Class of 2016 - Office of the Dean of Students

Scholar Class of 2015-2016

Jack Montgomery

Information Systems, Scholar Class of 2015-2016

Bio

"Carnegie Mellon is home to a diverse group of students with many different backgrounds, interests, and cultural experiences. It is often difficult for students, especially those new to һ��’s campus, to find food that matches their needs and preferences. My 5th year project is centered around improving students’ quality of life and improving the campus community by pursuing projects that bring students together over food that they can enjoy together. My main project will involve creating an app that will allow the student body to interact more directly with the һ�� Dining department to give feedback, receive news of upcoming events, and search for food that matches their tastes and preferences."

Born and raised in California, Jack came to һ�� to learn the ways of the computer. While at һ�� he has focused mostly on his classes but has also participated in research, served as a resident assistant for two years, and taught a StuCo about practical web development skills. Jack is a passionate coder, designer, and builder of things. He spends a lot of time drinking coffee and working in Gates but likes to go outside occasionally too. In his free time he likes to ride his bike, read books, eat delicious food, and watch movies.

Erik Pintar

Electrical and Computer Engineering, Scholar Class of 2015-2016

Bio

“Education can sometimes have a consumer mentality, that I’m here to learn so that I can be successful. But I’ve learned and grown the most during my time at Carnegie Mellon when I have been serving others, whether as a Course Assistant for programming students, discipleship leader in my Christian fellowship, or a Resident Assistant for first-year students. With this gift of a fifth year at Carnegie Mellon, I’m excited to learn and grow by getting one more year to invest in the lives of my fellow students while taking classes that will help me serve others in the field of educational technology.”

At the beginning of his life, Erik was born with severe hearing loss that could have set him back in his development and education. However, with a supportive environment and an enjoyment for reading and discovering knowledge, Erik grew to love going to school and learning. When he started tutoring physics in high school and later tutoring in his major, Electrical and Computer Engineering, at Carnegie Mellon, he also discovered a love for teaching. His junior year, he began teaching a class in American Sign Language, taught through the choruses of pop songs. This class was able to combine his loves of teaching, signing, filmmaking, and web development, and he soon realized that education might be his calling. This led to the opportunity of a fifth year at Carnegie Mellon, in which Erik will be able to study Human-Computer Interaction, bringing together psychology, design, and computer science in applied fields such as e-learning research and user interface design. He is also founding an Educational Technology Club on campus, where students can join in the exciting possibilities of new technology to revolutionize the practice of education. Erik’s dream is that more and more learners will get the same kinds of opportunities that he has had to discover knowledge through many diverse, engaging, and enjoyable educational experiences.

Minnar Xie

Humanities and Arts, Scholar Class of 2015-2016

Bio

“I came to Carnegie Mellon for the unique academic programs, but unexpectedly it was my involvement outside classes in student service organizations that really pushed me into the meaningful experiences that shaped who I am and changed what I want to do with my life moving forward. Both inside and outside of the classroom, my experiences at Carnegie Mellon have made me critically think about and engage with communities more deeply and in ways I never could have imagined when I started. I am so thrilled to be able to stay another year to explore coursework that thinks about social change from an anthropological and global perspective, and considers technology’s role in development and social services. My goal in my fifth year is to empower student service organizations to enable other students to continue to have meaningful service learning experiences.”

Minnar spent her childhood dreaming up stories of other worlds, drawing and painting, and believing in the power of eliciting and listening to other people’s secrets. Since coming to Carnegie Mellon, she has delved into a variety of disciplines and activities ranging from co-founding Imprint: a hand-printed student arts, music, and literary magazine, serving on the BXA Student Advisory Committee, and working as a research assistant creating data visualizations. Her worldview was changed by her experiences in AltBreak, where she traveled to Guatemala to teach English over spring break; Juntos, where she created and taught parallel art workshops on cross-cultural education to children in Pittsburgh and Nicaragua imagining each other’s lives; and Facilitating Opportunities for Refugee Growth and Empowerment (FORGE), which has engaged her in a life-changing friendship with a Bhutanese/Nepali refugee family for the past three years. Currently the President of FORGE, she has helped coordinate the Pittsburgh Refugee Youth Summer Enrichment (PRYSE), a Pitt and һ�� student volunteer-led summer camp for refugee youth, and is currently helping develop a һ��-Pitt SAT/College Prep program for refugee high school students enrolled in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. She is also currently the Campus Relations Chair for Partners Allied in Civic Engagement (PACE), where she is developing an understanding of service and service organizations on campus at-large to inform her fifth year project.

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