What’s a savvy Tech student to do? Invent a solution, of course! From this problem was born Reinvend, a vending company that partners with local restaurants to provide college students with 24/7 access to healthy, filling meals. According to Peart:
Reinvend is bringing students exactly what they want; good food, whenever. Reinvend delivers fulfilling meals from all your favorite restaurants to strategically placed, vending machines right on campus. We work with restaurants to create custom compact packaging that allows for food texture and flavor to be preserved while refrigerated, and fit into our vending machine compartments. We use custom rotary vending machines which allow for customers to retrieve their meals from a small locker located on the machines rotating drum. Our menu ranges from baked goods, to rice bowls, sandwiches and more. When food gets close to the best buy date, we donate all meals to food rescue non-profit organizations.
Peart has a history of being an entrepreneur. She founded her first startup, SLATE, during her first year at Tech. Her partners and co-founders were her first friends, met through the Honors Program. She got involved with the Create-X I2P program, giving her the confidence to create new products, like Reinvend. That first year on campus was when Peart was introduced to typical student eating patterns—a bit erratic and not always healthy. The transition in 24/7 food access from NYC to Atlanta was also a bit of a shock, and services like Uber and Doordash proved to be cost prohibitive on a student budget. Enter Reinvend.
The idea began with exploring ways to earn passive income through vending machines and blossomed into a solution for the campus food problem. Peart created a prototype for the Reinvend machine, as well as a customer-facing brand Chew – Want (a play on the phrase “what you want”). As Peart says, “at Reinvend we always aim to stock our vending machines with exactly what Chew-Want.” After her second year, she began developing a business plan and, while studying abroad at Georgia Tech in Lorraine, met her business partner Gabe Shafiq. After returning to Georgia Tech, they launched the company and applied for Create-X. Their involvement with Create-X led to participation in the Fusen portfolio, which is a venture capital fund started by Christopher Klaus.
They spent the past summer refining the brand and participated in Demo Day, allowing them to showcase the startup to students and investors, and then built up a group of brand ambassadors over the fall. About the brand ambassador program, Peart said:
We started the student ambassador program on campus as a way for students to work with us on developing the best product for them. The program is for anyone looking to gain experience, work on something meaningful, or just believes in Reinvend’s mission. Its super chill and is meant to just be a fun way for students to get involved and for us to make sure that we are always being customer centric with our practices. Students get to make a visible difference on campus, meet like-minded people and get cool merch. So, if anyone has ever been interested in the startup world this may be their chance.
They will be opening another round of student brand ambassador applications this spring.
They are now working with GT dining to introduce the vending machines across campus and hope to compete in the InVenture Prize this spring. Peart has a vision for Reinvend to become the “future of automated convenience” on college campuses, focusing on consistency of product quality and open lines of communication with students to understand their wants and needs. Future machines could include things like school supplies and beauty products, just to name a few. You could even find them in unexpected places, like nightclubs where you need that perfect pair of flat shoes or apartment buildings, where residents might need toiletries or grocery items. Reflecting on the future of Reinvend, Peart says:
]]>Convenience is what drives innovation, making things easier to do or get is what we all pay for, and the fastest service wins. Always having the products you need be no further than the front door is by far the fastest and most convenient. Vending machines are simply not being used to their full potential in the US. In many Asian countries buying products from vending machines is just as common as from a normal storefront if not more popular because its literally faster, and we hope to bring that same culture to Atlanta.
We talked to Bernardo and Rohan to learn more about their projects, their time in the Honors Program, and what they plan to do after graduation.
Bernardo Perez is a fourth-year electrical engineering major from Iowa City, IA who was a member of the team FRMBX (short for “Farm Box”). Farm Box is a 2’x2’x5’ box that autonomously grows plants. It is equipped with sensors to monitor the growing environment, grow lights, and an irrigation system to water the plants. The box is aimed at researchers to help them gather information about the best conditions for growing different plants in a controlled environment. A demonstration video of the project can be found online. FRMBX won for the best project in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Bernardo plans to continue pursuing his ECE education with a master’s degree after graduation. While at Tech, he’s been involved in a variety of clubs and activities, including through the HP. He’s held a leadership role on a RoboJackets team that develops soccer-playing robots (including competing in the RoboCup 2023 competition in France), published a paper on HLS (High-Level Synthesis), and conducted research through the ECE Opportunity Research Scholar’s program with Sharc Lab. Bernardo took a variety of HP classes and lived in HP housing, where he met some of his closest friends who continue to be his roommates today!
Rohan Thandu is a fall 2023 Mechanical Engineering graduate from Sammamish, WA who was a member of the team Big Hero 6. Their team developed Unravl, a device that aims to revolutionize the textured hair care industry, making it faster and less painful to take down braids while being safe and ergonomically friendly for the braider. The Swella Unravl Device received recognition for being the best overall project (tied) among 129 total teams. The project was sponsored by Swella and conducted under the guidance and technical expertise of Dr. Tequila Harris (Professor, ME). The team plans to showcase their product at the Inventure Prize competition this spring. Rohan is returning to GT this semester to pursue a master’s degree in mechanical engineering focusing on robotics and automation, and then plans to pursue a career working at the intersections of engineering and computer science.
Rohan will take his experiences in VIP classes (GT EcoCAR) and undergraduate research on sleep apnea with him out into the “real world” post-graduation. While at Tech, he took a variety of Honors Program classes and met some of his best friends in the HP dorm. Rohan reflected that:
taking HP classes provided me with the chance to connect with many professors and other like – minded students which fostered a free and creative learning environment...Sharing the ups and downs of all four years together with my [HP] friends has been an invaluable and defining experience for me. These relationships not only added enjoyment to my college years but also provided a sense of home away from home, making every shared milestone, dinner, and late-night discussion that much more meaningful.
Congrats to Bernardo and Rohan, as well as HP member Varun Roy from team GentriX, on their outstanding fall 2023 Capstone Expo wins! We’re proud of your accomplishments and can’t wait to see what you do in the future.
]]>Georgia Tech is home to one of the TEDx groups, TEDxGeorgiaTech, run by Executive Director Kaitlyn Crutcher. Kaitlyn is a second-year Computer Science major from the Atlanta area and a member of the Georgia Tech Honors Program (HP). Additional members of the HP also serve on the leadership team, including Austin Coley as the Director of Community, Fisayo Aromolaran as the lead on the Programming Team, and Melody Lee on the Production Team. Their most recent event on November 10, 2023 included another member of the Honors Program, Marie Wibisana, as a featured speaker. The fall salon was focused on the theme “Evolve,” which encouraged speakers to engage with the ideas of continual change, adaptation, and progress.
The event was led by Executive Director Kaitlyn Crutcher. In addition to her leadership of TEDxGeorgiaTech, Kaitlyn serves as a business analyst in the Georgia Tech Consult Your Community (CYC), which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing pro-bono consulting for small businesses. For the national taskforce of CYC, she is the Conference Innovation Lead, where her team is working with Emory to create a March 2024 conference bringing all the CYC chapters together. Kaitlyn is also a Research Assistant within the AI-CARING Institute, which is a multi-university collaboration to create technological solutions for people with Mild Cognitive Impairment. She has been very involved with the HP, including serving as a guide at the new student retreat held in August 2023.
HP member Marie Wibisana addressed this year’s theme—Evolve—with her talk “Dear Freshman: You’re Not Alone. A Love Letter to Those Struggling.” You can see her Powerpoint and a video of the event online. Marie is a first year Computational Media major from Jakarta, Indonesia. She shared this about her presentation:
As an international freshman who has never really been to the U.S, I struggle with adapting to an extremely new environment. My presentation was an open love letter to fellow struggling people that they are not alone, that change and adapting to a new environment will be difficult but will mold them into a better version of themselves. My presentation also highlights that there is no singular definition to ‘THE College Experience.’ I drew digital art on my presentation slides, aiming for a conversational storytelling approach. I also sang a childhood Indonesian song with my ukulele at the end of the presentation.
In addition to her involvement with TEDxGeorgiaTech, Marie is a web designer and front-end developer on GT Web Development Club’s project team. Her team is creating the GT Club Explorer Website, a website that will showcase all 500+ clubs at Georgia Tech. She is also involved in the Georgia Tech International Ambassadors (GTIA), an organization that hosts intercultural events (night markets and seminars) and brings a safe space for current and incoming international students. Marie is also a digital artist, vlogger, and YouTube content creator. While she’s only been on campus for one semester, she’s enjoyed attending HP events, including the pumpkin patch visit to Southern Belle Farms.
It’s no surprise that curious, creative, and innovative students such as Austin, Fisayo, Kaitlyn, Marie, and Melody in the HP would be drawn to TEDx. The HP is proud of its strong representation among the team leading TEDxGeorgiaTech! You can follow TEDxGeorgiaTech on Instagram at @tedxgeorgiatech.
]]>This year, 22 Georgia Tech students were selected by the United Nations to participate in the Millennium Fellows program—more than double the number selected for last year’s program. Two of those students, Noah Egan and Rachel Mason, are members of the Georgia Tech Honors Program. We asked Noah and Rachel to reflect on what drew them to the Millennium Fellowship and their time at Georgia Tech in the Honors Program.
Noah Egan is a fourth-year computer science major who has been involved in undergraduate research on biological systems such as the collective behavior of ants and competition in nature. Rachel Mason is a third-year biology major on the pre-med track. Her research has been in the Lobachev Lab (genome stability) and in the area of cancer treatment. Both Noah and Rachel love the outdoors, which is no surprise given the focus on sustainability that’s at the heart of the Millennium Fellowship. Noah spends time backpacking with Outdoor Recreation Georgia Tech (ORGT), while Rachel is a cascading instructor with ORGT.
Both Rachel and Noah highlighted their impressive background in biological research in their Millennium Fellowship applications. Noah is combining his interest in environmental preservation and increasing diversity and inclusion in STEM fields into a project that focuses on educational outreach programs for local Atlanta high schools and community colleges. The programs will focus on building awareness about STEM careers that focus on sustainability, such as engineering alternatives for clean fuel sources. Rachel and her partner James Shin are focusing on reducing inequalities in access to cancer care. They are working with the organization Be the Match to connect cancer patients with bone marrow donors. Marrow donation can save the lives of those with blood disorders, including cancer, but those in racial and ethnic minority groups may struggle to find matching donors. Rachel will work to help close the racial gap so that Black patients are equally likely to find a bone marrow donor as their white counterparts.
After graduation, Noah hopes to enroll in a PhD program in computational biology, continuing with a career in academia. He would like to run a research lab focused on collective behavior and sustainability. Rachel hopes to enroll in an MD-PhD program and pursue high-impact cancer research through cell therapies. She is particularly interested in continuing to mentor and volunteer to further the goal of health equity for all.
Noah and Rachel have been members of the Honors Program community since joining in their first year and living in the HP living learning community. While Noah missed the HP incoming student retreat because of COVID, his experience of living in the HP dorm has led to the development of close friendships that have remained through his time at Georgia Tech. Both have taken numerous HP classes, and Rachel cites Dr. Paul Verhaeghen as particularly impactful in inspiring vibrant conversations among her HP friends.
The Honors Program is proud of what Noah Egan and Rachel Mason have accomplished so far in their time at Georgia Tech, including being named Millennium Fellows, and looks forward to seeing what the future holds for them. Congrats!
]]>HP student Jordan Artis, a member of the VIP team, served as the lead student conference coordinator for SoccerCon. In that capacity, she handled all of the RSVPs, served as a student speaker, worked with the City of Atlanta to have Mayor Andre Dickens submit a brief video presentation for the conference, and arranged for special guests like former Atlanta United player Greg Garza and Atlanta Journal-Constitution sportswriter Doug Roberson. She even designed the amazing logo! Dr. Bowman felt that Jordan’s “creativity, leadership, and hard work produced the finest elements of the conference.” Jordan reflected on her experience this way:
Before this, I had zero experience planning anything, let alone a conference that would have over 130 people in attendance. So, for me, my biggest takeaway (as cliche as it may be) is that you never know until you try. From working with Vera Zeigler who has been on the biggest stage in front of 70,000 fans at Atlanta United games to getting the Mayor of Atlanta to do a video for us, both of those connections started with a simple email. Beyond this, I would also say it is important to seek discomfort. If you had told me last year that I would take a leading role in planning a whole conference, I would have thought you were joking. However, now I am grateful for the last eight months of work as I achieved many firsts: I successfully conquered my first ever public speaking engagement, I now have legitimate experience in event planning, and I also gained some marketing/advertising experience. It was uncomfortable at times, but ultimately, I found peace in the unfamiliarity.
Other HP students, including Anna Abernathy, Yaron Bernstein, Johan Gouws, Vinay Govindaraju, Daniel Holman, Abel Tilahun, and Ryan Zhou participated in the INTA 3242 class, VIP class, and/or various aspects of the conference.
Johan’s research focused on the diversification of national soccer teams (such as France having a large number of players of North African descent) and its impact on style and culture of play. Johan said that he enjoyed SoccerCon “immensely and had some great conversations with various people about [his] research topic, why [he] chose it, and how to better go about [his] research.” Abel’s research focused on the social, political, and economic impacts on the host country before and after large soccer events such as the World Cup. The event allowed him to connect with awardee Ogba Afeworki and encouraged him to join the VIP team in fall 2023 to participate in building a mobile application for the 2026 World Cup. Ryan reflected that the experience taught him that “while we have learned many powerful lessons on the relation of soccer to global politics and public policy, many grassroots efforts go unnoticed at the global and academic level which deserve greater recognition.” In addition to his contributions through two research posters, Vinay served as the team leader of the Discrete Research Team for the VIP.
Overall, it was an extremely successful event, with students and attendees learning much from the experience. The work will continue—with several Honors Program students participating—in Dr. Bowman’s VIP classes on Soccer, Community, Innovation, Politics (SCIP) in fall 2023 where they will continue their research, produce documentary films, work on community engagement, and develop a podcast centered on soccer and society.
You can read more about SoccerCon in this article by David Hopings, the Director of Storytelling for Soccer in the Streets and a participant in the conference.
]]>Joey Gemini has served as the co-president for the last two years and handed over the leadership of the organization to Honors Program students Connor Johnson and Alfonso Lagares de Toledo when the rocket touched down from its launch (a GTXR tradition). Gemini is an AE major from Chicago, IL who oversaw the vehicle's high-level development, manufacturing, and administrative operations in his role as co-president. Of the Honors Program’s involvement, Gemini said:
The Honors Program was essential in supporting our launch effort as they generously covered the flight costs for HP students. Our team strives to fund travel expenses for students so there is no barrier to entry to attend launch; the support and contributions from the Honors Program are key in making that possible.
Connor Johnson, a third-year AE major from Midlothian, Virginia, is excited to step into the role of co-president and guide the design of next year’s rockets, using the valuable information about two-stage rocket integration procedures and design improvements gained from the summer 2023 launch. Johnson has been actively involved in undergraduate research on gas turbine engine emissions and worked with the GT Mobile STEM Laboratory VIP, which aims to create an array of science demonstrations to bring to K-12 schools. He’s also been an active participant in Honors Program classes and activities, with his favorite experience being in Dr. John Cressler's IAC 2002: Science, Engineering, and Religion class and the community that emerged from it. He’s also been an HP intramural sports champion, helping out the dodgeball, kickball, and softball teams.
In addition to Johnson and Lagares de Toledo who are serving as the incoming co-presidents, Honors Program students Morgan Gregg, Robert Ajluni, Joseph Clary, and Prem Pendkar are also on the team. Morgan is a second-year AE major from Huntersville, NC. The experience gained from GTXR has led to her finding her footing in avionics, where she will be continuing next year as the Supporting Systems Lead. Morgan is involved with Women of Aeronautics and Astronautics and serves as a mentor at the Aero Maker Space. Morgan reports that her involvement with the close-knit community of the Honors Program has led to her meeting people who are now among her closest friends at Georgia Tech.
The Honors Program is proud of the HP student members and leadership of the GTXR and looks forward to an even more impressive launch in 2024!
You can read an additional story about the launch online or follow GTXR on Instagram.
]]>Two students stand out with what they have accomplished even before starting at Georgia Tech.
Ayush Pai is a transfer student who is coming to Georgia Tech from the University of Florida. In his application to the Honors Program, he cited his eagerness to participate in the Student Challenge Fund to “create innovative, service-oriented projects.” After being inspired by his volunteer experiences with the Shooting Stars Foundation, he wants to develop additional innovative service projects that can make a real impact on people's lives.
His decision to transfer was driven by Georgia Tech’s strengths in computer science overall, and AI specifically. Pai has developed a system to bring AI technology onto the basketball court, assisting referees. No more missed traveling or double dribble calls, as AI can step in when referees miss something. You can read the full story about Pai’s innovation here and see a video of him talking about the program on YouTube.
Esha Venkat is a first-year HP student from Ashburn, VA who will be majoring in Public Policy and minoring in Science, Technology, and Society. Esha is one of the founders of NEST4US, a 501(c)3 organization that seeks to mobilize “volunteers worldwide to advance progress on societal issues and spark equitable solutions for the greater good.” Their core programs address more than 14 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Esha has spent over 4,000 hours in volunteer work around issues such as global hunger, climate change, mental health, quality education, and social injustice. NEST4US has over 6,000 volunteers who have contributed over $3 million in value through their volunteer efforts across more than 30 countries.
In her Honors Program application, Esha stated that “joining the Honors LLC would amplify my Georgia Tech experience by serving as a platform where I’ll network with fellow ambitious students and industry experts to continue effectively bridging the gaps in the social fabric of our ever-changing world.” You can read more about Esha’s accomplishments on the NEST4US founder’s page.
]]>The weekend silent retreats will be held at Ignatius House Retreat Center, where students can engage in silent reflection with the comfort of a private bedroom and bathroom and gourmet meals, all situated on a gorgeous 20-acre wooded campus on the Chattahoochee River in Sandy Springs, GA.
The retreats are open to ALL Honors Program students, regardless of religious or secular spiritual tradition (or no spiritual tradition at all). They will be held multiple times throughout the fall and spring semesters and focus on such themes as spirituality in nature, mindfulness, and science and spirituality. Participants can focus on various aspects of their well-being, including having a sense of purposeful existence and meaning in life, seeking harmony with the universe, extending compassion towards others, practicing gratitude, and engaging in self-reflection.
Thanks to the generosity of GT benefactors, Honors Program students can attend this retreat at no cost.
Read more about this opportunity and how to apply. Thank you to Dr. Cressler and the generous GT benefactors who are focused on improving the well-being of Georgia Tech students, including those in the Honors Program.
]]>In her role as a Residence Hall Director, she guides the Resident Assistants in implementing programming that meets the needs of the HP student population. Programming is often done thematically each month, such as focusing on health relationships in February and inclusive community building in March. Jordan also conducts a biweekly HD Café, where she can connect with residents over coffee and snacks, hear what’s going on in their lives, share campus resources, and give them a space to decompress. She has a special interest in working with high-achieving students, like those in the Honors Program, to challenge and support them in developing as leaders that prioritize wellbeing. The programming that she provides has recently been recognized for its excellence by the Southeastern Association of Housing Officers (SEAHO) at their annual conference.
SEAHO brings together people who work in all aspects of on-campus living in the southeast to share knowledge and connect. At this year’s SEAHO meeting, Jordan presided over a session titled “Weird Flex, But Okay…Disrupting the Pain Olympics in High-Achieving Student Populations” where presenters shared best practices for disrupting unhealthy habits and redirecting students towards a more sustainable work ethic that is centered on positive wellbeing. Here is the abstract for the session she crafted:
When is the last time that you heard a group of students one-upping each other on who stayed up the latest to study for an exam? Or who skipped the most meals because they were just “too busy”? Collegiate environments that celebrate and normalize over-involvement are failing to support students’ fight against burnout; this issue of the “Pain Olympics” is especially harmful for high-achieving student populations. How can Housing Professionals disrupt and redirect students’ focus on competition and image in order to integrate sustainable habits into their collegiate routine? This presentation will aid in this pursuit by defining the high-achieving student population, outlining the issue of the Pain Olympics and burnout, and providing specific practices to promote student well-being and sustainable work-ethic.
Her work in crafting this session—and the content that she shared in it—was given the “Best of SEAHO” award by the Programming Committee. We are so “honored” that Jordan was hired to be the Hall Director for the Honors Program and are proud to celebrate her achievement of being recognized by peers in the housing and residence life community for excellence in programming and student support. Thank you and congratulations, Jordan!
]]>This year, ten Georgia Tech students were selected by the United Nations to participate in the Millennium Fellows program. Two of those students, Eyas Ayesh and Shania Khatri, are members of the Georgia Tech Honors Program Living Learning Community. We asked Eyas and Shania to reflect on what drew them to the Millennium Fellowship and their time at Georgia Tech in the Honors Program.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Eyas: I am senior mechanical engineering student graduating in the spring. I am Palestinian-American, but I was mainly raised in the United Arab Emirates. During my time at Georgia Tech I was the vice president of the medical robotics club and the president of the Arab student organization. I also participated in various research labs, but most recently I have been working with GTRI on research concerning the effects of optical turbulence on atmospheric lidar and I have been awarded a President’s Undergraduate Research Award (PURA) to work on this research. In my free time, I practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu and compete whenever I have the chance. Last may I competed in the IBJJF Atlanta Spring Open and won first place in my division.
Shania: I’m a senior at Georgia Tech, graduating this December. I hail from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and will be leaving Tech with a degree in Biological Sciences with a concentration in biomedical science. In my free time I volunteer at the Atlanta Zoo, shadow at the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta and Pittsburgh, and work as a medical intern at the Premier Family Clinic in Chamblee, GA. In my time at Tech I’ve completed four years of evolution and microbiology research at Georgia Tech and the University of Pittsburgh. Although I’m very proud of the work I did studying antibiotic resistance in the lab, my proudest accomplishment from my time at Tech is my work to make STEM research and education accessible to everyone. In 2020 during the pandemic, I submitted a proposal to the College of Science’s Strategic Plan Proposal for a full-time, funded summer program for underrepresented students. Dr. Will Ratcliff, Dr. Todd Streelman, and I received funding from the Sutherland Dean’s Chair Fund and brought this idea to life.
What did you highlight about yourself in the Millennium Fellows application?
Eyas: I talked about my frustration with the current state of sustainability resources and the accessibility of these resources. I am very passionate about open-learning platforms and open-source designs and software and I wanted to combine my passion to solve the problem I saw in the current sustainability landscape.
Shania: My application to MCN discussed my work in the creation of the Summer College Research Internship (SCRI) – an undergraduate-run summer program for local Atlanta community college students to do paid, full-time scientific research at Georgia Tech. The class of 2022 SCRI interns included historically underrepresented students who entered the lab with zero research experience. With the help of myself, their undergraduate TAs, and their laboratory mentors and faculty, we taught them how to read scientific literature, plan experiments, analyze their own data, and communicate their findings in an oral presentation and poster presentation. I feel very strongly that the mentorship these historically underrepresented students received at SCRI and similar programs built their confidence in their abilities, connected them with faculty and students who believed in them, and made them more likely to pursue STEM careers and even to think about transferring to Tech in the future. The Millennium Fellowship focuses on furthering sustainable development goals in the community. My work creating the SCRI program focuses on goals four and ten- ensuring quality education and promoting life-long learning for all, and reducing inequalities within the country.
What do you plan to do as your project or focus area during your Millennium Fellows semester?
Eyas: I plan to build a free open-learning platform that contains educational modules on sustainability and access to open-source designs such as plastic shredders for individuals to be able to take sustainability initiatives into their own hands. Moreover, I would like to eventually have a collaborative section where people can share their own designs and lectures.
Shania: My semester with the Millennium Fellowship has been spent working on outreach for SCRI. I want to extend SCRI’s impact to students of all ages. I am planning events during the school year for local Atlanta k-12 students to engage with scientific research in an easy-to-understand and interactive way. We are also trying to increase SCRI’s impact by integrating our curriculum with existing College of Sciences summer programs so community college students receive extra support and mentorship they may need to thrive as likely first-generation scientists.
What are your plans for after graduation?
Eyas: After I graduate, I want to focus on graduate school. I will be pursuing my masters in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech and I hope to eventually pursue a Ph.D. I will also spend my time working on my project after graduating as I intend to launch the platform in April of 2023.
Shania: After graduation I will be joining the Wright Lab at the University of Pittsburgh as a research specialist to continue my work studying antibiotic resistance in bacteria. While I continue my research, I will be working as an emergency medical technician for my local EMS department, and continue my volunteer work at the Zoo and Children’s Hospital! I hope to matriculate into medical school in a few years where I plan to bring my passion for STEM education and accessibility to the graduate school level. I intend to use the values I learned at the Millennium Fellowship after graduation and throughout life. There are so many seemingly insurmountable issues to tackle in the world. Joining a cohort of amazing, motivated, and genuine students who work to face these issues in our community, and having the chance to lead them as Campus Director has been so inspiring. I will always carry this energy of facing my issues head on, and continually searching for ways to serve my community at each of my next steps.
Tell us a little bit about your involvement with the Honors Program, including some of your favorite experiences or memories.
Eyas: Honors is important to me because it is where I made some of my closest friends here at Georgia Tech. My favorite memories in HP are the simplest ones where my friends and I would just hang out in the Hefner Residence Hall common room to study or at “Willage” to grab lunch.
Shania: The Honors Program has yielded some of my closest friends and provided a welcoming environment of funny, kind, talented people to a very nervous freshman who came to Tech in 2018. Through the Honors Program, I took English Composition II and Introduction to Psychology. Both were amazing classes with wonderful professors, and I thrived with the small class size and the ability to work with my classmates since many of us lived together in the Honors dorms. I think the Honors Program is so important. Any program that helps students find mentorship, career development, and life-long friendships at Tech is so valuable for closing the gap of success in college for minority students. I appreciate the effort Honors puts into having a help desk so students always have someone to talk to, resume workshops, guest lectures, and social activities. My favorite memory was definitely the Honors freshman retreat. I made so many friends and loved the activities we did.
My best memories at Tech involve all of the things I did off-campus with friends I know I’ll be close with my whole life. In freshman year, my Honors friends and I explored every single neighborhood along the MARTA stops. In sophomore year we lived next door in apartments of four, like an episode of Friends, and shared baking supplies and stories. In junior year, we picked up thrifting and started going to every single Goodwill, Salvation Army, and vintage store we could find. And this year we’ve started exploring outside of Atlanta in Asheville and Savannah.
The first award is being given this April 2023 to Sarah Sorme, a graduating Neuroscience major who has been active in the Honors Program throughout her time at Georgia Tech. Sarah’s Georgia Tech resume is impressive. She served as co-director of the Honors Leadership Council in the role of Executive Director of Strategic Planning and was instrumental in guiding the HP (which is based on being together in community) through the COVID-19 pandemic. She also served in numerous other HP leadership roles,
including on the New Student Onboarding Committee, Community Outreach Committee, as a first-year retreat guide, and as editor of the Honors Program newsletter (The HyPe). Sarah currently serves as the Honors Program representative to the Office of Undergraduate Education Student Advisory Board.
Outside of the HP and OUE, Sarah has conducted extensive research in neuroscience and served as both a teaching assistant and a research assistant. She is currently completing an undergraduate research thesis on brain network activity. Her involvement in neuroscience research led to her helping to establish the Neuroscience Student Advisory Council, all while maintaining a perfect 4.00 GPA in Neuroscience with a Psychology minor.
Reflecting on her time in the Honors Program, Sarah said:
"The Honors Program has been an empowering community of passionate, creative peers, faculty, and staff. It has been invaluable to be part of such a diverse group united by common traits, willing to discuss and collaborate on a variety of projects. I have grown so much as a leader and team member in my roles with the Honors Leadership Council, working with motivated, amazing students to serve our peers and enhance the program for future cohorts."
After graduation, Sarah wants to use her cognitive science knowledge and leadership experiences to develop human-centered technology to improve society. At Tech, she has been interested in diving deep into the communities she joined—such as the Honors Program—and using feedback to improve experiences for current and future members. She hopes to continue this practice of community engagement after leaving Georgia Tech. Sarah is graduating this May and will be working at Publicis Sapient as a junior product manager. She eventually wants to work in educational technology, developing personalized learning tools for K – 12 students.
Congratulations to Sarah Sorme on being named the first Honors Program Outstanding Student Award winner. We thank you for your service to the HP and wish you well after graduation.
]]>
ASHLEY GOODNIGHT
Ashley Goodnight is a third-year Electrical Engineering major from Clarksville, MD. During her time at Georgia Tech she has been involved in research in the Opportunity Research Scholars (ORS) Program. Her technical interests are in radio frequency and microwave engineering.
Ashley’s project was Unmanned Aircraft Systems, sponsored by Florida Power & Light (FPL). The goal was to accurately inventory FPL equipment by gathering data (GPS location, model, serial number) from RFID tags attached to power pole assets, then sending it to a database via an RFID reader. The RFID reader is placed on a drone, allowing wireless communication from a distance. Her team’s system demonstrated performance far beyond the required specifications, working from distances up to 180 ft away, heights up to 60 ft, and speeds up to 30 mph. Reflecting on her work, Ashley said:
The Capstone Expo is my most valued memory at Georgia Tech. It was the culmination of everything I’ve learned during my time at Tech as well as my team’s efforts over the past two semesters. Presenting at the Capstone Expo allowed me to take a step back and truly appreciate all the hard work my team dedicated to the project and see how much we accomplished. Attending the Capstone Expo was an amazing experience that let me explore the research and opportunities outside of my major as well as network with other students, faculty, and corporate sponsors.
After graduation in fall 2023, Ashley plans on pursuing a PhD in Electrical Engineering with a focus on electromagnetics. During her capstone project, she was heavily involved in the antenna engineering aspects and gained experience with industry-standard software like Ansys HFSS and Autodesk EAGLE.
As a member of the Honors Program, Ashley took a wide variety of HP classes on everything from coding in Python (CS 1301) to the structure of America’s electrical grid (PUBP 335). However, she felt that the most important thing that she gained from her experience in the HP was friends. She noted that starting college during the pandemic made it challenging to make friends, but through the Honors Program, she met her best friend and current roommate.
MATTHEW REINGOLD
Matthew Reingold is a fourth-year Materials Science and Engineering major from Roswell, GA. During his time at Georgia Tech he has been involved in undergraduate research on electronic materials, and he spent a summer interning at Sandia National Laboratories. Outside of science and engineering, Matthew has been involved in music on campus, performing with the marching band and symphony orchestra on French horn, mellophone, and piano.
Matthew’s senior capstone team, the Power (Density) Rangers, designed and fabricated supercapacitors using a novel graphene material developed by the sponsor, HeXalayer. Supercapacitors are a critical energy storage system behind the transition to electric vehicles and a renewable energy grid. Additionally, the team designed a method to introduce a conductive polymer to the device, which significantly improved the energy storage capabilities.
After he graduates this semester, Matthew is interning at nLIGHT in Portland, OR, then returning to Georgia Tech to complete his Master’s Degree in Materials Science and Engineering. Matthew is interested in continuing to pursue energy storage materials research after he completes his graduate degree.
Matthew began his college career at Georgia Tech by studying computer science and media archeology through the Honors Program, in addition to his core engineering classes. His most valued experience during his time in the Honors Program was his freshman seminar on mindfulness and meditation; he has continued to utilize the methods explored during that course throughout his college career. Matthew’s favorite aspect of Georgia Tech overall is the friends he’s made along the way. Seriously!
The faculty and staff of the Honors Program are so proud of Ashley and Matthew and can’t wait to see all the exciting things that they do after graduation. Congratulations!
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Fourth year neurosciences major Sarah Sorme reflected on the trip by saying that, “this is my fourth year living in Atlanta but my first time visiting the Oakland Cemetery - I wish I had gone sooner! It's a gorgeous place with so much history. I enjoyed planting flowers to help beautify the place even more while hanging out with old and new HP friends. I'd love to return when the flowers are in bloom, and I definitely want to do the full guided tour!" Fourth year biomedical engineering major Jillian Foltz said, "I had so much fun volunteering in the surroundings of the beautiful cemetery. It was great meeting other Honors students and getting to know them throughout the day. Hopefully we get to do more events with Oakland!"
Thanks to all the fantastic Honors Program students who donated their time and energy to making historic Oakland Cemetery a more beautiful Atlanta landmark. The Community Outreach Committee of the Honors Leadership Council plans service events like this for HP students throughout the year so that the Honors Program can give back to the Atlanta community that it calls home.
]]>Vibha is a first-year biomedical engineering major and computer science minor from Seattle, WA who had been engaged around campus through the New Student Onboarding Committee of the Honors Leadership Council and the GT Jadoo competitive Bollywood fusion dance team. She has been active in planning the fall 2023 Honors Program New Student Retreat and has traveled around the U.S. competing with GT Jadoo.
In PUBP 3042, her team tackled the Jump into STEM Challenge around sustainability and resiliency, addressing the issue of water crises in poor communities of color, which have been exacerbated by climate change. Using Jackson, MS as a case study, the team developed a plan to install rainwater cisterns in Jackson households while also creating an initiative to educate the public about issues of water conservation and climate change. Vibha reflected that,
though this project, I learned about the disproportionate impact of climate change on people of color and low-income communities, the department of Energy’s environmental justice initiative, and how to apply it when creating solutions to environmental problems.
Overall, ten Georgia Tech teams competed in the Jump into STEM Challenge, with two of those teams coming in first place and runner up. JUMP into STEM finalists are invited to present their solutions during the final competition in 2023 and compete for a paid summer 2023 internship at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, or Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Vibha plans to take her passion for problem solving into the real world through her program of study at Georgia Tech and her post-graduation career plans. She would like to focus on undergraduate research—which is a central feature of the Honors Program curriculum for many students—in the area of biomedical technology and hopes to get a job in the biotech industry working in regenerative medicine. Congratulations to Vibha and her teammates on their Jump into STEM Challenge win. We are so proud of all of the Honors Program students and their accomplishments at Georgia Tech and in the larger community!
]]>After observing the amount of food that was being thrown away in campus dining facilities and talking to GT Dining workers in cafeterias around campus, Zou and his teammates got the initial idea to install cameras on dining facilities’ trash cans to begin measuring food waste. It developed into “Raccoon Eyes,” which detects the type and quantity of food being disposed of, then asks the student or staff member why the food is being thrown away. That response and the data collected from the camera is then sent to a member of the research team for analysis and information on the carbon impact of the food being thrown away is shared with the person disposing it. These data can help GT Dining and students/staff with selecting appropriate portion sizes and with finding recipes that have wide appeal and lead to less waste.
Zou has been inspired by the experience of project-based learning at Georgia Tech and participation in the Honors Program. He says:
I love and have a lot of fun applying the amazing technologies and their intricacies I learned in school to…impactful areas where no one has thought to look, which was one of my major inspirations to work on our senior design project. Not only are the technologies we try to implement cool but also the awesome people I meet and join me along the way as we struggle through to create something real…I've got the chance to meet and work with some of the brightest and most amazing people that I won't be able to anywhere else and the fun, laughs, and memories we've made are really my greatest accomplishments here at Tech.
He credits HP classes like the Startup Lab with Dr. Furst and the Micro/Nano Revolution with Dr. Cressler for giving him insights into the work that he’d like to pursue in the future. Regarding Dr. Furst’s class, Zou reflected:
he (Professor Furst) really does "teach the secrets of the universe" as he mentions regarding the economic and psychology behind humans and self-interaction. I've learned an incredible amount of insights and knowledge through him regarding startup success as well as lessons that should be applied overall in life such as how we fool our minds everyday through the many bias and shortfalls of our mind, how to properly conduct customer interviews to analyze true underlying and authentic customer demand/need, how startups put us in a position to succeed by expressing who we are by choosing ourselves, how to plan and adapt based on types of risks, and the Not-Not principle that is needed to drive innovation.
Ivan plans to pursue a master’s degree, and possibly a PhD, post-graduation while he explores the feasibility of creating a startup around Raccoon Eyes. He is interested in working in the area of AI applications, which he learned about through his Capstone Expo project. In his last semester at Tech, he hopes to continue his involvement with the Honors Program, including through HP intramural sports teams. Congratulations to Ivan Zou and the members of his winning Capstone Design Expo team!
]]>In summer 2022, ten Honors Program students participated in the “HP at Oxford” Program and were able to earn up to six credit hours that could be applied to the HP curriculum requirement. They took HP classes such as HTS 3032: European Intellectual History, HTS 3033: History of Medieval England, and MGT 4803: International Business Ethics, with the option of earning additional credit from MUSI 3621: Composers and their Music and ID 2242: History of Art and Architecture.
Honors Program students also participated in some enrichment activities to further enhance their experience. They participated in an HP walking tour of Oxford with seasoned guide David Gunnell, where they got to see the city and the college through Mr. Gunnell’s insights and experience. HP students also worked to create an amazing Tumblr blog, which is online at hpoxfordprogram.tumblr.com. On the blog, they shared their favorite experiences, reflections on what they have learned from international travel, and photos of their journey.
Here are some of the reflections from Honors Program students on their “HP at Oxford” experience, as well as the fantastic photos that they shared. We encourage all Georgia Tech students, and especially members of the Honors Program, to apply for this amazing experience. Information is available at oxford.gatech.edu.
LILY KACHMAR
Participating in the Oxford Program has been one of the best experiences of my life, and the memories that I have made during this time will stick with me forever. I have visited so many amazing places, learned about other cultures, made new friends, eaten amazing foods, and ultimately learned how to become a respectful world traveler.
PAUL HUTCHINSON
The Oxford Program has given me a fulfilling opportunity to study abroad: forming new friendships, seeing beautiful old sites, and engaging in a culture distinct from my own. More broadly, the program has allowed me to live in new cultures, gain respect for them, and give me a new perspective on American culture.
CONNOR MCPHILLIAMY
This study abroad has been one of, if not the best experience I’ve had in my life. The chance to spend five weeks traveling around Western Europe, to countries like Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, and France, and then to spend six weeks in Oxford with free weekends to travel to even more places on my own (Ireland, Spain, and Scotland to name a few) has been incredibly fun and educational. I’ve made new friends, had too many new experiences to count, and the ability to experience first-hand numerous different cultures while abroad.
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