Cohort 23 Presents at the QUEST Conference

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On Thursday, May 5th, the QUEST community got together for the spring semester QUEST conference. It was held at the Riggs Alumni Center and attendees ranged from QUEST’s corporate sponsors to QUEST alumni to current students and parents. This event had everyone in the QUEST community excited and eager to see what Cohort 23 came up with during their capstone projects this semester.

The event started out with QUEST alumni speakers, including Andreia Rauta (Q14), Chad Schneider (Q3), and Kevin Schoonover (Q11). They spoke on topics, ranging from the power of confidence to the hard work of innovation and discovering your inner why. Following these talks, students from Cohort 23 brought out their posters to present to the attendees, all while guests feasted on the delicious hors d’oeuvres outside the main ballroom. The posters were all intriguing and fascinating to read, with clients ranging from Lockheed Martin to Volkswagen. The projects were also very diverse. Fast & Ferryous, one of the international teams in 490H this semester, had the opportunity to work with Arup and optimize the ferry transportation in Brisbane, Australia. Crystal Ball Consulting, a group that worked with Lockheed Martin, optimized an application for use on a mobile platform.

Jay from Team Crystal Ball Consulting presenting his poster to fellow students.

Jay from Team Crystal Ball Consulting presenting his team’s poster to fellow students (including myself!)

Following the poster sessions, the students gave presentations to display what they’ve been working on for the past semester. In total, there were four sessions, with three presentations going on simultaneously in each room. Attendees had the choice to attend one of the three presentations for each session.

As a current 190H student, it was interesting to see these presentations from my perspective. Throughout the semester, 190H students have been required to give a series of presentations, typically to our fellow classmates, mentors that consist of members in the junior cohorts, QUEST alumni, and professors. To be on the other side of this and even see our mentors present was very refreshing. The presentations I was able to sit in, which included Full Circle Consulting and Fast and Ferryous, were very captivating. Despite what seemed like complicated processes and consulting projects these teams were tasked to tackle, they were able to portray what they’ve done to the audience clearly and really show the benefits of process improvement, systems design, and quality management to all industries.

Team Fast & Ferryous presenting at the QUEST Conference

Team Fast & Ferryous presenting at the QUEST Conference

Overall, I had an amazing time at this event. Being my first QUEST conference, I had no idea what to expect or see at this event. To sit through the presentations and hear from fellow QUEST colleagues and friends about their experiences working with clients throughout the semester made it exciting to see what is in store when future students like myself take QUEST’s capstone course.

Click here to see more photos from the QUEST conference!

 

Cohort 23 at the QUEST Conference

Cohort 23 at the QUEST Conference

Meet Q27 and Q28!

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This spring, QUEST admitted its newest students into Cohorts 27 and 28. Students span from all over the Robert H. Smith School of Business, the A. James Clark School of Engineering, and the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences. While the new QUESTees come from all types of backgrounds and walks of life, they all share one thing in common: they are promising and exceptional students eager to get started on their QUEST journey. We sat down with a few new QUESTees to learn more about what makes them unique.

Zachary Azrael

Zach Azrael

Zachary Azrael

Hometown: Baltimore, Maryland

Cohort: 27

Majors: Operations Management and Marketing

School: Robert H. Smith School of Business

Things that Keep Zach busy: SUSA Community service committee, Terp AMA, EIP Living and Learning Program, and starting a Design for America studio at UMD.

Fun Fact: In high school, Zach founded a non-profit tutoring outreach program. His program particularly mentored and tutored students in the Baltimore area that were experiencing familial incarceration.

What do you hope to gain from QUEST?

“My passion is non-profit work. Through my experience in non-profit work I have noticed a lot of inefficiencies in that sector. I’m hoping that QUEST can provide me an outlet to learn the proper tools and a new way of thinking to help me solve some of these issues.”

Message to new cohort: “I’m excited to get to know a lot of people that are a lot smarter than me!”

Future aspirations:

Zach sees himself leaving UMD and heading into the for profit sector hopefully working as a consultant for a Big 4 firm. Eventually, he hopes to gain the experience, tools, and knowledge to then venture into the non-profit arena-his true passion.

Skylar Bodt

Skylar Bodt

Skylar Bodt

Hometown: Fallston, Maryland

Cohort: 27

Major: Cell Biology and Genetics

School: CMNS

Things that keep Skylar busy: “In my spare time, I really enjoy getting outside and being active. I play sports, such as soccer, track, and horseback riding. I also love getting my hands on anything creative. I’m always painting and drawing and would love pretty much any art project you could come up with.”

Fun Fact: “I was a twelve-season athlete in high school with eleven varsity letters. I use both my left hand and my right hand when working on art projects, and I still write in traditional cursive. ”

 What about QUEST appealed most to you?

“First of all, I was very excited to be a part of an interdisciplinary program. I’m interested in learning from people in different majors with different attributes and points of view. QUEST is also focused on process improvement, which is fascinating to me. I would love to be a part of the invention of the ‘next greatest thing.'”

What do you hope to gain from QUEST?

I hope to learn more about the entire picture of the creation of a product from start to finish because I am currently only being exposed to the scientific viewpoint. I also hope to refine my presentation and promotion skills.

Future career aspirations:

In the future, I’m looking to combine my love of science with my love of art. I recently accepted an internship for biomedical illustration with the Army Research Laboratory in Aberdeen, Maryland. This seems like a good, informative step in determining my future direction.

Janette Yacynych

Janette Yacynych
Janette Yacynych

Hometown: Ellicott City, Maryland

Cohort: 28

Major: Bioengineering

School: A. James Clark School of Engineering

Things that keep Janette busy: 4 years of varsity soccer in high school, FLEXUS Living and Learning program, SEEDS Mentor, Engineers without Borders, and intramural soccer/volleyball.

Fun Fact: Because her brother is in the circus, Janette has traveled all over the world including Mexico, Canada, and England.

First impression of QUEST: “I didn’t think I would get in at all, but the program looked really interesting so I just applied and went for it!”

What do you hope to gain from QUEST?

“I’m hoping to get more background in computer science and coding as well as become better at working in teams and taking ideas from others!”

Future aspirations: Janette doesn’t know exactly what she wants to do but as of right now is in the biomedical instrumentation track and sees herself making medical devices down the road.

On behalf of the entire QUEST Community, we welcome all members of Q27 and 28! We’re glad you’re here and can’t wait to see the amazing things you will accomplish!

Q27 and Q28

Fond Memories of Q21 and Q22

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By: Jacob Wilkowsky (Q19)

In the canon of college memories, your last month as an undergrad holds a special place. Although you’ve spent the greater part of the past semester coming to terms with your departure, the reality becomes all too present during this final countdown. Rituals like meals at Chipotle, late night study sessions in the QUEST Lab, and trips to Cornerstone assume a certain gravitas the 1,000th time around. I still remember the nostalgia I felt at Senior Sendoff (brunching in DC with Cohort 19) and going for a final run on Paint Branch Trail.

In the spirit of nostalgia and celebrating the accomplishments of Cohorts 21 and 22, I reached out to QUEST alumni, faculty, and staff about their fondest memories of QUEST’s best and brightest soon to cross the Xfinity Center stage.

Personally, I have many fond memories—

1) Conversing lakeside with the newly formed “Club 22” of Andrea Kyeremeh, Ilan Gold, Amanda Shekarchi, and Elijah Biggs (Q22) lakeside at the end of QUEST Camp, and then watching them go on to “keep it classy and get it done” throughout their collegiate career.

2) Reading the February 2016 issue of QUESTPress, written entirely by Bobby Fitzgerald [a feat and rite of passage] of Q21.

Here are some more fond memories from alumni, faculty, and staff:

“Since I saw your 190H presentations 2 years ago, this group was clearly going to stand out as much as your posters did. Over the years it has been a pleasure working with so many of you whether it was through classes, QUEST committees (shoutout to QMT), or standard all nighters in the QUEST lab. I wish you all the best of luck in your future endeavors and look forward to hearing about how you are continuously improving the world at our next alumni get together.

— Max Cooper (Q19)

“Walking through the pouring rain in DC (some students without umbrellas) on a scoping site visit with Mandy Yard, Joel Samelson, and Bobby Fitzgerald (Q21).”

—  Kylie King (Program Director)

“So I don’t really know the specific moment I met Halley Weitzman (Q21) – but I do know that she had the privilege of pushing me a little bit out of my comfort zone (something that doesn’t happen often) by coercing me into going to my first Hackathon. That weekend we became instant friends – a friendship that has meant a lot to me – and though she’s on to bigger and better things, QUEST will sorely miss her presence.”

— Danny Laurence (Q19)

“Returning back to College Park to lead a PwC Case Competition, I was extremely impressed with the polish and poise of the students presenting. I was particularly impressed by how some of the seniors, despite already having jobs and wrapping up their collegiate career, participated and mentored younger students.”

— Joel Liebman (Q14)

“I have truly enjoyed getting to know each and every one of you and hope to stay in touch! Here are some specific memories that stand out: Singing Taylor Swift at Karaoke on QUEST2Asia with Alex Wilson (Q22); Meeting John Harbaugh with Chloe Spetalnick (Q21); Writing a paper for the ASEE Conference with Mandy Yard (Q21) and Kylie King and traveling to New Orleans with them this upcoming June; Giving a tour of UMD to prospective students with Brogan Sheehey (Q22); Eating at California Pizza Kitchen in Hong Kong with Josh Sarna (Q22) (bad decision..); Introducing Tony Trinh (Q21) to Mandel bread.”

—  Jessica Macklin (Program Coordinator)

I hope all graduating QUESTees enjoy their last month as an undergrad. We wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors. While you reflect on your adventures during these past four years, just remember that the QUEST never ends.

 

QUESTees Hack Bitcamp 2016

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Bitcamp is an all-weekend hackathon, hosted on the University of Maryland’s campus. But what really is a hackathon? It’s a coding marathon where participants combine their hobbies and interests with technology to create some pretty fascinating products in roughly 36 hours. The 2016 Bitcamp, which took place April 8th-10th, had 1,100 participants working alone and in teams to create products and compete in company-sponsored challenges.

All of this information can be found on their website, but, despite the cheerful marketing, I was still having trouble picturing Bitcamp as fun. I, like most of the non-computer science populous, intellectually know coding isn’t just some guy in a room with a computer – but that is, without fail, what I picture anyway. Then, I heard about unicycles.

“I was trying to learn how to unicycle at 3:30 in the morning,” said Sam Lewando of Cohort 26 with a bit of a laugh – something I certainly didn’t expect to hear when I signed up to write an article about Bitcamp. Ben Graney Green (Q26) had a similar experience trying to ride an electric longboard tandem style and cited that “talking to other people about their projects and what they were doing and how things worked” was his favorite part of the event. It probably didn’t hurt that people had some pretty cool projects to talk about.

Ben spent the weekend working on a project he’d been meaning to do for awhile: constructing a literal point and shoot camera.

 

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Made using a camera module, Arduino, deconstructed ray gun, and an appreciation for puns, the ray gun camera functioned similarly to a standard digital camera – storing photos to a normal SD card. “I spent a lot of time soldering,” he said somewhat wryly, “but it was a nice space to push through it.”

Sam, on the other hand, spent the weekend collaborating with Bryce Peterson (Q26) and three of his roommates; it was their first time at a hackathon – but that didn’t stop them from diving in head first.

“We built Rock’em-Sock’em Robots, but with real robots. One of the robots had a webcam in the head, which was running a Kinetic and an Oculus… So it would be a person with Kinetic and Oculus fighting a person with a controller,” Sam explained. “We 3D printed the robot parts… it was a really fun time.”

robots

Both Ben and Sam fully recommend Bitcamp and all hackathons to anyone who’s even a little bit interested; they provide a chance to challenge both existing knowledge and learn new skills while having a lot of fun. I, for one, can certainly see the appeal.

Reflections On My First Year in QUEST

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By: Chineme Obiefune (Cohort 25)

I’m proud to call the QUEST program home. I personally don’t think there’s another program that mixes the professional and social aspects of business so perfectly, in a way that creates actual value for the participants. Time and time again, I’m reminded that the people I sit next to in 390H and see in the QUEST lab are some of the smartest students at Maryland. I’ve learned a lot from the professors, but even more from the actual students in the program. Through simple conversations, I’ve learned more about myself and received help and support from the most unlikely sources.

My experience in QUEST has been unlike any other program at Maryland. What has surprised me the most is the emphasis placed on the application of topics that we learn in the class. The three projects I completed in 190H were definitely time consuming, but none of that time was ever wasted. There was never a moment where I felt as if my time could be better spent elsewhere. Those projects showed me skills I didn’t even know I had and gave me the chance to learn even more. 390H has been even more of a roller coaster. The course has been amazing and I can honestly say that there hasn’t been a group project that I’ve been more proud of than the one I did for 390H. That class allowed me to explore my passions and combine them with the consulting skills I gained in 190H to create an incredible piece of work.

Outside of the required QUEST coursework, I feel it’s only right to talk about the sense of community within the QUEST program. Through participating in QUESTPress and constantly being in the QUEST lab, I’ve come in contact with a lot of really cool people. It wasn’t until this semester that I really started to connect with more people in my cohort, and I’m thankful that I made the effort to do so because it’s been an incredible semester. The sense of community makes everything seem more fun. I actually look forward to going to class and to all of the extra events that the QUEST community puts on. The people really make the program what it is.

Next year, I’m going to be a mentor for Cohort 28 and it’s crazy seeing how things come full circle. When I first came into QUEST, my mentor Sarah Scott (Q23) definitely made the experience a lot more interactive and enjoyable. Knowing that I have the influence to potentially elevate the QUEST experience for the new students is exhilarating. I can’t wait to share my knowledge and help them grow both inside of the classroom and outside as well. At the end of the day, even in a mentor position, I’m still learning. There are still two years before I graduate and I still have 490H ahead. But with only one year of QUEST under my belt, I feel prepared to take on any challenge. It’s easy to face the world when you have the best team in your corner.

QUEST Meets Vint Cerf: Renowned “Father of the Internet”

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On the 23rd of March, members of the QUEST community attended a talk at the DC Google Headquarters with Vint Cerf, the renowned “father of the Internet”. Topics covered through the talk included the Internet of Things (IoT) and its future on security around the world, as well as how the internet is able to connect with third world countries. Organized by QUEST Corporate, this was an event that had people within the QUEST community hyped for a very long time. It was a hugely successful event, with alumni and students ranging between Cohorts 1 and 26 in attendance that evening.

The arrangements for this event couldn’t have been possible without the QUEST community’s input. After a survey that was sent out in the spring of 2015, this event was initially intended to be something where people of the QUEST community could network with the Google Company itself. Initially, connections and outreach were made to various Google employees, such as Q14 alumnus Aditya Yerramilli and UMD graduate student Jose Oyola Sepulveda. Eventually, they collectively were able to hold this spectacular event.

Many people who attended could attest to how tremendous of a speaker Vint Cerf was, as well as rave about his humbling personality. “Vint was a captivating speaker and had me on the edge of my seat, hanging on to each of his words,” quoted Q26 student Jenny Mandl. “It expanded my perspective on the IoT movement to hear him discuss the security implications. I’ve never been interested in cyber security but when he outlined all of the ways someone could interject malware into a device before an encryption of data event happens, I was imagining all of the smart fridges and smart cars that could be taken over by rouge hackers. He made the topic very interesting.”

Towards the end of the talk, Vint Cerf gave his own advice from his experiences. “One thing [Vint Cerf] said was to stay connected,” said Andrea Kyeremeh of Q22 and the QUEST Corporate committee. “[Vint Cerf] was a really cool guy, like a grandfather with a billion anecdotes and life advice, but a grandfather who invented the internet. He was incredibly humble and kind,” said Q26’s Ben Graney Green. Afterwards, students and alumni alike were able to talk with him and tour around the modern and sleek Google DC office. This event was something many people will rave about for years to come.

To read more about the event, click here. For more photos, click here.

QUEST students and alumni with Vint Cerf

QUEST students and alumni with Vint Cerf

QUEST Entrepreneurs Take Silicon Valley

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QUEST’s second annual Silicon Valley trip over spring break provided students with the opportunity to learn about design, innovation, and product and software development processes from firms in the region. This trip offered students a chance to visit various firms: from Fortune 500 companies, like Google, to tech startup companies, like Q16 Jason Gates’ very own Compology. Additionally, students networked with QUEST alumni working in San Francisco and Silicon Valley, developing relationships with firm employees and returning to campus ready to share their stories with members of the QUEST community.

QUEST students frequently learn about these principles in the classroom, but the trip allowed students to apply these principles in a real world setting and use tools such as utilizing the voice of the customer and designing strategies to improve design quality.

This trip was especially enriching for two budding entrepreneurs in the QUEST program: Teddy Li, a junior finance major in Cohort 25, and Derien Scott, a junior computer engineering major in Cohort 24. Teddy and Derien sat down with QUESTPress to discuss what they learned from the trip and how QUEST skills can be useful in developing startups like their own.

What venture are you currently working on? 

Teddy: Reducing restaurant labor costs using data analytics and hardware.

Derien: Kanvasroom LLC, we are building a market network for the creative service industry. We provide a marketplace where people or organizations can subcontract creative services. These teams can then use our real-time collaboration tools to work on and complete their projects. These tools include video conferencing, whiteboarding, file transferring, video editing and many more specifically tailored to the creative service industry. We plan to finish user testing in May and launch our beta version in the summer.

What part of the Silicon Valley trip was the most beneficial to your startup or entrepreneurial goals? 

Teddy: The Silicon Valley trip was interesting because it gave me a glimpse of what career entrepreneurs had to do when they started their companies (very QUEST-like method of thinking). I really enjoyed the Compology visit because we were able to see the different iterations of the product as it progressed into what it is today. I’m gracious for the advice Jason (the founder) gave me. The alumni event in Mountain View on Thursday was also an interesting experience because it reminded me that no matter where I go, there are alumni around who are more than willing to help out.

Derien: The most beneficial part of the trip was being able to network with and learn from so many people that have been in the same shoes that I am currently in. Similarly, it was very beneficial to visually see where I want my company to be in the long term and learn how I can get there.

What was your favorite part of the trip? 

Teddy: Alcatraz [our first morning of the trip], because that was the first time we bonded as a class and even though it was raining, I had a great time getting to know people outside of my cohort that I would only normally pass by or see in the QUEST Lab.

Derien:  My favorite part of the trip was going on random excursions throughout the city. The first day alone, we walked 15 miles and the equivalent of about 150 flights of stairs after our Alcatraz tour. And even after all of that exploration, we still only scratched the surface of the culture in “Frisco”. The eye-opening company visits and the free swag, food, and Palantir Ray Bans were also really nice.

How are QUEST skills helpful in running or developing your startup? 

Teddy:  [QUEST] pushes you to seek out customer input because you won’t have a business if nobody will buy your product. You have a business when you have customers, but the only way to be successful is when you have customers who love your product. Essentially, you want to provide a 100% solution rather than a less than complete solution to their problem.

Derien: I utilize the tools and concepts I’ve learned in QUEST constantly within my startup. Learning how to take a perspective and turn it into an viable solution has been incredibly valuable in our early stages. The skills I’ve learned put me at an advantage in entrepreneurship especially because they are necessary skills that everyone from the CEO’s of a startup to the sales teams have to use on a daily basis and often, people new to the startup world have to learn these lessons the hard way. Even during our trip, many of the speakers would use the usual QUEST jargon like “agile”, “lean” and “user-centered design” to describe their design processes. Learning how to communicate and cooperate with a team is also extremely valuable. Balancing the perspectives of my team members and keeping everyone engaged, organized and open-minded can prove to be difficult at times, but being able to apply previous experiences with working in teams has helped me work through many of those challenges.

What is the biggest take away or lesson you learned on the trip? 

Teddy: Someone once told [me] that “everything you see in the world today is built by people no smarter than you and me” and I think Silicon Valley exemplifies that perfectly. [It helped me confirm] what that person said to me, and I cherish the opportunity I had to go there.

Derien: The biggest takeaway from this trip was that there is no such thing as failing if you can learn from your mistakes and keep yourself from being stubborn about your ideas. As my friend Terrell would put it, ‘Losing doesn’t exist, the only L’s we ever take are learning opportunities.’ Many of the companies we visited had to fail, dissolve problems and reiterate a ton before their ideas came to fruition and while we learn these iterative processes in class, it was really helpful to see them in practice at almost every company we visited from small early-stage startups like Compology to tech giants like Google.

Introducing Alumni Advantage, QUEST’s New Mentorship Program

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By: Chineme Obiefune (Q25) and Jacob Wilkowsky (Q19)

We’ve all watched the speech. The one with the uber-successful CEO, competitive athlete, or nobel laureate, where they share their life achievements and how they reached the mountaintop. Maybe you watched Steve Jobs’ Stanford commencement address or saw a Tony Robbins Ted Talk. Phrases like “grit,” “failure,” “mastery,” and “happiness” repeatedly pop up. However, in this article, we focus on a buzzword sure to make an appearance as you surf Youtube’s catalogue of inspirational talks– mentorship.

QUEST embraces the consensus that strong mentorship is critical to a budding career. As such, the program launched the Alumni Advantage program, a revamped alumni mentoring program aimed at matching motivated students seeking career, industry, or graduate study guidance with an alumnus who has similar interests or experience in the area that the student wants help with. Alumni Advantage is a no strings attached program – students may only have a couple of questions or seek a long-term “mentor”/”mentee” relationship; it’s their choice.

With all of the benefits that mentorship has to offer, one drawback is often overlooked. Students don’t always have the time and energy to keep up a long-term relationship with a mentor in their industry. Classes, work, assignments, and other responsibilities can get in the way of developing a deep, long-term connection with their mentor. Thus, the Alumni Advantage program allows them to connect with an alumnus for a brief chat or a long-term conversation, depending on what they want.

We reached out to the QUEST community to hear more from students and alumni about how they view the Alumni Advantage program so far.

Isabelle Lock – Neurobiology and Physiology – Cohort 25

Where did you hear about the Alumni Advantage program?

I found out about the program from the TWIQ (This Week In QUEST Newsletter Update).

What do you hope to gain from the program?

I thought it would be beneficial to get the perspective of a former QUEST student who’s now in the real world.

How has your mentor been able to help you?

I was looking to deviate away from medical school, and he was able to give me some perspective from that industry. He had a lot of friends looking at medical school in undergrad and helped me see that just because I’m a biology major, I don’t have to necessarily go down a research route.

Chyanne Nader – Civil Engineering – Cohort 26

What is mentorship to you?

Mentorship is having someone to look up to and someone who can guide you when you are confused. It’s having someone in your field who can help you out.

What type of relationship would you want to have with a mentor?

A relationship where you don’t have to talk to them everyday and maybe check in with them once or twice a month.

What are some differences you experienced between the short-term and long-term forms of mentoring?

In the short-term, my mentor Veronica was big on skyping. In the long-term, you’re more likely to be sending emails back and forth. Therefore, a pro of the short-term is that the alumni really wants to get to know you in a quick amount of time. When you meet up, it’s more personal. It also takes a long time to get to know someone which often isn’t necessary for your needs.

After getting the perspective of students participating in the program, we reached out to Aditya Yerramilli, the Alumni Advantage lead on the QUEST Alumni Board to hear his thoughts on the program.

Aditya Yerramilli – Forensic Program Manager at Google – Cohort 15

How do you believe this iteration of the QUEST Mentorship Program differentiates itself from prior versions?

We designed this mentoring program to be leaner and quicker, get students connected fast, and help address their questions immediately. It is not meant to be an overly formal program, but rather something that students can touch and go with as they need to.
The latest iteration of the Alumni Advantage program was launched March 1st and currently includes 35 total mentees and alumni (5 – CMNS, 12 – Clark, 18 – Smith). Based on our investigation the reviews are certainly positive.

Thanks to all of the students, alumni, and faculty who aided us in the writing of this article. QUEST certainly has a lot to look forward to, and we cannot wait to see how the Alumni Advantage program benefits the community!

If you’re an alumnus interested in getting involved, please sign up here! If you’re a student interested in getting involved, please sign up here!

Beyond the Classroom: 9 QUEST Students’ Summer Internship Plans

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QUEST Internship Map

QUEST students understand that some of the most important lessons are learned beyond the classroom. Internships offer students “real-world” experience and the opportunity to apply their skills in the professional working world. While some QUEST students will be working in the DMV area, others are traveling across the nation and even overseas. Read on to learn about the summer internship plans of these 9 QUEST students:

1. Nimit Patel (Q26) – National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Maryland

Nimit is a sophomore majoring in Chemical Engineering. He will be interning at NIST as a Researcher within the Measurement Laboratory. More specifically, he will be working in the Chemistry and Biochemical Department mostly working in bioinformatic and applications in health care in a laboratory setting. Not only will he be working on his own independent project for NIST,  he will have the opportunity to work with the latest cutting-edge lab equipment in his field.

2. Rou Tzamaras (Q26) – GE Aviation, Baltimore, Maryland

Currently a sophomore majoring in Mechanical Engineering, Rou will be interning as a Design and Manufacturing Engineer at GE Aviation this summer. Rou secured her internship through Flexus, which is a unique living and learning community geared towards women in engineering. She looks forward to gaining “hardcore” engineering experience while collaborating with other interns.

3. Young Park (Q24) – Deloitte, McLean, Virginia & Düsseldorf, Germany

Young is a junior Accounting major in the business school. He will be an Audit Intern this summer at Deloitte in McLean. However, that’s not all – Young has the exciting opportunity to work in Germany as part of his internship program. The Smith School of Business emphasizes a “global mindset” from Day 1 – and working with clients abroad in Germany will provide a lot of relevant insight on global business skills. “I’m really excited about just being abroad,” Young remarked, “I have never been outside of the USA, I’ve always wanted to but never was able to because of my double-major.”

4. Rebecca Grossman (Q24) – Boeing, Seattle, Washington

Rebecca, a junior Electrical Engineering major, will be flying high and traveling to Seattle to work at Boeing this summer with their avionics and electrical systems teams on the Boeing 737 MAX. She is specifically responsible for flight test analysis. Rebecca secured her internship through Boeing’s hiring program called EAHI (Early Hiring Initiative). She is excited to be working with engineers who actually design airplanes and to see the beautiful views of Seattle.

5 & 6. Thomas James (Q23) & Amy Liang (Q24) – PwC, San Francisco, California

We have three QUESTees taking San Francisco by storm this summer. Two of them, Thomas and Amy, will be interning as Management Consulting Interns for PwC. Thomas is a junior Mechanical Engineering major and Amy is an Accounting and Information Systems double-major. “I think I’m most excited for a chance to see if consulting really is for me – I’ve had my sights set on it for a while, and QUEST has definitely played a huge role in shaping its appeal… I’m both excited and a little nervous to see if the consulting work, teams, and lifestyle are truly what I want to be doing post-graduation,” Amy explained. Thomas and Amy are also looking forward to experiencing a different city outside of the DMV. “I’m excited to see what else is out there,” Thomas remarked.

7. Wali Rifai (Q26) – Lockheed Martin, Orlando, Florida

Wali, a sophomore majoring in Computer Science, will be hitting the beaches this summer while also working as a Senior Technical Intern for Lockheed’s Mission Systems and Training division. He took this internship because he was impressed by Lockheed’s communication and transparency in the interview process. During his time in the Sunshine State, Wali, a car enthusiast, hopes to meet the Orlando Roadsters.

8. Neha Kundagrami (Q24) – International Institute of Finance (IIF), WashingtonJere, D.C.

D.C. is known as the metropolitan central hub for top policymakers. Neha, a junior majoring in Finance, will be working alongside some of them. She’ll be interning for the capital markets group at the International Institute of Finance. “The projects are varied, as the capital markets group is currently working on getting Argentina back onto international debt markets. I’ll be working on one of the publications that the IIF releases each year – ranking the debt market and capital structure of all the countries in the world and publishing it for rating agencies for countries and such to use,” Neha explained. If you thought that sounded daunting, it is – most IIF interns are Masters or PhD students. On top of that, Neha will have the opportunity to work and network with some of the most well-known policy makers, financial analysts, and economists for international finance policies.

9. Jeremy Krach (Q25) – Pinterest, San Francisco, California

If you’re anything like me and attempt to be even slightly artsy or crafty, you probably have heard of Pinterest. Jeremy, a sophomore Computer Science major, will be a Software Engineering Intern at Pinterest this summer, specifically working on the company’s security team. After almost dismissing a recruiter’s email as spam during the week of the career fair, he was able to secure an interview and ultimately land the internship. Jeremy is especially excited to see “a different side of the software industry,” after working for AT&T in their local government contracting branch last summer.

What’s Next For QUEST?

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Every semester, QUEST students in the 397 class, Mentoring Design and Quality Teams, take on a project in addition to mentoring 190H students. In the QUEST spirit of continuous improvement, these projects look into ways to improve the QUEST program. For this semester, one of the most daunting projects is focused on “What’s Next For QUEST?”

For Andrew Lee and Ananth Srivatsan, two Q23 members who have long awaited the opportunity to work together, this project’s scope goes way beyond simply looking forward, but rather also looking back into what has made QUEST the program it is today- which is what they say makes it that much more necessary and attractive.

“When QUEST students are told to describe the program, they tend to use words like practical learning, team-based, and innovation,” says Srivatsan, a junior ECE major.

By the end of this project, the two seek to have a more concrete and centralized idea of what the QUEST Program is and be able to answer questions such as “If QUEST were to focus on innovation and consulting, will this be applicable in 4 or 5 years?”

In their attempt to find a “Blue Ocean” for the QUEST program, Srivatsan has stated the importance of analyzing the current state of QUEST. This project is very data heavy as it must analyze what has given QUEST its competitive advantage in the past and how it can continue to be an innovative and enriching program.

In order to properly look at how QUEST has evolved and what direction it’s headed to, Lee and Srivatsan have even gone through binders from the first cohort of QUEST, back when it was called Total Quality Management. Additionally, to collect current information, the two have sent out a survey to current students and recent alumni.

“We’ve found that QUEST was pretty revolutionary when it came out and people continue to join because it’s different and practical.”

Although in school most engineering and business classes are centralized on the individual, the creators of the QUEST Program recognized that in the real-world you are never on your own and made this a framework of the program. However, while other organizations on campus take on team-based learning, this project proves vital in helping QUEST remain at the forefront of innovation and provide students with a program that prepares them for the real-world.

Srivatsan said that the fact that this project was very general, data intensive, and so open ended appealed to him and Andrew the most. The fact that answering the question “What is QUEST?” is so difficult, the two realized that answering “What’s Next For QUEST?” would be that much more interesting and fun to answer.

“I don’t think this project will ever be done,” says Srivatsan. “I hope that every couple of years students get involved in the discussion about the future of QUEST.”