Category Archives: Achievements

Achievements

Spartans at Work: At Crown Worldwide, I’ve Learned SJSU’s Diversity “Really Prepares You” to Go Anywhere

Female student in brown sweater is sitting in front of a PC labtop working and reading notes from a person journal.

Diane Pham, '12 business management and global studies, is a global alliance intern at Crown Worldwide Group, where she is standardizing the process the company employs to build relationships with business partners (Diane Pham photo).

By Amanda Holst, Public Affairs Assistant

(This summer, SJSU Today hits the road, visiting students and recent grads on the job across the country and around the world. Our Spartans at Work series continues with the Class of 2012’s Diane Pham.)

Improving business operations in Hong Kong and auditing in South Africa are just some of the unique opportunities available through the Thompson Global Internship Program. The SJSU program sends students abroad to complete projects for Crown Worldwide Group, founded by Jim Thompson, ’62 aeronautical engineering.

Diane Pham, ’12 business management and global studies, is just wrapping up work as a global alliance intern at Crown Worldwide. This summer, she is in London, standardizing the process the company employs to build relationships with global service partners and to create an accreditation program for future partnerships.

“Up until this point, the service partners have not been very consistent, so we’re building and making proposals for an identity that will create a mutually beneficial relationship,” Pham said.

Located in more than 50 countries and serving 200 locations, Crown Worldwide is the largest group of international moving companies, leading the way in relocation, records management, logistics and storage services. The company is credited with moving the Mona Lisa and two giant pandas.

In addition to learning about culture abroad, Pham says she’s getting a “big view on a global company and what it takes to manage one.”

She also says being a student at SJSU helped prepared her for work in a multinational business.

“I think the diversity that you are exposed to at SJSU just really prepares you to go to any new location and just take advantage of it,” Pham said.

Marine Science Graduate Student Receives Switzer Environmental Fellowship

Marine Science Graduate Student Receives Switzer Environmental Fellowship

Rhinoceros Auklet chick (photo by Dave Calleri)

By Pat Lopes Harris, Media Relations Director

Ryan Carle, a graduate student in Marine Science who studies at the Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, has received a 2012 Switzer Environmental Fellowship.

The fellowship provides a one-year $15,000 cash award for graduate study as well as networking and leadership support to awardees.

The Switzer Environmental Fellowship Program supports highly talented graduate students in New England and California whose studies are directed toward improving environmental quality and who demonstrate the potential for leadership in their field.

Carle is a master’s student in the Vertebrate Ecology Lab at Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and a lead ecologist for the non-profit Oikonos Ecosystem Knowledge.

His current work is centered on the conservation of a small and threatened population of Rhinoceros Auklets (a burrowing seabird similar to puffins) breeding at Año Nuevo Island. One of only a handful of islands off the California coast, the island is critical breeding habitat for seven seabird and four marine mammal species.

Professor and MLML Interim Director Jim Harvey is Carle’s advisor. View more photos on Ryan Carle’s blog.

Two Spartans Receive Emmys

By Pat Lopes Harris, Media Relations Director

At least two graduates of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications received Emmys at the National Academy Television Arts and Sciences 41st Annual Northern California Area Awards June 9. Mike Anderson, Photojournalism ‘10, won in the video essay (one camera only) category. His entry featured people with extraordinary jobs including a Google doodler, a crane operator, and an astronomer. Anderson’s stories air on NBC Bay Area, where he works as a web producer. Broadcast journalism alumnus and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area personality Brodie Brazil won in the on camera talent program host/moderator/reporter category. Also up for an Emmy was Brazil’s short documentary on the Spartans 1941 football team, which was in Honolulu for a game against the University of Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

View Anderson’s composite (video examples of his work).

View Brazil’s composite.

View “They Came for Football.”

SJSU Names 2012 Outstanding Graduating Seniors and Outstanding Thesis Award Recipient

Killol Acharya working with a fellow student on an engineering project.

Killol Acharya's love for robots inspired him to create the Robotics Club, and to serve as president of Project Enable, an organization that designs and modifies devices for the disabled (image provided by Achary).

By Amanda Holst, Public Affairs Assistant

President Mo Qayoumi will recognize three top graduates at Commencement, which begins at 9:30 a.m. May 26 in Spartan Stadium. Approximately 8,000 candidates who completed their studies in August 2011, December 2011 and May 2012 will be eligible to participate. Around 25,000 graduates, family and friends are expected to attend the ceremony.

Killol Acharya and Phillip Calabretta have been named SJSU’s 2012 Outstanding Graduating Seniors in recognition of their scholarship and contributions to the community, and John Tilney has received the 2012 Outstanding Thesis Award in recognition of the exceptional quality of his research.

Killol Acharya will graduate with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. This Robert and Ellen Baron Student Leadership Award recipient says that his professors have been the key to his success at San José State. He is graduating with a 3.87 GPA and has demonstrated contributions on and off campus. On campus, Acharya has served as peer advisor in the Engineering Student Success Center and has been a leader in the Engineering Ambassador outreach program. His love for robots inspired him to create the Robotics Club, and to serve as president of Project Enable, an organization that designs and modifies devices for the disabled. Acharya balanced academics with community service by serving as volunteer for the city of San José and Veggielution, a sustainable food farm. Continuing his experience at San José State, Acharya plans to pursue a master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

Phillip Calabretta will graduate with a bachelor’s in chemistry. He says that he was not the strongest student in high school, but he feels that he has turned things around at San José State. A Howard Hughes Medical Institute SCRIBE student fellow, Calabretta is graduating with a 3.88 GPA. With his eye on a teaching career, Calabretta got plenty of practice while at SJSU. He taught general chemistry labs, facilitated workshops for the Louis-Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, and trained students in RISE, a program that provides research opportunities for underrepresented biomedical students. Calabretta also participated in the student chemistry club and mentored young students as a camp counselor at Exploring New Horizons Outdoor School. Calabretta is currently enrolled in a doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

John Tilney will graduate with a master’s in library and information science. He didn’t realize how challenging writing a thesis could be, but his diligence to “dig deeper” has paid off. For his thesis, “Containing Obscenity: The Gathings Committee, Moral Crusades, and Paperback Books,” Tilney studied the attempt to censor paperback books in the mid-20th century. Tilney’s work is the first book-length research project to examine the actions of the “Gathings Committee,” appointed to investigate the threat of obscene literature at a national level. By researching archives at Arkansas State University and New York University, Tilney was able to explore the history of censorship in U.S. publishing, uncover firsthand popular response to paperback books, and expose the social challenges around a cultural medium. Tilney says his work has assisted with his academic discipline and his commitment to completing large-scale projects.

Nutrition Professor Nominates Winning “Maestra Positiva”

Four people with big checks from the milk board.

Steve James of the California Milk Processor Board awards ceremonial checks to Christina Rodriguez and Father Eddie Samaniego, accompanied by Associate Professor Marjorie Freedman (GOT MILK photo).

By Pat Lopes Harris, Media Relations Director

When the California Milk Processor Board, creator of GOT MILK? and its Spanish-language counterpart TOMA LECHE, launched a statewide contest in search of three “Maestros Positivos,” they found just who they were looking for right here in San Jose, with help from an SJSU faculty member. Associate Professor Marjorie Freedman of the Department of Nutrition, Food Science, and Packaging nominated Christina Rodriguez, who serves on a steering committee for an SJSU food justice program Freedman oversees. A registered nurse, Rodriguez provides basic health care and nutrition services through Most Holy Trinity Catholic Church’s Health & Nutrition Ministries. She hosts monthly health fairs at her church to test blood sugar and pressure, donating her time and money to purchase testing equipment. The California Milk Processor Board awarded each of three “Maestros Positivos” $5,000 ($2,500 for each winner and $2,500 for each winner’s charity of choice) for exemplifying positivity in the area of health and nutrition in their respective communities. Freedman joined Rodriguez at a celebratory event Jan. 25 at the church.