AI in Action Showcase
SUNY Polytechnic Institute
100 Seymour Road, Utica, NY
All events will take place in the SUNY Poly Student Center, MPR 1&2
Monday, March 30, 2026
8:30am-9:00am: Continental Breakfast (Check-in, Registration, Meet & Greet)
9:00am: Welcome
9:15am: AI in Advanced Manufacturing & Materials
AI/Machine Learning for Materials Design and Manufacturing
Prof. Rodica Neamtu, WPI Faculty, Computer Science
Bernice Abraham, SUNY Poly Scholar
Physics and AI/ML for Next Generation Solar Cells
Prof. Nancy Burnham, WPI Faculty, Physics
Joseph Oti, SUNY Poly Scholar
10:15am: Break
10:30am: Materials Design & Manufacturing – Poster Session
Bernice Abraham (Visiting Scholar)
Andrew Amoako Atta (Visiting Scholar)
Joseph Oti (Visiting Scholar)
Zion Akinwunmi (Post-Doc)
11:00am: Panel Discussion: Materials Design & Manufacturing
Dr. Abdullah Eroglu, SUNY Poly Dean, College of Engineering
Dr. Zhanjie Li, SUNY Poly Faculty, Civil and Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Tabiri Asumadu, SUNY Poly Post-Doc
Moderator: Dr. Wole Soboyejo, SUNY Poly President
12:00pm-1:30pm: Lunch and AI in Health
Dr. Nicholas Qandah, Neurosurgeon at CNY Brain & Spine Neurosurgery
1:30pm: AI in Health & Bioinformatics
Emerging Frontiers in Bioinformatics
Dr. Amir Manzourolajdad, SUNY Poly Faculty
Next Frontiers in Bioinformatics
Dr. Winnie Mkandiwiri, SUNY Poly Post-Doc
Next Frontiers in Health Informatics
Dr. Jerome Niyirora, SUNY Poly Faculty
AI/ML for Health: From Pandemic Applications to Cancer Detection and Treatment
Dr. Trusting Inekwe, SUNY Poly Post-Doc
An Interdisciplinary AI Approach to Health and Wellbeing
Dr. Nic DePaula, SUNY Poly Faculty
3:00pm: Panel Discussion: The Future of Medicine and Human Health
Dr. William LeCates, President/CEO, Wynn Hospital
Dr. Maria Kontaridis, Executive Director, MMRI
Dr. Jacques Kpodonu, Professor of Surgery, Harvard Medical School
Moderator: Dr. Wole Soboyejo, SUNY Poly President
Tuesday, March 31, 2026
8:30am-9:30am: Continental Breakfast (Check-in, Registration, Meet & Greet)
9:30am: Welcome
10:00am: AI in Education
AI in Engineering
Dr. Abdullah Eroglu, SUNY Poly Dean, College of Engineering
AI in Business
Dr. Arthur Lu, SUNY Poly Faculty
AI in Fintech
Dr. Matt Brigida, SUNY Poly Faculty
10:45am: Break
11:00am: AI in the Professions
AI in Interactive Media & Game Design
Prof. Nick LeJeune, SUNY Poly Faculty
AI in Nursing
Dr. Pat Roach, SUNY Poly Faculty
AI and Ethics
Dr. Jim Staihar, SUNY Poly Faculty
12:00pm: Lunch
12:15pm: Panel Discussion: AI in the New Classroom
Dr. Amos Confer, SUNY Poly, Faculty Computer Science
John Szwakob, SUNY Poly, Faculty
Andriana Semko, SUNY Poly, Faculty Health Information Management
Dr. Mike Reale, SUNY Poly, Faculty Computer Science
Dr. Ana Jofre, SUNY Poly, Faculty
1:30pm: Special Session on AIX Center – Student Center MPR
Dr. William Thistleton, SUNY Poly, Faculty Mathematics
Dr. Steve Schneider, SUNY Poly, Faculty College of Arts and Science
2:30pm: Panel Discussion: AI and the Workforce
Derek Taylor, SUNY Poly
Casey Schwartz, AFRL
Dan Crowell, UCP
Kelly Allard, NYSTEC
Moderator: John Reade, Director of Pre-Collegiate Outreach SUNY Poly
Wednesday, April 1, 2026
8:30am-9:30am: Art Exhibit – “Accessible Future”*
*Continental Breakfast, Check-In and Registration will take place in the Art Gallery in Kunsela Hall
9:30am: Welcome
9:45am: Keynote: Applied Imagination & Creativity
Dr. Gerard Puccio, Buffalo State University
11:30am: Lunch Interactive Session
Led by Dr. Gerard Puccio, Buffalo State University
1:00pm: Overview and Next Steps
Dr. Wole Soboyejo, President SUNY Poly
