Author Archives: Jessica Roffe

Making the Most of Winter Break

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This month, we have been welcoming back all of our QUESTees for a new, and some student’s final, spring semester! Although QUEST students were gone for five weeks and did not get to participate in innovative QUEST classes, they seemed to be doing some pretty cool and exciting activities on their own!

Celine Moarkech of Cohort 29, and QUESTPress’ Editor and Chief, spent part of her winter break in the country of Colombia! “I absolutely loved Colombia! In the craziest of ways, this trip was super QUEST-y. I did an AirBnB experience with an architect in Medellin to learn about the city planning and design post-Escobar, and I learned that so much thought went into it. From thinking about every potential user of city transportation to identifying the most efficient ways (ski lifts are regular forms of transport) to keeping everything sustainable, the city is not only developing amazingly for now but also for the future!”

Celine in Medellin, Colombia

Neil Duggal of Cohort 31 went abroad with the Smith School of Business and interactively studied the financial effects of Brexit in England and Belgium. “I really enjoyed visiting the historical aspects of each city. I absolutely loved learning about the military leaders and going to museums. The food was amazing – I could always go for some classic fish ‘n chips. Also, I went to Paris on my own and really enjoyed exploring the town of Versailles. If you go, definitely hit up the bakeries and eat every type of croissant imaginable.”

Neil in Paris, France

Charles Grody, Jack Sturtevant, and Tuvia Rapaport, all from Cohort 29, went to Queen’s University in Toronto to pitch Hydraze, their startup eco-friendly public toilet flushing system, in the Queen’s Entrepreneurial Challenge. Jack Sturtevant said, “We were one of fifteen teams to compete in the challenge, and only one of four non-Canadian start-ups. We made it to the final, which consisted of only six teams. This was a really cool opportunity for Hydraze because we got to pitch our idea in front of people like the Chief Marketer at Groupon, the CTO of Microsoft, Canada, etc. Charles Grody added, “This was actually all of our first time in Canada. It snowed a lot, so when we weren’t focusing on Hydraze, we were having snowball fights!”

These QUEST students really had some cool experiences this winter break! Sadly, its time to regroup and get back to class… Only four more weeks until spring break, but who’s counting…

From left to right, Tuvia Rapaport, Charles Grody, Jack Sturtevant in Toronto, Canada

From DC to Taiwan: Catching up with Alumnus Andrew Jones

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There are an incredible number of paths that someone can experience life. I was able to catch up with Andrew Jones from Cohort 26 this month, who studied aerospace engineering at UMD. I’d written an article about him just before summer, when he was approaching his one year anniversary of working at Appian in the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Since then, Andrew decided to leave Appian and relocate to Taipei, Taiwan. At the moment, he is studying Mandarin at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU). He’s not working towards a degree currently, but is hoping to work on his Chinese and get it to a level where he can use it professionally.

Andrew with some of his new classmates

Andrew’s motivation behind this move stemmed from a variety of factors. One of them was being able to live in a different part of the world. Andrew said, “I was not keen on settling down there for the rest of my life (or rather, I wanted to see what living in other areas of the world was like before settling down if I were to come back to live in DC long term).” He picked Taiwan because of its location, as it is close to many other countries that he is interested in exploring and because it’s where his mother’s side of the family resides. Additionally, he wanted to properly learn Chinese since it is a language he only acquired from listening to his parents talk while growing up. Andrew said, “There’s no better way to quickly improve your language skills than immersing yourself in a country and culture where that language is spoken,” and I think there’s definite truth in that.

While in Taiwan, Andrew’s been busy exploring Taipei. One of his favorite places so far is Taroko National Park in Hualien (on the east coast of Taiwan). In Andrew’s words, “It’s a huge gorge that cuts through from central Taiwan to the east coast, and surrounding the area are these immense mountains and beautiful marble in the river. Rent a motorbike, and you can actually drive along carved-out roads that run parallel to the gorge.” That does sound like an absolute blast.


Taroko National Gorge (picture courtesy of Andrew Jones)

Andrew’s been able to learn a lot from this move to Taiwan. He said, “You’re traveling to and shifting into an environment that’s unfamiliar, and more often than not, there will be new situations you encounter that you couldn’t prepare for beforehand. Even with family in Taiwan and having traveled here on a couple occasions, actually coming here for a longer term brought an abundance of challenges and things to learn that I’m even still navigating to this day.” He’s also been able to expand his network through his travels and by attending NTNU right now, meeting a diverse new group of students and forging meaningful connections with them.

Andrew’s currently enjoying life in Taiwan. However, he’s open to taking his life in any direction that catches his fancy. He mentioned that he’s always wanted to try living in the Pacific Northwest in the U.S., so hopefully he gets the chance to do that some day as well. Andrew – thanks for showing us that #theQUESTneverends!

Passion Pitch: Gesna Aggarwal Leads Technica Hackathon

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The “Passion Pitch” is a spotlight on QUEST students that have gone above and beyond for their passions outside of the classroom. When pondering this topic, Gesna Aggarwal of Cohort 32 instantly came to mind. 

Gesna Aggarwal (Cohort 32)

Gesna is a junior, computer science major and when discussing passion with her, it is evident that her involvement on campus resonates deeply with her. Gesna is the incoming Co-Executive Director of Technica, a 24-hour all-women and nonbinary hackathon hosted here at UMD. Technica provides individuals with a platform to build something that they are passionate about, as people of all experience levels and majors can get together to learn about technology. 

“When I first joined the university as a computer science major, I was very intimidated. It was difficult to establish confidence among very talented peers,” she said. 

After hearing about Technica as a freshman, she decided to give it a try. It was the first hackathon she had ever attended, and she felt instantly empowered. 

“I got to see 800-900 people all around supporting women in tech, supporting nonbinary in tech. I experienced mentorship and a team that really made me feel like I belonged.”

From that moment on, Gesna made it a point to get more involved with the event. Sophomore year, she joined the Sponsorship Team. This past year, she was the Sponsorship Team Co-Director. As mentioned previously, Gesna was recently selected to become the new Executive Co-Director of Technica. 

“I want to make other people feel like they belong in tech as well and move barriers for anyone who feels like he or she can’t learn tech or that it’s too complicated for them. Through Technica, I hope people realize that with the right support system and with the right tools, you can do anything you want. Within tech or beyond.”

As she is stepping into this new role, Gesna is prepared through her previous Technica experience, the event’s alignment with her own values, and some of the experiences she’s had through the QUEST program. 

“Technica aligns so well with QUEST since almost everything is team-based. If you are a hacker, you are working with others who are interested in similar things to build something. If you are working behind the scenes, you work on a 4-5 person team to accomplish team goals. Both involve a lot of multidisciplinary thinking.”

With the variety of perspectives that go into planning the event itself and into collaborating at the event, the value of diverse-thought is clear. “Similar to QUEST, you learn a lot from mentorships and workshops, but you learn the most from your teammates.” Even various planning teams work constantly with one another to collaborate on the event.

And it appears that the hard work put in has paid off. This past Technica was the largest hosted yet! Through the feedback of previous events and the program iterations moving forward, Technica is able to improve every year – which is certainly something emphasized throughout QUEST. One can only imagine all of the awesome things that will come next year through Gesna’s leadership. 

For anyone interested in Technica, keep an eye out for upcoming information. The annual event will likely take place next November and would be a great opportunity to get involved and support an incredibly dedicated and passionate member of the QUEST community. You rock, Gesna!

QUEST Congratulates December Graduates

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As the fall 2019 semester comes to a close, we would like to congratulate all of the QUEST seniors graduating this month! We want to take the opportunity to highlight a few of the seniors going on to do great things.

Mark Purtilo (Q27) is looking forward to joining Verisign after interning at the company for several summers. He is graduating this month as a Computer Engineering major. His favorite memory from QUEST was after he and his team gave their 490H presentation at the QUEST Conference. He remembers reflecting on the journey it took to get to that point from orientation at QUEST Camp. Throughout his time with QUEST, Mark also enjoyed being a 190H mentor for Cohort 30.

Corinne Farley (Q28) is excited to join GE Healthcare in July 2020. After graduating as a Bioengineering major and Computer Science minor, Corinne will start as a software engineer through the Edison Engineering Development Program at GE Healthcare. In between graduation and the beginning of the program, Corinne looks forward to spending time with family, as well as traveling in Europe. One of her favorite memories from the QUEST Program is hanging out with her cohort and the Quality Guild at MilkBoy after the QUEST Conference.

Ankit Sheth (Q29) is excited to graduate this semester with a Finance major and Human Development minor. He plans on traveling after graduation, before working full time in summer 2020. Throughout his time in QUEST, he enjoyed participating in the Scoping elective and being a 190H mentor. His favorite memories from QUEST include traveling to Houston with his 490H team for a client visit and also living with Adam Sarsony and David Rosenstein (both Q29) during his junior year.

Michael Khizgilov (Q29) has accepted a full time offer as an Analyst at Cornerstone Research in DC. He is graduating this semester as a Finance major. His favorite memory from the QUEST Program has been going on the QUEST to Silicon Valley trip. He has also enjoyed being a TA for 390H and 490H. After graduation, Michael also plans to continue working as a professional music producer.

Congratulations to all of our December graduates! Puneeth Bikkumanla (Q29), Carly Buckner (Q30), Ben Conway (Q28), Evan Eisenberg (Q22), Corinne Farley (Q28), Annesha Goswami (Q29), Conrad Hong (Q27), Saikrishna Kalla (Q30), Michael Khizgilov (Q29), Connor Petrelle (Q30), Mark Purtilo (Q27), Julia Roh (Q27), Vineet Shah (Q30), Ankit Sheth (Q29), Isaac Soltz (Q30), and Laura Zheng (Q29).

Q30 Signed, Sealed, Delivered: A Recap on the Bi-Annual QUEST Conference

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At the bi-annual QUEST Conference on Thursday, December 5th, Cohort 30 presented for the last time as QUEST students. It was an evening filled with amazing presentations as the students shared their accomplishments and the work that they did for their clients throughout their semester-long projects.

QUEST clients this semester included Leidos, Middle River Aerostructure Systems, Northrop Grumman, Oceaneering, Sealed Air Corporation, and Thales.

After catching up with a few of the Cohort 30 members, I got to hear about their experiences leading up to the conference. “Collaborating with my peers and professors in the QUEST community has been immensely rewarding – I have had the opportunity to immerse myself in new experiences and continuously learn from those around me. Working with my 490H team this semester has been nothing different,” said Nikhil Modi. He continued, “Although we’ve had many late nights, faced many obstacles, and struggled at some points, the experiences we shared together have been invaluable to each of our personal and professional growth.” 

The Oceans 30 team was awarded Best Poster.
From left to right: Andrew Pitkoff, Ankita Sahoo, Carly Buckner, Joshua Loeffler, David Boegner, Alex Bergman

Every conference, two awards are given: Best Poster and Most Outstanding Capstone. This year, the Best Poster award went to Oceans 30 who consulted for Oceaneering. Alex Bergman, a member of the team said, “Our team put a lot of hours into this poster, so we were super excited and humbled to win. We wanted to create a poster that showed how interesting our client’s products and capabilities are, while also making clear all the work that we did. Best 490H team I could’ve asked for!”

The team Signed, Sealed, Delivered that won Most Outstanding Capstone. From left to right: Kevin Jiang, Jacqueline Deprey, Shivani Krishnamurthy, Hadas Elazar-Mittelman, Saikrishna Kalla

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, the team that consulted for Sealed Air Corporation, won the Most Outstanding Capstone, which was voted on by alumni and QUEST faculty and staff. Shivani Krishnamurthy from the winning team said, “It was a really good feeling to win most outstanding capstone just because we were all so passionate about this project! I was super proud of my team, and we were all very grateful to have our project be recognized in that way! In general, all of the teams did such a great job, and it was clear that a lot of effort went into every project.”

Our newest QUEST members in Cohorts 33 and 34 also attended the QUEST Conference for the first time. The awe in our newest members reiterates how amazing QUEST’s students’ growth is throughout the program. “What’s really great about QUEST is not only do I get to practice teamwork with my team, I can also learn from all of the times I get to see other teams presenting,” said Stav Elazar-Mittleman (Cohort 33). He continued and shared what it was like to watch his older sister on the Sealed Air team, “Seeing Hadas’ team win was very exciting. I saw the effort her team put in to ensure the audience was engaged. They went the extra step from making great recommendations to working hard to present them to increase the likelihood of implementation. I know I have a lot of work to do to get to that level and am looking forward to it.”

Next in the line up is Cohort 31 who will commence their capstone experience. Aditi Balachandran (Cohort 31) said, “I have been going to the 490H presentations since the semester I got into QUEST (spring 2018), and it is insane that the two years have passed by so quickly… I am most excited to use all of the hard and soft skills that I have gained from QUEST in a real client-facing role. Cohort 31 is ready to take on 490H!”

Here’s to a job well done Cohort 30! We are excited to hear about how your clients apply your recommendations to their businesses in the upcoming months.

QUESTPress Vlog #1: A Taste of RASA

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Hello QUESTPress Readers! We are so excited to say that you are about to be converted to QUESTPress viewers as we unveil our first-ever QUESTPress vlog!

This vlog features RASA, a fast-casual Indian restaurant co-founded by Cohort 17 QUEST alumnus, Sahil Raman. Tune in to learn more about how the business came to be and to hear some advice from Sahil and Sameera Polavarapu of Cohort 27, their lead for marketing!

On behalf of QUESTPress leadership, we want to thank Sahil and Sameera for taking the time to talk about the business and for sharing the tasty food! We also want to thank our team, Ryan Gerbes (Q33), Dhyay Bhatt (Q34), and Stav Elazar-Mittelman (Q33) for all of the hard work that went into producing our first vlog!!

We hope that you enjoy it!

Waiting for the Holiday Season

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“I’m so happy finals season is here!” –  said no one ever. 

I am very sad to say that finals have arrived. There are those that have planned ahead and have already begun late-night study sessions. There are also those (a.k.a. yours truly) who have yet to do any work since coming back from a short stint in heaven: Thanksgiving Break. After coming back to school from the start of another holiday season, stuffed with Thanksgiving food and laden with tasty leftovers, it can be very hard to stay motivated through the end of finals. So, here is a fun game to motivate yourself to study hard and push through this final sprint to winter break:

Rules: Below is a list of ranks. Track how long you study for finals on a piece of paper and aim for a high rank! Each rank has its own rewards that you can treat yourself to over winter-break. Study hard!

LOW-EFFORT HOLIDAY COOKIE (1 hour)

You do not feel like studying hard or slaving away in the kitchen to bake holiday cookies. Buy some sugar cookies from the store and spread some Nutella and cinnamon on them for a lazy holiday snack. 

NOSTALGIC HOLIDAY MOVIES (3 hours)

You tried to study but you were too distracted by the nostalgia of the holiday season. Binge some holiday movies to get into the holiday spirit! 

SKATING ON THIN ICE (9 hours)

You studied just enough to get the grades you wanted and did well in your classes. You were skating on thin ice, but made it through! Have some fun ice skating on some thicker ice over winter break!

A HOLIDAY TREAT (15 hours)

You worked really hard and you deserve a treat. Go to a holiday market and buy some fun goodies and gifts to reward yourself for all that hard work!

SPA DAY REVIVE (30+ hours)

You have been studying for so long that you cannot even pry the pencil out of your hand. After all that work, you feel burnt-out and exhausted. Revive yourself with a spa day! Loosen those cramped studying-muscles with a massage or take a dip in the hot tub. Winter break is finally here, and you need it!

Best of luck on finals, fellow QUESTees!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

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Imagine this…

 You wake up late on Thursday and school is canceled. You get out of bed and it’s chilly, so you grab a blanket and groggily walk down to the living room to sit by the fireplace and join your family already binge watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. From a different room, you faintly hear A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving playing in the background. Your father is busy combing through the ads, looking for the best Black Friday deals. You can smell the garnishes of the turkey and the spices of the stuffing radiating from the kitchen and enveloping the household. You try to sneak a bite of pumpkin pie, but your older cousin catches you and chases you out of the kitchen! You are completely content, and thankful for a holiday that reminds you to appreciate the little things in life. Or at least, this is what Thanksgiving is for me!

For Annabelle Baer of Cohort 32, “Thanksgiving is a time to free myself from work and enjoy just hanging out with family and friends.”

Daniel Ben-Or of Cohort 33 says that Thanksgiving is a “chance for me to stop and say thank you, although I should be doing this every day! It is so nice to take a weekend to just say thanks to the people around me.”

So what are QUEST students thankful for?

Aditi Balachandran of Cohort 31 is thankful for “all of the super amazing faculty and friends I have met through UMD and QUEST. QUEST has been such a warm and welcoming environment for me to learn within and grow.”

Pranav Kuruba of Cohort 32 is thankful he got to establish “so many close friends through QUEST’s 190H course. I am actually doing Friendsgiving with my 190H team as well as a few other QUEST students this year!”

Lastly, Natan Oliff of Cohort 29 is thankful for “QUEST, and my dad’s one hit wonder, Thanksgiving Banana Cream Pie. I wish he would make it every year!”

Wishing everyone in the QUEST community a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are thankful for you.

Time to Shine, Cohort 30!

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Cohort 30 looking dapper in time for 490H!

Rapidly dropping temperatures this fall are accompanied with rising excitement for this semester’s QUEST capstone projects for 490H! Cohort 30 will have a chance to demonstrate all the skills they have developed over the last two years when working with their industry clients, from developing a design-thinking mindset and honing their data analysis skills to presenting innovative solutions with clarity and expertise. The clients this semester hail largely from the engineering industry, where process improvement and modification remains a high priority.

There are three projects with Northrop Grumman this fall at different sectors of the company in Maryland. The company has sponsored 18 projects since 2009 and is always a great partner. The first project is the investigation into the accuracy of a model designed to predict system-level failure and how it can be improved. Northrop Grumman Mission Systems, which sponsored this project, has also sponsored previous QUEST capstone projects, including in spring 2019. The two other Northrop Grumman projects are based out of the Elkton, MD plant that used to belong to Orbital ATK. One project is the assessment of the dock-to-stock delay and how to mitigate this occurrence through a new process and accompanying change in standards. The process of checking each product received by the company before adding it to stock is a lengthy one, and any delay can build up into a bigger problem if encountered. The final Northrop Grumman project is focused on the analysis and improvement of Northrop Grumman’s scheduling process. Optimizing this system will allow for reduction in production time, increase in quality, and improved customer satisfaction.

The other five projects are from a variety of companies. Leidos, Thales, and Middle River Aircraft Systems are both aerospace and defense-focused companies, with QUEST alumni involved as project champions at the former two. Krishang Sharma (Cohort 23) is championing the Leidos project, and Steve Kutchi (Cohort 1) is championing the Thales project. The project with Leidos involves the implementation of technologies to enable the transfer of knowledge to non-subject-matter experts through a chatbot or similar system. The project with Thales involves an investigation into the company’s configuration management release process and tools and provide recommendations to enhancing efficiency of the process and metrics to monitor. With Middle River Aircraft Systems, the team will be identifying problems in the supply chain and helping to reduce supplier delinquencies for a part of a thrust reverser produced. Oceaneering (OTECH) develops and operates unique marine systems for the government. The project involves improving vendor interactions through data collection and process improvement. The team is working with QUEST alumnus Jeff Gamerman (Cohort 12). The final project is sponsored by the Sealed Air Corporation, a North Carolina-based food and product packaging solutions well-known for Bubble Wrap®. The project involves the investigation into the benefits and cost of modifying the process of storage of materials to be placed in silos. The team is working with QUEST alumnus Joe Dadzie (Cohort 23).

This semester’s projects are as groundbreaking as ever. Cohort 30 will be presenting their final recommendations on Thursday, December 5th from 6-8:30 PM at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center on campus. If you’re interested in seeing their innovative recommendations, be sure to register for the conference at go.umd.edu/questconferencefall19.

QUEST’s Homecoming Fun

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UMD’s football games are best known for the tailgates that precede them – grilling, cornhole, and hanging out with friends while countless Maryland flags blow in the wind. One tailgate a season, in particular, gets all Terps to unite across campus: Homecoming.

Thousands of Terps walked our campus on November 2nd as alumni returned for the annual homecoming game. With an intense match against the University of Michigan, everyone got ready with their Bagel Place breakfast, red and yellow apparel, and school spirit! 

QUEST Social hosted its annual Homecoming tailgate and welcomed many QUEST alumni back for the day. Sasha Miller, a senior in Cohort 29 said, “I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my Saturday morning! It was a great time connecting with older cohorts and seeing where they are now. I hope I can come back in a couple years and visit the QUEST community.”

A group of QUEST students and alumni at this year’s Homecoming Tailgate

Stationed outside Mowatt garage, our tailgate could be noted with our amazing grill master and Cohort 5 alumnus, Brian Bender, and our QUEST cornhole set. I felt so lucky to see some of the QUEST alumni that I looked up to when I first entered the program. Eleanna Makris from Cohort 25 said, “It’s always so great coming back to campus and seeing everyone that made my undergrad experience so amazing in the same place! From current students that used to be my mentees, to professors, to people in my cohort (go Q25!), I had such a great time.” 

Amongst the recent grads who returned was Zach Azrael, a Q27 alumnus and 2019 Smith grad who now lives in DC. He expressed, “The only word to describe the QUEST tailgate is unreal. It felt so comfortable being with old friends, and even though the time was short, I can’t imagine a Saturday better spent. The worst part is going back into the office on Monday morning and knowing that I may need to wait quite a while until this group of alumni is able to get together again!”

Rachel DiDonna, our program coordinator, enjoyed the tailgate as well, noting, “As a newer staff member, it was really nice to connect with both current students and alumni.” Charles Grody of Cohort 29, who spent the majority of his time taking on different people in cornhole, said, “Rachel walked up to cornhole saying she hadn’t played in ‘years’ but sank her first shot and scored nine total to win the game. Either she tricked us or the game was rigged.”

QUEST Executive Director Dr. Bailey with Q30 students Nikhil Modi and Gina Wingate.

All in all, Homecoming was a time well spent! QUEST prides itself on not just being an academic program but also a program that fosters an amazing community and the tailgate showcased this perfectly. Although it was a bittersweet tailgate for myself, knowing that it was my last homecoming as a student, I am looking forward to joining the QUEST alumni community and returning to future tailgates!