NCTT Director Biographies

Gordon F. Snyder, Jr. is Executive Director and Principal Investigator for NCTT at Springfield Technical Community College (STCC), where he also manages curriculum development for networking. At STCC he helped develop the Verizon Next Step program and now serves as the New England telecommunications curriculum coordinator for the program. He is the author of four engineering and engineering technology textbooks and has over 14 years of consulting experience in the field of communications and LAN/WAN design. He has served on several local and national boards including the Microsoft Community & Technical College Advisory Council, the Massachusetts Telecommunications Council and the National Skill Standards Board (NSSB) Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Voluntary Partnership representing the telecommunications, computer, and information industry sector. He currently chairs the Institute for Telecommunications Technologies Board at Cuyamaca College, El Cajon, California, the NSF National Center for Optics and Photonics Education Board in Waco, TX and the Convergence Technology Center Board in the Dallas Fort Worth. TX metroplex. Closer to home he chairs the Technology Enterprise Council (TEC), a regional, industry-led organization working hand-in-hand with academic institutions and other non-profit organizations to advance the growth and success of companies driven by information and communications technologies in Southern Vermont, Western Massachusetts and Connecticut. In this region he also sits on the Regional Technology Coucil (RTC) Board of Directors and the RTC Executive Committee. He also writes a bi-monthly technology column for the Spanish newspaper La Prensa. In 2001 he was selected as one of the top fifteen technology faculty in the United States by Microsoft Corporation and the American Association of Community Colleges and in 2004 was selected as the Massachusetts Telecommunications Council Workforce Development Leader of the year. His popular weekly blogs and podcasts, done in collaboration with Mike Qaissaunee are read and listened to by thousands.

James Downing STCC Assistant Professor of Telecommunication Technologies James N. Downing is the NCTT Co-Principal Investigator of Subject Matter Expertise (SME). At Holyoke Community College, Downing served as Chair and revitalized the Electronics and Computer Technology program. He worked in industry for ten years. Downing was a Senior Systems/Instrumentation Engineer at Geo-Centers, Inc. where he developed and tested fiber optic based sensor systems for chemical and pressure sensing. While at Galileo Electro-Optics Corporation, he ran a fiber optic characterization lab and later served as an electro-optics development engineer, where he received a commendation for his work in infrared fiber-based instrumentation systems. Downing is also an author of several professional journal articles. He holds a bachelor's and master's degree in electrical engineering from Western New England College and is currently enrolled in the electrical engineering doctorate program at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Downing will be responsible for NCTT's photonics curriculum.

Mr. Michael T. Qaissaunee is an Associate Professor of Engineering and Technology at Brookdale Community College in Lincroft, New Jersey, Mr. Qaissaunee is founding Director of the Mid-Atlantic Institute for Telecommunications Technologies (MAITT), established through funding from the National Science Foundation to develop cutting-edge technician education programs in wireless communications. As Principle Investigator (PI) of this project, Mr. Qaissaunee has led the development and implementation of nine (9) new courses related to wireless communications technologies and has presented at over thirty (30) conferences and seminars. Mr. Qaissaunee is also Co-Principle Investigator (Co-PI) for the National Center for Telecommunications Technologies (NCTT) located in Springfield, Massachusetts, serving as a subject matter expert in wireless communications and leading NCTT's national dissemination efforts.

For his demonstrated leadership in wireless education, documented collaboration with the wireless industry, support and mentoring of students in wireless projects, their own innovative research and educational initiatives, and their efforts in preparing students for employment in wireless and wireless-related industries Mr. Qaissaunee has been selected as recipient of the 2007 Global Wireless Education Consortium (GWEC) Wireless Educator of the Year Award.

Mr. Qaissaunee is also working with Hofstra University's Center for Technological Literacy to develop contemporary, high-interest materials for high school technology students and teachers that address standards-driven technological concepts and skills and promote promising STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) career choices. Mr. Qaissaunee has been active at his own campus and around the country in promoting the adoption of new technologies in and approaches to teaching and learning, including: blogs, audio and video podcasts, wikis, mobile computing, and educational gaming and simulation.

Michael Qaissaunee received his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware (Newark, DE).

Joseph N. Joyce, Jr. Chief Operations Officer, Joseph N. Joyce, Jr., is also the Administrator of the STCC Verizon Next Step Program, a position he has held since 1995. Joyce's experience includes serving as Associate Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs at the Massachusetts Board of Regents (now the Board of Higher Education), where he oversaw revision and implementation of system wide academic policies and evaluated requests for new academic programs for Massachusetts public colleges and universities. He holds a bachelor's degree from Fairfield University in Connecticut, and a master's and doctorate in history from the University of Southern California. As Chief Operations Officer for NCTT, Joyce will be responsible for day-to-day operations as well as for the center's fiscal management.

Nina C. Laurie is the Staff Associate and manages the day-to-day activities including the Regional Partner Collaborative, the annual Curriculum Workshops, and the High School partners and Administrative Staff. Nina is the Principal Investigator for an AACC/NSF MentorLinks grant. Before coming to NCTT, Nina was Assistant Director in the Office of Science and Technology Advancement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Nina holds a dual bachelor’s degree in biology and geography from Mount Holyoke College and a master’s in geography from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those
of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the National Science Foundation.

This material is based on work
supported by the
National Science Foundation
under Grant Number DUE 0302548.

Springfield Technical
Community College

NCTT c/o STCC, One Armory Square, PO Box 9000, Suite 1, Springfield, MA 01102-9000
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