As winter break approaches, some students are getting more than just time off—they’re getting their diplomas. No cap and gown can hide the smiles of students ready to take on the world post-college. I connected with a few graduating QUESTees about their college experience and how QUEST shaped their time here.
Category Archives: Student Spotlight
Across the Ocean: QUEST’s Winter Break Plans
Although finals season is in full swing, there is something we can all look forward to: Winter Break. Let’s see what some of our QUESTees will be up to this break.
QUEST Corporate’s Mentorship Program Launches its Fourth Iteration
The QUEST faculty and staff actively enable and encourage students to take advantage of our extensive alumni network, which includes over 1,500 alumni. Sometimes reaching out can seem daunting to students, but QUEST Corporate’s mentorship program helps. Entering its fourth year, this program pairs QUEST students with an alumni mentor working in a field that matches their career interests over the course of a semester.
A Leader in Cohort 41: Student Spotlight on Eileen Chen
I had the pleasure of speaking with my fellow cohort member, Eileen Chen, for this month’s student spotlight. Chen is a sophomore finance and information systems major in Cohort 41. She was nominated by fellow cohort member, Abhinav Mukherjee.
Eileen Chen, a member of Cohort 41
Beyond the Classroom: QUEST’s Summer Internships
One thing about QUESTees – everyone is going above and beyond in every way, and this summer was no exception! I spoke to five different students to hear about their internships experiences all over the country.
QUEST Conference: Cohort 37 Edition
Everything that we learn throughout our time in QUEST all comes together in the capstone course, BMGT/ENES490H. The finale of this course is the QUEST conference, where teams present all their hard work during the semester through both their poster presentation and on-stage audience presentations. I had the pleasure of speaking with Annushka Aliev (Cohort 37), a member of the team who won the Most Outstanding Capstone Award, and Abby Bond (Cohort 37), whose team won the Best Poster Award.
Cohort 37
Aliev is a civil engineering major who worked with SX Industries this semester for her capstone project. The team aimed to improve SX’s inventory planning and manufacturing scheduling. In the past, SX made production decisions based on customer promises and intuition. Aliev’s team sought out to make that better through an extensive forecasting model that would project future sales, calculate required materials, and determine machine run time. SX can use this model along with a safety stock calculator to know exactly when to replenish their inventory.
Most Outstanding Capstone: SX Industries
Aliev was kind enough to let me in on the keys to success that led her team to be ready for conference. First, she said that her team started working on their final poster weeks in advance, so that when it came time to prepare for the conference, they were already finished. Communication was the next key to a successful team. “Things change VERY quickly in 490H projects, and if a conscious effort is not made to keep people up to date, then the team will struggle,” she said. Her team was always on top of making sure they were always on the same page.
The team met every single day the week leading up to the conference to make sure they earned the award. Finally, the most insightful piece of advice given by Aliev was to also rely on the people who aren’t on your team. QUEST is a space where we are all competing to make each other better. Before presenting to an audience of friends and family, Aliev said that she presented to other members of her cohort, who asked difficult questions to make sure that when they walked up on stage they would be successful.
Best Poster: Capital i
Winning the Best Poster Award is no easy feat. This semester the team working with the health tech management solutions company, Capital i, made a poster that was visually stunning and interactive with their QR code. Abby Bond, a Bioengineering major and QUEST Social Co-lead, was on the winning team. They went to Houston for a health tech management expo, visited multiple hospitals that work with their client, and spoke with several stakeholders to craft solutions for her client. They came up with an extensive framework for mobile medical equipment utilization monitoring and forecasting models.
Abby and her team “secretly” started working on their poster early in the semester. They created multiple different iterations and their poster evolved as their project evolved. They began with a hospital room, an infusion pump, and a bed included to tie it in Capital i’s tech health industry. From there, they added small details, like a bear in a cowboy hat, to pay homage to their Houston trip, and a QR code to make it a more immersive experience. However, Bond stated the reason why their poster stood out was because the design complimented their solutions. She said “regardless of how cool the poster looked, we knew how important the content was. We made sure that our design evolved with how we decided to present our information.”
Congratulations to Cohort 37 on a very successful QUEST conference!
Have a QUESTastic Summer!
As the weather warms up and finals draw near, QUESTees are excited for the summer to start. Between internships and other cool summer activities, the students plan on keeping busy. Also – check out the QUEST-suggested summer playlist below!
Cohort 40 student Akash Marakath will be getting the most out of his break. He will spend his summer on the golf course as an instructor while participating in tournaments! Marakath also plans on traveling this summer and breaking his lifting records.
Reflecting on the semester, he really enjoyed his first QUEST class – BMGT/ENES190H. He said, “I’m grateful to my team and my mentor for making my 190H experience amazing!” He has learned a lot and is excited to apply it in his research.
Akash Marakath (second from left) with his BMGT/ENES190H team and client
He will be conducting research for Northrop Grumman. Through research, Marakath will help adapt the sensors for an autonomous boat created to identify dead zones in the Chesapeake Bay. This is a great project to improve the Bay!
Cohort 39 student Adelina Seck has an internship with Capital One as a Business Analyst at their McLean office. She, along with other QUEST students, are looking to have a great learning experience with Capital One.
Adelina Seck (right) pictured with Karen Nyugen (Cohort 40).
From Cohort 37, Bobby Chen has awesome plans as a Software Quality Assurance Engineer Intern at Tesla. Also, he is excited to hang out with fellow QUESTees working in the Bay Area!
Bobby Chen
Here are some songs to add to the playlist for your summer QUESTs! Thank you to all the awesome QUESTees who gave recommendations to this playlist:
- Stoked by Weston Estate
- Buttercup by Hippo Campus
- Better by Khalid
- Summertime Sadness by Lana del Rey
- 3 Nights by Dominic Fike
- All Of The Girls You Loved Before by Taylor Swift
- Heaven by Niall Horan
- OMG by NewJeans
- California Gurls by Katy Perry
- Strawberry Skies by Kid Travis
- Message in a Bottle by Taylor Swift
- Titi Me Preguntó by Bad Bunny
- Tieduprightnow by Parcels
- One More Weekend by Maude Latour
- Soapbox by The Wrecks
To all of QUEST, have a wonderful summer vacation, and we can’t wait to see you next semester!
Senior Sendoff: Cohorts 35 & 36
It’s that time of year again: to say goodbye to our beloved seniors! While we will miss them, we are so excited for them to enter the next chapter of their lives. We spoke with four seniors about their advice for future and current QUESTees.
Ethan Martinez, Cohort 36, is graduating with a degree in Computer Science. Before starting his full time position at Twitch, he will be spending this summer traveling abroad. He encourages students to form bonds within the program, saying to “spend time with other QUEST students and your team members outside of class and project related things!”
Ian Rosenthal, Cohort 36, is graduating with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Technology Entrepreneurship. Following graduation, he plans on working as a GPS consultant with Deloitte. He wants QUESTees to “take in every moment” and focus on networking by “maximizing time with everyone and taking time to build relationships!”
Alex Hou, Cohort 36, is graduating with a degree in Finance and a minor in Technology Entrepreneurship. He will be working as a Strategy Consultant following graduation! He also advises students to take advantage of the network that QUEST and UMD provide. He’s happy to connect with future students looking to build their network. Make sure to take advantage and reach out to Alex along with all the other graduates from QUEST.
Nick Bailey, Cohort 35, is graduating with a double degree in Operations Management & Business Analytics and Marketing. He will be a consultant at Deloitte after graduation. He advises students that “once in a life opportunities happen to good people all the time.”
We are so excited for and proud of our seniors! We know they will be successful and wish them all the best during their next journey.
Studying Abroad in Style in Spain
College is the time to try new things, whether that’s learning to cook or traveling to a new country. This month, I talked to two QUEST students who both chose to study abroad in the lovely city of Madrid, Spain for the semester! Both Bioengineering majors in Cohort 38 studying at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Fiona Sheridan and Hannah Lee had nothing but amazing things to say about their experiences so far.
Taking a QUEST for Spring Break
QUEST is an organization where we work hard and play hard. This spring break, students went all around the country visiting cool new places on individual QUESTs.
