Thomas DiBenedetto

Mechanical Engineer, Campus Planning, Design, and Construction
Start Date: May 22, 2023

Thomas DiBenedetto grew up watching Judge Judy with his mom, leading him to want to be a lawyer when he really grew up. But his first physics class in 10th grade – and “a law class I couldn’t stand in college” – changed everything. And just like that, it was goodbye courtroom, hello laboratory and computer calculations.

 “It’s like a spark was lit,” he says. And it’s one that allows Thomas to put his passion and skills to work to build real-world systems and help us solve real-world problems.

Thomas’ love for science and math runs deep and long …

“I can’t even believe I’m saying this, but after taking that first physics class in high school, there weren’t enough students interested in taking the next-level class, which was calculus-based physics,” he says. “So I actually met with my principal to explain that even though there weren't enough students, it was really important to my life trajectory that you make this class happen anyway. And then he made it happen!”

At Stony Brook, Thomas is putting his math and science acumen – honed at Harvard with his mechanical engineering degree and nearly a decade in private industry – to work on everything from a high-voltage laboratory at the Innovation and Discovery Center (IDC) to heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and other systems across the University.

“It’s amazing to me to be able to use science, math and equations to figure out how the real world works. And it was incredible to start my career here working on such an interesting project at IDC,” he says. Thomas is referring to the relatively new building that was used during the height of COVID to provide vaccines for the public, and today helps start-up businesses explore and develop cutting-edge technologies.

Like the high-voltage lab and laboratories in general, Thomas says SBU’s design guidelines and energy efficiency requirements are higher than for private businesses. It’s why our carbon footprint is so low and it’s what makes working here both challenging and fulfilling.

“I do things like heating and cooling and ventilation calculations. And I design ductwork and piping to work the way they’re supposed to work, and meet all of the requirements that buildings and different spaces have here on campus, which I love,” he says. “I’m also reviewing the drawings of engineers we hire from the outside to communicate to them what the needs of the campus are, and just making sure that they're doing everything that they need to do to meet our needs.”

Several years before coming here officially, Thomas had worked on a job as the ‘outside engineer’. “I was working on the replacement of a boiler that was basically as big as my living room,” he recalls. “I really liked working with all the people here and we developed a really good rapport. I also got such great feedback from everyone and I saw the caliber of the review processes and of all the employees here. So I always loved coming to the campus and found it really welcoming and fun. And now I get to come here every day.”

Along with the camaraderie he enjoys with colleagues at the University, Thomas is also thrilled to be back home on Long Island, following his time in Massachusetts at college and working for a year at a power plant (where he got his first taste of real-world applications for his mathematical equations). He grew up in Deer Park as an only child but surrounded by family.

“It was a struggle convincing my family to even allow me to leave Long Island and go to Harvard because everyone in my family always stayed local. All of my aunts and uncles live within a couple of miles of each other, I was always spending time with my cousins, and that's just always the way it was growing up.”

Happily making up for lost time now, Thomas is building lots of family memories, along with starting a new life in a new home in Ronkonkoma with his husband Joshua, who’s a third grade teacher, and their two dogs, Corgi-mix Ricky and Chihuahua-mix Cher.