https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/ en https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/accepting-new-gift-ccnys-alpha-phi-omega-society-names-2024-endowed-scholar The Foundation for City College has accepted a gift of $25,000 from the estate of Edward Flower ’46 (1929-2022) to be added to the Alpha Phi Omega Endowed Scholarship Fund. The Fund currently provides an annual scholarship of $2,500 to a Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership sophomore or a junior in economic need who possesses a minimum GPA of 3.0 and who demonstrates services to the College and/or the community. The annual scholarship can be divided into two separate awards. “My father felt very strongly about the education he got, and that was reflected in part, by his leadership in this fraternity,” said Andrew Flower, the executor of his father’s estate. “He would be very happy to give to fund scholarships for students who demonstrate leadership qualities.” This year’s Alpha Phi Omega Scholar is junior Safia Hossain, a psychology major with a double minor in English and International Studies. Growing up as a Muslim-American South Asian Bangladeshi, she saw the mental health disparities and lack of resources in her community, and wants to advocate for underrepresented communities. She currently volunteers at the Asiyah Women’s Center, the first women’s emergency center in New York City and New Jersey. The Center creates a safe space for women and children who survive domestic violence, face housing insecurity, and seek refuge. Hossain aspires to work in human resources to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Fund was originated by CCNY alumni of the Gamma Epsilon Chapter of the national service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega. The surviving members of the fraternity (among them: Sheldon Luskin ’55; Don Rosenberg ’53; Walter Rosenthal ’52 MA; Ivan Samuels ’53; Helen Sternheim ’55; Herb Wall ’53; Audrey Wilner, who attends in memory of her husband, Alfred Wilner '53; and Paul Zwilling ’54) meet every first Sunday of the month via Zoom, as they care deeply about the values of the Alpha Phi Omega society and its commitment to community service. Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:41:12 -0400 /news/accepting-new-gift-ccnys-alpha-phi-omega-society-names-2024-endowed-scholar https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/princeton-review-names-ccny-best-value-college-2024 The City College of New York is one of the nation's best colleges for students seeking a great education with excellent career preparation and at a relatively affordable price, according to The Princeton Review®.  The education services company named The City College as one of its Best Value Colleges for 2024 on June 20. The full list of The Princeton Review’s Best Value Colleges for 2024 and the project’s seven categories of ranking lists, as well as the company’s profiles of the schools, is accessible for free. Click here to register.  The Princeton Review chose 209 schools for the 2024 list based on data from its surveys of administrators at more than 650 colleges in 2023-24. Topics covered everything from academics, cost, and financial aid to graduation rates, and student debt.  The company also factored in data from its surveys of students attending the schools as well as data from PayScale.com’s surveys of alumni of the schools about their starting and mid-career salaries and job satisfaction.  In all, The Princeton Review crunched more than 40 data points to tally ROI (Return on Investment) ratings of the colleges that were the bases for the Best Value Colleges school selections.  "The schools we chose as our Best Value Colleges for 2024 are a select group: they comprise only about 8% of the nation’s four-year undergraduate institutions,” said Rob Franek, Editor-in-Chief of The Princeton Review. “We commend their administrators, faculties, staff, and alumni for all they are doing to educate their students and guide them to success in their careers. These colleges are also exceptional for the generous amount of financial aid they award to students with need and/or for their comparatively low cost of attendance.” The Princeton Review gave CCNY an ROI rating score of 88/99. In its profile of  CCNY, the company’s editors praise the school for its “quality and challenging education,” and quote CCNY students surveyed by the company. The students hailed CCNY’s "broad curriculum,” with special mention for its “rigorous sciences” and an engineering school that is “one of the best public schools." Another student noted how CCNY “draws people of incredible intellect who are maybe economically challenged and allows them to excel.” The Princeton Review does not rank the Best Value Colleges hierarchically on a single list, from 1 to 209. Among the project's seven categories of ranking lists, CCNY earned a # 18 ranking on The Princeton Review list: Top 20 Best Schools for Making an Impact (Public Schools). Click here for the Princeton Review’s methodology.  About The Princeton Review The Princeton Review is a leading tutoring, test prep, and college admissions services company. Every year, it helps millions of college- and graduate school–bound students as well as working professionals achieve their education and career goals through its many education services and products. These include online and in-person courses delivered by a network of more than 4,000 teachers and tutors; online resources; more than 150 print and digital books published by Penguin Random House; and dozens of categories of school rankings. Founded in 1981, The Princeton Review is now in its 43rd year. The company’s Tutor.com brand, now in its 24th year, is one of the largest online tutoring services in the U.S. It comprises a community of thousands of tutors who have delivered more than 26 million tutoring sessions. The Princeton Review is headquartered in New York, NY. The Princeton Review is not affiliated with Princeton University. For more information, visit PrincetonReview.com and the company's Media Center. Follow the company on X (formerly Twitter) (@ThePrincetonRev) and Instagram (@theprincetonreview). Tue, 25 Jun 2024 08:59:20 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/princeton-review-names-ccny-best-value-college-2024 https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/us-news-world-report-ranks-ccnys-grove-school-among-2024-best-graduate-schools The City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering, the only public school of engineering in the metropolitan area, has once again been ranked among the 2024 Best Graduate Schools by U.S. News & World Report. The Grove School ranked #109 in the overall Best Engineering School category. Designed for prospective students looking to advance their education post-college, the Best Graduate Schools rankings evaluate programs in a variety of disciplines, including business, education, engineering, law, medicine and nursing. Other Grove programs ranked nationally by U.S. News are: Best Biomedical Engineering/Bioengineering Programs (tied) #69 Best Chemical Engineering Programs (tied) #59 Best Civil Engineering Programs (tied) #97 Best Electrical/Electronic/Communications Engineering Programs (tied) #102 Best Mechanical Engineering Programs (tied) #106 By collecting graduate school data annually, U.S. News is able to present the latest enrollment numbers, job placement rates, faculty statistics and other essential quality indicators that help prospective students make informed decisions. Find out more about the Grove School’s rankings and how they are calculated on USNews.com.   Tue, 18 Jun 2024 11:24:17 -0400 Ashley Arocho /news/us-news-world-report-ranks-ccnys-grove-school-among-2024-best-graduate-schools https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/spitzer-schools-alejandro-estevez-2024-hok-diversity-design-scholarship-winner Alejandro Estevez, a fifth-year student in The City College of New York’s Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture is one of 10 outstanding students nationally awarded $10,000 HOK scholarships. A global design, architecture, engineering and planning firm, HOK presents the scholarships to reinforce its commitment to fostering greater diversity within the architectural profession. The 2024 scholarship presentation marks the fourth year of the Diversity by Design program, which has consistently grown since its inception in 2021. HOK has now invested a cumulative total of $370,000 into the initiative since launching the scholarship program. “Supporting these exceptional students is a key part of our mission to create a more inclusive and representative architectural profession,” said Ami Shah, HOK’s Atlanta-based health education practice leader and a member of the firm’s Diversity Advisory Council (DAC), which oversees the scholarship program. “By providing resources and opportunities, we want to break down barriers and empower the next generation of diverse design leaders.” The scholarships, sponsored by HOK’s U.S. regional practices, are awarded through a competitive selection process to upper-level and graduate students enrolled in NAAB-accredited design programs. About Alejandro Estevez Born and raised in the Bronx, Estevez has excelled in the Spitzer School. He’s been the recipient of the CCNY AAG - Robert E. Markinson Memorial Architecture Award, the Wittes ‘66  Scholarship Fund Award, and has been on the Dean's List since January 2021.  In addition, he has two models on display at the Spitzer School.  Scheduled to graduate in May 2025, he said of his future plans: “I am eager and excited to work with different site conditions, clients, building typologies, and scales. Beyond my interest in design and aesthetics, I am most passionate about using architecture to positively benefit and better represent underserved communities. My experience as a native New Yorker witnessing disparity in design on my day-to-day commute from the Bronx to Manhattan has always made me aware of a clear discrepancy between the architecture that serves Manhattan and other areas in the outer boroughs.  “This quickly became my first interest in architecture as I questioned why certain built environments deserve architecture of quality while others have to live in buildings that are quite literally on the verge of collapse. I understand that this is a very ambitious goal and this is a problem within the urban fabric that is not only a design issue but more importantly a systemic issue. My education at The City College has fostered this interest in justice through architecture and has framed a view that supplemented and supported my initial interests in the existing inequalities in the architecture of New York City."    Sun, 16 Jun 2024 19:36:30 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/spitzer-schools-alejandro-estevez-2024-hok-diversity-design-scholarship-winner https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccnys-americas-film-festival-celebrates-11-years The 11th edition of The Americas Film Festival New York opens on June 13 with the New York premiere of “The Extorsion” Martino Zaidelis at the Instituto Cervantes New York. TAFFNY closes on June 21 with its awards ceremony for short films in competition at the National Museum of the American Indian followed by a special presentation of “Frybread Face and Me” by Navajo/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo filmmaker, Billy Luther. A cultural initiative of The City College of New York’s Division of Interdisciplinary Studies at the Center for Worker Education, TAFFNY presents eight feature films and more than 25 shorts, celebrating the rich diversity of the stories, languages and cultures of the Americas.  All events are free and open to the public, and all foreign-language films are subtitled in English. Click here for the full program and showtimes. Juan Carlos Mercado, CCNY’s dean of the Division of Interdisciplinary Studies and TAFFNY’s founder, says of this year’s festival: "As we mark our 11th year, we proudly affirm our status as a beacon of artistry amid the rich cultural tapestry of the city. By selecting these films, we aim to highlight stories often overlooked in mainstream media and to showcase countries rarely featured in major festival lineups, aligning with the mission of CUNY and City College." The Americas Short Film Competition is dedicated to promoting and exhibiting short audiovisual works by emerging filmmakers that portray the contemporary concerns of filmmakers living in the region. This year, TAFFNY has over 25 short films competing for the Americas Award in Animation, Documentary, Experimental, and Fiction categories. The jurors of the Documentary and Animation categories include director Catalina Santamaria, professor and radio host David Little, and Fairfield University Professor Sergio Adrada-Rafael. The jury consists of screenwriter and author Andres Lopera-Sanchez, filmmaker Marina Fernandez, and film critic Armando Russi in the Fiction and Experimental categories. Diana Vargas, TAFFNY’s artistic director, said, “Every year, the filmmakers and their films reflect the endeavors and concerns of their societies. This time, we wanted to emphasize issues such as women's stories of resilience, the power of art as a catalyst for change, and the increasingly powerful voices of native communities demanding visibility. The Americas are home to fascinating and enlightening people and cultures, and TAFFNY’s mission is to bring these to the forefront for New Yorkers to experience—all for free and fun.” Click here for a list of TAFFNY’s partners and supporters. Wed, 12 Jun 2024 12:41:49 -0400 Ashley Arocho /news/ccnys-americas-film-festival-celebrates-11-years https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/nasa-grants-ccny-expert-maria-tzortziou-15m-arctic-coastal-mission City College of New York Professor Maria Tzortziou is the recipient of a $15 million grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to lead a new mission that will study the changing Coastal Arctic and impacts on vulnerable ecosystems and communities. Tzortziou’s project, “Arctic Coastlines–Frontlines of Rapidly Transforming Ecosystems (FORTE),” is one of six new NASA-funded airborne missions that will use novel, high-resolution observations from aircraft to complement what scientists can see from orbit, measure from the ground, and simulate in computer models. The other missions, both domestic and international, include studies of fire-induced clouds, air quality, landslide hazards, shrinking glaciers, and emissions from agricultural lands. They were all selected after a highly competitive process and are designed to provide opportunities to supplement satellite observations and make innovative measurements. Approximately $120 million has been allotted for the six missions, which will deploy at various times from 2026 to 2029. Click here to read more. "These missions will help us interpret what our current satellites are seeing from space and test new ideas and techniques for our upcoming Earth System Observatory," said Karen St. Germain, director of NASA's Earth Science Division. "There is also a strong focus on actionable Earth science—gathering fundamental observations that have connections to our economy and societal decision-making and information needs." The Martin and Michele Cohen Endowed Professor of Environmental Sciences at CCNY’s Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI), Tzortziou’s FORTE project entails observing changes in river systems on the North Slope of Alaska. Deputy PIs on the mission are Dr. Antonio Mannino and Dr. Blake Clark from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. The study will combine optical and radar measurements from planes, helicopters, boats, and drones to measure water flows and chemistry and observe how ecosystems respond to the changing climate. The Tzortziou team has been working closely with local Indigenous communities who already experience enormous impacts on their livelihoods, culture, food security, physical safety, health, and social structure. These collaborations will allow FORTE to integrate community-based monitoring in field activities, co-develop training and capacity-sharing programs, and inform this study based on Local and Traditional Knowledge. “Changes in the Arctic have both local and global environmental, economic, and social implications”. Tzortziou mentioned. “We are really excited we have been selected for this mission. FORTE will fill a critical gap in our understanding and modeling of climate change impacts on ecosystems, resources and communities, by targeting the transitional continuum of Alaska’s northernmost ecosystems – rivers, deltas, lagoons, and estuaries – that connect land to sea: a dynamic continuum that can uniquely be captured from airborne platforms.” About Maria Tzortziou  In addition to her position as the Martin and Michele Cohen Endowed Professor of Environmental Sciences at CDI, Tzortziou is Director of Research and Applications at the CREST Remote Sensing Earth Institute. She is also Affiliate Professor with Columbia University/LDEO and University of Maryland/ESSIC, and Senior Research Scientist at NASA Goddard, where she serves as the Deputy Program Applications Lead for NASA’s PACE satellite mission and the Applied Science Lead for GLIMR, NASA’s first geostationary hyperspectral ocean color mission. Tzortziou has led numerous field campaigns across a range of environments, from the tropics to the Arctic. Her research integrates advanced satellite remote sensing technologies with multidisciplinary datasets and models to assess human-ecosystem interactions, and the impact of multiple environmental stressors on the biogeochemistry, ecology, and biodiversity of inland and ocean ecosystems. Tzortziou has served as an expert on numerous interagency advisory and leadership boards relevant to ocean science, marine technology, and policy, including the Science Steering Committee for the Ocean Carbon Biogeochemistry Program, the Science leadership Board for the North American Carbon Program, the Long Island Sound Study Program Science and Technical Advisory Committee, and the National Ocean Research Advisory Panel that provides independent recommendations to the Federal Government on matters of ocean policy. Fri, 07 Jun 2024 13:34:17 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/nasa-grants-ccny-expert-maria-tzortziou-15m-arctic-coastal-mission https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccny-celebrates-pride-month-2024 The City College of New York’s LGBTQ+ Student Center in collaboration with the CUNY LGBTQI+ Council and the CUNY LGBTQIA+ Consortium celebrate LGBTQIA+ Pride Month with a series of events. Below is a list of events: CCNY and CUNY march in the Queens Pride Parade on Sunday, June 2 at 11 a.m.; CCNY and CUNY celebrate the 7th Annual CUNY Pridefest at Queens College on Friday June 7 at 12 p.m. The CCNY LGBTQ+ Student Center will be tabling for a "Build-a-Benny" activity; CCNY and CUNY march in Brooklyn Pride on Saturday, June 8 at 6:30 p.m.; Brooklyn-based CUNY colleges are hosting a Queer Prom on Friday, June 14 at 6 p.m. The event is open to all CUNY students, and to register, click here; and CCNY and CUNY will march at NYC Pride on Sunday, June 30. Click here to sign up as a CUNY Pride dancer and perform in the following June 2024 Pride events: Queens Pride Parade on June 2, CUNY Pridefest on June 7, Brooklyn Pride on June 8, and NYC Pride on June 30. For more information about CCNY Pride events, or to register, please click here.   Thu, 30 May 2024 12:45:28 -0400 Ashley Arocho /news/ccny-celebrates-pride-month-2024 https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/ccnys-spitzer-school-architecture-professor-ifeoma-ebo-wins-prestigious-placement-climate Assistant Professor Ifeoma Ebo of The City College of New York’s Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture is selected to be a member of the 2024 Cohort for the Academy for Public Scholarship on the Built Environment: CLIMATE ACTION. The honor comes from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and the ACSA Research & Scholarship Committee, in partnership with The OpEd Project and the University of Southern California, Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication. Ebo is one of 12 architecture faculty members chosen for her research reflecting climate change and climate justice. She will participate in The OpEd Project’s virtual “Write to Change the World” workshops, as well as a series of climate training modules led by the USC, Annenberg School of Communication and Journalism, focusing on storytelling, media, terminology, and more, offering an extended training opportunity to expand the impact of her research and scholarship beyond academia. After the workshop, cohort members will have access to The OpEd Project’s Mentor-Editor network to get individualized feedback on their op-ed drafts with an eye towards publishing in a local, regional, or national newspaper. The Nigerian-American Ebo’s research explores how the just transition can be accomplished through regenerative practice in the built environment industry. Regenerative practice in the design/planning field is a critical component of climate action. Exploring the extent to which our built environment supports a regenerative economy, ecologies, and energy has the potential to encourage transdisciplinary engagement. This exploration regenerative practice is rooted in the intersection of climate and cultural justice - more specifically culture-based approaches to climate action particularly in BIPOC/ immigrant communities.  The Brooklyn-based Ebo is a principal of Creative Urban Alchemy, LLC, an award-winning urban design and planning studio. In the past, she has partnered with prestigious institutions like the United Nations, FIFA, and the NYC Mayor’s Office. Ebo has served on advisory boards for the Mayor of Helsingborg, Sweden H22 Smart City Initiative, Association for Community Design, New York State Energy and Research Development Authority, the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and is a member of Dark Matter University - a design justice network of BIPOC academics.  As a creative, Ebo explores her passion for visual storytelling to craft engaging design workshops. She has exhibited her work as a part of the Architectural League Shifting Ground visual archive capturing the relationship between society and the built environment during the pandemic. She has received awards and fellowships from the Black Artists & Designers Guild, NYS Council on the Arts, the Architectural League, and United States Artists. Ebo holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Cornell University and a Master of City Design & Development from MIT. At CCNY, she teaches a Design and Spatial Justice course exploring cultural, climate, and environmental justice at the Spitzer School of Architecture. She joined the faculty in Fall 2023.   Wed, 29 May 2024 14:45:19 -0400 Thea Klapwald /news/ccnys-spitzer-school-architecture-professor-ifeoma-ebo-wins-prestigious-placement-climate https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/hunter-ccny-space-energy-partnership-nasa-jpl-receives-5m-nasa-funding Home of a unique NASA center to develop batteries for deep space missions, The City College of New York is the beneficiary of a $5 million cooperative agreement from the agency awarded to Hunter College for advanced research on storing energy for use in space. Robert J. Messinger, associate professor and Director of Graduate Studies, in the Department of Chemical Engineering, is PI of The City College subcontract. CCNY will receive $1.5M of NASA funding over five years. Messinger is also the PI and founding director of the NASA-CCNY Center for Advanced Batteries for Space (CABS), a separate $5 million award from NASA established on October 1, 2019.   “The award will establish a collaborate research and education center between Hunter College, CCNY, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez, and CUNY Bronx, Queensborough, and Hostos community colleges,” said Messinger. “We are also excited to evolve and build upon NASA-CCNY CABS, which will end its five years on Sept. 30, 2024 and move into a brief period of no-cost extension.” Messinger’s faculty collaborators at Hunter College include Hunter Distinguished Professor of Physics Steve G. Greenbaum, PI of the new center, and co-PI’s Yuhang Ren, Godfrey Gumbs and Min Xu. The team will develop and characterize cutting-edge materials for advanced batteries and supercapacitors to enable new and ambitious planetary exploration missions. The project involves close collaboration with NASA’s JPL and a significant portion of the funding will support student research internships there. The Hunter funding is part of approximately $35 million in NASA support to seven higher-education institutions, which aims to build institutional capacity for research and training a diverse cohort of students in areas of strategic interest to NASA. About Dr. Robert Messinger In addition to being the founding director of the NASA-CCNY Center for Advanced Batteries for Space, Messinger is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He received a 2019 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career (NSF CAREER) Award. Since joining CCNY in August 2015, he has been PI or co-PI on awards totaling approximately $16M. At CCNY, his research team investigates electrochemical materials, chemical procesess, and multi-phase fluids up from the molecular level, aimed at solving societal challenges in energy storage and recycling.    Tue, 28 May 2024 22:18:02 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/hunter-ccny-space-energy-partnership-nasa-jpl-receives-5m-nasa-funding https://www.ccny.cuny.edu/news/innovative-student-ventures-sweep-80k-prizes-during-ccnys-zahn-center-demo-week Eight student-led City College of New York and CUNY startup ventures won $80,000 in prizes during the Zahn Innovation Center and Standard Chartered Women in Tech Incubator Competition.   The Zahn Center’s 2024 Demo Week provided 14 finalists the opportunity to pitch to panels of expert judges and compete for prizes to continue the development of their startups. Demo Week was the culmination of a semester-long extra-curricular incubator program, serving more than 55 CCNY and CUNY undergraduate and graduate students as well as community colleagues.  The event also marked the 10th anniversary of the Standard Chartered-Zahn Center partnership at CCNY, a collaboration that has driven innovation and gender equality forward. “The WiT Incubator Competition and our longstanding partnership with Standard Chartered have been instrumental in fostering the entrepreneurial mindset among our students. We are excited to carry on supporting the upcoming generation of business leaders through collaborative initiatives,” said Kesia Hudson, managing director of the Zahn Center’s Standard Chartered Women in Tech Program. “The teams in this year’s cohort reflect the Zahn Innovation Center’s reach across campus and the CUNY system, with many of the finalist teams coming out of earlier programs,” said Chris Bobko, Executive Director of the Zahn Innovation Center. “These include CiPASS, Biomedical Engineering Society Biodesign Challenge, Blackstone LaunchPad, and CUNYStartups or through ongoing partnerships with capstone engineering design courses.” After a series of in-person events hosted at Standard Chartered Bank and Dechert, LLP, a panel of judges awarded four $15,000 grand prizes and four $5,000 second place prizes.  Following are the winners and team members (all CCNY unless stated).  Kaylie Hardware Grand Prize: CarbonCLAIR -- Fares Al-lahabi (sophomore, mechanical engineering, Manhattan College); Elsa Cobaj (sophomore, ME):  Dominick Gordon (junior, computer science); Naeema Haque (graduating senior, environmental earth systems science), and Jeremie Laveau (junior, ME).  CarbonCLAIR is a carbon-capturing system that sustainably filters particulate matter, improving air quality and livelihood in urban cities for vulnerable populations with greater respiratory needs while meeting your building standard demands. “This victory validates our hard work and fuels our vision for CarbonCLAIR's future. Combined with a recent collaboration with Mount Sinai, we're ready to scale up and seek new funding to make a real impact on air quality and sustainability," said Al-lahabi ZoneCast (Second Place) --  Karim Toufiq (2023 CCNY alumnus, economics) and Miguel Carpio (2023 College of Saint Rose alumnus).  ZoneCast is a camera system designed to bring a professional and forward-thinking style of play to amateur baseball. Standard Chartered Women+Tech Grand Prize: Easy Meets -- Marwah Alzandani (senior, business, College of Staten Island); Basmalla Attia (senior, business & political science, Baruch); and Adam Kostandy (senior, computer science, CSI).  Easy Meets is a marketplace that simplifies planning hangouts and trips for groups or individuals and provides businesses with valuable information about potential customers. “We are honored to be recognized for our innovative venture,” said Alzandani. “This experience has provided invaluable mentorship, support, opportunities, and resources. We are incredibly grateful to the Zahn Center and Standard Chartered, and look forward to leveraging this experience to create more positive change.” AutoTENS (Second Place) –-  comprised sophomore Rachel Ioffe, junior Matthew Saw, seniors Asala Ahmad and Tejaswini Sudhakar (all biomedical engineering majors); and computer science sophomore Arihant Tiwari. AutoTENS is a biotech startup focusing on automating lower back pain relief. Zahn Social Grand Prize: Inclusify – comprised Najia Jahan, Myesha Mahazabeen and Bryan Martinez, all seniors majoring in computer science. Inclusify is an inclusive video resume web application designed to help job seekers, especially those with ASD and developmental disabilities, to effectively showcase their unique stories and strengths through creating personalized video resumes. “With plans to collaborate with the Goodwill organization, our journey with Inclusify has been truly transformative,” said Mahazabeen. “Learnings from the Zahn Innovation Center, coupled with our embrace of empathy-driven design, have shaped Inclusify into a product that authentically serves and empowers its users.”  EmployAble (Second Place) – comprised computer science seniors Kazi Sadman and James Zou. EmployAble is a performance observation platform used in vocational rehabilitation programs. Zahn Software Grand Prize: ArenaUnity -- Samin Chowdhury (sophomore, computer science), Daniel Shmir (sophomore, financial mathematics, Baruch), and Daniel Ukolov (junior, statistics and quantitative modeling). ArenaUnity is an app connecting players to impromptu sport matches and compatible teammates. “I learned the importance of adaptability in the face of challenges and changing circumstances,” said Chowdhury. “Startups often encounter unexpected obstacles, market shifts, or feedback that necessitate quick pivots. Being able to adapt to new information and adjust strategies accordingly is crucial for survival and growth in the dynamic startup ecosystem.” Savvy (Second Place) – comprised first-year students Melody Lew (operations management and analytics, Baruch); Ryan Lau and Kevin Wang (both CCNY computer science). Savvy is an AI-powered website that gives personalized tech product recommendations to online shoppers. The final pitch judging panel comprised: Evelina Bonfim, Senior Treasury Analyst, Booking Holdings; Natasha Kwakwa, Global Head, Community Impact, Corporate Affairs, Brand & Marketing, Standard Chartered Bank; and Peter Zahn, co-founder and VP Strategy, Local Policy Lab. Mon, 27 May 2024 17:40:29 -0400 Jay Mwamba /news/innovative-student-ventures-sweep-80k-prizes-during-ccnys-zahn-center-demo-week