Class Notes

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Deborah Cm Barker ’84 I was working for Par Microsystems, and they had a program where you could take courses and complete a course of study. That’s why I ended up at SUNY Poly. They reimburse you for the courses that you completed. It was training in computer systems before there was internet. I feel like I have a good grounding in the basics, but I’m still a dinosaur. To anyone who’s considering attending SUNY Poly, definitely give it a try, especially people working and going to school part-time.

Phillip “Phil” Aikman Beardsley ’92 I chose SUNY Poly because it was a good place to go to. It was a brand new campus, so it was exciting. I made a bunch of friends at SUNY Poly. I took computer courses and some math and science to get my core courses going. I help support the computer network out at Griffiss Air Force Base, and I used my degree to get my job there.

Pamela M. Casscles ’86 Remembering the life of Carol L Crooms, Student Housing and Affairs. Carol passed away on July 16, 2022, surrounded by her loving family and friends.  Carol retired from SUNY Tech in 1990 – a legacy of work and love to all she met.

Thomas P. Davis ’84 I was trying to get a four-year degree. I really wanted to fly in the Navy, but I had to have a four-year degree. Fortunately, back when it was the Utica Institute of Technology, they came up with a four-year degree for electrical engineering technology. That’s what I went to school there for. It was interesting because it wasn’t like any school I had gone to before, the way it was spread out in the old mill downtown. It was nice because the students lived more or less in a neighborhood. It was a community of students all living in the neighborhood. We got to see each other walking back and forth to class and got together as a community. That was a pretty neat experience back then. Once I finished and got my degree, I was interviewed with some companies to see what they were offering, but I knew I wanted to fly for the Navy so badly that I couldn’t honestly sit in on the interviews. I went into the Navy to their flight training. I flew for the Navy for about 11 years of active duty and then retired out of the reserves after 26 years. All those flying experiences brought me down to Baltimore flying a helicopter for the police department. I’ve been doing that for the last 18 years. SUNY Poly means an opportunity to further my education and get to my goals and dreams that I have set for myself.

Gregory “Greg” T. Kline ’16 I was looking for a good technology school that wasn’t in the middle of the city, and I found SUNY Poly. I came in knowing what I wanted to do and enjoyed it. I lived with my same roommate from freshman year all the way through to my fourth year. I found a job through a friend of mine from school.

Kirk Anson Klein ’11 I wanted to finish up my bachelor’s, and I needed something reasonably priced within a reasonable distance. I enjoyed the classes and the atmosphere. The campus was beautiful. I got to do a capstone project, and I was able to have the freedom to do how I wanted it. It was a nice experiment. SUNY Poly had a big impact on my career because it opened up quite a few doors in the quality engineering field for me.

Paul Charles Knapp ’06 I had worked an internship the summer before I came, and I had a manager that recommended I continue on for my associate’s to get an engineering degree. Some of the friendships I made had an impression on me. My roommates were also lifelong friends, and one of them was the best man at my wedding. I had to take an extra year to complete a lot of basic English and history courses that I hadn’t expected. It prepared me to think technically and creatively in a way that’s helped me further my career.

Shelby Anne Kostal ’17 This past December had graduated with a Masters in Physician Assistant Studies and in August graduated with a MBA from MCPHS.

Ingrid M. Kraus ’10 I wanted to pursue my bachelor’s in the same field as my associate’s degree in hosting information management. Not so many schools offered it at that time. SUNY Poly was affordable and close to home. I met the director of the program at that time, and I really liked her. I talked to her, and she was a part of the history of why I decided to go there. I saw the school, and the staff was friendly. My courses were very educational and useful.

Terry Lynn Leone ’20 The instructors I had at SUNY Poly were wonderful. I had the hardest time with a certain class, and the teacher let me do a PowerPoint presentation, which I find to be much easier. They would even help us and make sure that we understood it so that we did it correctly. They were really helpful and supportive. One of my favorite professors there was a statistics teacher. Her name was Professors Karie Fischer. I nominated her for a teaching award for when they did that at the end of the year. I had her for all my public health nursing. The other favorite professor I had was Professor Doreen DeCorah. She had so much passion and enthusiasm for the course, and she was a great person.

Daniel J. Macdonald ’22 Recently started a new position at Exyte as an Electrical Engineer. 

Christopher William Mayba ’12 SUNY Poly was a college that seemed to be heavily focused on engineering, which was the degree I chose to pursue. The size was also appealing to me. I met my wife there. SUNY Poly gave me both of the professional jobs that I got after college. The degree from SUNY Poly was one of the things that differentiated me from other candidates.

Adrienne Ann Marzo ’78 I was just recently married and had completed two years of college. I wanted to complete my degree, so I attended SUNY Poly. I went into a bachelor of arts because I wanted to be a reference librarian. I never went further, but I worked in a library. My degree helped me.

Ryan Mays ’18 I grew up in the area, so I went to SUNY Poly for its technology-focused psychology management MBA. It seemed like it was a good fit for what industry I’m in and what I was looking for. SUNY Poly impacted my career progression. I got into management roles in a consulting firm that I worked for, which was Booz Allen Hamilton. I learned the principles and disciplines that we’re never done learning. I have that constant growth mindset because of SUNY Poly.

Michael E. McCann ’16 The reason why I chose SUNY Poly was I heard from other colleagues from Onondaga Community College when I got my associate’s from there that it was very reputable as far as technology degrees. Also, it was closer than going to a more private college that offered pretty much the same level of education that SUNY Poly offered. The quality of the classes at SUNY Poly definitely impressed me. I didn’t have any problems with any professor that I had. All of them went above and beyond the call of duty to provide all the information that I needed to do what I do today. The professor for one of my business classes, Dr. Robert Edgell, had us do a project called ICNY, where we went up to Oneonta and divided us into groups. We learned about the history of Oneonta, and the goal was to come up with an idea that would help the community. The way that Dr. Edgell laid out the project made an impact on Oneonta. Even though my team didn’t win the competition, we still gained a lot of valuable experience and a lot of knowledge of how to lead projects and how to plan projects. My favorite time was being able to learn that type of knowledge and to experience the culture by going out to a different area. I went to some of the sports games, like the soccer games and a couple of basketball games. It was fun. I also made some great friends at SUNY Poly, and I do keep in touch with one or two of them. I was able to obtain a state job in information technology with my degree I got from SUNY Poly, so it worked out pretty well.

Jacqueline J. Milligan ’79 SUNY Poly was available to me. I was doing part-time and it was convenient. I was the first in the family to attend SUNY Poly. I was impressed by the teaching and the classes, and the people I attended with were very nice. I was a teaching instructor and it helped me in my career for 11 years. I had no problems and I was very happy that they were available to me to get my degree.

Cindy Mishler ’03 I was part of the industrial engineering program. I went to Hudson Valley and was continuing my education there. I’m working for New York State.

Philomena “Phil” Z. Nowakowski ’80 I had been working part-time at SUNY Poly in the Nursing Department. While I was there, I figured that I would work on a master’s degree. Allen Core and Louise Dean were special friends of mine. Everybody was so friendly, and the staff was very nice. The instructors were very accommodating as well. I already had a degree when I received a substantial promotion.

Ogechi Nnenna Onyechere ’11 The diversity of the students who were at SUNY Poly at that time was what drew me there. SUNY Poly created a path for me to expedite my MBA, so it shaped my future. I had SUNY Poly on my resume that got me a job at Lockheed Martin. Currently, I am in my PhD program at Binghamton University.

Cosimina Panetti ’00 At the time, I was living in Utica. I had a two-year associate’s degree in solar energy engineering. It was an associate’s degree from the community college there. Then, I got a job in solar. I was a single parent, and I had to decide what to do. I decided to go back to college and get a bachelor’s degree. They accepted all my coursework and all of my 64 credits. It served me very well. I didn’t go into engineering, but I went into mechanical engineering technology. That was where I ended up landing. I met my husband there. When I became a single parent, I took a lot of classes where I was the only female. I never felt intimidated for that reason. I had a good experience in terms of being a female in a male-dominated field. I was a single parent and was able to do a work-study through them. It was a very positive experience considering that I was probably the only female in that class in mechanical engineering at the time. I worked at the facilities maintenance for two summers, and that was a very positive experience. I worked in the library for work-study as well.

Megan E. Ruffos ’20 A couple of my friends were thinking about going to SUNY Poly. When I went on the campus tour, I liked the layout and the landscape. I appreciated its beauty. I liked the people and how the experience was more one-on-one. The teachers were personable. Currently, I have a job as a mechanical designer. The relationships I made through the school were things that I’ll remember for the rest of my life.

Kathleen “Kathy” A. Spangler ’79 I had my three-year nursing degree, and I wanted to go back to school and get my bachelor’s degree. I decided to attend SUNY Poly because it was remote and I could take one course at a time from Syracuse while having a couple of children at the time. It was much more convenient for me than having to travel. I was able to do some clinical teaching of nursing students.

Craig James Townsend ’97 I went to SUNY Poly for the new telecommunications program that they had. The lab environment that they had and the ability to have hands-on interaction with some of the new telecom equipment stood out for me. After SUNY Poly, I got several interviews. Then, I got an interview with Compact. They had somebody come up and interview at a location all the way from Houston. Then, I got a job with Compact, which turned into HP, which has turned into HPE. I’ve pretty much been here since then.

Lucas Thomas Zimmerman ’12 My mother and father both went to SUNY schools; my mother graduated from Syracuse, and my father graduated from SUNY Cortland. I commuted two hours every day, and I had to work pretty much full-time while I was still going to school. The college made it easy to go to class. The teachers were great; they helped me with whatever I needed and were always available if I needed them after hours. In the last class that I took, we had to essentially build a computer and an operating system. The teacher, Dr. Mohammed Abdallah, liked our project so much that he used it for his paper, ‘FPGA-Based SoC Implementation of a RISC Processor and Enhanced Computer Architecture Teaching Approach for Engineering Technology Students.’ It was presented at the 2013 ASEE Northeast Section Conference. That is my favorite memory from SUNY Poly.