Student Spotlights

On their home university campuses, KGSP students take advantage of many fun and educational activities to explore the intersection of their academic and personal interests. Engagement with activities outside the classroom is highly encouraged by the KGSP, as such opportunities allow students to expand their knowledge, broaden their social network, and develop their professional business acumen; qualities that will benefit and enrich their development both as students and as future leaders. 

Student Spotlight: Remas Bashanfar

Remas Bashanfar, a freshman majoring in Material Sciences and Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, participated in the virtual Black Wings Hackathon held February 5-7, 2021. Hosted by Rewriting the Code and with a theme of, “Social Good,” the Event provided an opportunity for undergraduate women in STEM to collaborate on technical projects that matter to them and to society. The Hackathon also included professional development workshops, enhancing the experience for attendees through networking opportunities with like-minded peers and professionals in STEM fields. Female mentors from Microsoft, Google, Intuit, and Booz Allen Hamilton were also involved to help guide each group in brainstorming project ideas.

Remas’ group created a web platform to monitor people’s mental health that would provide personalized advice and tips to the users. The platform also had the capacity to save data in a calendar so that users could reflect on their daily inputs and find patterns in assessing their mental health.

Remas appreciated the chance to learn about topics outside of her major and the introduction to coding using JavaScript, HTML, PHP, Firebase, and Github. She also noted, “It was such an awesome experience as I got to work with people from different countries, self-learned new technologies, and implemented our plans in a short period of time.” Remas looks forward to participating in more hackathons in the future, noting that their virtual format makes them convenient supplemental learning and networking opportunities.

Remas’ KGSP advisor Cynthia Cox further explained that, “Remas has benefited from being in the KGSP by taking advantage of the resources available to her. As a freshman, it is particularly impressive that she has taken initiative to apply for so many different enrichment opportunities. By becoming a member of the Rewriting the Code community, Remas can now benefit from future educational programming, industry exploration, networking, and the potential for a summer internship or full-time job with one of Rewriting the Code’s partner organizations."