St. John’s University Chapter of Sigma Pi Sigma Induction Ceremony - 4/17/13

The Sigma Pi Chapter at St. John's University would like to thank the Sigma Pi Sigma National Office and St. John's University for their generous support of this event. 

A special thanks to our Physics Alumni Speakers who took time out of their busy schedules to share their experiences and knowledge with us.

The event began with a "Physics is Phun"` game, led by Spencer Mamer, President of St. John's University SPS Chapter. Raw eggs were wrapped with a single piece of paper in an effort to construct the smallest size egg package which resulted in the egg inside remaining intact when dropped on a rock. Students, alumni, faculty and invited guests enjoyed collaborating in teams to form the egg packages, setting the tone for a fun and rewarding evening.

The induction ceremony was opened by Dr. Huizhong Xu, faculty advisor of SPS, who welcomed our current students, inductees, alumni speakers and others in the audience, and presented the history of Sigma Pi Sigma.

Dr. Huizhong Xu conducted the induction of new members and the charge to new members.

Our special guest speakers were:

Al Meneses
Financial Representative for Forest Hills Financial Group (FHFG) Business Planning, Personal Estate Planning, & Wealth Accumulation

Graduated from St. John's University and Polytechnic University in 1991 with a dual BS degree in Physics and Aerospace Engineering

Al worked for New York Life in Financial Services and later for FHFG.
Al has a strong sense of industry and community and is a member of the business-networking groups LeTip and the North Brookhaven Chamber of Commerce. He is a former NCAA Division I and Professional soccer player. He is a soccer coach and sports trainer and an active member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) which promotes the game of soccer and the education of coaches. He is an avid golfer and a member of the USGA.

Al was bom in Vina Del Mar, Chile and now resides in Miller Place, NY, with his wife Karen and their two children Daniel and Nicole.
Students can reach Al for future internships and/or career opportunities by email at al menseses@flifg.com.

Robert A. Jakobsze
Global Head of Supervisory Controls and Regulatory Reporting across Barclays Investment Bank, Wealth, and Corporate Bank.

He is responsible for the implementation of a strategic supervisory framework across all Markets Businesses, as well as Regulatory Transaction reporting globally.

Prior to this, Robert was the Global Head of Compliance Technology for Barclays Investment Bank and Wealth Management, where he was responsible for the design, development and operations of a broad portfolio of compliance and surveillance systems across Barclays,   including Capital Markets, Financial Crime, Control Room, and Corporate Compliance.

Robert has been a guest speaker at several major Compliance and FT industry events, speaking on topics relating to Financial Markets, Regulatory Risk and Compliance Technology; Anti-Money Laundering Technology Solutions; Managing Compering Regulatory Demands in a Global IT Infrastructure; Service Oriented Architecture; and Technology Innovation.

He is Barclays' representative on FINRA's Technical Advisory Committee and a member of Barclays Architecture Working Groups.
Prior to Barclays, Robert ran Compliance Technology globally at Lehman Brothers where he matured a fragmented compliance program into a best-of-breed, risk-based global surveillance platform.
Prior to Lehman, Robert was part of the Senior FT leadership team at the New York Stock Exchange where he headed Enterprise Systems Development. While there, he established and managed the NYSE's first Enterprise Architecture program, led the IT integration PMO for the NYSE-Archipelago merger, delivered many significant software engineering projects, managed large-scale programs for the NYSE, and standardized development approaches around an iterative life cycle, architecture-first priorities, and industry best practices in software project management.

Robert was a pioneer in introducing offshore software development to Wall Street. In 2001, he started the program at the NYSE, and helped several firms ramp up and mature their offshore outsourcing programs.
Before joining, the NYSE, Robert spent 14 years in software development and systems engineering in the utility and manufacturing industries. He received his BS in Physics from St. John's University, BS
in Electrical Engineering from New York Polytechnic University, and MBA from New York Institute Technology. He is a New York State Licensed Professional Engineei

Andrew Parkes
Building Manager
Asset & Property Management
Physics Adjunct Instructor
St. John's University from Fall 2011 to present
BS in Physics May 2004 St. John's University

Emily Lavelle
Law Offices of Dominick W. Lavelle
B.S. Physics, 2003

Emily received her B.S. degree in Physics and J.D. degree from St. John's University in 2003 and 2006 respectively.  She is currently an attorney at the Law offices of Dominick W. Lavelle.

Law Schools: St. John's University School of Law-J. D. '06
    Awards: Dean's List Graduate

    CALI Award Recipient (Business Organizations)

College: St. John University- B.S, summa cum laude '03 (Physics)

    Awards: Gold Key to Physics Department

High school: Portledge School, cum laude '00

    Awards: Slanetz Award (Valedictorian)

    Barbara Lisanne Ayers Memorial Award for Outstanding Scholarship

    Portledge Bowl

Damon Urso, P.E.
Project Manager for Design Projects for the Nassau County Department of Public Works, Water and Wastewater Engineering Unit

Skull and Circle Honor Society Inductee, 1971, St. John's College
BS in Pre-Engineering, St. John's University, 1973
Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering, NYU, 1973
Masters of Business Administration, St. John's U, 1979
Master of Science in Civil Engineering, Polytechnic Institute of NY, 1984
Chi Epsilon Member, Civil Engineering Honor Society, NYU-Poly
New York State Professional Engineering (P.E.) License, 1981

Employment:
1987 - Present: Nassau County Dept of Public Works
1984 - 1987:   Dvirka & Bartilucci, P.C.
1978 - 1984:  United States Environmental Protection Agency
1973 - 1978: Hazen & Sawyer, P.C.

Kingsley Joseph
Kingsley Joseph is a graduate of the class of 2010 from St. Johns University. He graduated with his bachelors degree in Physical Science with a concentration in Biomedical Engineering.

As part of a combined degree program with Polytechnic Institute of NYU, with the assistance of current physics chair Dr. Sadoqi, and former physics chair Dr. Finkel, hewas able to receive his Masters' degree in Biomedical Engineering conferred upon in January 2013.

Despite his victimization in 2007 which forced Kingsley to take a medical leave of absence, with the help of the St. Johns Community he was able to persevere and succeed academically.

Currently Kingsley is studying at Columbia University, pursuing a degree in Medical Physics-2014. His current interest include therapeutics as well as nuclear medicine imaging.