Class Notes
Mike Aiello ‘17, G’19 and Julie Falcone got married on October 7 in downtown Utica, NY. They had met each other through mutual friends.
Mildred Albert ’84 has recently retired.
David Calcagno ’91 I chose SUNY Poly because of the courses they were offering and the technical area in robotics that I was looking at. The closeness with the faculty was very nice. They were more than just teachers-student relationships, especially those who got involved with the community and different organizations that the college has to offer. Dr. Willjavian Dawson was one of my favorites. SUNY Poly was responsible for getting me my first job. The degree I had from SUNY Poly got me a job at Kodak.
Kenneth M. Ford ’80 The quality of the program that SUNY Poly had and its closeness to my home led me to go there. Professor Nick Berardi and Dean Lou Galbiati were two of my favorite professors. I enjoyed talking with them. They were brilliant. Nick Berardi was very compassionate and really cared about the students. Lou Galbiati was instrumental in developing the program. He was very personable and very knowledgeable. I was also involved in the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and was the president there at one time. I was an adjunct professor, which I did for four years. I taught robotics and operational amplifiers, and control surfaces. I was in the electrical field. Since then, I’ve used all of the knowledge that I gained in developing the curriculum. I was one of the founders of Project Lead the Way, which is an engineering program at the high school and middle school levels across the country. Aside from that, I was the national director for curriculum and training, and I’m retired now.
Barbara S. Gurnee ’81 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.
Matthew Hart ’10 has started a new role as the Principal Engineering Technician for the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT).
Thomas W. Hoefs ’82 I saw the curriculum they had for business management and computer science, so I went up there and enrolled. I drove the school bus for a little while. Then I went into the Army as a DA Civilian. Forty years later, I retired from the Reserves.
Edward Jasiewicz ’16 has been recently hired as the Lead Engineer at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Erika Kistowski ‘16 is currently a school counselor at Remsen Elementary School District. She wrote a children’s book and read it to each classroom to explain the purpose of having a therapy dog at school and rules that need to be followed. She is now accompanied at work by a lovable two-year-old Goldendoodle named Easton.
Tennille E. Kochanowski ’05 SUNY Poly was close to home. I started at MVCC, and I wanted something close to home. I wanted to commute. I liked the campus having the psychology program. Dr. Joanne Joseph and Dr. Paul Schulman stood out to me. Dr. Schulman was very knowledgeable. I got a job at APAC Customer Services, but then not too far after that, I picked up a position with Catholic Charities Community Services as a senior residence counselor. SUNY Poly was a very big piece of my life, and I went at my own pace part-time. It was just a really good experience.
Kevin R. Kreis ’89 I went to SUNY Poly mainly because it was a transfer school for Upper Division, and I had already gone to a two-year school in Utica. I wanted to stay local, and SUNY Poly seemed like the best choice. SUNY Poly opened some doors, just by the fact of having a degree. When I finished school in the 80s, a bachelor’s degree meant a lot more than it does now. For me, it was a means to an end. When I got out of school, the job market wasn’t very good. We were in the middle of a recession at that time, so it was kind of hard to initially find a job, but I had a job while I was going to school. I worked part-time for MetLife, and I decided to go with them full-time for the time being and went from there. Then, I worked for the state for a lot of years, and that’s why I went to the Albany area to pursue options out there.
David Nagle ’86 became the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Country Pure Foods.
Fritz Scherz ‘95, ‘98 Fritz’s Polka Band (FPB) namesake, Fritz Scherz (accordionist/vocalist), has been inducted into the Cleveland-Style Polka Hall of Fame as he will be a Trustees Honor Roll Recipient.
Norma Stary ’18 started a new role as the Web Content Coordinator at Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).
Kathleen Tucker, RN ’97 The convenience of it all inspired me to attend there. I had several colleagues that went to school with me. There were seven of us who went from Bassett Hospital, where we worked, to SUNY Poly to get our bachelor’s degree. It was very accommodating, and it fit the educational needs we wanted to grow in our profession.
Lisa Volk ’04 has recently started a new role as the Executive Director for the Foundation of Quality Care at the New York State Health Facilities Association, Inc. (NYSHFA)
Rev. Dr. Mary J. Webster ’90 Getting to know the community at SUNY Poly was a fantastic experience. It was pretty close-knit. I liked getting to know my professors, and we were really individuals at SUNY Poly.
Elias Zeina ‘17, G’19 Lafa Mediterranean by Zeina’s was named the Catalyst Rising Business of the Year award from the Greater Utica Chamber on December 14, 2023.
Lynn M. Ziegler ’15 I transferred from Jamestown Community College to Alfred State, which didn’t have the classes I needed, so I transferred to SUNY Poly. I did all my classes online. I was an older student, and I worked and went to school at the same time. The professors I had in my classes were always very ready to help when I didn’t understand something or if I was having a difficult time. It made it a lot easier to juggle everything. I’m still in the healthcare field; I am a patient services representative for UPMC Chautauqua in our outpatient behavioral health program.
