2017 Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence

SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher with Thomas Ciulla and SUNY Poly Interim President Dr. Bahgat Sammakia.

Four members of SUNY Polytechnic Institute’s faculty and staff have received Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence from the State University of New York for 2017.

It is through these awards in which SUNY publicly proclaims its pride in the accomplishment and personal dedication of its instructional faculty and professional staff across its campuses.

SUNY Poly’s 2017 Chancellor’s Award recipients are:

• Thomas Ciulla, Supervising Janitor
  Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service
• Brian Keith Taylor, Manager of Engineering Support Services
  Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Professional Service
• James Castracane, Professor of Nanobioscience
  Chancellor’s Award Excellence in Scholarship and Creative Activities
• Christopher Urban, Lecturer of Computer Science and Information Systems
  Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, Brian Keith Taylor, and SUNY Poly Interim President Dr. Bahgat Sammakia

Thomas Ciulla joined SUNY Poly in 2010 and currently serves as Supervising Janitor and has been active in many committees across the Utica campus throughout his tenure. He volunteers for FIRST Competitions and Mohawk Valley Tech Showcase, and is always one of the first to offer his time, energy, and assistance to the more than 1,800 events that occur on campus each year to see that they are successful.

Brian Keith Taylor joined what is now the SUNY Poly community as University at Albany as a machinist in 1987. By 1997, his work encompassed many projects a CESTM, the Albany NanoTech complex cornerstone and future home of SUNY Poly’s Albany Campus. Since 2004 he has served as Manager of the 200mm Wafer Process Cleanroom at the Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering. During his 29 years of service and achievements, he has also served as a voting member of the CNSE Assembly and Council on Research.

SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, James Castracane, and SUNY Poly Interim President Dr. Bahgat Sammakia

James Castracane earned his B.S. in Physics from Canisius College in 1976, which was followed by a M.A. in Physics from The John Hopkins University in 1978, where he also completed his Ph.D. in Plasma Physics in 1982. He joined SUNY Poly’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering in 1998 after work in the private sector as well as teaching at the University at Albany. Since 2006, Dr. Castracane has served as head of the Nanobioscience Constellation.

Christopher Urban has been a part of the SUNY Poly faculty since 2000, teaching nineteen different undergraduate courses and one graduate course in that time. He has been recognized as Professor of the Year on four separate occasions by the SUNY Poly Student Association and in addition to a heavy teaching and advising load, supervising all internships and co-ops in computer science and computer information systems, is an advisor to six clubs, chair of one of the standing committees of local campus governance, and is finishing his fourth  year as the chair in computer and information science.

SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, Christopher Urban, and SUNY Poly Interim President Dr. Bahgat Sammakia

The Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence acknowledge consistently superior professional achievement and encourage the continued pursuit of excellence, while underscoring SUNY’s commitment to sustaining intellectual vibrancy, advancing the boundaries of knowledge, providing the highest quality of instruction, and serving the public good.

Honorees were presented with their awards by SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher at SUNY Poly’s Utica Commencement exercises on Saturday, May 6.

At an April ceremony at the Empire State Convention Center in Albany, two SUNY Poly students were presented with the Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence, honoring SUNY students who have best demonstrated and been recognized for their integration of a number of areas that contribute to a vibrant campus life, including academic leadership, athletics, career achievement, community service and creative and performing arts.

Bikash Regmi of Syracuse and Rebecca Sheely of Schuylerville were chosen to receive the 2017 Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence.

Regmi, a graduate student pursuing a Master of Science degree in Family Nurse Practitioner, arrived in the United States in 2009 as a refugee. Already a registered nurse as he pursues his FNP degree, patients have constantly recognized Regmi for his outstanding care and compassion. While maintaining academic excellence, Regmi has served as the student representative for the Nursing Department Curricula Committee, served on the advisory board for Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute, and is a member of the nursing honor society Sigma Theta Tau. He has been actively involved in organizing numerous charitable events, including a breast cancer awareness program, English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for refugees, and a blood drive. An advocate for fellow refugees, Regmi has helped many with cultural orientations and interpretations.

Sheely, an undergraduate student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a minor in Physics, graduated in May 2017. She received Dean’s List status throughout her time at SUNY Poly while remaining actively involved throughout the campus, including as the founding member of the SUNY Poly Society of Women Engineers Club. Her future plans include pursuing a Master’s Degree in civil engineering with a concentration on structures and earthquake engineering at University of Buffalo.

The Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence was created in 1997. Each year, campus presidents establish a selection committee, which reviews exemplary students. Nominees are then forwarded to the Chancellor’s Office and are subject to a second round of review. Finalists are then recommended to the Chancellor to become recipients of the award. Each recipient receives a framed certificate and medallion, which is traditionally worn at commencement.