 Notable commencement speakers at NYIT during the 2000s included George Pataki, the 53rd Governor of New York, Sanjay Kumar, chairman and CEO of CA Technologies and Chuck Schumer, United States Senator from New York, among others.In 2016, NYIT placed first at the Long Island regional round of the New York State Business Plan Competition, Stony Brook University placed second.In 2016, NYIT beat dozens of global competitors to take first place in The VEX Robotics Competition.