Meet the Panelists

M O D E R A T O R

Pat Malone is the Associate Vice President for Professional Education and Assistant Provost for Engaged Learning in the School of Professional Development.  In addition, Pat is the Executive Director of the Center for Corporate Education, serving over 1000 professionals annually. Pat is currently co-managing with Farmingdale State the Governor’s Offshore Wind Training Institute in partnership with NYSERDA.

Presenting nationally and internationally on the universities role in workforce, economic development and clean energy jobs, Pat has facilitated numerous forums with labor, education and industry including three Federal Department of Labor National Transformational Forums for the WIRED Grants and NYSERDA focus groups. 

In 2018 she launched the The Women In STEM Leadership Program serving scientists, engineers and other professional women in their leadership development.  Pat created the global award winning “Wall Street and Beyond” certificate program in collaboration with the Project Management Institute and the USGBC-LI to assist over 2000 dislocated professionals. She has conducted clean energy, manufacturing and aerospace labor market intelligence and development projects for the New York State Department of Labor, NYSERDA and the Governors’ Regional Economic Development Councils Opportunity Agenda.  She is on the Suffolk County Workforce Development Board, New York Association of  Employment Professionals, the REDC Workforce and Education Committee, Former board member and founding chair of the Outreach, Engagement and Economic Development Network for the University Professional Continuing Education Association (UPCEA) and served on the inaugural editorial board for their digital publication, UNBOUND.

She holds a BA from the University of Dayton, a Master’s Degree from Stony Brook University and co-edited the Jossey Bass publication “Enhancing Creativity in Adult and Continuing Education” and is the recipient of City and State’s “Corporate Social Responsibility Award”.

P A N E L I S T S

Aleida Perez is the supervisor of Student Research and Community Science for Brookhaven National Laboratory’s (BNL) Office of Educational Programs (OEP).  Before coming to BNL, Dr. Perez was scientist in the biopharmaceutical industry and educator in higher education.  Dr. Perez has a B.S. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan.  She has a strong background in virology and molecular biology research.  As a researcher, Dr. Perez worked in the field of oncolytic viruses and gene therapy.  Dr. Perez oversees the High School Research Program, the STEM Prep Summer Institute and the community science programs which includes SPARK and Open Space Programs. Through these programs, Dr. Perez is actively involved in the development and implementation of authentic educational research programs for students and teachers to access BNL user facilities and scientific staff.  She also collaborates with Cold Spring Harbor DNA Learning Center in the Barcode Long Island Project.  She is also committed to inclusion and diversity at BNL’s educational programs. Dr. Perez was a WDTS program participant herself, as an undergraduate at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.

Dr. Haiyan Gao is Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear and Particle Physics, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Henry W. Newson Distinguished Professor of Physics at Duke University.

She received her B.S. in physics from Tsinghua University in 1988 and her Ph.D. in Physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1994. She was a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign from 1994 to 1996 prior to joining the Argonne National Laboratory as an Assistant Physicist. She was on the faculty at MIT from 1997-2002 before she joined the physics faculty at Duke in 2002 and became a full professor in 2008.

Her research interests cover nucleon structure, searches for QCD exotic states, fundamental symmetry studies at low energy, and polarized gas targets. She was the Chair of the Physics Department from July 2011 to December 2014 at Duke University and served as the founding Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs at Duke Kunshan University from January 2015 to June 2019. She was named a fellow of the American Physical Society (APS) in 2007.

She chaired and co-chaired many workshops and conferences and has served on many committees and advisory panels, including the executive board of the APS, the Executive Committee of the Division of Nuclear Physics (DNP) of APS, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Committee on U.S.-Based Electron Ion Collider Science Assessment, the 2015 Nuclear Science Advisory Committee (NSAC) Long Range Plan (LRP) Writing Committee, and the program advisory committees at Jefferson Lab, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Mainz. Currently she is the Chair-Elect of the Executive Committee of the DNP and is a member of the 2023 NSAC LRP Writing Committee. She has been the Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear and Particle Physics at the Brookhaven National Laboratory since June 1, 2021.

Ieisha Hinson is currently a materials and process (M&P) engineer at The Boeing Company, with a focus on composites (carbon fiber-reinforced polymers) and non-metals. Ieisha works in the Boeing Research & Technology (BR&T) Vertical Lift Composites Laboratory where she supports development and production programs in the military helicopter division of Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS).

Ieisha graduated with a Master’s degree in Materials Science and Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering Science from Stony Brook University. Ieisha has been with The Boeing Company for over five years. Prior to her current role, Ieisha was an industrial engineer (IE) on the V-22 Osprey program. She is a former participant of the Engineering Career Foundation Program (ECFP), Boeing’s early career engineering and leadership development rotational program. In ECFP, Ieisha completed four (4) six-month rotations across the Boeing enterprise which included her role as an  IE on the V-22 program and working as an M&P engineer on a Manufacturing Research & Development (MR&D) paints and chemical processes team where she provided production support for both the V-22 and H-47 programs.

Ieisha also completed rotations working as a project manager on the BDS Digital Acceleration team in BDS Program Management and as an M&P engineer on the Thermoplastic Composite Materials and Fabrication team. Before joining Boeing full-time in ECFP, Ieisha completed three consecutive summer internships with The Boeing Company. Ieisha’s internship experience included working in the Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA) Fabrication Division supporting production for advanced developmental composites, supporting the Propulsion Systems Division (PSD) for the 737 MAX program, and working on a materials and process focused BCA metals, ceramics, and mechanical parts team.

In her free time, Ieisha enjoys trying out new food recipes, taking contemporary and hip-hop dance classes, and aerial fitness!

Kimberly works in the Radiological Controls Division of the Environment, Safety and Health Directorate at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). She is a Facility Support Representative (FS Rep) and currently assigned at the National Synchrotron Light Source-II (NSLSII) and the Center of Functional Nanomaterials (CFN), two state-of-the-art facilities which enable visiting scientists and industry partners to work with BNL’s staff to create, characterize, understand, and exploit nanomaterials in real working conditions for energy solutions. She assists these facilities by coordinating and conducting comprehensive commissioning radiation surveys of new beamlines; planning and providing job coverage at the operational beamlines which are using radioactive samples; calibrating, tracking, and maintaining survey instrument; facility dose characterization; employee dose tracking; and ensuring the routine radiological program remains federal regulatory compliant.

Kimberly received her AAS in Nuclear Power from Terra Technical College and has 30 years of experience and training in radiological controls and related fields. She became a National Registered Radiation Protection Technologist in 2002 while she was assigned as a Radiological Control Technician (RCT) at BNL’s Collider-Accelerator Facility.

In addition, Kimberly is a 10-year U.S. Navy Veteran and served as a Hospital Corpsman at the Naval Hospital Great Lakes and aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln.

Silvia Khurrum is a Senior Engineer and functions as a Project Manager in Research and Development.  She holds a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the Manhattan College and MBA degree from Fordham University.

In her current role, she leads various clean energy innovation projects in areas of supply, distribution, utilization, and demand side management. She manages projects resulting in commercialization of new products and solutions, partners with other utilities, innovative tech companies, academia, and national labs.   Highlights of Silvia’s involvement with industry groups includes being a chair for CEATI Demand Site Management Program and serving as a technical advisor under the joint EPRI and GTI Low Carbon Resources Initiative and Center of Hydrogen Safety on hydrocarbon, delivery and storage, codes and standards end-use applications and Company’s strategic initiatives such as development of Hydrogen Hubs and Thermal Energy Networks.

Silvia’s experiences include project management, engineering, operations, and performance of various power generation assets in The New York City and Boston areas as well as management of utility customer sited pilot programs.  She served in employee retaining and engaging roles and volunteer her time teaching youth communities about STEM.