Sophomore/Junior Spotlights

QUEST SOPHOMORE/JUNIOR SPOTLIGHTS

Marguerite Gelinas, finance and supply chain management ‘21 (Cohort 32), is driven by a strong sense of mission. At the end of the day, she wants to help people, and ultimately, change lives. This resolute mindset has helped form her path towards healthcare. “I always wanted to be in the patient/doctor space,” Gelinas said. She even considered medical school before finding the Commercial Leadership Program at GE Healthcare last summer. During this internship, which Gelinas calls the “time of her life,” she was able to combine her passion for the medical field with her passion for her business degrees by gaining experience with medical equipment sales. Gelinas has also been able to translate her sense of mission to campus life. Even after completing the College Park Scholars Business, Society, and the Economy program, she continued to stay involved, helping out with the co-curricular activities and speaking at open houses, resulting in an Outstanding Achievement Award from the program.

Benjamin Lin, computer science ‘22 (Cohort 33), is interning with Google as a software engineer in the STEP Program this summer. “The opportunity to gain experience in software engineering is exciting because I didn’t even start computer programming until 18 months ago,” Lin explained. Although his coursework and current internship are incredibly technical, Lin has focused his free time on business and policy. Since starting at UMD, he has joined the Taiwanese American Student Association and is a member of the business operations team for Terps Racing. Like QUEST, Terps Racing is a mix of business and engineering, and the two experiences have allowed him to translate the skills he is learning in the classroom to his co-curricular passions. He has also become involved in the University Senate, serving on the Faculty Affairs Committee this past year. In the coming year, Lin will serve as a University Senator for the College of Computer, Mathematical, and Natural Sciences.

Michelle Lui, operations management & information systems ‘22 (Cohort 34), is working remotely this summer as a strategy consulting intern with the consumer sector of Tata, India’s only value-based corporation. “This internship connects well with my passion for conscious capitalism,” Lui explained. Her desire to have a social impact is infused in everything she does inside and outside of the classroom. For her capstone in the Honors College Design Cultures and Creativity program, Lui focused on sustainable packaging, and she’s also served as an intern for a local startup incubator where she worked to increase social entrepreneurship. Through her involvement with the UMD chapter of the American Marketing Association, she participated in a social impact case competition where she worked with Capital Area Food Bank in D.C. to better serve UMD students facing food insecurity. Having just completed her first semester in QUEST, Lui is looking forward to her future team projects because she knows she will always be making a direct impact on individuals and companies around the country and the world.

Derek Safieh, aerospace engineering ‘21 (Cohort 31), originally from Guatemala, found himself at the University of Maryland because of his passion for aerospace engineering. Though his initial focus was space, it quickly shifted to air when he began his research on campus at the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center (AGRC), one of only three centers of excellence for vertical lift in the country. Over the last three years, Safieh has been a true asset to the AGRC team, conducting research and testing new technologies. At the same time, he has worked through the QUEST curriculum, completing his capstone project with Intralox this past semester. “I knew I wanted to focus on engineering, but I wanted to do more,” he said. That led him to QUEST, where he says he’s gained skills that have directly translated to his research, specifically in following processes when building rotorcrafts. This past year, he was named as the Undergraduate Lead for QBiT Projects, which allows him to oversee numerous projects and conduct individual research.

Marguerite Gelinas

Benjamin Lin

Michelle Lui

Derek Safieh