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
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.
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.
In the spirit of warmer weather, QUEST students are getting active. Besides going to the gym, QUESTees are putting their team skills to use by participating in intramural volleyball!
With the QUESTTech Datathon just passing, we have many QUESTees to congratulate! This competition, sponsored by Fifth Tribe, was the third annual data competition hosted by QUESTech and the QUEST Honors Program at UMD. Teams had the opportunity to analyze a complex dataset and present their findings to a panel of judges for a chance to win a cash prize! Judges included QUEST alumna Heather Bacon (Cohort 34), Dr. Brian Danielak, Professor David Ashley, and QUEST Program Coordinator Emily Marks.
Daniel Lamb (Q40) and Melvin Rajendran (Q40) at the QUESTTech Datathon with Khuram Zaman, CEO of Fifth Tribe
This January, I was fortunate enough to go on the QUEST Winter Abroad Trip to Vietnam and Singapore. Signing up for the trip, I really didn’t know what to expect, and I have to say, this opportunity far exceeded my expectations. On my transcript, what looks like a 3-credit course was an opportunity where I was able to learn, grow, and have fun.
When Matt Weirich joined the QUEST program as a freshman, he had already started two of his own businesses and was in the process of getting two patents. How did he do all of this before even starting college? I had the chance to sit down with Matt and learn more.
We are so proud of the eleven QUESTees who graduated this fall. I was able to speak with two of them, Kunal Parikh and Joy Tijani, to get their perspectives on their time in QUEST here at Maryland as well as ask them about the future.
QUEST students can be found in leadership everywhere on campus. From the Engineering buildings to across campus at the Business School, QUEST students excel and thrive at UMD. So, it is no surprise that some of the leaders in the Student Government Association (SGA) are QUEST students!
It’s an exciting year for QUEST! This year marks the 30th anniversary of QUEST, formerly the IBM-Total Quality Program. This program was founded back in 1992 after winning a $1 million grant from IBM. Eight universities won the grant, but QUEST is the only program still in existence!
I had a chance to speak with Luke Muratore (Cohort 37), one of the QUEST students on the 30th anniversary planning committee to get more insight into what this celebration will entail.