Innovate Conference 2008 (Vietnam and Singapore)
Georgia Tech Participants 
 

Christian Braneon
Major: Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering
Christian has studied and conducted research abroad at the Nanzan University Center for Japanese Studies in Nagoya, Japan and at the University of Tokyo Center for Collaborative Research. He is currently on the advisory board for the Georgia Tech African American Student Union and on the technical committee of the Georgia Tech chapter of Engineering Students Without Borders. Christian hopes to deepen his understanding of trans-boundary water resources management as an INNOVATE participant so that he can promote the development of both sustainable and equitable policies.

Morgana Martin
Major: Ph.D., Materials Science and Engineering
Morgana's research focuses on high pressure and high strain rate behavior of materials. She received her B.S. from Carnegie Mellon University in 2003 with a double major in Materials Science and Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, and a minor in Music Performance. During graduate school, Morgana has spent time doing research in Japan through the National Science Foundation East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute, and in Germany through a Research Grant from the German Academic Exchange Service. She has published more than a dozen research articles. Morgana is interested in pursuing additional international experiences in the future and also aspires to be an astronaut.

Daniel O'Shaughnessy
Major: 4th Year, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Danny's academic interests are in the design and development of sustainable, people-centered cities through intelligent land-use planning, transportation, environmentally-friendly materials, and construction practices. After completing his degree at Georgia Tech, he hopes to study urban design and real estate development. Outside of classes, he is active in the Theta Xi Fraternity, the Student Center Programs Board, and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Danny has studied in Italy and Greece, and has traveled to numerous other countries. He plans to continue international learning with INNOVATE and throughout his life.

Eden Smith
Major: 3rd Year, Industrial and Systems Engineering
At Georgia Tech, Eden serves as the Vice President of Recruitment for the Panhellenic Council. She competes on the Georgia Tech Equestrian team and is a member of the Executive Round Table. She attended the Atlanta International School and traveled to visit friends from the International School in Russia, Switzerland, Japan, Hong Kong, and Panama. In 2003, she lived in Dresden, Germany as an exchange student. She is excited about examining the economics of Vietnam and Singapore through INNOVATE. When she graduates, she plans a career in international business as a consultant or working for a multi-national corporation. She believes that the global lessons of INNOVATE will be invaluable to her future career.

Santiago Hässig
Major: 3rd Year, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Santiago was born in Bogotá, Colombia and has subsequently lived in Ecuador, Costa-Rica, Mexico, Miami (Florida), and presently in Atlanta. He is a member of the Georgia Tech Honors Program and a team leader in GT 1000. He is a licensed skydiver and an active member of the GT Parachute Club. He plays piano and mallet percussion and greatly enjoys composing and arranging scores. He intends to pursue a Minor in Music at Tech.

Mamadou Diao
Major: Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering
Mamadou's areas of research include signal and image processing, machine learning, multimedia content management and retrieval, and medical imaging. Recently, he was a research intern in the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center where he conducted research on multimodal information retrieval with applications in medical records. Mamadou grew up in Senegal and attended Universite Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg, France and Supelec in Paris, France prior to attending Georgia Tech. He is co-founder and current president of GT-IDEA. GT-IDEA is a student-led organization with the aim of engaging the Georgia Tech community in sustainable, action-driven projects for socio-economic development in Africa. He indicates that "participating in INNOVATE will be an opportunity to gain a more thorough perspective on global socioeconomic development and the role of knowledge and technology in building a strong and competitive economy."

Kyleen Junier
Major: 3rd Year, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Kyleen's focus in civil engineering is on land development and construction engineering. In recent years, she has traveled twice as a student ambassador with People to People. In 2004, she co-hosted the PTPI Global Youth Forum in Atlanta with Mary Eisenhower, and in 2005, she traveled with PTPI to the Presidential Inauguration in Washington, DC. Kyleen indicates that the Innovate Conference will give her the opportunity to learn about international business and the unique challenges that developing and developed countries present for engineers.

Rodolfo Camacho-Aguilera
Major: 4th Year, Materials Science and Engineering
Rudolfo was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but moved to Mexico City and has lived in the capital since he was very young. At Georgia Tech, he is seeking to finish both his Masters and Bachelors in only four years. He has done research in several institutes around the world and is currently doing research with Dr. Jud Ready in the GTRI (Georgia Tech Research Institute) on photovoltaics and energy storage through carbon nanotubes.

Clarence Wardell III 
Ph.D., Industrial and Systems Engineering
Clarence works in the Tennenbaum Institute for Enterprise Transformation. During his time at Tech, Clarence has worked in applying tools from operations research to problems in the public sphere and in the area of revenue management and pricing, with the latter work stemming from an internship with IBM Research. Clarence is an active member of the campus community serving as chair and member of the ISYE Graduate Student Advisory Committee and Vice-President and Community Service Chair for the Black Graduate Student Association. Clarence made his first overseas trip to Barcelona in June 2007, and recently completed a trip to Rome at the end of November. He hopes to work for an organization involved in humanitarian relief.

Karan Gandhi
M.S., Industrial and Systems Engineering
Karan is a graduate research assistant for Dr. Nicoleta Serban. He is currently working on analyzing retail market competition by studying various demographic factors. Karan received his B.S degree in Computer Engineering from Georgia Tech. As an undergraduate he researched wireless computing and mobile computing in the telecommunications department. He is an avid follower of Formula 1 racing and enjoys being at the US Grand Prix every year. Karan is excited about the opportunity to observe how Singapore and Vietnam are responding to the Asian economic boom.

Chirag Arya
Major: 3rd Year, Computer Engineering
Chirag is from Mumbai, India. He is the GT elections chair in the Student Government Association, a board member of the GT Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE), a member of the India Club and Lambda Sigma Honor Society. He has recently co-founded a society on campus called Young India whose primary aim is to spread awareness around the campus about the alarmingly low literacy rate among children below the age of eight and in the near future looks to organize fundraisers to support the education of these children. Last summer, he studied abroad at Georgia Tech's Lorraine campus. He has interned with the Royal Bank of Scotland and is a teaching assistant in Differential Equations

Marcus Lowther
Major: M.S. Aerospace Engineering
Marcus completed his undergraduate degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. His research at Georgia Tech focuses on developing landing procedures that reduce the environmental impact of air traffic patterns, working with the FAA and Delta Air Lines. Marcus is also a member of Gifted Gospel Choir, and a committee member for the Black Graduate Student Association Symposium. Marcus plans to continue his international education through INNOVATE, gaining a greater perspective on air traffic and globalization concerns in the aerospace industry. He is currently a semi-finalist for the Luce Scholars Program, an opportunity to work for a year at an East Asian air transport company.