Level The Playing Field Group

Back in March, our Computer and Information Science cohort participated in a wonderful #AI Algorithms workshop led by North Carolina State University PhD student and FEMA Fellow, Madeleine "Mac" Gagné. Prior to the session, our scholars were given the challenge below. Using #Dijkstra's algorithm, they needed to find the shortest path to rescue stranded citizens. How would you solve this problem? Click the following YouTube link to find out how our students thought through this scenario! https://lnkd.in/eS_knsNv To further support hands-on opportunities and workshops like this, please consider donating at https://lnkd.in/etRKVbtc. Your one-time or monthly gift - whether it be $10, $100, or $1000 - will enable us to impact more diverse students across the state. Thank you.

What a whirlwind of a year! It has been an absolute joy to meet such talented individuals who are truly passionate for giving back to their communities and being generational leaders! These Nonpareil Nine are truly on another level and incomparable. They dedicated so much time to practicing new skills and learning new concepts. They were placed in challenging situations and environments, and they truly stepped up to the plate. They have grown in confidence and have shown that they are ready to face new challenges. They radiate what it means to be a Level the Playing Field student and beyond, and we are honored to have worked with them this year. Thank you for your immeasurable diligence, patience, kindness, positivity, and energy. We are so excited for you to carve out your own futures and show the world how innovative you all are! Kalissa Jameson Dacia Holmes Rachel Edwards Alaina Parker Abibatou Sall Faduma Osman Theophilus Kusi Donkor Dapaah Daisy Azagba Wisdom Okwen

Join us in congratulating our spectacular LTPF alum, Arianna Delts, on her next journey in her career! Arianna joined us back in 2021 as a junior and interned with UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center during the summer. She has since graduated with honors from North Carolina Central University and worked with Scribe America. Recently, she has joined Signature Wellness as a clinical assistant, and we are so happy for her! Arianna, we cannot wait to see all the amazing things you will do! To help us support more stellar scholars like Arianna, we urge you to please consider donating once or monthly at https://lnkd.in/etRKVbtc. Thank you!

Stupendous work to these exceptional individuals for tackling our challenging class final project as a hardworking team! Last month, Faduma Osman, Wisdom Okwen, Dacia Holmes, and Alaina Parker showed true initiative and creativity as they thought of ways to mass produce a vaccine and track patient well-being and pain levels. They seamlessly and confidently presented their solutions to a panel of 15-20 corporate and academic professionals at Innovate Carolina's office space. We are so proud of them! It has been an honor to see how much they have all grown the past year, and we are unbelievably excited for their career journeys to take off! To help us support more stellar scholars, we urge you to please consider donating once or monthly at https://lnkd.in/etRKVbtc.

This fantastic team of scholars - Kalissa Jameson, Theophilus Kusi Donkor Dapaah, Daisy Azagba, and Abibatou Sall - made a compelling pitch over dinner to a group of medical and corporate experts for their final class project! Congratulations to this group for presenting innovative methods in developing, shipping, and marketing a hypothetical vaccine for Sickle Cell. It was definitely not an easy task, especially in a restaurant, but they rose to the challenge and knocked their pitch out of the park! We have loved seeing all the personal and professional progress each one of you have made this year. We, along with the LTPF Community, are very excited to see how far your determination and skills will take you! To help us support more stellar scholars, we urge you to please consider donating once or monthly at https://lnkd.in/etRKVbtc.

While our scholars are currently crushing their summer internships at amazing companies such as Microsoft, SciVida, Eli Lilly and Company, let's take a look back at the incredible work they have done this past year! Back in December, we hosted our first Research Expo on Zoom. We were so proud of Rachel Edwards, Theophilus Kusi Donkor Dapaah, and Abibatou Sall for presenting their very own impressive research contributions. Check out the brief video below to catch a glimpse of their amazing findings! Thank you so much to our Playing Field Levelers for your constant support and for attending this event and posing such thought-provoking questions! SciVida: Jasmine Johnson, PharmD, Kiely Flanigan, MBA, PhD, Nathan G. Zoom: Stephanie Kong Procter & Gamble: Stephanie Urbin Merck: Jackson Hall, Mariah McDonald Parker Lord: Will Aldridge, Mekiyah Bailey, MS Eastman: Javier Grajeda Carbon: Nia S. GameFlo: Chijioge Nwogu UNC-CH Chemistry: Ralph House Our amazing LTPF mentors: Jennica Kelm, Micheal Reed, Oluwatimilehin Oluwajire To help us support more stellar scholars, we urge you to please consider donating once or monthly at https://lnkd.in/etRKVbtc. #leveltheplayingfield #ltpf #research #expo #presentation #innovation #undergraduateresearch #communication #education #internship #college #university #student #sciencecommunication #donate

Earlier this spring, our #BME cohort had a great introductory lesson on Medical Imaging led by Duke University Pratt School of Engineering PhD student, Luca Menozzi. We learned about the history of biomedical imaging as well as its applications, such as MRIs and Ultrasounds! Luca spoke about his research on the newer technique of photoacoustic imaging and its clinical uses. Click below to hear Luca's presentation and to see some of the fascinating images of the brain, lungs, and more!

With many of our LTPF alum being college graduates on the job hunt now, let's take a look at some tips on how we can ace an interview! 🎓 What are some things we can do to look for a job, apply for a position, and interview well? Thank you to Dr. Morgan Giles from Merck for hosting this amazing Fall workshop full of advantageous tips and advice. Be sure to check out the video and see a little bit of what Dr. Giles discussed with us! To further support our program and wonderful workshops like these, please consider giving at https://lnkd.in/etRKVbtc. Just a $10 donation each month enables us to mentor more talented students on their career journeys. #leveltheplayingfield #ltpf #interview #communication #apply #job #graduate #graduation #interviewing #workshop #education #professionaldevelopment #learn #donate #giveback

***Advocacy Day for Inclusivity*** - May 22, 2024 At its May 23, 2024 meeting, the UNC Board of Governors may defund UNC's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, backing away from its 2019 affirmation that "the University is committed to building a culture and community that actively supports and promotes diversity and inclusion for its students, faculty, and staff, and for members of the general public who access our programs, services, and facilities" [The UNC Policy Manual 300.8.5; adopted 09/20/2019]. The May 22nd Day of Advocacy schedule of events begins with an AM press conference, includes lunch for early registrants, and a 2pm advocacy rally (see the PDF at https://lnkd.in/epXDAw-7

Join us in cheering for our tremendous alum, Amber Frye, as she is graduating from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and heading to The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University to further her studies in their Biomedical Engineering PhD program!! We are BEYOND proud of all Amber has done and will continue to do in her school and within her community! It was amazing to watch her grow in confidence and really come out of her shell during her year with LTPF. Amber earned a prestigious internship with Medtronic in California and blew them away with her leadership and initiative! Looking forward to seeing you continue to shine and a big congratulations to the future Dr. Frye! 🎊 Please consider contributing to our program so that we may support upcoming stellar scholars like Amber. Thank you! https://lnkd.in/etRKVbtc #leveltheplayingfield #ltpf #congrats #phd #bme #biomedicalengineering #education #biomedicalengineer #ncat #georgiatech #emory