FIU success highlighted at National Press Club

FIU bridged the gap between Miami and D.C. recently as U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) officials made their way down to the Sunshine State for a major groundbreaking on campus, and President Mark B. Rosenberg flew north flanked by students and staff to represent the university in the nation’s capital.

Collaborating for Change: Analyzing New Approaches for Student Success

FIU President Mark B. Rosenberg, Professor Sat Gavassa Becerra, and student Randy Juste stand outside The National Press Club before the panel

On March 31, Rosenberg joined FIU Biology Professor Sat Gavassa-Becerra and student Randy Juste, currently a peer teacher in FIU’s Learning Assistant program, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. to discuss the effectiveness of FIU’s strategies to improve student success in college gateway courses.

Transforming STEM gateway courses into more “active learning” environments proved successful in reports by FIU. The university’s deep roots in Miami-Dade County Public Schools also prove the positive effect university-led enhancement of K-12 programs has on rates of college enrollment and completion for students.

The panel was hosted by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) in partnership with the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities (USU).

FIU’s Dr. Aileen Marty partakes in Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (PACCARB) Meeting

Dr. Aileen Marty participates in a meeting at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Dr. Aileen Marty—professor of infectious diseases in the Department of Medicine at the FIU Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine—took part in this year’s second public meeting of the PACCARB with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She was granted a seat on the panel in 2015 and lauded for her work on Ebola and the Zika virus.

This year, Marty was part of two working groups on the panel: Diagnostic Innovations and International Collaboration on CARB.

FIU-City of Sweetwater UniversityCity Prosperity Project Groundbreaking Ceremony

FIU administration joins South Florida Congressional delegation and local elected officials to break ground on the UniversityCity Prosperity Project at MMC

FIU joined the City of Sweetwater, several of South Florida’s elected officials, the U.S. Department of Transportation and additional distinguished guests at MMC to move the first rock on the UniversityCity Prosperity Project—a “Bridge to the Future” linking FIU’s main campus to the City of Sweetwater.

“Our entire congressional delegation and USDOT believed in FIU as a solutions center and supported this TIGER grant,” said Rosenberg, “in particular, the leadership of Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz and Congressman Mario Diaz-Balart, who led their colleagues in building support for our efforts.”

FIU is the first university awardee of the U.S. Dept. of Transportation’s TIGER Grant, under which the UniversityCity Prosperity Project is funded. The project includes a bridge, improvements to the entrances of MMC and the 109 Avenue plaza area in Sweetwater, and enhancements to local smart parking and transportation system software as well as community transit.

FIU Aerospace Engineering Club presents at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

FIU Engineering students Jorge Cisternas and Edwin Moore present at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum

On April 1, FIU Aerospace Engineering Club President and SGA Senator Jorge Cisternas and Aerospace Engineering Club Vice President and Treasurer Edwin Moore presented their 8-foot competition airplane during the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s 2016 National Robotics Week. The plane was awarded third place worldwide at this year’s Lockheed Martin SAE Aero Design competition.

Gordon Institute student competes in State Department Wonk Tank Diplomacy Lab Fair + Competition

FIU Green School student Eshrat Nikrooye-Asli shows off a plaque marking her participation as a finalist in the U.S. State Department’s Diplomacy Lab Fair and Wonk Tank Competition.

On April 1, four Green School students—Hannah Batista, Rudy Constanda, Laura Ortiz and Arabella Jones—flew up to D.C. along with Gordon Institute Assistant Director Hector Cadavid to support FIU student Eshrat Nikrooye-Asil at the first annual U.S. Department of State’s Diplomacy Lab Fair and Wonk Tank Competition. Nikrooye-Asil was one of four finalists from 30 submissions for the competition. Her policy proposal centered on a counter-narcotic discussion forum in the Middle East.

“A lot of us put in hard work to do this and it went fantastically,” said Nikrooye-Asil. “I did not place first, but I have been happy to participate and had a great time doing it!”

Very Important Panthers spotted in D.C.:

• Saif Ishoof, Vice President for Engagement — National Press Club Collaborating for Change panel
• Brenezza “Breny” Garcia, Assistant Vice President of Institutional Relations — National Academy of Sciences meeting
• Dania Pearson-Adams, Associate Vice President of External Relations — Protocol Training
• James Knapp, Director of Development for the FIU Honors College — State Department Policy Hack summit
• Jason Webster, IT Assistant Director

For more information on FIU in D.C., please visit washingtondc.fiu.edu, and follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.