NJIT Alumni Achievement Awards Recognize Impactful Highlander Grads
A marquee event in NJIT’s annual alumni weekend festivities, the Alumni Achievement Awards ceremony recognizes a select group of alumni for their exceptional accomplishments in any field of endeavor. This year's class includes engineers, designers, innovation and entrepreneurial incubators, green technology financiers and board members. Read more about each of the winners:
Mark Gamba began his career 40 years ago at Electro-Nucleonics, Inc. as a full-time biomedical systems engineering technician while attending evening classes at NJIT, ultimately earning a B.S. in electrical engineering in 1982 followed by an M.S. in engineering management in 1999.
He was employed by McKeon & Graino Associates as a consultant prior to working for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as a senior electronics engineer in 1999, a position he held for 24 years. He currently serves as Principal of Electronics and Communications Engineer. He has designed and overseen major communication programs and projects. One of the largest programs the agency has undertaken was the design of the communication infrastructure for the four world-class Port Authority airports — simultaneously.
Other major engineering projects that have been part of his career are the PATH train and control center that track trains both below and above ground. His latest appointment is Principal of Electronics and Communications Engineering for the entire JFK airport redevelopment program.
Among the various honors Mark has earned is the Meritorious Service medal for 20 years of service in the U.S. Army and National Guard, and the Port Authority Commissioner Award for his design and setup of the emergency command center during the 9/11 attacks in New York City. As a senior member of Princeton University’s Sigma XI Scientific Research Society, he was also recognized for designing a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) security sniffer in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security while working for ADT Security Systems.
As an alumnus and contributor to both the NJIT engineering academic and Highlander athletic boards, he has also judged grammar and high school science projects at the Liberty Science Center, as a representative from the Port Authority. In addition, he has volunteered with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Union, and coached little league in both Union and Whippany.
Brian Kiernan, retired vice president and chief scientist of InterDigital Communications, received a B.S. in electrical engineering from Newark College of Engineering in 1970, and an M.S. in Management Science/Operations Research from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Kiernan was directly responsible for InterDigital’s worldwide technology and industry standards activities and aided in developing new market, product and technology initiatives by providing strategic technical and marketing support to InterDigital’s sales, marketing and business development efforts as well as the company’s worldwide patent and licensing programs.
Previously, Kiernan served as the president of USTC World Trade Corporation, an international sales and marketing subsidiary of InterDigital’s predecessor company, International Mobile Machines (IMM). He quadrupled revenues in two years and opened new markets that accounted for over 90% of InterDigital’s past product revenue. Prior to his sales position, Kiernan was IMM’s vice president of Engineering and Operations.
Under Kiernan’s tutelage, IMM/InterDigital grew from an unknown tiny telecom company with a big idea and zero revenue to an acknowledged worldwide force in mobile communications with some 14,000 patents, annual revenue in excess of $500 million and a $2 billion market cap.
Before joining IMM, Kiernan was a senior staff engineer at GTE Products Corporation, where he generated and evaluated military communications systems concepts that included mobile and fixed station radio, circuit and message switching, and network management and control. He has been a speaker at numerous industry conferences, published numerous papers and holds 27 patents.
After retiring from InterDigital, Kiernan has served as chair of the Albert Dorman Honors College Interdisciplinary Design Studio (IDS) program, which evolved into the NJIT Undergraduate Research and Innovation (URI) Program. In this capacity, Kiernan, along with other URI board members, evaluates and guides numerous student projects, several of which have developed into student companies. As an active angel investor, Kiernan has supported a number of these student companies and continues to guide them as they develop. He is also an active member of the NJIT ECE Industry Advisory Board and the NJIT Highlander Angel Network, where he has invested in several NJIT-related companies.
John F. Larkin is currently the head of Impact Investments and senior portfolio manager at Avenue Capital Group, a $12.4 billion global investment firm. He is responsible for the overall direction of the Avenue Impact Strategy, which seeks to provide creative financing solutions to companies that can demonstrate a measurable, positive environmental outcome alongside positive financial returns. In addition, he holds a seat on the firm’s management committee.
Previously, Larkin was head of Alternative Investments - Americas at Deutsche Bank where he managed the private asset platform. While at Deutsche Bank, he served as a board member of various investment funds and as a speaker on the topic of climate change. Larkin was previously head of the Private Investment Group and co-head of Special Investment Group at Merrill Lynch. He has served on the boards of Cogent Energy Systems, North American Biofuels Co and Amelio Solar. These firms focused on innovative technology in the cleantech sector where he has been an avid personal investor and spokesman for over 20 years.
Larkin is a retired Navy Commander and decorated Aviator and holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Bob Medina is the principal of Medina 43 Business Strategies LLC, a management consulting firm. Services offered include business strategies, organizational structure, business culture, market opportunities studies, business development, leadership coaching, recruitment and retention plans, expert reports and testimony, financial plans, operations plans, mergers and acquisitions, transition planning and integration, succession planning, community engagement, and political landscapes.
After graduating from NJIT, he joined Goodkind & O’Dea, Inc. (now Dewberry) as design engineer. From 1977 to 1980, he served as a project engineer at A.G. Lichtenstein & Associates (now TranSystems) and project manager at the RBA Group from 1980 to 1989. In 1989, he founded Medina Consultants, PC, and grew the firm to be the third-largest Hispanic-owned engineering firm in the U.S. and an ENR top 500 firm. He later acquired Robinson Aerial Surveys, Inc., an aerial mapping and survey firm and Technical Associates, Inc., an MEP engineering firm.
In 2010, Medina Consultants merged with TY Lin International, an international engineering firm, and was appointed senior vice president and a member of the board of TY Lin’s east district, overseeing business development and operations for five offices in New York City, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He retired from TY Lin in 2014.
Now, Medina serves as chair of the NJIT Board of Overseers, a member of the Board of Directors at NJII, and co-chair of the NJIT Hispanic and Latinx Leadership Council. He is a member of the Conservancy Council of the Nature Conservancy in New Jersey. He rejoined the Board of Directors of the Morris County Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce in 2022. Past affiliations include board member/vice chair, New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority; committee chairman/board member, ACEC-NJ Small Firms; board member, ACEC-NY Metro Region; chair, Morris County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; member of the Delaware River Flood Mitigation Task Force and the New Jersey Economic Growth Council.
He is a recipient of many awards, including New Jersey Transit Entrepreneur of the Year.
Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Businessman of the Year, Morris County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Businessman of the Year, US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Region V Hispanic Businessman of the Year, Latino Institute Empresario Award, and Lifetime Achievement Award, Morris County Hispanic American Chamber of Commerce.
Medina Consultants was named Minority Professional Firm of the Year by the U.S. Department of Commerce in 2009 and Competitive Edge MBE Award of Excellence by the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey in 2007.
Virginia Mayo is vice president of Security and Resiliency Architecture, distinguished engineer, and The Open Group™ distinguished technical specialist at Kyndryl (formerly IBM Services).
She is a globally-recognized technical expert for her outstanding history of leadership in enterprise infrastructure automation, security and resiliency. A native of the IBM Global Technology Services (GTS) business, she powered innovation that transformed IBM's security and compliance solutions to standardize the GTS service, converging on a best-of-breed architecture and strategy. This led to her appointment as a distinguished engineer in 2020 becoming the first-ever Filipino-American technical executive in IBM/Kyndryl corporate history.
As Kyndryl customers strengthen their business continuity, Virginia provides technical leadership in security and resiliency global delivery practice to ensure secure and compliant systems are built to protect clients' businesses with resilient and flexible solutions. Virginia holds a dual Bachelor of Science in computer engineering and information technology and a Master of Science in engineering management from New Jersey Institute of Technology. As a recognition of her career achievements, Virginia received The Outstanding Filipino in America (TOFA) award at Carnegie Hall in October 2021.
Jonathan Ferrer is the designer and founder of Brew Watch Co. One of the top watch brands in the U.S. He studied industrial design at New Jersey Institute of Technology where he was an adjunct professor teaching design and manufacturing. He has been working professionally within the watch industry for over 10 years.
Coming from a lineage of jewelry designers for Cartier, he set off across the globe working with some of the world's best manufacturers, suppliers, and craftsmen in order to learn the trade himself and further his education within the industry. Working on his passion project, Brew. He began designing watches in the cafe. It was in that place that he designed and brought to life Brew watches.
