self-care since students are always busy with school and work, but this week provides the opportunity to take some time and remind oneself of the importance of self-development. This year, they hosted five separate events over the course of five days, Monday through Friday. Kicking off Growth Week on Monday, October 3, was an event titled “Grow Your Impact.” This event is an all-day
SEE QSS PAGE 2
SEE GROWTH PAGE 2