Alumni Corner: Navin Sarma (Cohort 11)

A photograph from QUEST alum Navin Sarma’s website, http://navinsarmaphotography.com.

Students can be feel a lot of pressure to know exactly what they want to do in the future or what they want to pursue as their career. However, most professionals tend to switch jobs fairly often, with good reason. Whether it’s because they have found a position that better fits their background, are pursuing a diverse set of skills, or are simply switching to a career that fits better for them, professionals tend to switch companies every 2 to 3 years. QUEST professionals are no different, as is the case with Navin Sarma from Cohort 11.

Now a project manager at Google, Navin has a wide range of experiences under his belt. After obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Information Systems from the Robert H. School of Business, Navin became a Business and IT consultant for PwC. “I had no real plans to become a consultant out of college.” When asked what drew him to the firm, he said that his decision to join PwC was “based more-so on practical need to get a good paying job at a reputable firm” and that “there was a huge market for consultants in the IT audit space.”

Although Navin did not have a ‘dream job’ as a student, he did enjoy the cross-functional nature of QUEST and wanted to pursue a career where he could work with a wide range of professionals. “The good thing about consulting is that it is project-based like QUEST and can involve people from all walks of life. From that perspective, consulting was a great profession for me.” However, Navin wanted to eventually become more technical, as well as “weave some personal interests (photography) into [his] position.” Because of his passion for photography, Navin founded his company, Navin Sarma Photography, in 2006. “It quickly became an outlet for me, cultivating artistic ambitions I never knew I had. As I got more into photography, I considered it more seriously to become my full-time job. For a few years, I was regularly teaching photography, presenting at shows, and selling my work to move towards photography as being my full-time gig.”

One of Navin’s landscape photographs from his website, http://navinsarmaphotography.com.

The prospect of turning his passion into his primary source of income was appealing, but Navin found that he would have to make concessions. “My ideal set up would be that I would independently shoot a given subject, edit to my own personal taste, and display the work for sale for those who aligned with my vision. Often times, this worked, but it was not enough to create a steady stream of income.” Navin enjoyed teaching, but found that he would have to teach much more often to support himself if it were his main source of income. He also mentioned that when income is in play, he would “capture more commercially viable photographic subjects or edit in more ‘popular’ ways vs. [his] own tastes.” Because of these reasons, Navin decided to keep photography “pure and just for [his] enjoyment.” “I shoot for myself, and if people like my images they purchase them. Win win.”

After quickly gaining a wide range of IT audit and consulting skills during his 4 years with PwC, Navin spent 5 years with Booz Allen Hamilton as a program manager while continuing to pursue his photography company. He then moved up to become a director in management consulting with a government consulting company, Management Strategies. Not too soon after, Navin became a client executive for Hewlett Packard, where he was the point of contact for government agency CIOs and head of strategic sales solutions. When asked what the main reasons he would join another company were, he said, “The most important would be the opportunity itself and the nature of the problem set. If I am jazzed about it, it would get me interested. Beyond that, team culture, location/travel, and benefits are important, but being totally enthusiastic about the gig would be key.”

Navin is now a product manager at Google and says that it is close to his ideal profession at the moment as it weaves together his passion and his interests. “I took my experience as a management consultant and career strategist and photographer and am now a Product Manager at Google driving computational photography research and production.” Navin still has his photography company, but it is “totally self-guided and independent of the desire to make income.” His current position is a great fit for him since he “[loves] the business and impact that photography and imaging has on the world,” and that he is “responsible for bringing cutting-edge, nascent tech to market in a way that scales globally.”

When asked what advice he would give the QUEST community, Navin said, “Don’t hesitate to try something new, personally or professionally, especially if it stretches you out of your comfort zone. Then after you have done this new thing, take some time to think back on your experience and how you feel about it.” He mentioned that new experiences can be risky, since there’s always the opportunity cost of what else you could have been doing, but that “every step in your career will teach you something – how to deal with conflict, how to rise from your own poor performance, and how to operate in different work environments. Consciously and subconsciously, these experiences shape you and will lead you into being well-rounded, experienced, and ready to tackle what’s next.”

A Successful 5th Annual QUEST Networking Event

On September 12th, QUEST hosted its fifth annual QUEST Corporate Networking Event! Thanks to QUEST Corporate and our Assistant Director, Jessica Roffe, over 20 companies attended the largest event to date! Because of QUEST’s diverse nature, we had so many different types of companies recruiting from all over the USA, and many QUEST alumni attended on behalf of their companies. So, why did these companies choose QUEST?

KPMG

Janae Savoy of Cohort 23 said that KPMG chose QUEST because “QUEST is a great program that teaches and reinforces teamwork and innovation – key techniques we, at KPMG, look for in our employees.”

Alexandra Petrenko of Cohort 15 agreed, stating that she values “the experiential learning, especially with people from different schools. Because of how interdisciplinary QUEST is, everyone has a different perspective which definitely allows each QUEST student to learn from his or her peers.”

Zentail

Matt Thomas of Cohort 15 said Zentail chose to work with and recruit from QUEST because “everyone is super talented, motivated, and smart. I knew Dr. Bailey was running QUEST, and 19 cohorts later the quality of the students and the program would still be the same as when I was in QUEST, if not better. Building a relationship with the QUEST program will help Zentail in the long run by tapping into such a great pool of students.”

Fun fact: Zentail’s first 490H project with QUEST won Most Outstanding Capstone during the Spring 2019 semester!

Matt Thomas (Cohort 15) represented Zentail at the event

Google

William Tsui, a recruiter for Google, said that Google chose QUEST because they saw it as a “good opportunity.” After speaking with Jessica Roffe about QUEST, they knew that “QUEST is one of those programs that accelerates students and puts them first. It highlights the best of the best students.”

Thank you to the Google representatives who flew all the way from Texas and California to attend our event!

Guidehouse

Mark Baumgaudner of Cohort 5 said that he came back to recruit from QUEST since “it was amazing when I was a student in QUEST and it set me up to make an impact in my career from day one. I love QUEST, I hit the ground running when I started thanks to it! It was just a great experience.”

Mark Baumgardner (Cohort 5) represented Guidehouse at the event

Thank you so much to all of the companies that came out to the QUEST Corporate Networking Event. While I was unable to speak with and interview all 20+ companies, we at QUEST are so grateful to each and every company that supports our program and helps us to make it what it is today. We are so grateful for all of the support QUEST receives and look forward to next year’s event!

If you’re interested in getting your company involved in future events, contact Jessica Roffe at jroffe@umd.edu.

What is Materials Engineering?

Our world has experienced nothing short of a technological revolution throughout the last century. We have refrigerators that can store and extend the shelf life of food, new modes of transportation that can carry us across the world in a day, robots and drones that can exceed human capabilities, and phones that let us access almost all the knowledge in the world with a few clicks. The list of technological marvels only continues to grow as we learn new skills and discover new information. If you were tasked with identifying the different types of engineers who developed these technologies, you might think of mechanical, electrical, civil, or maybe even software engineers. However, there is one field of engineering that is critical for the success of others, but is often overlooked. Materials scientists and engineers have played key roles in all of these projects, however, many people are completely unaware of what materials engineers do, or even that they exist at all!

According to the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at UMD, “Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) combines engineering, physics and chemistry principles to solve real-world problems associated with nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, energy, manufacturing and other major engineering disciplines.” Essentially, materials engineering is very important to the continuous development of new technologies and materials engineers are crucial members of a tech development team. So, we now know that materials engineers are critical for the success of any project, but the question remains: What is materials engineering?

Hadas Elazar-Mittelman working in her lab

According to Hadas Elazar-Mittelman, a senior in the Materials Science and Engineering Department and a member of Cohort 30, “Materials engineering is trying to take what we know about chemistry and physics and apply this basic knowledge to manipulate materials to behave in a certain way, meaning to ensure that the material possesses properties needed for whatever the application.” For example, airplanes must withstand high wind pressure, be resistant to large changes in temperature, and be durable to last for the multiple take-offs and landings that happen every day. A materials engineer would use their knowledge about how a material responds to pressure, temperature changes, and prolonged use in order to choose the best material for the plane, or even iterate on previous findings to develop a new material. The skill set a materials engineer possesses is vital, especially in fields like electronics that need very specific material behavior in order for advanced technologies like circuits or sensors to function. Hadas went on to quote one of her professors that materials engineering is the “Rosetta Stone of engineering” because materials engineers can talk to almost any type of engineer or technical professional, functioning as a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ when trying to contribute to an effort. The breadth and depth of the materials engineering field makes the discipline very nuanced yet still accessible to every field in engineering. 

The famous saying “you are what you eat” describes how you are only as healthy as you treat your body; a materials engineering analogy could be “you are what you are made of,” meaning that a technology is only able to be efficient, durable, long-lived, and feasible if it is made from the correct materials. Therefore, just like people need doctors to teach them how to properly treat and maintain their bodies, engineering teams need materials engineers in order to create technologies that can succeed and survive the test of time.

Where Are They Now? QUEST Couple Reflects On Working in Netherlands

Jessica and Erick Alves de Sa of Cohort 16 met through QUEST and just returned to the DMV after living in the Netherlands for almost five years.

Jess and Erick met during their sophomore year at QUEST Camp when they were assigned to the same 190H team. They started dating about a year and a half later and have been together for about ten years. 

Erick worked for ExxonMobil after graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering. Since his parents are from Brazil, Erick had always been interested in working internationally. He expressed this during his on-campus interview for an internship with ExxonMobil during his junior year. He was placed into the Global Project Management organization. Once he accepted a position after graduation, it was only a matter of time before he went abroad for a project.

Since beginning at ExxonMobil, Erick had worked on the early-stage case selection for an expansion of a refinery in Rotterdam, Netherlands, one of the largest ports in Europe. When the project was green-lit, he decided to follow the project as part of the Project Management Team, prompting him and Jess to move to the Netherlands.

Jess studied bioengineering at UMD and worked for IBM after graduation. After moving, she worked in data engineering for Cool Blue, the second-largest e-commerce company in the Netherlands. While working in Rotterdam, Jess had to adjust to differences in the professional norms. 

“The Dutch are very honest, and they’re very comfortable giving and receiving feedback,” Jess said, explaining the difference between how managers communicate in the U.S. compared to the Netherlands. “Here, if you asked your boss ‘Hey, how am I doing?’ and you weren’t doing a great job, they may say, ‘I mean, you’re doing well. Things are going good. Maybe keep focusing on improving this.’ In the Netherlands, they would say, ‘You’re not meeting my expectations right now, and I think you need to spend more time working on this. We’re gonna have a review in 3 months and we’ll get back to it.’”

Although this required a change in perspective, Jess appreciated this communication style. “It’s very different, but once you get used to working that way, you always know where you stand and you get really comfortable receiving and giving feedback. It took a while to adjust to, but I’m really appreciative now because I was able to grow a lot. I now know that feedback is a gift someone wants to give you.” 

Erick and Jess enjoyed being immersed in the culture of the Netherlands. Erick said, “You can get around everywhere by cycling. The Dutch are some of the best cyclists in the world. As soon as you can stand on two feet, they put two wheels under you. It’s not a very sedentary culture. Everyone is moving around and outdoors.” Jess gained new perspective from the simplicity of the Dutch lifestyle. “They’re not interested in big houses, clothes, or cars, and they’re super happy.”

While in Rotterdam, Erick and Jess not only learned about Dutch culture, but also enjoyed becoming friends with coworkers from other countries. “Making friends with the Dutch could be difficult because it’s a small country. They have tight-knit friend groups, they’re close to their families,” Erick said. “We made really close friendships with coworkers who were also on expat assignments. That was kind of like our little family, and we made sure that we celebrated Thanksgiving every year. A small turkey was $100 there.”

After Erick’s project ended, they decided to backpack in South America for four months before returning to the U.S. They visited Erick’s family in Brazil, and additionally traveled to Chile, Argentina, and Colombia. Taking this time to travel gave them an opportunity to reflect on their time in the Netherlands and re-energize before searching for new jobs.

“Now we’re back, and I’m pumped to start working again,” Jess said. “I think you need some of that detox time to get some perspective. I think of some of the things I was worried about at work 8 months ago, and they’re so irrelevant now. Stepping out of it and seeing other people’s lives and other types of day-to-day schedules, you realize there’s so much you’re worried about that does not matter at all.”

Erick believes his experience in Rotterdam will influence his priorities when searching for a new career path. “As we’re looking for our next career moves, I’ve got exposure to the work-life balance in the Netherlands. They’re holistic human beings, compared to American counterparts who think of their worth as tied to performance at work. In the Netherlands, that’s just one aspect of your life.” In his job search, he’s interested in finding a company that “values [me] as a human being as opposed to a piece of a big corporate puzzle.”

Jess agrees that finding a company with an ideal work-life balance will be important to her, as well as a culture of communication similar to what she experienced in the Netherlands. “I don’t think I could go back to sugar-coating everything,” she said.

For all QUEST students, whether or not you’re interested in working abroad, Erick suggests to never limit yourself. “Don’t have that preconception of putting yourself into a box. If you ever ask yourself at the end of the day ‘Why am I doing this?’ and if what you’re doing really isn’t of interest to you, don’t hold back. Make a change, take time off. Take care of yourself, work is not the #1.”

Jess suggests that QUEST students keep an open mind about living abroad. “Realize we have one way of life here and that’s wonderful, but there are plenty of other ways of life that are also wonderful,” she said. “People aren’t that different. People’s lives all around the world at the superficial layer can be different, but at the end of the day, everyone has the same things they’re looking for.”

Considering their overall experience in Rotterdam, Erick reflected, “5 years changes anybody regardless of where you are. We’re indebted to the experience of living abroad. You take a piece of where you’ve lived with you all around.”

PSL in hand, QUEST is Excited for these Fall Favorites!

Welcome to the most wonderful time of the year!! The end of summer brings changing leaves, pumpkin pies, and sweater weather; however, for many hardworking QUEST students, this also means midterms, team projects, and job hunting is in full swing. The QUESTPress team has compiled some QUEST fall favorites in order to help you relax and enjoy the spooky season to its full potential. 

Things to Do 

College Park is a fantastic place to be during Halloween. There are tons of fun things to do on campus and in the local area that will make you not want to leave for Fall Break!

Scooby Doo Halloween GIF

Spice up your weekend trip to Washington D.C. and try a ghost tour! Only a short Metro Ride away, there are lots of services such as D.C. Ghosts that offer creepy ghost tours of downtown meant to entertain tourists groups of all ages. This is a spooky yet safe way to learn about our nation’s capital in a way they do not teach in textbooks – if you are up for the scare. 

However, no need to fear Halloween plans if horror is not your favorite. Luckily enough, Emmy Award-winning comedian, John Mulaney, is making a visit to campus on Oct. 30th! The QUESTPress team highly recommends going to see his show as a great way to share some light-hearted laughs with friends. Grab your tickets before they are gone! 

Hot Topics of Halloween

We asked for your opinion on a spicy Halloween controversy – the pumpkin spice latte (PSL). 

Psl Pumpkin Spice Latte GIF - Psl PumpkinSpiceLatte GIFs

An overwhelming majority of responses to the QUEST Lab poll reveal that QUEST is NOT the biggest fan of this “famous” drink. Results came in with 8 people deeming the PSL “Worth It” and a whopping 20 saying “Nah!” Madison Spiotta and some of her fellow Cohort 33 classmates chimed in that if given an option, they would always “rather have a chai.” Jessica Roffe, QUEST assistant director, admits to loving pumpkin, but “just not the spice.” Even the financials of the fall drink have fallen under scrutiny. Daniel Ben-Or, also of Cohort 33, proposes the question: “Why would I pay $5.00 for a latte when I could get a meal instead?”

An equally important, but surprisingly even less controversial topic, was crowning the best Halloween movie. Front runners clearly emerged from proposing this question in the QUEST Lab:

Hocus Pocus Film GIF

Hocus Pocus (1993) and Halloweentown (1998). These two classics led in popularity while a few outliers remained such as “The Nightmare Before Christmas” (1993) and “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (1966). No matter which of these movies is your go-to, they all pair great with making cookies and eating candy with friends on Halloween! 

We hope you all stay busy and have a fantastic Halloween with your fellow QUESTees. Try a nice, hot pumpkin spice chai latte too! Happy Fall!