Collin Preston returned to his alma mater to deliver a career presentation to students
When Collin Preston received a Computer and Information Sciences degree, he had made his mark as a researcher and problem-solver.
His undergraduate years at SUNY Fredonia were defined by curiosity and collaboration, working alongside faculty mentors to tackle challenges that blended technology and medicine.
One of Mr. Preston’s most notable achievements was his co-authored paper, “Lossless Compression of Medical Images Using Burrows–Wheeler Transformation with Inversion Coder,” written with Dr. Ziya Arnavut and Dr. Basar Koç.
Presented at the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society Conference (EMBC) in 2015, the year Preston graduated, the research introduced a novel method for compressing medical images without losing diagnostic detail — a critical advancement for healthcare systems managing vast amounts of imaging data.
Preston’s research journey didn’t stop there. He contributed to a groundbreaking study published in “Science Translational Medicine,” titled “An Automated Smartphone-Based Diagnostic Assay for Point-of-Care Semen Analysis,” alongside a multidisciplinary team including M. K. Kanakasabapathy, M. Sadasivam, A. Singh and others.
The project demonstrated how mobile technology could transform reproductive health diagnostics, making testing more accessible and affordable worldwide. It was a clear example of Preston’s ability to apply computational thinking to real-world problems, bridging software engineering and biomedical innovation.
After graduation, Preston transitioned from academia to industry, joining IBM, where he works on enterprise technology solutions involving cloud computing, data analytics and software engineering. His career reflects a trajectory of growth — from undergraduate researcher to industry innovator — while maintaining the problem-solving mindset he honed at Fredonia.
On Nov. 14, Preston returned to SUNY Fredonia to give a talk to Computer and Information Sciences students, sharing his work experiences and career insights. His presentation emphasized adaptability, continuous learning and the importance of leveraging a strong academic foundation to thrive in the tech industry.
Today, Preston stands as an example of how curiosity, perseverance and a Fredonia education can lead to impactful contributions in both research and industry.
