2025 CUNY CREST Medal Awarded to JK Goongoon
JK Goongoon received The CUNY CREST Medal in recognition of her outstanding leadership, research excellence, and commitment to community engagement on May 30, 2025, occasion of her graduation. Goongoon graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Earth Systems Science and Environmental Engineering (ESE) & Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the City College of The City University of New York. She was also recognized as the Class of 2025 Valedictorian of CCNY Grove School of Engineering (GSOE) and Engineering Alumni Medalist for Grove’s Academic Program of ESE.
2024-2025 Bridge to College Program
CREST, under the leadership of CUNY CREST High School Initiative in Remote Sensing of the Earth Systems Engineering and Sciences (HIRES) Director, Dr. Shakila Merchant successfully completed the 2024 Bridge to College (B2C) on January 10, 2024. The B2C initiative began in 2015-2016 to engage, inspire, and motivate a cohort of middle school (8th graders) students attending the City College Academy of the Arts – an Early College School (6-14 program), in NOAA mission-driven Science Technology Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) focused hands-on activities. For the 2024-2025 sessions, B2C kicked off on October 18, 2024 and six students participated in this 7-week long seminar style learning that focuses on ‘Earth Observation and Surveillance.’
2024 Summer Programs
Over 54 interns (30 HIRES, 5 summer bridge, and 19 NSF REU/IUSE) got the opportunity to participate in the CUNY CREST High School Initiative in Remote Sensing of the Earth Systems Engineering and Sciences (HIRES), Summer Bridge, and National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduate & Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (NSF REU & IUSE) programs. Watch the video that encapsulates the 2024 summer programs.
A Python Workshop by Ryan Paul Lafler
CREST Institute in collaboration with NOAA-CESSRST II hosted a Python Workshop on February 19, 2025 in the Grove School of Engineering, the CCNY. The purpose of the workshop which was led by Ryan Paul Lafler, Founder, CEO, Chief Data Scientist, and Lead Consultant at Premier Analytics Consulting, LLC, was to Efficiently Access, Deliver, Visualize, and Analyze Big Environmental Data in the Cloud. The workshop was well attended by NOAA CESSRST II, CREST, & CCNY students, professionals, and faculty.
Mr. Said Mejia Successfully Defends his PhD Dissertation and Joins CCNY as a Post Doctoral Fellow
CREST Doctoral student in Civil Engineering at the CCNY, Mr. Said A Mejia Manrique successfully defended his dissertation on December 6, 2024. Mr. Manrique conducted research on Deep Learning Architectures for Improving Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Precipitation Estimates and Landslide Susceptibility Mapping: A Case Study of Puerto Rico under the mentorship of Dr. Reza Khanbilvardi. Mr. Manrique embarked on a new journey by joining CCNY as a postdoctoral fellow on January 2, 2025. He will conduct research on GSX Science Collaboration and Establishing a GXS Baseline Retrieval Algorithm. CREST Research Scientist and NOAA CESSRST II Distinguished Research Scientist, Dr. Mitch Goldberg serves as Mr. Manrique’s primary supervisor while Dr. Reza Khanbilvardi and NOAA GEOXO program Scientists including Dr. Andrew Heidinger are co-collaborators.
Dr. Shahab Afshari’s Scholarship for Excellence in Engineering Education
The CUNY CREST Institute is elated to announce the Shahab Afshari’s Scholarship for Excellence in Engineering Education, a scholarship established in memory of Dr. Shahab Afshari who tragically passed away in 2023. Dr. Afshari, a distinguished graduate of the Civil Engineering Department, earned his doctoral degree in the field of Water Resources Engineering. He was an exceptional role model known for his unwavering dedication to his education, friends, family, and colleagues. This scholarship has been established to recognize Dr. Afshari’s legacy and promote excellence in engineering education. Dr. Afshari’s commitment to work, integrity, and leadership served as an inspiration to many. CREST hopes that this scholarship will continue to inspire future generations of engineering students.