Fellows
Spring 2024
Brendan Hall
Project title: Leveraging Design for Social and Environmental Impact
Brendan is in the M.Arch/ M.LA program.
This project aims to explore and implement design interventions in urban landscapes that can have a positive impact on the mental health, safety, and overall well-being of marginalized and underserved communities. It draws inspiration from two significant studies conducted in Philadelphia and New York, which demonstrated the potential of greening vacant land and restoring blighted areas to improve mental health, reduce crime, and enhance perceptions of safety.
Donald Bowers
Project title: Fun is accessible: Board games
Donald is in the Humanities, Minors in Applied Math, Game Design; Coterminal degree for MS in Technical Writing.
Norah Khalaf
Project title: Bridging Communiation Gaps for Autism
Norah is a student in Masters of Artificial Intelligence.
Acknowledgement:
Spring 2024 projects are supported by a generous gift by Joel Krauss (MATH ’71), CoC Board of Advisors Vice-Chair.
Fall 2023
Hana Hanifah
Project title: Mobile Game Accessibility: A User-Centered Approach for Disabled Gamers
Hana is a PhD student in Technology and Humanities.
Alaittin Kirtisoglu
Project title: Building equity-focused encounter network in Chicago
Alaittin is a PhD student in Applied Mathematics.
Barien Gad
Alisha Khan
Project title: Spaces: Reviving, Supporting, and Creating Sustainable Social Hubs
Barien is in Biology and Alisha in Computer Science. They are working on this project as a team.
Aleksander Popovic
Alek is a CS/AI coterminal student with a minor in finances. He is working as an Associate Fellow with the Gad-Khan team.
Acknowledgement:
Fall 2023 projects are supported by a generous gift by Joel Krauss (MATH ’71), CoC Board of Advisors Vice-Chair.
Spring 2023
Angela Petrone
Project title: Analysis of the impact of search engines and social media on decision-making
Angela is in Digital Humanities.
After the completion of her project, she presented her SoReMo paper at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics International Conference 2024 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Well done, Angela!
Deana Exline
Natalie Brown
Project title: Negative Health Impacts of Environmental Inequality
Deana is in Mechanical Engineering. Natalie is in Computer Science. They are working on this project as a team.
Md Mahmudur Rahman
Caitlin Louise Brown
Project title: An Exploration into the Necessary Transparency Needed in the Recycling Culture
Mahmud is in the Master of Landscape Architecture+Urbanism program, College of Architecture. Caitlin is in the Bachelor of Architecture program, College of Architecture. They are working on this project as a team.
Acknowledgement:
Spring 2023 projects are supported by a generous gift by Joel Krauss (MATH ’71), College of Comptuing Board of Advisors Vice-Chair.
Fall 2022
Oluwaseun Ajayi
Project title: The Forecasting and Case Study Modeling of COVID-19 in Chicago: A Data-driven Approach
Oluwaseun is a PhD student in Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Mitchell Kunichoff
Project title: The Mental Health Care Crisis and its Connections to Other Systems
Mitchell is a Masters student at the Institute of Design.
Mary Morgan
Tomomi Tanigawa
Project title: Understanding the Motivations of Volunteers Working for Equity in Education
Mary and Tomomi Master of Design Methods students at the Institute of Design. They are working on this project as a team.
Jack Harrison Mohr
Project title: An Exploration and Analysis of the Problem of Below Minimum Wage Pay for Immigrant Students at IIT
Harrisson is a student in Computer Science.
Acknowledgement:
Fall 2022 projects supported by College of Computing and Armour College of Engineering.
Spring 2022
Joel Meyer
Project title: Analysis on the Persisting Effects of Redlining to Chicago Neighborhoods
Joel is a last-year student in the College of Architecture.
Maya Simkin
Project title: Predictive policing: a case study
Maya is a JD student at Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Ryan Manthy
Keru Omad
Sean Cummings
Stanley Nicholson
Project title: Evaluating the effectiveness of web based resources on the mental well being
Ryan and Sean are Computer Science students; Stanley is in Applied Mathematics; Keru is in Biomedical Engineering. These four students are working as a team.
Team member bios
Sean Cummings - Graduating May 2024 Sean is a sophomore studying computer science with a specialization in information security. As a Senator for the Student Government Association and Treasurer of Intinium, he is an active leader on campus. Additionally, Sean is the student advisor for the Cybersecurity Steering Committee at Illinois Tech and works as a TA in the college of computing. In the future, he intends on continuing supervising technology development for startups.
Ryan Manthy - Graduating May 2024 Ryan is a sophomore pursuing a degree in computer science and M.A & Lila Self Leadership Scholarship recipient. He serves as VP of Events for the Student Government Association, Budget Chair of Intinium, and Treasurer of the Machine Learning Club. Outside of school, he is involved as an organizer, where he has served in senior leadership roles on several political campaigns. He has a passion for the intersection of technology and public policy. After university, he aspires to work with social impact startups as a venture capitalist or consultant.
Stanley Nicholson - Graduating May 2023 Stanley is a sophomore studying applied mathematics on a co-terminal degree track. He is a Camras scholar, President of the Machine Learning Club, and Student Researcher. His interdisciplinary research has emphasized machine learning, drug modeling, bridge dynamics, and stochastics. Stanley's long-term plans involve obtaining a PhD in applied mathematics to solve problems in biology and economics.
Amirreza Eshraghi
Project title: Tree canopy coverage: data analytics view of the Persisting Effects of Redlining to Chicago Neighborhoods
Amirreza is a MS student in data science. He is working as an Associate Fellow with Joel Meyer.
Acknowledgement:
Spring 2022 projects supported by the Deans of the following Colleges: Computing, Armour, Architecture, and Department of Applied Mathematics.
Fall 2021
Trent Gerew
Project title: Reaction-diffusion spatial modeling of COVID-19 in Chicago
Trent is a 5th year co-terminal degree student in Applied Math.
Michael Kralis
Project title: Education Disparity in Chicago: A Statistical Analysis
Michael is a Masters student in Applied Math.
Sandy Orozco
Project title: Evidence-Based Strategies: A Study to Improve Diversity and Inclusion in Illinois Higher Education Institutions
Sandy is a Masters student in Public administration and Public Policy.
Sara Simon
Project title: The Data-Driven Narratives of Epidemics: A History of Chicago’s Public Health Data Pipelines
Sara is a PhD student in Humanities.
Jati Zunaibi
Project title: Design Justice Within Education
Jati is a PhD student in Architecture.
Acknowledgement:
Fall 2021 projects supported by the Deans of the following Colleges: Computing, Architecture, Lewis.
Spring 2021
Final reports
Read all about the completed projects in our in-house peer-reviewed publication, the SoReMo Journal.
Congratulations to the inaugural class of SoReMo Fellows!
The Fellows will work with faculty and advisors, in a multidisciplinary environment, to complete and showcase their projects. They will incorporate feedback from community stakeholders and subject matter experts from industry, academia, and government. During the process, Fellows will gain communications training, interdisciplinary experience, and contacts across campus and the community.
Major discussions will take place in the Forum, a public bimonthly seminar for presenting issues, challenges, solutions, roadblocks, and innovative ideas that come out of projects to a broad, multidisciplinary audience of students, faculty, and external advisors. Student participation in the Forum will not only help extend and polish their projects, but also is designed to expand their academic and professional networks.
Ryan Ciminski
Project title: Community Risk Mitigation Research: A Data Science Study into the Inequities of Preparedness Education in the Chicago Region
Ryan is a first year undergraduate student majoring in Applied Mathematics.
Barien Gad
Project title: Facilities, amenities, and accommodations for minorities in STEM and the impact on Illinois Tech's community (in conjunction with WISTEM)
Barien is a second year undergraduate student majoring in Biochemistry.
Alisha Khan
Project title: Investigating and developing strategies to address student diversity at Illinois Tech (in conjunction with WISTEM)
Alisha is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science.
Leilasadat Mirghaderi
Project title: Social Media Users Free Labor in Iran: Influencers, ethical conduct and labor exploitation
Leilasadat is a PhD student in Technology and Humanities.
Acknowledgement:
Spring 2021 Fellowships supported by the Office of the Provost.