CLASS NOTES
Kate Bifield ’05
Malene Hoftun Jaeger ’07
(a channel with HGTV content in Europe). Her job sees her travelling throughout Central/Eastern Europe and Russia on a monthly basis. Kate is a member of the Women in Cable Television (WICT) which is a network of women who support career progression within the industry. She also co-presents a request/chat radio show at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital on Thursday nights. Malene Hoftun Jaeger ’07 Since graduating, Malene has completed two separate degrees. First, a Bachelor’s in International Development Studies, majoring in Political Science, at the University of Oslo. During this first degree she spent a semester at American University in Washington, DC studying American foreign policy and interning at the NPR radio station WAMU 88.5, and finished off her degree with field work in Nepal to write her bachelor’s thesis “Capacity-Building in Practice – The Question of Sustainability. The Case of Gobar Gas Company in Nepal.” During her time at the University of Oslo, Malene led the University of Oslo branch of the Norwegian Students’ and Academics’ International Assistance Fund, a solidarity organization focusing on education in development cooperation, as well as North/South information and political advocacy in Norway. She also worked a summer as a volunteer representative for the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation at Norwegian music festivals, informing festival attendees of sexual and health rights in developing countries. Most recently, Malene completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the Oslo University College of Applied Sciences. Her thesis was conducted and written on behalf of Oslo University Hospital, The Intervention Centre and concentrated on product development within the field of medical technology. Specifically, along with her thesis group she created a mechanical device to correct for a medical condition called mitral regurgitation in the mitral valve of the heart. The device travels intravenously from the groin to the heart and is therefore a minimally invasive procedure applicable to the large high-risk patient groups otherwise not eligible for open-heart surgery. The repair system they created has the potential to become the first of its kind in the field of transcatheter mitral valve repair. The website for the thesis can be found
Sophia Dhalla ’09
here: http://student.cs.hioa.no/hovedprosjekter/maskin/2015/08/ During these degrees, Malene has worked in communications. First, six years as a consultant in Geelmuyden.Kiese, Scandinavia’s largest partner-owned company. Then, two years as an in-house communications advisor in DNO, a Norwegian oil and gas operator focused on the Middle East and North Africa. At Geelmuyden.Kiese she was fortunate enough to work for the Norwegian bloodbank, one of their clients, and helped increase the number of blood donors by 15% over the course of three years, receiving a SABRE Award for the results. At DNO, Malene was able to travel to several of their countries of operation in the Middle East while project managing the development of DNO’s new intranet, targeted at 400 employees in eight different countries. This fall she will be working with corporate matters at the Norwegian company Statkraft, a leader in hydropower internationally and Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy. Malene lives in Oslo with her boyfriend, who is also an engineer. Her three sisters, who also attended Elmwood (Marie, Anna and Astrid), also reside in Oslo. Marie is finishing up her medical studies and is currently working at the ER, Anna is pursuing her music career and Astrid has two more years of high school. ophia Dhalla ’09 “I can’t believe that it has been over six years since S I graduated from Elmwood!” Following her graduation in 2009, Sophia moved to Montreal, where she attended McGill University to pursue a Bachelor of Arts and Science. She majored in Biology and International Development, which allowed her to take courses in a broad range of subjects. During her four years at McGill, she was fortunate enough to make a great group of friends and explore the wonderful city of Montreal, which really enriched her experience. Sophia gave campus tours of the school as a student ambassador, and got involved with an organization called the Student Association for Medical Aid, where she helped organize fundraising events on campus for medical projects in developing countries. Outside of the classroom, Sophia also enjoyed teaching swimming lessons to children with disabilities on the weekends and volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Montreal. E L M WO O D.C A
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