I could give a TedTalk on why you should join The Stute!
We write Stevens history HOBOKEN, NJ | APRIL 25, 2025
VOLUME CXXII No. 24
Alexandra Garzon wins Barry Goldwater Scholarship
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BY MAYA MEENTS, CONTRIBUTOR
PHOTO COURTESY OF IAN REITZ AND RAYMOND KO
Stevens hosts first TEDx in 18 years BY TIANNA SPITZ, MANAGING EDITOR Welcome to Stevens’ TED Talk spotlighting six Stevens students, faculty, and staff in dialogue. On April 15, the Stevens Institute of Technology x TED event was hosted in the DeBaun Auditorium from 3 to 5 p.m. Nick Smith, 4/4 Business and Technology major and former SGA President, was the lead student organizer who connect-
Stevens Alumni launches “Healthcare Torchbearers Podcast” BY JEREMIAH CHINWENDU, STAFF WRITER A new podcast led by alumni offers students interested in healthcare a behindthe-scenes look at the many careers within the industry, highlighting the stories, struggles, and successes of those forging unique paths in the field. The healthcare industry is very broad, encapsulating various fields of science, technology, medicine, and public policy, and the podcast aims to demystify these paths by featuring real experiences from those who have navigated them firsthand. Now on its second season, the podcast pulls in a large audience of eager listeners hoping to carve out their careers and learn about the many advances in medicine. The podcast was founded by Ed Eichhorn, who graduated from Stevens in 1969. He worked for various biotech companies and even founded a medical service business with former colleagues which he sold in the 1990s. He worked in the MRI industry before founding the Medilink Consulting Group in 2006, then becoming the Vice President
of Development at Stevens after serving on the Board of Trustees, during which he was the chairman of the nominating and governance committee. He created the team that was responsible for nominating Dr. Nariman Farvardin as the President of Stevens. Eichorn is also the founder of the Healing American Healthcare Coalition. Having explored much of the healthcare industry throughout his career and serving the university in many capacities, Eichhorn created “Healthcare Torchbearers” as a way to continue that spirit of mentorship and knowledge-sharing. The result is a professional, unique listening experience that invites Stevens alumni to reflect on their academic roots, career decisions, and the personal experiences that shaped them — featuring guests ranging from medical students and residents to engineers working at the intersection of healthcare and technology. “The podcasts are designed not to be about current events but to be about decisions that our alumni
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NEWS (2-4)
SCIENCE (8)
FEATURE (5-6)
PULSE (12)
Stevens hosts first TedX in 18 Years Learn more about the guest speakers and what their TedX Talks were on. Earth Day Discover different ways Stevens is fighting for our planet and how you can help.
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Worldwide curiosity: Reflections on Stevens’ first global lecture
BY SERENA PANUCCI, STAFF WRITER The Barry Goldwater Scholarship is one of the most prestigious national scholarships, and is awarded to undergraduates in the fields of natural sciences and engineering who intend to pursue research careers. The scholarship provides up to $7,500 in academic funding and connects the recipients to a nationwide network of scholars and mentors as well as numerous research opportunities. Stevens student, Alexandra Garzon, a junior majoring in Chemical Engineering, has recently been awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship for her undergraduate research project in computational chemistry and environmental sustainability, with the help of Dr. Alyssa Hensley and fellow researchers. Garzon, a Pinnacle scholar and peer advisor, is also active in leadership roles on campus, serving as Director of Community Engagement for the Alpha Phi sorority. Garzon’s research journey
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ed the Stevens community with TEDx to bring the event to life. Event day logistics and reception planning was executed by Tanya Avadia, 4/4 Business and Technology major. Riyana Phadke, 2/4 Chemical Biology major, introduced the speaker “talks” as the program emcee. The theme of “Interpreting the role of research in accelerating societal good” served as the running thread connecting student, faculty,
and staff insights: Dr. Sara Klein, Vice-President for Student Affairs, Jordan Suchow, Assistant Professor of Information Systems, Michelle Y. Burke, Teaching Professor in the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Erin McGee, 4/4 Physics major and Science Writer for The Stute, Wei Zheng, Associate Professor of Management & Richard R. Roscitt Chair of
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On April 16, Stevens hosted its first ever Global Lecture, called “Unlocking Your Potential as a Global Citizen: We as One, Stepping into the World,” an event designed to spark conversation around international identity and global interconnectedness. The central theme was simple: What does it mean to be a global citizen? The event featured three speakers, all of whom are New York residents with diverse international backgrounds. They were invited to share their stories of growing up abroad and navigating life in the U.S. as international students or advocates for international communities, offering distinct perspectives on what it means to be a global citizen. Deepesh Dhingra, the first speaker and founder of One to World, embodies pursuing global citizenship through multiculturalism. Raised in Nairobi, Kenya, Dhingra speaks Hindi, Punjabi, English, and Swahili. He came to the US in 2004 to pursue engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he stumbled across a program called the “Global Classroom.” It was there that he found a community that made him
feel at home, as he met people who could pronounce his name correctly and who wanted to learn more about his background. That feeling of being truly seen and heard became the inspiration for One to World, the nonprofit Dhingra later founded. The program connects international students with young American children, encouraging cultural exchange via student-led lesson plans about their home countries. The outcome has been young students who learn about the world and bring that knowledge home, sharing it with family and igniting curiosity in their own communities. The second panelist, Alexis M. Akagawa, is a Senior International Student Advisor at Columbia University’s International Students & Scholars Office (ISSO). With degrees from Columbia, Pitzer College, and the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, her professional journey is rooted in international education. Akagawa’s role involves supporting Columbia’s F and J-1 visa students with documentation, advising, and navigating the challenges of enrollment and employment. The final panelist, Aman Chopra, graduated from
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Philosophical journal Recent Palaver releases IT Quackathon new issue on solitude produces innovative ideas BY BENJAMIN KNOBLOCH, NEWS EDITOR The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (HASS) has published the 2025 issue of Palaver: A Journal of Ideas, Stevens’s annual philosophical journal featuring spirited oneon-one dialogues between students and faculty. To celebrate the newest edition of the journal, creator and HASS Professor Benjamin Ogden hosted a Palaver Roundtable and Launch Event on April 16, at which the theme of solitude was discussed at length by both contributors and attendees. The word “palaver” refers to a prolonged discussion or conference, especially one marked by an exchange of ideas. Dr. Ogden founded Palaver in 2020 after noticing that Stevens students lacked a platform for philosophical expression. “[I saw] there wasn’t an undergraduate journal where students could share their thoughts about all sorts of important ideas,” in the same way they could share creative writing or visual art, Dr. Ogden explained. He noticed, too, that students would be more in-
tellectually creative before and after class, but often held back during class discussions and debates. Palaver grew out of the idea that solving this problem required a philosophical forum for students that was no less rigorous than class time, but more informal and with a greater opportunity for reflection and composition of ideas. “I asked a few students if they would be interested in getting the journal off the ground, and with their invaluable help, Palaver was formed.” The exchange of ideas facilitated by the new publication was apparent at last week’s roundtable. Speakers included editorial board members Emma Spoonauer and Anjali Denissov, as well as faculty members Dr. Diana Bush and Professor John Horgan, who shared their thoughts and experiences with solitude and how they engaged with prompts while writing their dialogues. Over the course of the hour-anda-half discussion, attendees spoke about their own experiences and contemplations of the meaning of alonness. The foundational idea of
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BY JOSEPHINE CHOONG, SECRETARY On April 8, the final presentations were held for the Information Technology (IT) Quackathon. The challenge? Form teams of two to five and use AI to tackle a Stevens-centric problem. It gave students the opportunity to learn new skills, test their abilities, and build long-lasting connections. Michael Parente, Interim Vice President for Information Technology and CIO, explained that the Quackathon was hosted to highlight the benefits of using AI to solve Stevens-centric challenges and day-to-day problems faced by students. It granted students a platform to express their ideas and created a collaborative environment to learn about AI advancements within Stevens. The event was planned by a team of IT staff led by Sana Michael, Maryam Mirza, Hammad Ali, Morgan Kellogg Cua, and other supporting members from the Division of Information Technology. Sebastian Sztolberg, who leads the CIO Student Advisory Committee, was a partner for the
student side from the beginning steps. After the Quackathon’s announcement, submissions opened for individual proposals, and nearly 70 entries were received from student teams. The proposals were reviewed by the CIO Student Advisory Committee and IT leadership members who led the Quackathon. Both teams evaluated and selected the final 10 teams for the Quackathon. The timeline was: February 16: Hackathon Proposal February 27: Team Selection March 10: Technical Meeting March 24: Kick-Off Meeting March 24 to April 7: Create & Build Solutions April 8: Quackathon Presentations Stevens faculty, staff, and students were invited to watch the final presentations and to network with other community members. There, teams presented their projects to a panel of judges. The first-place win-
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