KCC Engineering Students
KCC engineering students traded the classroom for the center of New York City’s energy industry on June 18, networking with top energy executives and, in some cases, receiving on-the-spot internship offers at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce's 2026 Energy Summit & Expo. From left are KCC students Valandia Fontus, Jason Lopez, Brandon Nolasco, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President of Innovation and Strategy Dina Rabiner, student Nigel Simmons, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Randy Peers, 3D Design and Printing Instructor and Lab Tech Michael Victor Danza, and students Bogdan Hyrhoryan, Kawther Saadi, Benjamin Mercado, Adrian Decoteau, and Anthony Sanders.
KCC Engineering Students Network and Land Internship Offers at Brooklyn Chamber’s Annual Energy Summit & Expo
Some of the city’s biggest names in New York’s energy sector were in attendance at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s annual Energy Summit & Expo on June 18 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Among them, collecting business cards and even on-the-spot internship offers, were Kingsborough Community College engineering students, accompanied by their 3D design and printing instructor, Michael Victor Danza.
The students were among 500 attendees at the full-day networking event and trade show, which also featured panel discussions, breakout sessions, and fireside chats on the latest in renewable and clean energy, AI, and the future of the industry by the people who shape it.
Danza’s students first attended the Expo in 2024, their participation funded by a National Science Foundation Racial Equity in STEM grant. Since then, KCC students have attended as the invited guests of Brooklyn Chamber President Randy Peers and Senior Vice President of Innovation and Strategy Dina Rabiner.
“The future of the clean energy economy depends on the next generation of engineers and innovators,” said Dina Rabiner. “By including Kingsborough students together with industry leaders, employers, and policymakers at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Energy Summit, we’re helping create the connections, opportunities, and workforce pipeline needed to power our future.”
Students aren’t passive observers when they attend the Expo; instead, they’re given opportunities to network with energy executives and learn more about the industry. Some walk away with job and internship offers, but all of them leave with a deeper understanding of the sector’s job market and what companies are looking for in future hires.
“I learned a great deal,” said KCC student Nigel Simmons. “I spoke with representatives from Schneider, Con Edison, and several other companies. I was even offered an internship opportunity with a company involved in solar energy, and space-related work with another company located in Industry City.”
KCC engineering student Bogdan Hyrhoryan learned about how offshore wind technology can be applied to his work in systems maintenance. He said he enjoyed networking with representatives from Powertech Controls, a global supplier of automation controls and components. He left with invitation to tour their Long Island factory.
For Kingsborough student Hamza Ali, the Expo served as both an introduction and a launchpad into New York’s energy workforce.
“My takeaway from the event was that if I want to be a successful engineer, then I need to keep up with the times and adapt to them,” she said.
The Expo gave her and her fellow engineering students an opportunity to do just that.
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