Though classes continue over the summer at Northern Essex Community College, many faculty and students opt to use that time to rest, reset, and work on other endeavors. Below is a sampling of how members of the NECC community spent their summer. If you have a story to share, contact Melissa Bouse, director of public relations, at mbouse@necc.mass.edu.

Climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro
Adjunct Engineering Professor Oscar Azaret

When Oscar Azaret tells his engineering students that the sky is the limit, he may mean that literally. Azaret and his wife joined a group of fellow adventure-seekers to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania last month. And he did so in style- wearing his NECC Run Club shirt! The dormant volcano is the highest peak in Africa at 19,340 feet.

The trip also included a week-long safari in Kenya and time getting to know the city of Naorbi. The Explorer’s Club of New York initiated the trip, which was organized by the founder of the non-profit Kilimanjaro Initiative.

Azaret says of his adventure, “In retrospect, the three main lessons I learned from this trip are humility, esprit de corps [group spirit], and the value of good leadership.”

Learning About and Reporting on AI
Journalism student and Newman Civic Fellow Daniela Valdivia-Terres

“Just ask!” Daniela Valdivia-Terres credits that piece of advice from Professor Kim Lyng with opening many doors for her. This summer, she used it to attend the Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Education Summit organized by the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT).

Valdivia-Terres saw the summit advertised on social media. As the editor of the NECC Observer and a reporter for El Mundo Boston—an opportunity that arose from her spring internship there—she had a keen interest in AI. But the cost of the summit was prohibitive. Valdivia-Terres contacted the organizers directly to see if scholarships were available. Instead, they offered a trade.

“They asked me to use my writing skills and to pitch myself as a freelance for El Mundo Boston in exchange for a free ticket for the whole summit. I talked to my boss at EMB, and the paper agreed to grant a full-page feature, so I could assist and cover the event.”

You can read the resulting coverage here. Valdivia-Terres continues to learn more about AI in her honors seminar course here at Northern Essex this fall.

Studying Engineering at Northeastern University
Engineering Science student Paulitte Nganga 

Paulitte Nganga was one of just 13 Massachusetts community college student interns in Northeastern University’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program this summer. The group gathered on Northeastern’s Boston Campus once a week throughout the summer to immerse themselves in research projects. Nganga’s project was called “Decoding Neuronal Signals Affected by Terahertz Radiation Using Spike-Sorting Techniques.”

“It’s been spectacular,” says Nganga of her experience. “The team is so welcoming, and I’ve met great mentors. I have also been exposed to the programming side of electrical engineering. I was more focused on design and circuitry before. The experience has opened my eyes to the possibilities that lie ahead as I start looking at four-year universities to transfer to after completing my associates.”

And that’s exactly the goal of programs like this, says Professor Doug Leaffer, who connected Nganga with REU, “These opportunities often shape the trajectory of NECC students’ transfer plans and possibly their career aspirations. NECC students might start their internship or REU declared as a mechanical engineering major, for example, and finish the summer program gravitating towards electrical engineering. The projects to which they are assigned in the REU often develop students’ passions in new fields of study.”

NECC Early College student Owen Motherway also took part in REU. For more information on internship opportunities for Northern Essex students, visit the Career Services webpage.