STEAM CAREER DAY 2015 BIOS
JOSHUA CRANDALL, MBA, CTP
“I have an idea for an app. Now what?”
Bio: Mr. Crandall has 25 years of technology experience which include consulting,
traditional "IT", and creating and running a start-up company. He is the Founder of
CleverCommute.com - an app-based service for commuters in/out of NYC. The app
works on iPhones, iPads and Android phones. Mr. Crandall is actively involved in
two non-profit organizations. One is for the financial technology industry, and the
other is for disadvantaged young adults in NYC. However, he sees his most
important role -by far- is "father" to his daughter Grace, and her two sisters at MHS.
HARRY TEMKIN
“Battle for Wall Street: The Gamification of Trading”
Bio: Mr. Temkin is the Chief Executive Officer and partner of KnowVera, a software
trading company. Mr Temkin’s company uses a unique set of math based tools to
develop trading strategies to help companies make decisions about identifying,
evaluating and capitalizing on opportunities for optimal trading.
SHAHRAM DABIRI
“Engineering & Science, Iron Man is way cooler than Bat Man and here is why!”
Bio: Shahram's engineering career began as an engineer for Andritz-Ahlstrom, in
Kotka Finland in the pulp and paper fiber recovery division. Developing novel
methods for improving the reclamation process of fiber and baroke coatings so as to
improve efficiently and reduce environmental impact. At the Department of Defense,
Armament Research Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Shahram has
worked on various artillery systems and received various awards for patent
disclosures relating to safety of large caliber high explosive shells and increased
accuracy of extended range munitions.
http://www.ndep.us/PersonalStory.aspx?id=27
DR. KURT DEGENHARDT
“What Is Cancer? And How Do Scientists Study It?”
Bio: Dr. Degenhardt is a cancer researcher and professor of physiology at a medical
school in NYC. He is also a surfer and ocean lifeguard at Jones beach.
KIMBERLI R. CRAFT, P.E., Township Engineer
Moving Through the Milennia; How Do YOU Engineer Traffic?
Bio: Kim Craft has been the Montclair Township Engineer since 1999 and a resident
of Montclair since 1992. She brings to her position extensive experience in project
and program management. A licensed professional engineer, she received her
undergraduate degree in Civil and Urban Engineering from the University of
Pennsylvania and earned a Master’s in Public Administration from Rutgers
University.
LAURA TORCHIO
“Meet Me Uptown After School: How Urban Planners Make Uptowns Cool”
Bio: Laura Torchio is Program Coordinator for Eat. Play. Live… Better, a communitywide coalition geared to make healthy food and regular physical activity easier to
access. She’s a licensed urban planner, a veteran bicycle and pedestrian advocate
with experience in public policy, consulting and health. In her “free” time, she’s the
“Bike Lane Fairy.
JAMES PERCELAY
“The Secrets Behind Viral Videos”
Bio: Mr. Percelay is president of the award-winning viral video marketing agency,
Thinkmodo. The agency has created some of the highest viewed videos in the world
for companies including 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, and Oakley Sunglasses.
James is a former producer of the commercial parodies at Saturday Night Live, and a
best-selling humor book author.
STAN MENDOZA
Managing Partner, Creative and Production Services
“The Story Always Comes First - The Business of Video Production”
Bio: Stan oversees all creative and production services for Mendoza Media LLC.
His diverse talents include creative development, script writing, directing,
producing, and post-production editing, graphic and sound design.
Many of his projects have been recognized with awards of excellence and been
shown at prestigious venues in the U.S. and internationally.
Stan was also an Assistant Director and Location Manager working in feature films,
TV series and national commercials.
www.mendozamedia.us
GAY KASEGRANDE
“Creating Delicious Moments of Joy”
Bio: Ms. Kasegrande supervises a diverse team of innovative food scientists and
process engineers at Mondelez International (formerly Kraft Foods). Their focus is
on Research and Development of new snacks and the Quality Control in
manufacturing them. They are responsible for well-known snack brands around the
globe, including Oreo, Chips Ahoy! and belVita. Her passion for the artful elements
of scientific design, great interest in technology and insights to consumer needs
have propelled her into an established twenty-year career. Ms. Kasegrande was
born and raised in New Jersey to immigrant parents from the Philippines.
LATASCHA FOSTER
“The Art and Science of Paper Making”
Bio: Ms. Foster is currently a Territory Sales Representative for Appleton Coated.
She comes with 23 years of experience in paper making and printing.
ZARA PHILLIPS
“Life and music”
Bio: Singer/songwriter/author/actor. Born in England and adopted as a child, Ms.
Phillips began her journey working with famous musicians and various bands in
London (Bob Geldof/Live Aid). She moved to California and continued to work with
well know people in the music industry. In addition to her albums, he has also
written a book, a documentary and wrote and performed in her one woman play.
She continues to be outspoken for the rights of adopted children around the world.
You can learn more at www.everythingzara.com
CORINNA SAGER
“ The Challenges of Creating a Marketing Film
Bio: Ms. Sager is an award winning international director and producer and owns a
communications agency for corporate communications, TV/video productions and
live events. She has produced in many countries including Saudi Arabia, Turkey,
Singapore, Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa and Togo. She produces image films,
sales videos, documentaries and training videos for clients such as Bugatti
Automobiles, Pepsi, Volkswagen and MSC - the second largest container shipping
company in the world. One of her short documentaries was nominated for an
Academy Award. She is also an adjunct professor at Pace University teaching
“Effective Speaking”, “International Communications” and “Event Design”.
AVIVA SCHEIN, MD
“What’s Up Doc?”
Bio: "Dr. Schein is a pediatrician practicing in Clifton. She has been a doctor for 17
years and still enjoys taking care of children and adolescents every day. In addition
to seeing patients, Dr. Schein has taught medical students and pediatric residents
and edited a number of books about parenting issues."
URSULA WOLZ, PhD
“Game Design Is Just Fun (and Games)!”
BIO: Dr. Ursula Wolz wrote her first professional computer game in 1980, and
created a half dozen games for Sesame Place before becoming a graduate student in
Computer Science. After teaching college computer science for 20 years, she
recently launched a company that, among other things, builds small mobile apps,
including games.
LORI FUSARO
“YOUnique Water”
BIO: Graduate from Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences
with a Bachelor of Arts Degree- Chemistry. Currently works at Lohmann Therapy
Systems in West Caldwell as a Senior Scientist working in Analytical Chemistry
Research and Development. Ms. Fusaro develops and validates methods used to test
and analyze the release of raw materials and finished products, like medicines, for
public use.
JONATHAN PHILLIPS
“Intro to video production and sound”
Bio: Mr. Phillips’ play, MYTIME, was selected at the Festival of New Works before
going on 3 national tours. Following his re-location to Los Angeles in 1988 he
worked for Paramount, Warner Brothers and Universal before being hired by
DreamWorks. From 1997 thru 2005 he was an editor in the International
department working on the dubbing on such films as Saving Private Ryan, American
Beauty, and Gladiator. He was also instrumental in dubbing and transfer of secure
digital files on films like Shrek 1-4, Kung Fu Panda 1 and 2, How to Train your
Dragon, and many more. He continues to work on features such as Peter Jackson’s
King Kong and the re-release of Jurassic Park in 3D as well as recently completing
Despicable Me 1 & 2, and Smurfs 1 &2, and the Oscar nominated Rango,
Paranorman, and Boxtrolls in over 35 languages each.
DEVIN SWANSON
“Engineering & Science, Iron Man is way cooler than Bat Man and here is why!”
BIO: Swanson, Devin may or may not be the Batman, a chemist with bachelors of
Science in chemistry and a Master of Business Administration from Texas A&M with
a mission, not of vengeance but a long-term plan to rid engineering and science from
the ignorance that holds it. As a chemist he supports charities and bodies that seek
to rehabilitate non-engineers while as the Batman he removes those that persist in
offending in their unbalanced chemical equations. Those in the suburbs and country
consider him an urban legend, yet the transient criminal population of Picatinny and
the country know him from rumour and experience.
JONATHAN KELLY
WWWW: World Wide Web Wizardry
Bio: Jonathan Kelly is a web developer and programmer. He first became interested in
programming at 13 and slowly taught himself until college where he studied Computer
Science. He’s worked in the fields of virtual reality and 3D animation but is currently a
web developer in the jewelry industry. His current interests are finding fun ways to
bring graphics to life on the web using only a browser.
DANIEL NACHMAN
“How To Play In The Dirt And Get Paid For It!”
Bio: Dan Nachman has a bachelor’s degree in geology from NYU, and a master’s
degree in geology from Oregon State University. For the last 36 years he has been
working as a professional hydrogeologist in the areas of soil and groundwater
contamination and ground water supply development. Mr. Nachman implemented
soil and ground water investigations in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, New
Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and several other states. He currently serves as a
Vice President, directing a wide range of soil and ground water cleanup projects and
serving as an expert witness in environmental disputes in state and federal courts.
Mr. Nachman is fluent in Spanish.
MICHAEL ABDUL-QAWI
“Advertising for Today”
Bio: Michael Abdul-Qawi currently works as a Senior Copywriter at VaynerMedia, a
social media based advertising agency. After graduating Temple University in 2005
with a B.A. in Journalism and Advertising, he has accrued ten years experience in the
digital marketing advertising field. In addition to this, he has spent time outside of
work honing his script-writing skills.
QASIM ZAIDI, PhD
“Is Being a Scientist Boring, or Fun?”
Bio: Mr. Zaidi was born in England, grew up in Pakistan, studied mathematics in
college in Turkey, and then studied visual neuroscience in Chicago. He is now a
professor in Manhattan where he does a lot of research and a bit of teaching. This
summer he will give lectures in Japan, Singapore and England.
BOB SCHWARTZ
“Engineers- Practical Problem Solvers”
Bio: Bob Schwartz is a retired civil engineer with forty years of specialized experience in
the water resources industry. In his career he was responsible for design and building
water and wastewater treatment plants across the Unites States. Mr. Schwartz is a
Board Certified Environmental Engineer and member of the American Academy of
Environmental Engineers. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from
Columbia University and a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from New York
University. He is a member of the Water Environment Federation, the American Water
Works Association, Engineers Without Borders – USA and Rotary International.
FRANK SCHRAMM
“LOOKING for a certain LOOK”: Creating a personal photographic style in the
age of digital phone cameras
Bio: Frank Schramm is a photographer specializing in fine art, portraits, editorial,
and commercial work. He has exhibited in museums and galleries both in the U.S.
and Europe. His work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in N.Y.,
SFMOMA, Los Angeles County Art Museum, The Victoria and Albert Museum in
London, MMK Frankfurt, Musée de l’Elysée Lausanne, Switzerland and the National
Portrait Gallery, in Washington.
JOSEPH YOUN
“How It Works: Large Scale System Administration”
Bio: Joe Youn has worked with computer systems and networks in a variety of dotcoms and higher education institutions. He has managed systems that allowed
millions of customers to publish web sites. He currently runs the systems for the
College of Science and Mathematics at Montclair State, which ranges from student
computer labs to computational clusters that are used for scientific research. He
received his B.S. and M.Eng degrees in Electrical Engineering at Cornell University.
JOE GEISSLER
“Biomedical Engineering In The World We Live In ”
Bio: Joseph Geissler is a Ph.D. candidate in the joint Biomedical Engineering
Program between the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers Biomedical &
Health Sciences and currently conducts orthopaedic research. In 2009, he earned
a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Biology and a minor in Interdisciplinary
Healthcare Ethics from Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia PA. After
graduation, Geissler pursued a master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from the
New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark NJ and then enrolled in the Ph.D.
program. During his first year as a Ph.D. student, he was awarded a National Science
Foundation Teaching Fellowship which paired him with a science educator at
Newark’s Science Park High School where he helped to infuse classes and labs with
technology and real world applications
PATRICIA RODRIGUEZ (Food Scientist)
“Creating Delicious Moments of Joy”
Bio: Patricia Rodriguez was born in Costa Rica and studied Food Engineering
followed by an MS in Food Chemistry. She has worked for 16 years in the US with
Kraft Foods/Mondelez and has worked on several areas including Ingredient
Research, Cream Cheese, Natural and Pasteurized Cheeses, Coffee and Cookies and
Crackers Development. She currently holds a technical leader position working
with the Innovation Group of Biscuit at Mondelez.
CAROLE VOGT (Packaging Engineer)
“Creating Delicious Moments of Joy”
Bio: Ms.Vogt studied Packaging Science at Rochester Institute of Technology in
Rochester NY. She has worked for 14 years for Kraft Foods/Mondelez in the
Packaging Organization. She currently holds a technical leader position working
with Snack ‘n Seal Mondelez’ s patented Reclose Platform for Biscuits.
MARSHALL BERGMANN
Talent Development: Using games to teach workers how to be more effective at
their jobs.
As Vice President of Executive Perspectives, Marshall Bergmann creates games and
simulations to teach workers how to run their businesses better. For over ten years
Marshall has designing and running classes that use games at companies like CocaCola, Capital One, and HP. Marshall has given a TEDx talk about games and learning,
and can be found on-line most nights playing Dota2, League of Legends, Call of Duty
or FIFA15. Look him up as Facemelter on Steam or Facemelter124 on Xbox Live.
CAROLE HOPSON
“Up, Up and Away!”
Bio: Ms. Hopson is a graduate of Columbia University (Masters in Journalism) and
University of Virginia (Spanish Literature). She began her career as a police
reporter, and later held executive-level positions in the NFL, Foot Locker and
L’Oreal Cosmetics. Aviation has always been her passion and now she is a pilot and
works as a flight instructor in Morristown, New Jersey.