Women's
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Electrical Engineering & Computer
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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WTP-EECS
Staff
Summer 2013
Instructors| Residential Tutors|Residential Assistants
Instructors
Three female graduate students in the MIT Department
of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science design and teach the
Women's Technology Program classes in Computer Science, Electrical
Engineering, and Discrete Mathematics.
Bhavya Daya
Electrical Engineering Instructor
Hometown: Orlando, FL
I am a PhD student in the LSP Group in CSAIL. My focus is at the convergence point of three areas of research: machine intelligence and learning, bio-inspired autonomic computing, and parallel architectures and on-chip communication networks. I am specifically targeting a self-organizing, self-adaptive and self-tuning communication network in multicore systems. Having already spent the last two summers as Graduate Intern at the Visual and Parallel Computing Group in Intel; I decided to take the WTP EE Instructor opportunity this summer to not only provide electrical engineering foundation to bright young students but also to inspire and encourage them to tackle intriguing problems and challenges offered in computer and electrical engineering. I intersperse my academic and personal activities, research and responsibilities with cooking, sewing, movies, yoga, video games and shopping.
Katrina LaCurts
Discrete Mathematics Instructor
Hometown: Pocomoke, MD
I'm a PhD student in the Networks and Mobile Systems group at CSAIL, where I work on measuring and improving application performance in public clouds and datacenter networks. Before coming to MIT, I majored in mathematics and computer science at the University of Maryland, where I worked on improving the incentive mechanisms in distributed systems such as BitTorrent. In my free time, I enjoy playing the guitar and the piano, cooking non-gourmet meals, and running moderate distances very slowly.
Cynthia Sung
Computer Science Instructor
Hometown: Houston, TX
Hi! I am a second-year graduate student in the Distributed Robotics Laboratory at CSAIL. Robotics is at the intersection of computer science, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, and many other exciting fields! My research focuses on foldable robots, functional robots that can be printed, cut, and then folded from a flat sheet. I design algorithms that help us to draw fold patterns for the robots we want to create.
Outside of school, I like to read, play board games, sew, and do paper crafts. I am trying to teach myself to play the violin. I am so excited to be your CS Instructor and to meet you all this summer!
Residential Tutors
Residential Tutors are current female MIT undergraduates, MEng students, or recent MIT graduates. They assist the WTP-EECS Instructors in the classroom, and also live in the dormitory with the high school students, chaperoning residential life, creating fun activities and field trips, and helping with homework.
Hamsika Chandrasekar
Computer Science
Tutor
MIT Class of 2013
Major: Brain/Cognitive Sciences and
Computer Science/Molecular Biology
Hometown: Sugar Land, Texas
Hi everyone! I'm currently a senior but will be graduating this June (so I'll be an MIT alum when WTP starts!) and attending medical school this upcoming fall. My hobbies include biking, running, dancing, and drawing. I can't wait to meet all of you and serve as one of your residential tutors!
Lauren Gresko
Electrical Engineering Tutor
MIT Class of 2014
Major: Electrical Engineering
Hometown: Abington, PA
Hi everyone! I'm a rising senior majoring in electrical engineering. I grew up in Abington, PA, a suburb outside of the city of Philadelphia. In my free time, I enjoy exercising, shopping, baking, and watching movies. I'm very excited to be an EE tutor and to meet you all this summer!
Rachel Meyer
Computer Science
Tutor
MIT Class of 2012
Major: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Hometown: Stockton, CA
Hi! I graduated from MIT last year and since then I've been back in California working on my master's in Electrical and Computer Engineering. I'm almost done with classes and am just starting to work on my thesis using computational intelligence techniques for iris biometrics (most likely - I'm still finalizing my topic). Outside of classes and research I enjoy music (I play flute and piccolo) and dance (ballet, jazz, tap, modern, and more). I also enjoy cooking and baking and tend to do so in large quantities. Lately I've been in a phase of cupcakes of all sizes (I have 7+ sizes of pans) and flavors (most recently I made 8 kinds in 1 day). This will be my third time being a tutor for WTP, though my first time in CS (I did EE previously), and I'm really excited to be going back to WTP. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you and having a great summer!
Kayla Meduna
Discrete Mathematics
Tutor
MIT Class of 2013
Major: Computer Science
Hometown: Brewster, NY
Hello from Cambridge. I'm a graduataing senior studying computer science or, as you will soon learn because everything here has a number, course 6. Next year I plan on doing some long distance hiking before coming back to MIT to get a masters. I like practically everything that involves being outdoors and especially anything that involves water. I'm always happy to bake something and have gotten pretty good at cooking in my four years here. I've recently gotten addicted to TED talks and look forward to sharing my favorite ones with you.
Brigitte Morales
Electrical Engineering Tutor
MIT Class of 2013
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Hometown: Miami, FL
Hi everyone! I'm a graduating senior in mechical engineering but I love electronics, which is why I've decided to focus on that later in grad school. I'm originally from Miami and I love the warm sunny weather. I love dancing Zumba, baking,exploring cities, reading, and building things! I'm very excited to meet all of you and get you as excited about engineering as I am!
Nargiss Mouatta
Discrete Mathematics
Tutor
MIT Class of 2013
Major: Mathematics and Music
Hometown: Sale, Morocco
Hello! I’m a graduating senior majoring in mathematics and minoring in music, with a focus in music performance. I’m a member of the MIT Chamber Chorus, and previously a member of the MIT Concert Choir. I am also fortunate to be an MIT Emerson Scholar, which enables me to take private voice lessons with a very talented teacher. When I am not learning math or singing, I enjoy spending time with my friends, exploring Boston and Cambridge, watching operas and musicals, and swimming.
Mary Munro
Electrical Engineering Tutor
MIT Class of 2014
Major: Mechanical Engineering and Music
Hometown: Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
Hi everyone! Originally from the beautiful tropical islands of Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies, I'm finishing up my third year at MIT--and a terrific three years they have been! With a passion for energy and understanding and developing the world around us, I chose to study mechanical engineering. I love cooking, drawing, going for long walks, adore music, and especially spending many hours singing. I look forward to meeting all of you!
Sylvia Zakarian
Computer Science
Tutor
MIT Class of 2014
Major: Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Hi! I'm am a rising senior majoring in EECS. I attended WTP in the summer of 2009 and loved it so much that I returned as an RA in 2011! I'm extremely excited to be returning as a tutor this time. When I'm not coding I like to listen to and play music. I've been playing the violin for almost 12 years and the guitar for over 2 years. Sometimes I'll even give an impromptu performance (if pressured)! I also really enjoy cooking/baking, watching TV and movies, playing Set, and just spending time with my friends. I am looking forward to getting to know all of you!
Laura Zhang
Discrete Mathematics
Tutor
MIT Class of 2015
Major: Math with Computer Science
Hometown: Seattle, WA
After months of icy wind and coats, I am so ready to frolic in the sunshine and sweaty cheerfulness of Boston summers. I'm a Math w/ CS major (18C) and I like using math to understand how interesting phenomenons work. When I'm not solving integrals and reading papers, I love running, watching films, and shooting the breeze with friends. I am also an enthusiastic and experimental cook, and I am fascinated with new people and learning what makes them happy. Last summer I biked with a friend from NYC back to my house in Seattle (I am now an expert on tan lines). I'm excited to meet you guys, we're going to have a lot of fun.
Residential Assistants
Residential Assistants live in the dorm and help with evening and weekend activities, and assist with the final motor building project, but do not have other classroom or tutoring responsibilities. Residential Assistants attended WTP when they were in high school and are rising sophomores in their summer working for WTP. They help make a warm community in the dorm and they organize residential activities and field trips into Boston and Cambridge.
Sam Castellanos
MIT Class of 2016
Hometown: Manhasset, New York
Hello! I am majoring in mechanical engineering (course 2), with a minor in architecture (course 4). I could not be more excited to be an RA this year! (Expect lots of baked goods from me!) I am a member of Sigma Kappa sorority. I am also a social chair on my floor. I love drawing and painting, and building things in general. I also love outdoor activities like snowboarding and zip-lining, dancing and singing (although I may be terrible at it) and watching movies (which is pretty hard to be terrible at). I can't wait to meet you all!
Jenn Compton
MIT Class of 2016
Hometown: Tampa, Florida
Hi! I'm majoring in Course 6 - EECS. I did WTP after my junior year of high school and am super excited to be able to come back and work for the program! In my free time I love to take walks around Cambridge and Boston and am trying to become a better baker. I also love to sing and play a little guitar. I'm so excited to meet all of you this summer!
Christine Jiang
MIT Class of 2016
Hometown: Canton, MI
Hi everyone! I' majoring in Course 2 (Mechanical Engineering). I attended WTP-EECS in summer 2011 and had an amazing experience. Here at MIT, I'm a member of the Varsity Lacrosse team, a global health club called GlobeMed, I work as a tour guide, and am involved in greek life. In my free time, I enjoy running and being active, playing the ukulele, watching movies, eating, and hanging out with friends. I can't wait to get to know all of you!!
WTP Director and WTP-EECS Track Coordinator
Cynthia Skier
MIT alumna: SB 1974, SM 1981
Hometown: Lexington, MA
I have been the WTP Director since
fall 2002. Before that I managed computer
software companies and worked in management consulting. My two children
are "out of the nest." In my free time I like to sing,
read mysteries, and watch old movies, especially film noire, musicals
and science fiction. In addition to my WTP responsibilities, I also direct
the Industrial
Connection Program here in MIT EECS.
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To view WTP-EECS staff from other years, click on the links below: