Seven students from New York Tech embarked on global research projects between June and October, supported by the Edward Guiliano Global Fellowship program.
Since its inception in 2014, the program has enabled over 210 students to undertake transformative research trips that connect academic studies with real-world experience. Scholarships ranging from $750 to $5,000 are awarded to facilitate travel to locations at least 200 miles from a student’s home or New York Tech campus. Several students from the summer and fall 2026 cohort shared insights on their experiences.
Low-Cost Trainers Enhance Trauma Care in the Dominican Republic
Christopher Pantelias and Joseph Daly, both students at the College of Osteopathic Medicine, traveled to Santo Domingo in June for their project titled “Effectiveness of Low-Fidelity Task Trainers for Teaching Lifesaving Trauma Skills in a Resource-Limited Setting.” In addition to studying osteopathic medicine, they are pursuing master’s degrees in medical-healthcare simulation and global health.
Over ten days, they taught trauma care techniques to community members and local healthcare providers, addressing a significant issue in global health: death from injuries largely due to inadequate access to emergency care. To create effective training tools, the students utilized low-cost materials such as pool noodles and PVC pipes to develop realistic training devices for teaching skills like tourniquet application and wound packing.
Each device was constructed for less than $5, demonstrating that effective medical instruction in developing nations can be achieved affordably. Their training included critical areas like massive hemorrhage control, CPR, and burn care. After training, the pair assessed the performance of participants, finding notable improvements in confidence and competency.
“By evaluating the effectiveness of inexpensive training tools for education, we hope to create a scalable model for trauma care training in resource-limited settings,” they stated.
Architecture and Tourism Research in Greece
Maria Paula (Maps) Navarrete Bernal and Maciej Karwowski, architecture students, spent two and a half weeks researching the impact of tourism-driven architectural restoration on local identity in Greece. Their fieldwork project, “National Identity in the Age of Tourism,” involved visits to 14 communities.
The students sought to explore how architectural restoration linked to tourism influences local identities amid globalization. Through surveys and interviews, they documented varied community perspectives on changes brought by tourism. Some locals expressed nostalgia for past conditions, while others welcomed economic benefits.
Their findings indicated a common view among locals and tourists that mass tourism has led to significant identity changes. The students plan to share their results through a research paper and a digital book, and aim to develop an awareness campaign on the importance of architectural restoration in areas affected by overtourism.
Navarrete Bernal and Karwowski also hope to present their research at the upcoming Architecture and Tourism Conference in Greece. “We spent time with very special people, bonding with them and hearing their unique and personal histories with architecture,” they reflected.
Other Fellowship Projects
Aiesha Ayaana Hamid, a bioengineering student, conducted her fieldwork in Hong Kong during August. MBA student Terry Kwan also traveled to Hong Kong for ten days at the end of September, while energy management student Valeria Ruiz Lopez spent one week in Peru in August.
The Edward Guiliano Global Fellowship program selects students based on project proposals that include goals, methods, and a budget plan.
The next cohort of selected students will travel during the winter and spring of 2027. Interested candidates may apply by October 30.
