Career Choice Exploration
NYLF Explore STEM students will meet and interact with a panel of STEM experts at each of the program locations. The panelists work in a wide variety of STEM fields and will help the students understand their options in each field, while providing an overview of global STEM opportunities.
Below is a partial list of past STEM Panelists. Our top-notch speakers are from various industries and will vary by location. We will add panelists by location for the summer 2016 sessions as we get closer to the program start date.
Eric M. Dunham is an associate professor in the Department of Geophysics and Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering at Stanford University. His area of study is the physics of earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. Professor Dunham is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Fellow in Physics and a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award.
Mehran Sahami is a Professor and Associate Chair for Education in the Computer Science Department at Stanford University. He is also the Robert and Ruth Halperin University Fellow in Undergraduate Education. Prior to joining the Stanford faculty, Sahami was a Senior Research Scientist at Google for several years. In 2014, he received the ACM Presidential Award for his work in developing curricular guidelines for college programs in computer science at an international level.
Jeff Scargle first became aware of astronomy when his parents took him to a show at the Adler Planetarium, and from then on he knew it would be his career path. Active in the Chicago Junior Astronomical Society, he built his own telescope, and later attended Pomona College -- one of the few colleges with an astronomy major at the time. Scargle went on to get his Ph.D. in astronomy at CalTech. Following positions at Lick Observatory, and the University of California, Berkeley and Santa Cruz, he is now in the Space Science Division of NASA's Ames Research Center, studying variability of astronomical objects and the distribution of galaxies in the Universe.
Gary Martin, raised in southern California, has always interested in the ocean. He received his B.A. and M.A. at Sonoma State College in biology and his PhD at UC Berkeley. Since joining the faculty Occidental college in 1980, he has developed expertise in cell and tissue structure and function as a way of understanding animals. Martin teaches Introductory Zoology and Histology and Advanced Invertebrate Zoology.
Edward T. Morgan is a Professor of Pharmacology and a Georgia Research Alliance Distinguished Cancer Scholar at Emory University. Dr. Morgan’s research has been focused on the regulation of hepatic cytochrome P450 enzymes by inflammatory and infectious stimuli, the interactions between host P450s and invading pathogens, and the post-translational regulation of P450s with a focus on nitric oxide. He is the recipient of Visiting Scientist Fellowships from the Swedish Medical Research Council and the Swedish Work Health Fund, a Faculty Development Award from the Pharmaceutical Manufacturer’s Association Foundation, and the Joseph G. Williams Memorial Lectureship from the University of South Florida.
Saba Ghole is an architectural-urban designer turned education-technology entrepreneur. As the Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer of NuVu Studio, Saba leads the innovation school for middle and high school students. NuVu’s focus on creativity and experimentation sets the stage for students to collaborate with experts on projects ranging from new medical devices to interactive games to brainwave-generated music and art. Saba earned her Masters of Science in Architecture Studies (SMArchS) at MIT, and is also an INK Fellow and TEDxSanJoseCA speaker.
Tejas Shastry is the CEO and Co-Founder of Stryde Technologies, a Chicago based company building smarter batteries for smartphones and wearables. Its first consumer product is the AMPY One Motion Charger, a wearable device that turns a user's movement into power for their USB devices, which ships summer 2015. Shastry is a PhD Candidate at Northwestern University in Material Science and was recently named to Forbes “30 under 30”.
Yuri Malina, co-founder of Design for America (DFA), a nation-wide initiative for students to design products, services and businesses that tackle a variety of social and environmental challenges. In addition, Malina is the co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of SwipeSense, which aims to eliminate Hospital-Acquired Infections. He is a World Economic Forum Global Shaper, was recently listed in Forbes “30 under 30”. His work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and the Chicago Tribune.
Krisztina Eleki is the Executive Director for the Chicago Council on Science and Technology (C2ST), a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting awareness about the importance of science and technology to society. Prior to working for C2ST, she was the Life Science Curator/Life Science Program Director for the California Science Center in Los Angeles where she designed and oversaw the implementation of life science exhibits and public programs.
Kimberlee Sue Moran, a forensic consultant and educator since 2002, Moran is passionate about outreach and science education, and is a regular participant and speaker for the Philadelphia Science Festival. She serves as the Director of the Center for Forensic Science Research & Education and teaches forensic science at Rutgers-Camden. Moran holds an undergraduate degree in archaeology from Bryn Mawr College and a Masters of Science in forensic archaeological science from the Institute of Archaeology at University College London.