Professional Experiences
IPRO 2021
Illinois Tech requires all students to take at least two Interprofessional Project (IPRO) courses in order to graduate. These classes are designed to offer us the opportunity to work with students from different majors and backgrounds. This interdisciplinary course partners students with actual businesses in order to solve a real-world problem the company is currently facing. The culmination of each semester is an exposition known as Innovation Day where groups present their work to judges as well as the business owners. My first IPRO course had us working alongside Shawn Michelle’s Ice Cream in Bronzeville, IL to help them franchise their business and attract more customers. My team and I designed a business plan that would take advantage of social media marketing to increase foot traffic and cater to a new demographic. We presented our ideas and a 3D rendering in December 2021 where we won first place in our track!
*Request additional presentation videos and pictures via https://forms.gle/PDW688U2Uy6v63nc8 *
Top Left: Nashita Syeda walking one of the judges through our proposal.
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Bottom Left: One of the owners of Shawn Michelle's Ice Cream, Nataki Muhammad, with the winning team; Karen Marrufo-Zubaran, Nashita Syeda, and Mairead Murphy. (Not pictured: Julia Ruzek & Joshua Hutton)
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Bottom Right: 3D model of our proposed design created by Julia Ruzek.
IPRO 2022
My next semester, I was in a Sports IPRO, and I was nervous despite my previous success. I wasn’t a sports fan and was scared my lack of knowledge would negatively impact my team’s performance. This course had us working alongside Wilson Sporting Goods, specifically their golfing department. They were looking to update the custom-club fitting process and presented that problem to us. What I lacked in sports knowledge, I made up for with organization, hard-work, and project management skills. This team was much bigger, made up of 13 students with various skills and efficiency was key to completing this course. In April 2022, we presented our ideas to Wilson and other judges and were fortunate to again place first in the Sports IPRO!
*Request additional presentation videos and pictures via https://forms.gle/PDW688U2Uy6v63nc8 *
Top: Wilson representative, Ed Garland, picture with the winning team; Tom Hartley, Mitchell Mueller, Adam Falcigno, Savanna Gonzalez, David Singer, Sara Hassell, Cheryl Gardner, Nashita Syeda, & Madeline Morrow. (Not pictured: Austin Kartheiser, Deriniece Moton, Nathan Valdez, & Patrick Kubik)
Bottom: Our group of 13 working hard to figure out a solution to the Wilson challenge
Bottom Right: Our presentation set-up with a demo
By Your Side
Outside of the classroom, I worked as a Behavior Technician at By Your Side-Autism Therapy Services from October 2020-September 2022. This position allowed me the opportunity to work with BCBAs to help children with autism reach their social, emotional, academic, and physical goals. Working here not only granted me clinical experience but showed me how learning looks different to everyone and that there are always multiple approaches to every situation.
Pictured: Me on my first day of work in training! No phones are allowed during actual therapy sessions for client safety.
