Michael Nizich
Title: Director, Entrepreneurship & Technology Innovation Center
Department: College of Engineering and Computing Sciences
Campus: Long Island and New York City
Area(s) of Expertise: Cybersecurity, Software Development, Database Design, Data Science, Machine Learning, Quantum Computing
Education Credentials: Ph.D.
Industry Credentials: CISSP
Joined New York Tech: 2016
Michael Nizich, Ph.D., is the director of the Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC) and an adjunct associate professor of computer science at New York Institute of Technology. He has more than 25 years of professional experience in information technology in a variety of industries, including aviation, education, law enforcement, biotechnology, and cybersecurity. He has held IT leadership positions in both private and publicly held companies and has more than 15 years of teaching and research experience in higher education including classroom, laboratory, and online environments.
Nizich leads the ETIC's entrepreneurial education programs including its E.R.R.S.E.L.A. robotics program, iNTEREST program, YouTube channel, and its multi-year NASA prototyping contract that employs teams of multi-disciplinary student engineers to create functional demonstration prototypes from NASA patents. Additionally, Nizich directs New York Tech's Center of Academic Excellence for Cybersecurity Education, designated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency, and serves as a board member of several non-profit organizations including the Long Island STEM Hub, Long Island Innovation Hot Spot, and (ISC)2 Long Island Chapter.
Nizich is frequently interviewed by media outlets seeking expert sources for news stories about cybersecurity, quantum computing, and other IT topics. His insight has appeared in outlets such as Newsday, Communications of the ACM, Fox 5 New York, and many others. He is also the author of the 2023 book The Cybersecurity Workforce of Tomorrow, which shares vital insight into the most important knowledge, skills, and abilities that those looking to become cybersecurity professionals, or what he refers to as cyber heroes, should have in this environment.
Recent Projects and Research
- E.R.R.S.E.L.A. Robotics Program, NASA Technology Prototyping Contract, AISTETIC (AI Systems & Technologies by ETIC)
Selected Publications and Presentations
- Toma, M., Syed, F., McCoy, L., Nizich, M., & Blazey, W. (January 2024). Engineering in medicine: Bridging the cognitive and emotional distance between medical and non-medical students. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 12(1), 99–113.
- Beheshti, B., Nizich, M. (November 2023), Entrepreneurship Programs to Connect University Classrooms to Industry, 2023 IEEE International Conference on Teaching, Assessment and Learning for Engineering (TALE).
- Nizich, M. (2023) The Future of Work: The Cybersecurity Workforce of Tomorrow, Emerald Publishing.
- Jayaraj, S., Gedawi, A., Chen, Y, Nizich, M. (March 2023) Towards a New Model of Experiential Learning for Quantum Programmers. The First International Workshop on the Art, Science, and Engineering of Quantum Programming.
- Kim, H., Nizich, M. (August 2022) Analyzing User Behavior Against Phishing Emails, America's Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) TREO paper.
- Toma, M., Hitesh,Y., Dhaval, P., Nizich, M. (March 2021) Assessing Forces Exerted on Horses Using Varying Riding Crops. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science.
- Nizich, M., Campisi, M. (March 2021) The Emerald Handbook of Blockchain for Business: Chapter 16: Considerations for Blockchain Adoption and Integration. Emerald Publishing.
- Towards a New Model of Information Validation: Modeling the Information Validation Process of Police Investigators,"" Doctoral Dissertation, September 2015.
- Determining the Usage Patterns of an Electronic Records Management System by a Police Agency, 40th Annual Conference Northeast Business and Economics Association, 2012.
- Improving the Search Performance of a Police Records Management System. The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge, and Society. Volume 6, Issue 2, pp.211–220. 2010.
Professional Honors and Awards
- LISTnet Company Honorees – Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC)
- Long Island Business News – POWER 25 Education (2020)
- Presidential Excellence Award, New York Tech – Part Time Faculty (2020)
- Presidential Excellence Award, New York Tech – Team Award (2020)
Courses Taught at New York Tech
- CSCI 354 Principles of Information Security
- CSCI 362 Information System Security Engineering and Administration
- CSCI 260 Java Data Structures
- CSCI 455 Senior Project Capstone
- CSCI 760 Database Systems