Friday, October 26, 2022
Happy Friday huskies! This week, we are diving into one of our recent graduates, who has dedicated most of their years to the Sherman Center. In addition, don't forget to turn your notifications on as a new podcast episode comes out this weekend!
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We would like to feature important alumni of the Sherman Center:
Meet Aya Aragon!
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A few words from Aya:
I graduated from Northeastern in December 2021 with a bioengineering degree. I currently work at NEU as the Startup Manager of EXPmaker-- a 15,000+ sqft makerspace/campus community center being opened in EXP, the building next to ISEC.
I worked in nearly every part of the Sherm-- the newsletter, podcast, as community lead, and I was involved in Generate for nearly every semester of college (including Generate Labs, Forge's pre-cursor from 2017!). And my favorite project in Generate was Smarty Pill! It was an automated pill dispensing device, and honestly my favorite part of it was right before Showcase, we could not get our project to work and our whole team stayed in the makerspace until 3am for like, three straight days. Now that was team bonding!
The Sherm holds a special place in my heart-- it taught me not just about engineering and entrepreneurship, but about the importance of community spaces and the importance of being seen and heard, especially as a minority student.
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As a minority in the Sherman Center, sometimes (and not on purpose), you tend to feel like an outsider. Of course, NEU is a PWI (predominantly white institution), which means that most spaces, unless they are explicitly cultural, are mostly white. The Sherm has recently done a fantastic job of recognizing this, and to me, it feels validating. To know that even though changing the institutionalized segregation in higher ed is above us, that at least as minorities, in this space specifically, we are noticed and honored-- it means a lot.
My heritage is one of the most important things in my life. Filipino culture is very communal; I always say that I wasn't raised by my parents but instead by 30 other adults and with 10 other kids my age. Each year, our Christmas party would have literally over a hundred people there! It's very opposite from the American "nuclear family". And fun fact: most Filipino honorifics are just words to describe family members! Only in the Philippines will a cashier or waiter call you Auntie or Older Brother as a sign of respect.
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Last week, Northeastern kicked off its major fundraising campaign, Experienced Powered, which will expand the breadth and depth of experiences in six vital areas:
1. Empowering students to learn anywhere, anytime, with anyone
2. Maximizing faculty excellence through global experience
3. Creating impact engines for path-breaking research
4. Building diverse, inclusive communities
5. Investing in entrepreneurs that will fuel the economies of tomorrow
6. Expanding our global university system
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The fundraising goal of this campaign is $1.3 billion in philanthropic support over the next 5 years with kickoff events in Boston, London, Oakland, and Bangkok.
The event at our central campus in Boston was "an immersive journey into the future—powered by Northeastern.
President Aoun even described our journey here at NU by saying “Northeastern’s extraordinary momentum has been fueled by experience as the lifeblood of learning and discovery.” This highlights the main motivations and overall impact of this new campaign!
The night was capped off by Alan McKim, half of the namesake of the D'Amore-McKim School of Business and a Northeastern Trustee, pledging $25 million in honor of President Aoun!
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Events like this are what keep our Sherman Center growing through continual support of entrepreneurship and the recognition that entrepreneurship is the future!
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A brand new episode of the Shermcast is releasing this weekend so don't miss it!
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✨ A Few Words From Your Editors! ✨
Here we share a couple of tips and fun suggestions to push you through the semester!
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As midterms come to an end, here's a fun way to decompress:
Apple Picking! 🍎
Best Apple Picking Places Around Boston:
Honey Pot Hill
Smolak Farms
Good luck with the rest of your midterms!
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Extra Credit with Professor Mark Sivak! 📝
Here I share something design or tech related from the week for those looking for just a little extra credit.
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I am sure many of you have seen some applications of generative AI recently. The most famous are the image-generating technologies like Stable Diffusion but there are other interesting applications of generative AI being developed. One that I am following is called Hidden Door. They want to take a work of fiction and then generate an immersive roleplaying experience based on it. Dynamic content is not new for gaming experiences but if done correctly this could make a unique experience for an audience. The idea of mass customization of products has been around for quite a while so there very well might be a future where you get to play/watch experiences that are generated based on your input on taste, mood, interest, duration, etc.
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Thoughts and feedback about the extra credit this week or want to submit one for next week? Email me at m.sivak@northeastern.edu.
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