After an exciting summer full of internships and travel, QUEST students are back and ready for the new fall semester! While students were off enjoying the sun and building their resumes, the QUEST program underwent some exciting changes, in more ways than one.
The QUEST program is honored to introduce our new faculty director, Dr. Gisela Bardossy. Before becoming our faculty director, she joined the Smith School’s Decision, Operations, Information and Technologies Department in 2018 following teaching at the University of Baltimore. She has her doctorate in Management Science from the Smith School and has taught statistics, business decision-making, and operations research. She will be teaching QUEST’s data course and 490H with David Ashley this semester.
In addition to our new director, the program has introduced two new professors: Joshua Cocker and Dr. Benjamin Huffman. Both professors are co-teaching the QUEST introductory course, 190H. Joshua Cocker is an instructor with the Keystone program in the A. James Clark School of Engineering and is a QUEST alumnus from Cohort 27. Professor Cocker has described being involved with QUEST again as exciting and interesting as an alum. As a professor, he strives to prepare QUEST students for a world where advancements in technology shake the landscape of work frequently. He hopes QUEST students will be at the forefront of innovation with the skills he and the Quality Guild imbue within them. Professor Cocker is looking forward to seeing QUEST 190H students using generative AI within their projects since it has become such a game-changing tool.
Dr. Huffman is an Assistant Clinical Professor of the University of Maryland’s First-Year Innovation & Research Experience (FIRE) program and Founding FIRE Faculty Leader for Global Development & Design. He has a PhD in Governance & Law and has formerly worked jobs such as a consultant for the World Bank and research assistant for the United Nations Centre for Regional Development. Dr. Huffman has described his experience with the QUEST Program as wonderful and looks forward to applying his system design skills to academia and sharing his knowledge with students. His main goal as a professor is to prepare students for careers outside of QUEST while creating great memories along the way.
Say hello to the new QUEST Lab! The lab debuted in August 2023 and is located at 1113 in Van Munching Hall. The space features most of the same amenities as the previous one including free printing, a fridge and microwave, a water fountain, and plenty of seating. The lab has a new upper area with a small staircase so multiple groups of students can work together. There are also two conference rooms that students can reserve for meetings and study time. The Quality Guild encourages all students to stop by and check it out!