Q&A with NJIT's BoT Chair and Stryker's President of Digital, Robotics, and Enabling Technologies

This month, three-time NJIT alum and new Board of Trustees Chair Robert C. Cohen ’83, ’84, ’87 was promoted to President of Digital, Robotics and Enabling Technologies at Stryker Corporation, one of the world’s leading medical technology companies, with facilities in N.J. 

Alongside his longstanding connection to NJIT — serving on Newark College of Engineering’s Board of Visitors for over 10 years before joining the Board of Trustees in 2018 and becoming chair this year — Cohen has forged an exemplary career at the intersection of technology and medicine, and holds more than 25 patents over his nearly four decades in the biotech industry.  

In his previous role as Stryker’s Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for the Joint Replacement division, he led a number of collaborations with NJIT in research and development. Here he shares his thoughts on his new role and his vision as NJIT’s new chair. 

Congratulations on your recent appointment. What does your new role at Stryker entail and what are you looking forward to most in the position? 

Thank you very much. This is a role any engineer would want, especially for someone who’s had a career in R&D as I have. I’ll be involved throughout all of Stryker to advance our robotics platforms, as well as our enabling technologies such as imaging and other Styker surgical equipment used in for everything from endoscopy, to sports medicine, to neurovascular procedures. 

It is an exciting chance to keep evolving Styker’s cutting-edge medical technologies with the goal that we can eventually take detailed medical data we receive from our equipment and begin learning more from surgical procedures, translating it toward better patient outcomes. This data and insight could help surgeons in making more informed surgical plans or help statistically to predict the best treatment for a particular patient. All this research and development will now be under one new entity at Styker. It’s a great opportunity to improve patient outcomes, and I’m proud to be part of that. 

Stryker employs many NJIT alumni who work on the design and production of medical devices, and the company has remained active in partnering with the university. What further opportunity do you see for enriching such fruitful collaborations that tap into, and drive, innovation at NJIT? 

The NJIT Alumni Association has done an amazing job by getting industry alumni clubs set up, such as those at Prudential, UPS, Mott MacDonald and Stryker among others. Stryker is very fortunate in its New Jersey location to have over 100 NJIT alumni employed over various areas— some in R&D, others in quality assurance or on the manufacturing floor as engineers. 

The impact industry clubs can have is tremendous. Having industry clubs engage in student mentoring is just one major area. We have many students that would benefit as they start making career decisions throughout their journey in NJIT. Ideally, we’d match them with an alum that is very close to what their aspirations may be. The alum can expose the student to the different professional possibilities, perhaps advising them on courses that might be valuable to take, and ultimately, helping them shape their career needs while NJIT. We can also look to our high school students, especially students in the immediate area around NJIT.  Stryker and the alums there can work with NJIT’s pre-college admission program to bring these students to our Stryker facility so they can see the benefits of a STEM degree and, for example, how it relates to 3D printing, robotics, manufacturing, design or computer simulation. We want to make what they hear about these technologies and the STEM professions into a hands-on and visual reality for them.  

Recently, you became chair after serving on the board since 2018. As a three-time alum, what does that appointment mean to you? 

Without question, it is an honor to have this Chair appointment. I’m following the long tenure of another NJIT alum in Stephen DePalma who did fantastic work as Chair. My re-engagement after three degrees with NJIT was back as being on the Newark College of Engineering’s Board of Visitors for the last 12 years. Combined with also being on the Alumni Association Board, I got to meet many students on campus and was fortunate to engage with faculty and the administration through many events. I’ve formed many great connections over the years as I have watched the progress of NJIT in so many amazing ways. 

What is your vision for the board and how do you see the board’s role within the NJIT community, especially during COVID-19? 

Our primary focus is on our students. We are keeping top of mind on the quality of education and the student experience, that students get jobs and are desired by industry, and that we have an industry-relevant curriculum. It is with a lot of pride that the Board of Trustees was able to share in the joy with President Bloom, Provost Deek and all the faculty in obtaining the R1 status for the university’s high level of research activity. It shows how far NJIT has come with high standards on its research and we are in elite company with other prestigious universities at that level.  

Taking over as Chair in the middle of the COVID crisis, we have needed to bring a lot of attention toward ensuring the safety of our students, faculty and our staff, while assuring the quality of education through hybrid learning during this pandemic is not compromised.  With Dr Bloom and the administration, the Trustees have fiscal responsibility through this time in order to come out of this strong and keep our trajectory for the future. Now a few months into the semester, the plan NJIT has put into place for reopening the college in a truly responsible, safe way has achieved results that have been remarkable. 

As you look ahead, how do you think the university's strategic plans, outlined in Building on a Strong Foundation—NJIT 2025, will continue NJIT’s positive trajectory? 

We are going stay true to our roots as a polytech. We will strive to maintain our R1 status and will continue to maintain our influence in the tri-state area while increasing our presence further across the U.S. and in certain international regions. COVID may have delayed some of our plans, as it has for everyone, but we are still going to get to our 2025 goals. It is the Trustee’s responsibility in working with the NJIT administration including President Bloom, Provost Deek, and many others to solidify that plan and obtain these objectives. 

NJIT has advanced so much and I take confidence from that that the university will continue its great progress. If you happened to be an NJIT alum visiting the campus for the first time in years, I think unquestionably, you'd be impressed with the transformation here — the facilities, our faculty and research, and the student population and all they are achieving. I know that as an alum myself, I couldn’t be prouder.