College of Staten Island
Irv was educated in Physics, Math and Astrophysics at City College of
New York and New York University. Considers himself more of an educator but
enjoys tinkering with research. Hence, he established the asteroid research
program at the observatory to help the greater community of humanity while
teaching research techniques to undergraduate students. Currently, is an
Associate Professor in the Engineering Science and Physics department at
CSI and A principle investigator in a NASA grant that has brought in 1.6 million
dollars to CUNY to improve it's Space Science offerings (B.S. in Space Science,
minor in Space Science and NASA research opportunities for CUNY faculty) over
the last 6 years. Enjoys teaching and learning a wide range of scientific
subjects. The latter has prompted him to teach over the years courses in
Physics, Astronomy, Geology, Chemistry, Engineering Science, Space Science and
Computer Science.
"William LaCurtis graduated from Wagner College, with a BS in Physics & minors in Astronomy, Computer Science & English Lit. While at Wagner, & afterwards, he gave Planetarium shows, interning at the then "Hayden Planetarium." Returning to Wagner, he obtained his Masters in Education & has been an administrator for NYC Parks & Rec., for almost 20 years. He has headed several astronomy & physics clubs. After joining our NEO Research team, last year, & continuing to share his love of observational astronomy with the CSI students, he has now jointed our Astronomy Dept., as an adjunct Lecturer, & continues to assist us in our important research at the observatory."
Past
Asteroid Astrometry and
Photometry
Research Team Members
Karl's technical education began at George Westinghouse H.S.
where he studied electronic servicing, fundamentals of DC/AC theory, and
basic semi-conductor theory. Through their co-op program, he had the
opportunity to work at Autotron Technologies, on electronic design projects.
While working on those projects he realized the field of engineering would
be both rewarding, and satisfying to him, and took advantage of the then
present opportunity to sharpen problem solving abilities in order to
better prepare for this future goal.
Karl enrolled in the College of Staten Island part time as a Engineering
Science major to facilitate the next step towards his goal. Karl wanted the
challenge and excitement of working on engineering projects. That is why he accepted our
invitation to him after completing one of our courses to work on a astronomy
project we were starting. His interest in nature (Life-Science) and
electromagnetism (Physical-Science) made astrophysical research a natural
choice.
Based his research work with us Karl was invited, and delivered a talk on "Asteroid Positional Calculations" at a
NSF conference in New Mexico State University . Karl has been interviewed by the Staten Island Advance, a popular island newspaper, and
appeared as a panel member on a televised science program in regards to the work he has done with Professor Robbins.
Karl has realized that being an astronautical engineer is the
career that he wants to follow. In preparation for this Karl is
on the verge of completing his B.S. in engineering science, and
is a member of the research team. Karl is also a member of Alliance Minority Participation Program (AMP)
which is an excellent program for both undergraduate and graduate students,
and has made it possible for him to attend college full-time while
supporting himself.
Recent CSI Engineering Graduate who participated in Asteroid Hazard poster
presentations at the American Astronomical Society Annual Meetings.
Stephenie
Perillo
A former contributor to our astrometry research. Stephenie's meticulous approach to
measuring gave us lots of very fine data.
Karl Francis
Ashado Smith
She has moved on to being Education Coordinator at the Rose Center Hayden Planetarium.
Mike Benjimen
Mike was a CSI Physics major who has moved on to Hunter College and joined our CUNY- SPACE SCIENCE B.S. program. Mike was recently assigned to work with the NASA Space Flight Center in Greenbelt Maryland and is planning to go on to graduate school there.
A PICTURE FROM THE PAST
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