ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CONTRIBUTING TO A NEW STUDENT ORGANIZATION AT UMBC AND APPLYING FOR AN UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH AWARD
Gold Experience
From the fall of 2016 to the spring of 2018, I helped launch the Computer Science Education student organization at UMBC. In total, I dedicated around 280 hours to organizing events, mentoring other students, attending relevant entrepreneurship workshops, and other club duties. In spring 2019, I served as the treasurer of the organization.
In the winter of 2018, I applied for and was subsequently awarded an Undergraduate Research Award for my research under Dr. Katia Sycara and Dr. Marie desJardins.
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Although not directly connected with reverse-engineering the brain, this work involved learning important skills for my career as a machine learning researcher. I had to understand the different priorities of stakeholders to resolve differences and reach agreements. Understanding different goals and motivations is important as a researcher because, to secure funding, one must demonstrate the need for the research to occur and a good way to do that is to connect it with the goals and motivations of a funding organization. Additionally, entrepreneurship involves identifying dominant strategies for different domains. Discovering these strategies is also a component of learning and planning, which are crucial aspects of the human intellect. As a machine learning researcher, learning about these topics is of particular interest to me because I can use this knowledge to inform my work.
FALL 2016
In the fall of 2016, I volunteered to be help organize and coordinate the volunteers for an Hour of Code event at UMBC. Volunteering for this event inspired me to take on a leadership role as Vice President of the new student organization that hosted the event, the Computer Science Education club. The club had only done one previous event, so we decided to use the spring 2017 semester to get the organization off of the ground.
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In total, I spent around 12 hours helping organize Hour of Code.
SPRING 2017
In the spring of 2017, with my assistance, the Computer Science Education student organization began several programs, including High School Visits and the Meet Your Professor series.
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I spent approximately 45 hours on various club duties and activities that semester.
SUMMER 2017
During the summer of 2017, I gained more entrepreneurship experiences as a Robotics Institute Summer Scholar at Carnegie Mellon University. Some of these experiences included visiting a start-up, talking to industry leaders about their companies, learning how to monetize research efforts, and learning how to concisely communicate research using elevator pitches.
These activities comprised about 28 hours.
FALL 2017
In the fall of 2017, I used my knowledge of securing funding and communicating effectively to plan three major events through my role as the President of the Computer Science Education student organization:
QuHacks, a hackathon for high school and middle school students
Hour of Code, a coding event to promote interest in computer science
Krispy Kreme fundraiser, an event to raise money for the club and its activities.
In total, I spent around 55 hours organizing these activities, as well as on various other leadership and management activities for the club.
SPRING 2018
In spring 2018, I applied for and was awarded an Undergraduate Research Award (URA), a grant for undergraduate students to research a topic of their choice.
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I spent around 5 hours preparing my URA application.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
HOW THIS ENTREPRENEURSHIP EXPERIENCE ALIGNS WITH THE GOALS OF THE PROGRAM
During this experience, I:
Demonstrated integrity through identifying core beliefs and values and acting consistently in accordance with those beliefs and values while selecting and planning various CS Education events;
Experienced being a member of a team by occupying three different positions on the Computer Science Education executive board, as well as by working with other students and organizations to organize events;
Demonstrated realistic vision by planning events that were realistic to implement in the given time and monetary constraints;
Showed persistence by following through on all commitments required to run the Computer Science Education student organization and organize all of the associated events; and
Demonstrated perspectivism by asking for advice and viewpoints from my mentors, as well as other Computer Science Education student organization members and leaders.
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In addition, I:
Developed strategies for recognizing opportunities and identifying the tools for quality risk assessment while developing programs and events for the club, exploring the options for collaboration when planning events, and learning the ins-and-outs of event planning at UMBC;
Exhibited skills for communicating ideas in a concise and logical way by leading the club meetings and connecting with various leaders and clubs on campus;
Worked effectively in teams focused on entrepreneurship-related projects by planning and executing events, such as fundraisers, to gain interest and funding for the organization;
Learned about successful organizations and effective leadership strategies by attending various seminars at Carnegie Mellon University;
Applied entrepreneurial thinking to social issues and problems by considering and securing funding when planning and executing outreach events; and
Applied creative and innovative thinking to solve problems, as well as learned about successful organizations and effective leadership strategies by asking for and applying advice from individuals leading successful student organizations, and brainstorming multiple ways to solve a problem before deciding upon a course of action.