Meet the Instructors

Chris Bolobanic

HVAC/R Instructor

Chris Bolobanic started out in the HVAC and Electrical trades as a Minuteman III Missile Facilities Specialist in the US Air Force from 1984 until 1988. He earned the Inter Continental Ballistic Missile Master Technician Award. along with the Good Conduct and Air Force Commendation Medals during his enlistment.

From 1988 until 2008, Chris was a Plant Operations Mechanic at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead, NY. He was lead electrician and assistant lead HVAC mechanic who worked on critical healthcare facility systems.  Chris then worked as a Plant Engineering mechanic at Good Samaritan Hospital and Plant Engineering Supervisor at Good Samaritan Nursing Home in Sayville, NY from 2008 until 2010.

From 1999 until 2014, Chris taught various Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Electrical and HVAC courses in addition to schematic and blueprint reading courses at Eastern and Western Suffolk BOCES. In 2007, Chris received the Outstanding Adult Educator of the Year Award from the Suffolk Association of Continuing and Community Education.

 Chris earned an Associate’s Degree in Electric Power Systems from Community College of the Air Force and an Associate’s Degree in General Studies from Suffolk Community College. In addition, Chris earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire Protection and Prevention from SUNY Empire State College and a Master of Professional Studies Degree in Human Resource Management from SUNY Stony Brook.

After Chris taught construction Electricity, from 2010 until 2013, at Western Suffolk BOCES in Dix Hills, NY, he came to the Electrical Training Center. As a licensed NYS Private school teacher, Chris teaches various day and evening HVAC courses ad believes that an everyday, even balance between lecture and lab sessions will lead to the best outcomes for all Electrical and HVAC/R Training Centerstudents.

Pedro Salcedo

Electrical Instructor

Pedro Salcedo began his career as a helper doing residential wiring in 1989. His father was a member of IBEW Local 3 and this sparked Pedro’s interest in becoming an electrician. As a journeyman & wireman, he worked on many projects ranging from low-voltage to 13,000V. 

After realizing the current need for future electricians, he wanted to spread his expertise. After meeting with Sal Ferrara in 2015, he officially became an instructor at Electrical/HVAC Training Center. 

Anthony Mallick

HVAC/R Instructor

Anthony Mallick started in the HVAC industry working for a company installing window units along with washer & dryer unit installations and repairs. 

He then started his own company with a partner. With his company, he continued window installations and appliance installation and repairs. He then expanded his skillset to commercial equipment.

After shutting down his company, he later worked for an air-conditioning and electrical company doing high-end residential & commercial services. There he was the installation & maintenance senior technician & taught nights at APEX HVAC school. 
He later left & went to work for a large service, installation, and maintenance company as the field supervisor, where he was responsible for 17 technicians. He would meet with them at customer locations to resolve problems that tech’s could not resolve on their own.

Now he is currently working and helping to shape the HVAC program at The Electrical/ HVAC Training Center.

Mike Sokoly

Electrical Instructor

Mike started in the Electrical Trade in 1969 as an apprentice helper until 1973. After 5 years in college, he re-entered the trade as a Foreman in New Jersey. He moved to Long Island in 1983 and was a Foreman for 6 major electrical contractors up until 1992. 

In 1992, he became a Licensed Security and Fire alarm Installer in New York State. Since then, his Company, MES Security Systems has been installing Security and Fire Alarm Systems throughout the New York Metropolitan area. He consults in this field for Electrical and Alarm Contractors on Long Island. 

Since 1996, he has been a New York Department of State Instructor for the 81 Hour Security and Fire Alarm Licensing, as well as an instructor for the 600 hour Electrical Training Program at the Electrical & HVAC/R Training Center. In these 600 hours, 48 hours were of practical alarm installation techniques.

He has an extensive background and expertise in NFPA 70, 72,101 New York License Law and Local Jurisdiction Fire Alarm requirements. He works extensively with Fire Marshals on Long Island to evaluate and develop code standards for Fire. He also interprets and applies these standards. He has assisted the Town of Brookhaven in developing their Carbon Monoxide standards in 2014, and other Local Fire jurisdictions in the implementation of Carbon Monoxide Standards. He has been a Director of the Long Island Alarm Association for 7 years; 2 years as Secretary and is currently serving his last year of his two year term as Vice President, as well as serving as Co-training Director and Co-administrator of LIAA’s Magazine “The Communicator.”


Thomas Gardega

Electrical Instructor

Thomas Gardega is an experienced certified teacher at the Electrical Training Center. He brings a fast amount of knowledge, experience and instructor effectiveness to the benefit of his students.

Mr. Gardega teaches for the Electrical and HVAC/R Training Center, NYS & CSEA Partnership, Delhi University, United States Green Building Council, (USGBC), National Electrical Contractors Association New York City, (NECANYC), Suffolk County Department of Labor, and Private Tutoring. He is qualified to teach the following subjects: Basic Math; Trade Math; Algebra; Master Electrical License Preparation; Master Practical; Gas and Oil, Motor Controls; Pipe Bending; Basic Estimating; Advanced Estimating; Basic Project Management; Advanced Project Management; Electronics; Electrical Technology; Energy Auditing; GPRO Electric and GPRO Fundamentals

Mr. Gardega has written a number of ISO 9000 documents for the electrical and thermal spray industries and writes curriculums based on this format to satisfy the Accrediting Council for Continuing Education and Training, (ACCET) and the Bureau of Proprietary Schools System, (BPSS). He has produced hundreds of drawings using Auto-Cad for us in the instruction of Students by himself as well as other Instructors.

Mr. Gardega Is a Certified Electrical Inspector, past Vice President and co-founder of XIOM Corporation, past Vice President of National Thermal Spray.

Mr. Gardega secured and successfully completed seven New York State Research and Development (NYSERDA), SBIR/DARPA, Empire State Development Authority (EMIG), New York City Industrial Development Authority (ITAC), projects and has been awarded seven associated patents:

Apparatus for thermal spray coating
United States Us 20080041979

Process for thermal spraying the internal surface of a KORT nozzle in situ
United States US20100112207

Apparatus for thermal spray coating
United States US20050082395

Multiple stage flow amplification and mixing system
United States US20090095823

Powder thermal spray coating composing at least two thermal plastics
United States US20070173590

Robert Liptak

All Trades & OSHA Instructor

Robert Liptak is a certified Master Carpenter Instructor at the Electrical and HVAC/R Training Center. He is currently the instructor for the “All Trades” program. Prior to joining the faculty of Electrical and HVAC/R Training Center in 2013, Mr. Liptak was an instructor for the Youth build and Vets build Long Island program where he worked with veterans and youth on restoration and energy upgrade building projects.

Mr. Liptak is the owner of Robert Edward Cabinetmakers and has experience in fine woodworking such as high-grade cabinet and furniture fabrication, design conceptualization, restoration, energy efficient building and repair. His credentials include NCCER Certified, BPI Certification, SST Training certified, NYC DOB OSHA Construction certified, RRP certified and Green Advantage Certified. Mr. Liptak is also the CEO of Logistical Safety Consultants LLC. It is a company that provides OSHA NYC DOB Site Safety training and environmental construction safety training.  

John McGinn

Electrical Instructor

John McGinn is a lifetime resident of Long Island. He grew up in Islip Terrace and graduated East Islip High School, class of 1978. While attending high school, John attended the Electrical 2 year BOCES program and he spent his free time working for an electrical contractor. John has been in the electrical field for almost 50 years.

After graduating high school, John worked for various electrical contractors - working in various areas in the field. During the course of his career, John did electrical work for the Central Islip Psychiatric Center . John has also worked as an electrician for East Islip School District. He retired after working there after 32 years.

John has taught Electric I and II Adult Education at BOCES in the Bellport and Oakdale campuses for 9 years. He is teaching the Electrical I Program and the Introduction to the Electrical Trade at Hempstead high school, a program for High School students. He has now been with the Electrical/HVAC Training Center for almost 10 years.

When John is not teaching, he works for his own electrical contracting business. John also makes himself available to help his students when not in the classroom by providing extra help.

Scott Sousa

Electrical Instructor

SUNation Vice President, Engineering, Licensed Master Electrician
Scott Sousa has been a Licensed Master electrician for over 30 years. He also has 10+ years of solar design and installation experience with over 2000 projects completed. Scott is NABCEP certified and an  IREC PV training instructor for Bronx Community College, NY Sun Trainers Network and the Electrical and HVAC/R Training Center.

 

Joseph Murray

All Trades Instructor

Joseph started construction after graduating high school. He was interested in working with his head and hands. He worked in residential/commercial roofing and the sheet metal business for many years. He attended HVAC/R school to focus on becoming involved in the business. He worked for four years in residential and light commercial air conditioning. He applied his knowledge in the refrigeration area of HVAC/R in schools and hospitals. Today he is the instructor for the “All Trades” program at Electrical Training Center. He applies his background of construction work and shares his expertise with his students. Mr. Murray is also OSHA and SST certified instructor. 

John Cangemi

Electrical Instructor



Served apprenticeship as Electrician
NY St. Bd. of Regents Technical H.S. Electrical/Electronic Diploma
Associate Applied Sciences- (Electrical Technology)
Bachelor’s Degree Electrical Engineering
NYS Adult Continuing Education License

More than 50 years in the electrical/electronic field
More than 40 years in public safety engineering at Underwriters Laboratories
John is the President of the NY Chapter of IAEI
(International Association of Electrical Inspectors)

John has been awarded an Honorary Inspector Membership to the Benjamin Franklin Chapter of the IAEI

 John serves / has served as a member of:

    UL LLC Distinguished Member of Presidential Technical Staff
    NYC Bureau of Electrical Control-advisory board
    NYC Electrical Code Committee
    State of New Jersey Electrical Sub Code Committee
    International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI)
    Executive Board Eastern Section IAEI
    Executive Board NY Chapter IAEI
    Executive Board Long Island Chapter IAEI
    Executive board Municipal Electrical Inspectors of New Jersey
    NFPA User Friendly Task Group for 2002 National Electrical Code
    NFPA Code Making Panel 7, for the 1999 - 2005 National Electrical Code
    NFPA Code Making Panel 6, for the 2008 - 2017 National Electrical Code

John has served as an instructor/presenter for:
   Electrical and HVAC/R Training Center
    International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
    National Electrical Contractors Association
    International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI)
    5 Boro Electrical Contractors Association
    Nassau Electric League
    Suffolk County Electrical Contractors Association
    OSHA 500hr Safety Training Course
    Numerous jurisdictions including: the states of CT, FL, MA, ME, MD,NC, NH,

NJ, NY, PA, RI, TN, AND VT.
    Numerous Educational, inspection, and trade associations
Burlington Safety Lab

Steve Paduano

Electrical Instructor

Steve began his career in the construction industry when he was about 15 as his father was an electrician. He was the one crawling in customer's attics, crawl spaces or digging ditches as needed. 

When he was in tenth grade he had the opportunity to go to trade school; he chose welding because in the few years that he was an electrical helper, he did not see the upside of the electrical industry. When he completed the BOCES welding program, he worked as a welder for four years doing all phases of welding mostly in the aerospace industry.

After those four years of welding, he realized he should give electrical work another try. He then applied to the Local 3 apprenticeship program. The apprenticeship program was a five and a half year program.

He became a Local 3 journeyman in 1992. After that, he took many certification classes such as blueprint reading, network installation and testing, fiberoptic termination as well as others to make him a better electrician.

In 1999, he became a Master electrician and for the past 15 years he had his own company doing residential, commercial and industrial work. 

In 2017, he became a certified OSHA instructor teaching both the 10 hour and 30 hour classes to others in the trades. 

He enjoys bringing all of this experience to the classroom and tries to pass along as much knowledge and experience to the students as he cans. Steve was once the All Trades Instructor at Electrical and HVAC/R Center and is currently the Electrical Level 1 Instructor. 

JAMES M. MUNDY, JR

CDT, CFPS, CSI, mSFPE, NYS CCEO, SET

Instructor

James Mundy has fifty plus years of experience in Fire Alarm, Building Signaling, Fire Suppression, Access Control, Environmental Control and various signaling systems. This uniquely qualifies him in consulting, commissioning and is a qualified expert witness. 

He is an accomplished speaker, master instructor and has been preparing students for NICET examinations since the early nineties.

Mr. Mundy serves in advisory capacities to local, state and national bodies and previously was an International Organization for Standardization Convener.  

He serves NICET as an Ambassador with special interest focused on improved practitioner competency to assure public protection.


Philip Massaro

HVAC/R Instructor

Philip Massaro- Started working in the HVAC industry as a helper in 1985 for Gifford’s Oil Company in Central Islip. Gifford’s installed boilers, hot water heaters, and did light commercial work. Gifford’s sent Mr. Massaro to night school at Boces in Dix Hills for heating and controls. In the early 1990’s, Gifford’s was bought by Petro Fuel Oil (Heating and Air Conditioning & he worked doing several aspects of service and installations. Trouble shooting clients that had multiple call backs to doing cleanings on pool heaters, residential homes, to light commercial equipment. He started teaching HVAC/R in 2012 at Branford Hall in Bohemia NY before coming over to the Electrical and HVAC/R Training Center at the end of December 2017 til present. 

Pedro Torres 

Instructor

Pedro learned the electrical trade in 1977. He started as a helper and then worked his way up to become a Senior Foreman. He worked as an electrician for one company for 20 years. 

After being with the company for so long, Mr. Torres wanted to teach the trade so that people could learn new skills. He wanted people to be able to learn from him so they are able to work and provide for their family. For Mr. Torres, family is very important. 

He is fully licensed to teach the Electrical Trade. He also has a BA in Liberal Arts as his major and has a minor in Psychology. He just received his Honorary Doctorate Degree in Humanity. 

Pedro was an electrical instructor at both Berk Trade School and Apex Trade School. According to Berk, “He is very knowledgeable and passionate about what he does.” At Apex Trade School, he was the instructor for the MTA program. He is also known by his past students as Mr. T. 

After Berk Trade School, he was the coordinator of the Electrical Department for the Career Institute of Technology. 

Mr. Torres loves to work with the High School students at the Electrical and HVAC/R Center. He believes that if you teach someone a trade, that they will take it with them for the rest of their lives. 

Stephen Merola 

Instructor

Stephen has been studying and working in the field since 1974 back when he was in the Navy, and has been teaching since the 80’s. 
He was not only written up in some of the major industry magazines but also wound up on the cover of two of the top ones, CE Pro and Smart4ome.  
He was also recognized and won several Mark of Excellence awards in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. He used to get recognized every year for HAI’s 5 Star dealer award, and when HAI was bought out by Leviton, the owners of Leviton wanted his system put in their homes. They asked the owner of HAI who he would recommend to do the installs and they recommended Stephen. The owners of Leviton are some of Stephen’s clients.   
He does a lot of work on his own for Habitat for Humanity and was recognized for that as well. He’s taken just about every class this industry offers, a lot of them from the Electrical & HVAC/R Training Center. Stephen owns his own company, Futuristic Home Inc. and has an array of some very high profile customers who he services.  

Stan Komorrowski

Instructor

Stan has over 42 years with Local 3 I.B.E.W. in the commercial end of the electrical industry. He is a highly seasoned and dedicated NYC Master Electrician. He has held multiple roles such as, Superintendent ,General Forman, Forman, and Sub Foreman.

Stan is very detailed oriented and is committed to safety, quality and customer satisfaction. He was an Instructor for Local 3 Supervision training and was a member of the Superintendents committee. He is currently an instructor for the Electrical Training Center. 

He is also a NYC code committee member that served on Chapters 1 And 3 for the adaptation of the NYC 2014 NEC code.

Justin Gallo

Instructor

As a safety and electrical project consultant, Justin is both diligent in fulfilling safety compliance requirements and is committed to upholding the standards of the industry. He has continued to develop and expand his own safety education actively and aggressively. Justin is extremely well versed in the methods, standards, and protocols involved in creating safety training policies, procedures, manuals, and courses that both engage and resonate with students, that are highly effective in the field, and are compliant with all required standards. 

Justin holds dual degrees in construction electricity and a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. In addition, he has 30 years' experience in the electrical contracting industry as an electrician, foreman, estimator, project manager, vice president and safety director/manager. Justin holds multiple master electrical and occupational licenses in NYS as well as SMS (Safety Management Specialist), CHST (Construction Health and Safety Technician), CIT (Certified Instructional Trainer) and STSC (Safety trained supervisor construction) certifications awarded by the Board of Safety Professionals. Justin is currently working on additional continuing education endeavors and is serving a volunteer position with Suffolk County NY, CERT.  

Tom Terino

Instructor

Tom Terino has been in the electrical industry for over 40 years. He started out as an apprentice, working his way up as a journeyman electrician, sub-foreman, foreman and superintendent. He has been a Vice President Licensee for 7 different electrical contractors. 

Tom has 9 different electrical licenses covering 15 states, mostly focusing on New York City and Long Island. 

He is a member and contributor of Code Making Panel #3 for the new upcoming edition of the NYC Electrical Code. 

He is currently the electrical license holder and Chief electrician for WABC television studios and Disney properties in New York City. 

He has been teaching electrical theory and the electrical code for over 25 years in both New York and New Jersey and has 3 different teaching licenses. 

In Memory of Wilbert Hawes

Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,

 

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Wilbert Hawes. Mr. Hawes passed on December 30, 2020 after a long battle with cancer. We are sad not only at the loss, but at the loss of an exceptional individual who helped all students, staff and faculty in any way he could. Mr. Hawes loved teaching and was very proud of his students. Mr. Hawes had been a valued team member since January 2014 and will be greatly missed.

 

Please keep Mr. Hawes’ family in your thoughts as they go through this difficult time.


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