Assemblymen Garcia and Mukherji Visit Stevens Institute Campus

Assemblymen Garcia and Mukherji Visit Stevens Institute Campus

Hoboken – On January 23, 2014 - Assemblymen Carmelo G. Garcia  and Raj Mukherji met with Stevens Institute of Technology President Dr. Nariman Farvardin for a tour of the campus and to discuss the school’s innovations, programs, and opportunities for the newly-sworn legislators to enact policies at the state level to improve the delivery of higher education in Hudson County.

Assemblyman Garcia, Assemblyman Mukherji, and President Farvardin talked about the school’s improvements and significant strides in recent years.  Among other rankings, Stevens is now ranked first in New Jersey and ninth nationally based on a 30-year net return on investment.  Messrs. Garcia, Mukherji, and Farvardin discussed their shared commitment to higher education and the potential impact on constituents of the 33rd Legislative District and throughout the state.

Notably, Colonel John Stevens built a steam-power operated ferry boat named the Juliana, which began operating ferry service between Hoboken and New York City in October 1811.  Current students are presently rebuilding a life-sized replica of the Juliana. Assemblyman Garcia said “These are the kinds of projects that inspire young minds to get involved and look for solutions in daily life.”

Assemblyman Garcia indicated a desire to establish a summit on education among local school and university officials to create a roadmap linking students to these local institutions of higher education and assist the students in their paths to a future with promise and opportunity.   

After the meeting, the Assemblymen took a tour of the Davidson Laboratory for Marine Research.  The laboratory specializes in marine monitoring and forecasting and experimental marine hydrodynamics (ship design and evaluation).  Mr. Garcia and Mr. Mukherji also visited the state-of-the-art Hanlon Financial Systems Lab.  The lab will integrate the latest hardware and software technologies, accessing real-time data, as well as historical time series data, to support innovative research into the most common and urgent problems in contemporary finance.