Progression: Press Room - News Archive

Two Solar Decathletes Address NYIT’s Graduating Class of 2007
Presidential Salute Focuses on Global Energy Crisis
Thursday, May 24

Old Westbury, N.Y. - Two 2007 Solar Decathletes had the opportunity to share their personal experiences during their years at NYIT before an audience of more than 9,000 people. Student speakers Komal Crasto (pictured, left), a native of India, and Alvaro Corral (pictured, right), a native of Ecuador, were both selected to address the Class of 2007 at NYIT’s May 21 commencement on the college’s Old Westbury, N.Y., campus.

Crasto, web master and a creative director on the communication arts team, came to the United States in 2004 to study fine arts and transferred to NYIT in 2005 to concentrate on computer graphics. At commencement she received a Master of Arts in communication arts and is now pursuing a career in the field of computer animation. While at NYIT, she worked at Guerilla FX in New York City, served as a graduate assistant in NYIT’s Office of Communications and Marketing.

Corral, energy analysis coordinator on the engineering team, came to the United States in 1999 to study English as a second language at NYIT. He continued his studies, earning a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering in 2005. At commencement he received a Master of Science in energy management and now is pursuing a career in the field of renewable energy sources. During his tenure at NYIT, Corral has been a member of Alpha Chi Rho, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and the Society of Automotive Engineers.

During his Salute to the Class of 2007, NYIT President Edward Guiliano, Ph.D., discussed 21st-century technology and the need for sustainable energy sources. He said, "Innovation is the key to resolving our need for energy. We will need to create efficiencies, not mandate conservation. In particular, we must mainstream renewable energy, making it easier to use, cheaper to buy, and cleaner to produce. And we must create seamlessly low-impact ways to travel, work, and live."

President Guiliano talked about how in 1973, students and faculty members in the college’s mechanical and electrical engineering departments began designing and constructing hybrid electric vehicles, and by 1974 began working on a hydrogen-powered engine. In the mid-1990s students were researching high-performance hybrid vehicles, which later resulted in NYIT receiving a patent on an energy transmission system in 1997 and in 1998 patented a means for controlling the discharge of the hybrid auto’s energy storage system. NYIT’s work attracted the attention of the then big-three automakers, who still have not delivered on that promise.

Click here to read President Guiliano’s complete Salute to the Class of 2007.

For information about NYIT's 2007 Solar Decathlon team, visit www.nyit.edu/solar, and for more about the competition, visit www.solardecathlon.org.

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Contact: Jason Selss, media relations manager, 516.686.7481 or jselss@nyit.edu.