Last week, I was able to catch up with Ben Messing, a sophomore Mechanical Engineering major in Cohort 34. While his peers begin to settle into their fall semester classes, Ben has traded textbooks and football games for a manufacturing internship in Vermont. At a recruitment event held in the Kim Rotunda last year, Ben connected with General Electric’s Aviation subsidiary. Though just a freshman at the time, he was able to secure a co-op with the company working with the lean team.
At GE Aviation, Ben is working with a division leading the lean transformation within the company. His project tasks include data collection, organization, and presenting to the business leaders to help inform their decisions. He is also working on a project to develop a new type of gauge and test its reliability and repeatability.
Ben’s days start at 5 a.m. He drives through the mountains on his way to work, which starts at 6:30 a.m. Every day, his team goes on a Gemba walk to look for defects in the manufacturing process and identify any interruptions in the flow. His daily tasks span a diverse range, depending on what needs to be done.
Ben Messing (Q34)
When asked his favorite part about his experience so far, Ben said that he is “really impressed by the factory itself.” He enjoys watching the machines do their job and appreciates the automation that goes into them. One such robot manufactures blades that go inside of engines, a process which requires a very tight tolerance. “Parts have to be very precise, and the robots do it very well,” Ben said.
Outside of his classwork, Ben is very involved with Terps Racing. He is part of the Baha team, which competed in three national competitions last season. He also enjoys juggling.
Ben first heard about QUEST when a student came into one of his classes to pitch the program (shoutout to David Rosenstein from Cohort 29!) He applied because it sounded like a great opportunity and is excited to be part of such a strong community.
Though Ben has yet to take a class in QUEST, he is really looking forward to meeting the other students in his cohort once he returns in the spring. Until then, he will be continuing to develop his engineering and process management skills, all while enjoying the mountains and skiing in Vermont. Congratulations Ben! QUEST looks forward to welcoming you back next semester!
For this month’s edition of the Alumni Corner, QUESTPress is featuring Chris Coraggio of Cohort 16! Chris is currently attending IESE Business School in Barcelona where he plans to earn an MBA.
After graduating from the Robert H. Smith School of Business, Chris was recruited by Teach for America to become a middle school math teacher, which provided him the opportunity to have a real impact on people. Although his career was fulfilling, Chris realized that his true passion was for sustainability and fighting climate change. So, he decided to pursue an MBA to keep his career and career path moving forward.
So why IESE?
It took Chris a lot of research and many applications to both US and international graduate schools to realize that he wanted a global career that could also potentially allow him to consult and/or volunteer for Teach for All – Teach for America’s Global Organization. He then realized that IESE was the best fit for him – not only is his class comprised of over 60 nationalities, but also the network is the most global in the world! In addition to diversity, IESE has a stellar MBA program and a unique Business-Spanish program that will train him to receive a Dual-Language MBA.
Chris (third from left) at dinner with IESE friends in Barcelona
So far, Chris has absolutely loved his first month in Barcelona! While he said moving to a completely new country has been a struggle, his ability to bond with the IESE diverse community has helped Barcelona to feel more and more like home. “The community is incredibly supportive, collaborative, generous, fun and talented.” While abroad, Chris has found time to not only explore Spain, but also to travel to a ton of new countries! He has absolutely loved the city and people of Barcelona – he says that both the art (Gaudi!) and culture are amazing. “People here value their personal life more than their career, so there are lots of holidays and less working hours. I appreciate the slower but higher quality of life here, although it can sometimes be challenging!” To me, that sounds amazing! I already want to retire and I have yet to start working!
Chris’ first day of school is this month – let’s wish him luck! If you ever have any questions about attending an MBA program, participating in a program abroad, working for Teach for America, or just want some travel tips, please reach out to Chris at chris.coraggio@gmail.com! He would be more than happy to talk with any QUESTees.
“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes
Last May, we finished up finals, closed the textbooks, and said goodbye to our friends as we got ready for the summer. Fast forward three months, and WE’RE BACK! And we’re better — not only for all the experience that we’ve gained through the amazing internships we had but also for the exciting travels that we embarked on.
This summer, QUEST students reached every side of the globe. Some internships sent our students to major U.S. cities like San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and New York while other internships meant working abroad in countries including Japan and Israel.
But like I said, it wasn’t just the internships that led everyone to get away from home for the summer – it was also the trips that everyone took.
Adam and his sister in South Africa.
Adam Sarsony (Cohort 29) went to South Africa to visit his sister who was studying abroad in Port Elizabeth. His favorite experience throughout the trip was visiting a penguin rescue where “they had 80 penguins that would hop around rocks and fall on each other.” While at the rescue, Adam adopted a baby penguin named Pablo. If anyone heads out to South Africa, Adam definitely recommends “Sundowners” where, essentially, you buy snacks known as sundowners and head to the dunes to watch the sunset.
Arianna in Cyprus on a day exploring.
Arianna Minas (Cohort 31) took a trip to Greece and Cyprus to hang out with family. Arianna got to explore Greece, a well-developed tourist destination and then juxtapose it with her time in Cyprus. Although Cyprus is also beautiful, it is not as well-known, meaning fewer tourist activities and a lesser-known culture and history. Arianna loved it but also simultaneously had tons of ideas on how Cyprus could work to improve the quality of life of locals and to better receive tourists.
Tuvia snorkeling in the Pacific Ocean.
Tuvia Rappaport and Zarek Peris (Cohort 29) got to meet up while both were visiting Hawaii! Tuvia, like Adam, went to visit his sister who is stationed in Hawaii for the Navy. Tuvia said, “She lives in this cute town called Kailua and it turned out that Zarek was staying in the next town over like 10 minutes away.” Naturally, Tuvia’s favorite experience on the trip was actually getting to meet up with Zarek. Tuvia did tons of things including beautiful hikes, visiting a Buddha statue, and one of his favorite activities, scuba diving at Koko crater with sea turtles all around him. For anyone headed to Hawaii, Tuvia insists on eating chocolate haupia pie.
The English Garden in Munich
Alex Leipold (Cohort 31) has been in Germany since the start of the summer for his internship and is now there for study abroad. Alex worked in Munich for Secure System with whom his favorite experience was getting to be at the biggest shipping expo/conference in the world. Outside of work, Alex took weekend trips to reunite with his extended family. One of the best places that Alex recommends visiting in Munich is the English Garden, a park three times the size of Central Park that is full of people all summer long.
QUEST students love to explore in their every day and that is exactly what they did on these trips. While on these adventures, the students relaxed on beaches, delved into new cultures, and saw beautiful things. A common recommendation across all the travelers’ stories was to make it a point to travel and to go on these trips with an open mind ready to learn! So here’s to planning the next experience, whether or not it involves penguin adoptions or tasty pies!
Catching up with QUEST alumni is always an interesting opportunity. Learning more about the path they’ve followed since they were in the same shoes as us current students is incredibly valuable, as they provide clear examples of what might be possible in the future. I was able to catch up with Andrew Jones from Q26 this month, who studied aerospace engineering at UMD and graduated last May. He was also the lead for QUESTPress during his time in the program. He now works at Appian and is approaching his one year anniversary at the company!
Andrew recently took part in the second annual professional services hackathon at Appian. Teams from around the world had the chance to participate and were tasked with creating an app (on the Appian platform) in a 21-hour time span that aligns with the Appian Guarantee. The Appian Guarantee states that anyone can gain knowledge of the Appian platform in 2 weeks and develop their first app in 8 weeks. Andrew and his team were able to come up with an application that allowed users to create their own ways of viewing any data they might have stored or access to. When asked about his experience, Andrew said, “21 hours, in reality, is not that much time, so our team basically used every second of those 21 hours to build our application.” Andrew’s team won the grand prize at the hackathon, which was an all expenses paid trip to the Appian World Conference in San Diego.
QUEST alums Ilan (Q22), Andrew (Q26), and Savannah (Q19), also known as team “The QUEST to Appian World”
Andrew’s time with QUEST has had a great impact on him. Interestingly, his hackathon team was an all QUEST-team, as Ilan Gold (Q22) actually reached out to him to ask if he would be interested in teaming up with him and Savannah Vogel (Q19). They even named their team “The QUEST to Appian World.” It’s pretty easy to see why this team was able to work so cohesively to win the grand prize! Andrew also cites how QUEST helped him integrate more easily into the work culture at Appian, saying, “Appian is such an agile-focused company, as we pretty much apply it to all of the projects we work on. Learning about agile in 190H and applying it in 490H definitely helped with the transition to the workforce, as I (as well as anyone else here who was in QUEST) already had a relatively strong foundation in agile.”
Andrew loves working with Appian as an associate consultant within their professional services department. In this role, he delivers business applications to streamline clients’ business needs and processes, allowing him to learn about multiple industries and their processes in a relatively short amount of time. He says the caliber of people working at Appian is amazing. Everyone is really smart and driven, each with their own unique backgrounds, and he really enjoys working with them on projects and interacting with them at the office on a day-to-day basis.
All in all, it’s pretty incredible to hear how well Andrew’s doing with Appian, and his story serves as a testament to how QUEST helps students develop personally and professionally, while also making sure they win trips to San Diego! Congrats to Andrew and his teammates!
We’re at the most bittersweet part of the year. Our seniors are graduating, moving on from our bubble of College Park and off to take on the real world. With that said, I got to catch up with some of them one more time to learn about some highlights from their time at UMD and their plans from here on out.
Jeff (center) with fellow Q28 members
After graduating, Jeff Zhao told me that he is looking forward to “venturing out in the unknown and figuring life out.” A Cohort 28 grad, Jeffis going to have some fun before heading off to San Francisco where he will be working at LinkedIn as a Strategy & Analytics Analyst. Jeff will be traveling the world, visiting Japan, Thailand, and Greece. Jeff is excited that “after school, there is no set road – you can test and find whatever is most rewarding. Life is really scary and fun and [he’s] excited to explore that!” Though this is true, Jeff will miss college for the all-nighters (unpopular opinion?) as “the camaraderie between [my] classmates and friends working past the wee hours of dawn on nothing but caffeine is something to look back on with nostalgia.”
Jill (second from right) with Q28 team
Jill Gelinas, also Q28, will be joining Jeff on the West Coast but further south in San Diego working for Northrop Grumman as a Supply Chain Planning Analyst in their Professional Development Program. Jill was always very involved in her time in QUEST and the university as a whole, having participated in numerous organizations. With that said, when reflecting on the past four years, Jill said, “QUEST always stood out to me above the rest. The exceedingly high expectations of the program combined with the diversity of the student base create an environment where you have no choice but to put yourself out there and be the truest version of yourself.”
Akshay (second from right) with QUEST alumni and fellow 2019 grad Brian Yuwen
Although Akshay Guthal (Q27) technically graduated in the Fall, he was recently awarded Dr. Bailey’s Director’s Service Award. Akshay has been a huge figure in the QUEST community and will be missed! When we talked about his plans after college and pursuing a Masters CS degree, I could relate when Akshay said, “During freshman year, it seemed like college was the rest of my life, and now that it’s (almost) over, I kind of wish it was longer.” This summer, Akshay will be working at a startup in NYC called AngelList that helps employ people at startups.
Nadine (center) with 490H capstone project team
Nadine Eloseily from Q29 is graduating early to finish a 4+1 master program here at UMD for a Masters in Public Policy. She will spend her summer interning at the World Bank and plans on spending more time working in DC during the upcoming school year. Lucky for us, she has some time left on campus! A big takeaway for Nadine from QUEST is that she never wants to get too comfortable with the work that she does. She told me, “I want to make sure that I continue to push my comfort levels and continue to apply my learning to unique situations after QUEST.”
Megha (second from right) with Q27 capstone team
Megha Reddy (Q27) is headed to the consulting world after graduation, working for Deloitte as a Business Technology Analyst, despite sharing with me that she never thought that she would be ready to enter the workforce. Megha is really excited “to be able to figure out what [I] want to do… I’ll be able to move around within projects and find my niche!” This will come after she travels with friends, also visiting Greece with Jeff! Before QUEST, Megha said, “I assumed that if I didn’t have the knowledge to complete a task, I would have to immediately ask for help.” By looking forward and after working on projects in QUEST, she is a lot more confident in her abilities.
It goes unsaid that QUEST equips us with amazing skills and talents for the future work and projects we will be a part of. However, when I asked our graduates what they will miss about QUEST, each and every one said the special community that it fosters. Nadine disclaimed that it may be cheesy, but she will miss being in class with Q29 every week! She reiterated that “the community that we have in Cohort 29, and in QUEST in general, is like nothing else I have been able to experience on campus.” Akshay shared that he will also miss a community where he knows everyone and can learn from them. He followed saying, “I don’t really know how often you’ll have something like that in your life.” Jill will most miss “the raw energy and inspiring personalities of [QUEST] students.” She credits QUEST for leading her to grow into the best version of herself.
I also asked some of our graduates for advice and stories that they have to share. Jeff, being the icon that he is, recalled one of his favorite tactics. He said, “Life is serendipitous and weirdly connected in ways that I could have never imagined. During the Redfin visit on QUEST2SiliconValley, the first question the recruiter, Jackie, asked us was, ‘How much does a polar bear weigh?’ – just enough to break the ice. I ended up using that line as the subject for cold emails sent out to my future employer to organize times to chat. I had a 100% response rate.” Nadine suggests pushing yourself in every way. “Even if things don’t work out exactly as planned, reflect and be proud of what you were able to accomplish (and knowing QUEST students, it was probably a lot).”
As excited as I am to see Q27 & Q28 move on to the next phases in their lives, I am going to miss them a lot. Q27 & Q28, you have made major impressions in QUEST and will leave a legacy that long outlives your time here at UMD. Thank you for all of the guidance, support, and most importantly, the friendships. Best of luck in everything from here on out! Congrats grads!!
On May 9, 2019, Cohort 29 took the stage to present their achievements in 490H, demonstrating mastery of all the skills and talents they have developed during their time in QUEST. The concepts and ideas that are introduced in 190H and expanded upon through each QUEST course really shine through in just viewing each team’s incredible posters.
Team HelloQUEST presents on stage
The evening began with tasteful hors d’oeuvres and mingling as guests were invited to walk around to each team’s poster and get a taste for each project. From there, presentations began simultaneously in two rooms, a fifteen minute showcase of the novel recommendations developed by each team. From team RLA Consulting’s work with Lockheed Martin on “Standardizing the Engineering Rate Setting Process” to team Hello Quest’s work with HelloFresh on “Leveraging Data to Improve Event Selection Strategy,” a huge variety of industries benefitted from the 490H teams’ work this semester.
Our very own editor, Celine Moarkech, worked with Middle River Aircraft Systems for her team’s 490H project and had a lot to say about the experience. “Working with our client throughout the semester was very rewarding! The opportunity to make a real world impact by preventing injuries from happening is extremely exciting especially because we got to see our recommendations through and helped our client plan an implementation strategy.”
Celine (second from left) with her 490H team in front of their poster
There were some special guests at this year’s QUEST Conference. Over the last school year, Cohorts 30 and 31 had the opportunity to work with nine entrepreneurs from across Africa who are part of the YALI Fellows program funded by USADF. A team was paired with each entrepreneur in order to consult and develop recommendations for their startup endeavors, with Q31 teams currently enrolled in 390H building on the work of Q30 teams who took 390H in the fall. The clients ranged from Borena Energy, a solar energy initiative based in South Africa bringing electricity to a village, to Mother’s Delivery Kits, which provides birthing kits to mothers across Nigeria, to Wutiko, a website dedicated to connecting people to opportunities in Senegal. After spending five weeks communicating overseas with the clients, the teams had the unique opportunity to deliver their final recommendations to their clients in person. Currently being enrolled in 390H, I found it to be an amazingly unique experience to have worked on developing solutions in a vividly different environment than in previous projects and really expand my knowledge base in unexpected directions. The recommendations felt a lot more tangible in sitting down and speaking with our clients, some of whom had traveled upwards of 30 hours to be there. It was an incredibly rewarding experience, and the skills both Q30 and Q31 have gained from it will definitely be useful for 490H!
At the conference, 390H students pose with entrepreneur Adjo Asare, who founded Alfie Designs LTD in Ghana
Overall, the QUEST Conference was incredibly successful. Congratulations once again to Cohort 29 for a job well done, and I personally look forward to taking 490H with the rest of Cohort 31 next spring!
All photos from the QUEST Conference can be found here. A portfolio of all spring 2019 projects can be found here. More information on the USADF collaboration can be found here.
“This may sound a little weird, but have you ever experienced a phantom flush?” When Charles Grody (Q29) first asked me this sophomore year, I actually started to laugh! All I could think of was what in the world is a phantom flush and why is this boy, who I met a week ago, so interested in toilets? Charles, used to this response, explained that a phantom flush is when you go to the bathroom, step into the stall, and then out of nowhere – boom – there’s a flush and – boom – there’s a flush again! Admitting that this has happened to me on multiple occasions, Charles then proceeded to explain that not only is this annoying, but it also wastes money, and more importantly water! At the time, Charles was in the process of creating an idea of how to fix this design flaw. Fast forward a year and now, I am proud to announce, that Charles has developed Hydraze, a water conservation company that is working to design automatic, single flush toilets.
Charles began developing the first prototype of Hydraze through his Entrepreneurial and Innovation Program (EIP) honors program. Thinking about this phantom flush issue, it occurred to Charles that the system failure laid in the design of an automatic sensor detecting the distance a person stands from the toilet. Instead, he thought, the bathroom latch should have an installed flush sensor. Therefore, whenever you open the latch – boom – the toilet flushes ONCE! With this idea, he began to interview facility managers on campus who advised him that while his idea was fantastic, the only way this device would get approved was if it had the same amount of cleanliness of an automatic sensor and if it had a one-year return on investment. During this time, Charles’ idea began gaining a lot of attraction – and he began winning grants from EIP, the Do Good Institute, and the Office of Sustainability. With this money, Charles built two tools: a latch counter and a flush counter. A latch counter counted how many times the bathroom latch was opened from the inside, hence an expected flush, and the flush counter attached to the automatic sensor and counted how many total times the toilet flushed. By subtracting the expected flushes from the total flushes Charles could count the amount of phantom flushes! Through this, Charles was able to gather the data that each toilet wastes about 7200 gallons and $150 a year – but with more data gathered these numbers are predicted to drastically increase. Already, Charles’ device would cost him less than $150. Knowing this, he applied and was accepted to both the Under Armour Sustainability Challenge and the Do Good Challenge.
Charles Grody presents at the Do Good Challenge in April
At the Under Armour Sustainability Challenge in April, Hydraze was part of 8 out of 64 teams selected to pitch to four senior Under Armour Vice Presidents. Not only this, but Hydraze was also only 1 of 2 undergraduate teams selected for this opportunity. After the conference, an Under Armour VP spoke with Charles about visiting their headquarters and speaking about his idea with others. Similarly, at the Do Good Challenge in April, Hydraze was part of 3 out of approximately 60 teams selected as semifinalists. While every innovative idea at the Do Good Challenge was phenomenal, Charles won first place and raised $5000 for his company, Hydraze!
Charles Grody (right) with his reward at the Do Good Challenge in April
Charles’ ability to define, analyze, and fix a problem truly demonstrates the qualities that QUEST strives to establish within each one of us. We are so very proud of Charles for his achievements thus far, and look forward to watching Hydraze further develop from a startup into a well-known company. Congratulations Charles, we have no doubt that you will accomplish and achieve anything you set out to do in the future!
My name is Adith Thummalapalli, and I’m a Mechanical Engineering major in Q30! Recently, I helped publish a report outlining accessibility issues and barriers for students with disabilities on campus, called the Campus Accessibility Report. You may have seen it circulating on social media or seen the article that the Diamondback wrote about it. I want to share how this report came about, why I decided to write it, and talk about what everyone working on this “quest” hopes to see moving forward! So here goes.
QUEST Student Adith Thummalapalli on campus (Julia Nikhinson/The Diamondback)
It all started a little less than a year ago (last September to be precise). One of my best friends was having a birthday party at her apartment in Kent Hall and had started planning it since the end of July. I was planning to go, so to make sure the building was wheelchair accessible, I called ResLife and was told that the entire basement and first floor of Kent was accessible but that the higher floors may not be due to lack of an elevator. To double check, I went on the ResLife website and Kent was indeed designated as having some rooms that were intended for occupation by a student with disabilities. This was at the end of July. However, when move-in day came around at the end of August, my friend told me that she didn’t see a ramp up to the first floor, only 6 steps. So I called ResLife again and spoke to another representative, who told me that Kent was not accessible at all, and when I told her that the ResLife website said it was, she replied, “Oh, then I guess it is then.”
This was my first indication of the lack of communication occurring within ResLife regarding accessibility. After this, I went around taking photographs of the entrances of all the residence halls that claimed to be accessible but were not and researching the ADA Standards and building codes regarding what buildings could claim to be accessible, during which time I remembered another issue I had encountered many times before: inaccessible crosswalks with no curb cuts. So I began researching the ADA Standards related to that and taking photographs of all the crosswalks that did not have curb cuts at one or both ends. I started putting all of this information into a google doc and adding to it whenever I came across other barriers to accessibility around campus, until I eventually put it aside once last semester started getting work-heavy.
It wasn’t until the beginning of this semester that I returned to the document. The first two weeks of the semester, I was unable to get to two of my classes on the 3rd floor of J.M. Patterson due to an elevator upgrade, which was a planned project, but a project that nobody outside of Facilities Management was notified of. The ADS Office on campus, which handles academic accommodations for students with disabilities, was not informed about the project at all. If they had been, they would’ve been able to move my classes for the first two weeks until the project was completed. Luckily, I only missed syllabus week and the first week of content and had friends in the classes whom I got notes from, so it was manageable. I complained to Facilities Management and others about the issue for about a week, and their eventual response was to give me a number to call whenever I needed to use the elevator. The first (and only time) I tried calling the number, a person from Facilities Management took 30 minutes to arrive, at which point class had already begun and was 15 minutes in.
This was the second time I had run into the issue of abysmal communication between campus entities regarding physical barriers to access, and I thought something had to be done about it. So I went to the Diamondback and they published an article about my inability to get to class for two weeks due to scheduled elevator maintenance. After sharing the article on social media, I received an unexpected amount of support from people hearing about the situation and urging me to do something to ensure accountability and better communication between campus entireties. And that’s when Doron Tadmor in Q29 reached out to me. I had taken a non-QUEST class with Doron two semesters ago and knew he was active with SGA. He wanted to sit down and talk about how SGA could help me.
During our conversation, I mentioned my “evidence document,” and he suggested that we turn it into a formal report, submit it to SGA and get their endorsement, and then send it to the campus entities and offices that needed to see it (the Office of the President, Facilities Management, the Office of Administration and Finance, and the Presidents Commission on Disability Issues). For the next month, we worked on turning my mess of evidence into a professional report with the help of an SGA graphics team and additional stories added by other students with disabilities and eventually were ready to present it to SGA and get their endorsement. Thanks to the hard work of the wonderful Jenn Miller, the motion passed unanimously and we had official SGA backing for the Campus Accessibility Report. After that, we shared the report on social media, the Diamondback wrote an article about it, and a local news station (CTV News Prince George’s County) did a story about accessibility barriers at UMD.
Needless to say, this caught the attention of many UMD offices, all of whom contacted myself and SGA with a willingness to discuss the issues that I had never seen before whenever I tried to file complaints on my own. Additionally, the President’s Commission on Disability Issues (PCDI) met with Doron, me, and the other students who contributed to the report and asked if we would be willing to begin a Student Advisory Board for the PCDI to help inform them of accessibility issues that they could then advocate about on the behalf of the students. The first meeting of the PCDI Advisory Board will be at the beginning of next semester.
The amount of support we have received from the student body through social media has been unexpected but wonderful, and I love to see how many people have gotten behind this initiative. The goal was to raise awareness about accessibility barriers and make the issues visible to the student body, because once Terps set their mind to something, they follow it through. The point was not to place blame on anyone, simply to bring attention to the issues and get UMD officials to take action and ACTUALLY DO something about the issues, instead of just sitting and talking about doing something. And that is exactly what has happened.
Moving forward, there are many other issues that were not included in the Accessibility Report, because they would’ve made the report much longer than 23 pages, and we feared people wouldn’t read it if it were too long and complex. That being said, minor reports like this one are in the pipeline for next semester, as are a few events to continue raising awareness about accessibility barriers that are invisible to those without disabilities. I truly appreciate and love the support I’ve gotten from my fellow Terps and others, and I just hope we can keep the momentum up and nudge UMD officials into addressing the issues through instead of just talking.
Adith Thummalapalli is a guest writer for QUESTPress this month. He encourages anyone who wants to learn more or to talk about other accessibility barriers to reach out to him at aditht@gmail.com.
For the first time in QUEST history, student org QUESTech held its very own QCombinator. Spearheaded by Dan Selzer (Q28) and Akshay Guthal (Q27), the QCombinator was a design challenge that allowed for past or current “bits” projects from the 190H class to be brought to life. The 9-hour event was a success, with students filtering in and out of the various workshops offered. Beginners and seasoned veterans alike gathered to learn, as there were opportunities for both ends of the spectrum to enhance their technical ability.
Students gathered with their teams and bonded over Chipotle for lunch.
The workshops held throughout the course of the day focused on fundamental coding skills and gave students the opportunity to chat with experienced alumni or current students. There were 5 workshops in total, covering user interface design, product design, and introductions to machine learning, artificial intelligence, and Firebase. At the end of the day, those who remained had the opportunity to demo their project and test the progress that they have made since the beginning of the day.
Alex Jerome (Q25) led the UX/UI workshop at QCombinator.
For QUESTech member Gesna Aggarwal (Q32), getting to work on the QCombinator despite having no past reference point to build on was a “challenge, but extremely rewarding.” Being that this was the first time an event like this was planned, it was expected that things might not be ideal. However, Gesna made it a point to mention that leader Dan Selzer “always kept team spirit up, really took the team’s input when bringing this idea to life, and worked extremely hard throughout the process.” A big thank you to Dan and Akshay for all of their help ensuring that the QCombinator kickoff went smoothly!
As a current 190H student, I can honestly say my team was able to get a lot done because of the event. Although we were only at the beginning of our bits project at the time, the creative and relaxed environment that the QCombinator had was helpful in that we were able to develop a strong foundation for the future of our project. I attended an HTML workshop, which was something I had little experience with before, and enjoyed a complimentary Chipotle burrito for lunch as my team brainstormed. Overall, I look forward to the next QCombinator and all the new learning that will come with it! Congrats to QUESTech for the wonderful event!
There is a certain comfort in planning, in mapping out your future in exquisite detail. However, it is impossible for such a plan to account for the surprises of reality, to incorporate the arbitrary procession of events and unexpected opportunities that lead to success in the most unique of places. Ori Zohar of Cohort 12 can attest to this. He graduated from UMD in 2007 with a degree in marketing and moved to New York to work at big advertising agencies. Zohar worked in account management, business development, and strategy to get a well-rounded experience in the industry. After several experiences with startup operations, he co-founded Burlap and Barrel, a company which sources and sells international spices, in early 2018. I had the opportunity to talk with him about Burlap and Barrel, as well as his other endeavors.
Ori Zohar (bottom right) joined our QUEST to Silicon Valley Welcome Brunch this past March!
Spices offered by Burlap and Barrel, available on the store site.
What inspired you to start Burlap & Barrel? How did you navigate this very specific industry to build up the company?
Ethan and I have been friends for over 10 years, and Burlap & Barrel is our second business together. We always wanted to find an opportunity to work together again, and the timing was just right. Our skills complement each other’s: Ethan’s specialty is creating something from nothing – aka the subject matter expert. My specialty is building the structures and systems that enable that “something” to grow – aka the operator.
Ethan had previously been an international aid worker in
Afghanistan and Jordan, and while he was living abroad, he would bring back a
few pounds of spices from a few local spice farmers. I had been helping to get
the business off the ground, but my previous startup was in the process of
going through a rocky acquisition, so I wasn’t free to join quite yet. After
taking a few months to wrap things up and a few months to recover, I joined
full time.
It’s been really
interesting to navigate this industry. As outsiders, we have a fresh
perspective, but there’s so much that we’re still learning. Through lots of
conversations with people in the industry, we got a handle on things like which
certifications are important, how much margin grocery stores expect, and how to
convince chefs, food makers, and home cooks to upgrade their spices.
Our partnership is the most important part of the company.
We try to be thoughtful in how to grow in an intentional, bootstrapped way –
and constantly check in with each other to see if we’re on the right path.
What other startup
endeavors have you been involved in? Which is/has been your favorite?
As an undergraduate, I had a cap and gown business. Since you weren’t allowed to rent your regalia, graduating students were forced to buy expensive caps and gowns that they would only wear once. I offered graduates $20, then sent the robes to the dry cleaners, and stored them until the next year, when I would sell it back to the next class for $50. It was a good first lesson in entrepreneurship.
Flavor: Red Corridor
Later, in 2010, Ethan and I started our activist ice cart business, Guerilla Ice Cream, where we sold ice cream flavors inspired by political movements and revolutions. We ran it for a summer and learned a lot about what it takes to run a food business.
A couple of years later, I connected with a few investors and started Sindeo, a mortgage startup that provided a transparent, unbiased, high-tech way to get a home loan. We raised $32 million and grew to over 100 employees before our Series C fundraise fell apart and we had to sell the company quickly. You can read more about that here.
Entrepreneurship is a muscle – the more you exercise it, the
stronger you get. Each business helped me develop skills and gain knowledge
critical to running Burlap & Barrel. Burlap & Barrel is a profitable,
bootstrapped business – which makes it my favorite so far.
What does a typical
day look like for you?
Ethan and I work remotely – he’s in New York and I’m in San Francisco, so we try to check in at least once a day by phone and are constantly chatting on WhatsApp. Most days, I have 1-2 sales meetings with chefs, grocery stores, or food makers. In between those meetings, I’m updating our site, responding to customer emails and chats, drafting our next newsletter, reaching out to new suppliers like packaging providers, and reviewing our sales performance to see what’s moving and forecasting the next few months.
If you could give two
pieces of advice to current QUEST students, what would you say?
On any given day, there are may be 20 things that need to be done, but I only have time for three. As a QUEST student, you get to practice this type of prioritization on a regular basis (or maybe you’re one of those “I just do everything and sleep two hours a night” people – in which case, you especially need to practice prioritization. Get those eight hours.) Pay attention to how well you prioritize, when you get it wrong, and how you can improve. It’s one of the most critical skills for an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship is all about decision making with limited information. There are some data to support quantitative decision making, but understanding the qualitative, like putting yourself through the customer experience, getting feedback from early adopters, and quickly iterating on your business model, is a virtuous path. QUEST introduced me to the concept of fast decision making with limited information and that experience directly translated to the real world. Hone it, and it’ll support you throughout your career.
Thanks Ori for all of your insight, and best of luck with Burlap & Barrel!
