{"632268":{"#nid":"632268","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Fellowship Recognizes Underrepresented Minorities and Entrepreneurs in OMSCS","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWhen \u003Cstrong\u003EHenry Shi\u003C\/strong\u003E finished the Online Master of Science Computer Science (OMSCS) in 2018, he \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.omscs.gatech.edu\/features\/omscsalumni\/henryshi-snaptravel\u0022\u003Ewanted to give back\u003C\/a\u003E to the program that fostered his entrepreneurial spirit.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow his travel startup,\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/snaptravel.com\/\u0022\u003E SnapTravel\u003C\/a\u003E, offers two \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/landing.snaptravel.com\/scholarships\u0022\u003E$1,000 fellowships\u003C\/a\u003E recognizing entrepreneurs and underrepresented minorities in tech. This year\u0026rsquo;s winners are \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.rdluna.info\/\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ERodrigo De Luna Lara\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/aadiljaleel\/?originalSubdomain=pk\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAadil Jaleel Choudhry\u003C\/strong\u003E.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u0026ldquo;This year\u0026#39;s applicants have come from all corners of the world, including developing and developed countries, from West Africa to Central Asia to South America to the middle of America, and is a true testament to Georgia Tech\u0026rsquo;s expanding mission and global impact,\u0026rdquo; Shi said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDe Luna Lara received the underrepresented minority in STEM award meant for students \u0026ldquo;pursuing their OMSCS degree and identifies as a member of an underrepresented group in STEM; namely one who identified as a women, non-binary, Indigenous, Black, Hispanic and\/or Latinx.\u0026rdquo; As a Latino bisexual person who identifies as non-binary and works in data science, De Luna Laura knows how little representation some groups have in STEM.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;There are still people who doubt the technical capacity I have as a Latino in a field like data science,\u0026rdquo; De Luna Lara said. \u0026ldquo;Throughout my career, I\u0026rsquo;ve shown that belonging to an underrepresented group doesn\u0026rsquo;t mean I\u0026rsquo;m less capable, and the position I\u0026rsquo;m in has enabled me to be a promoter for STEM in these groups.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EDe Luna Lara provides workshops to empower young girls to join STEM careers in Mexico and plans to use the OMSCS degree to increase representation.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I hope I will be able to inspire young people who don\u0026rsquo;t feel part of the mainstream to open up and embrace who they are and not let that interfere with their careers but instead use that to boost their career,\u0026rdquo; De Luna Lara said.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESnapTravel gave the entrepreneurial spirit award intended for students \u0026ldquo;pursuing their OMSCS degree while founding their own startup, or pursuing other entrepreneurial activities\u0026rdquo; to Choudhry. As the chief technology officer and founder of 11-person startup automotive startup Sedenius Technologies in Pakistan, Choudhry is balancing a lot with OMSCS.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I am from Pakistan, where the startup ecosystem is still in its initial stages,\u0026rdquo; Choudhry said. \u0026ldquo;I quit my stable job for my startup and failed twice before I got a startup running.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EUltimately supporting students like this is why Shi believes in OMSCS and became the first to offer a fellowship like this.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"OMSCS\u0027s SnapTravel fellowship awarded $1,000 to two students."}],"uid":"34541","created_gmt":"2020-02-10 20:20:20","changed_gmt":"2020-02-10 20:28:13","author":"Tess Malone","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2020-02-10T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2020-02-10T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"632272":{"id":"632272","type":"image","title":"SnapTravel 2020 Fellows","body":null,"created":"1581366475","gmt_created":"2020-02-10 20:27:55","changed":"1581366475","gmt_changed":"2020-02-10 20:27:55","alt":"Rodrigo De Lara Luna and Aadil Choudhry","file":{"fid":"240565","name":"SnapTravel2020.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/SnapTravel2020.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/SnapTravel2020.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":204233,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/SnapTravel2020.jpg?itok=xALtVY2X"}}},"media_ids":["632272"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"431631","name":"OMS"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETess Malone, Communications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:tess.malone@cc.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Etess.malone@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}