Each year, the IC² Institute hires students from campus to learn and work alongside our researchers and staff. This helps our students build work experience and professional skills to prepare them for their careers after graduation. We are continually amazed by the quality of ideas and effort that the students bring to the Institute and appreciate getting to know them throughout the year. Enjoy this spotlight on a few of our fantastic students from our team as we asked them questions about themselves and their time with IC².
What is your major?
Cecilia
Economics
Daniela
MSC in Information Studies focusing on Data Science
Ishani
I am a fourth-year Public health and International relations major at UT and I am also pursuing my master’s in public health through a joint degree program here.
Jaxson
Radio-Television-Film and Government
Nyan
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Ridha
Finance
Sameen
Canfield Business Honors Program, Finance, Economics
Sydney
I’m an Art History major. I am also pursuing a Museum Studies Certificate in the Bridging Disciplines Program!
What is your hometown? (Is it famous for anything?)
Cecilia
Monterrey, Mexico – known for its huge mountains.
Daniela
My hometown is Bucaramanga, Colombia, it’s a small city known for its parks.
Ishani
Dallas, Texas.
Jaxson
Coppell Texas – not really famous for anything.
Nyan
Jammu and Kashmir, India. Famous for its natural beauty, temples, and Valley.
Ridha
Palo Alto, California – known as the “Birthplace of Silicon Valley.”
Sameen
Irving, Texas – headquarters of the Big 12 conference.
Sydney
Keller, Texas
What IC² project(s) are you working on? How has working here impacted you?
Cecilia
I have worked in the Historically Underutilized Business Program (HUB program) and it’s been amazing to meet people from minority groups and help them grow. Also worked on the library digital literacy project and loved turning quantitative data into qualitative data.
Daniela
I’m working on the I-Corps and STEP UP Project, which has been a great experience to apply my knowledge in data science as well as doing societal impact research work.
Ishani
Currently, I am working on the Social Determinants of Mental Health project at IC² where I am helping conduct a focus group session we are planning to hold to gain feedback on the user interface experience for a mental health app we are designing. The app is meant to reduce symptoms of major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety. I am also working on producing a manuscript for a research paper on this topic. I have been working at IC² for 6 months and I love it. I like the fact that it’s such a tightly-knit community and all of the projects are collaborative. I have the opportunity to learn and help out with so many different things and I’m not limited by a designated role.
Jaxson
I’ve worked on the Digital Literacy in Texas Public Libraries Report for TSLAC and am now going to be helping with various media projects. Working here has helped me work on some important professional skills from time management and communication to conducting interviews and writing reports. My work at IC² enabled me to talk with a lot of interesting and nice people, making me more aware of the humble significance of librarians and other social workers in communities across the country.
Ridha
Over the years, I have worked on website edits, uploading blogs and news posts, creating lookbooks to highlight IC² program participants, managing four social media accounts, and other miscellaneous tasks.
Sameen
I was working on cost estimation for digital literacy projects for libraries across Texas. Now, I am working on the HUB project helping small businesses, primarily minority and women-owned businesses, in Austin and the surrounding area. Working here has taught me the importance of first-hand community interaction when attempting to work on a project directed toward the community. I have learned so much about how to research, how to collect and consolidate data that isn’t easily accessible, and how to take community members’ input into account to create an accurate and community-oriented initiative.
Sydney
At the moment, I’m mainly assisting with the preparation for the Health Equity Conference. Working on the project with TSLAC last summer impacted me the most! It was so interesting to hear about the digital literacy programs organized by Texas librarians. They do so much for the community; it was amazing to have the chance to spotlight their hard work.
Nyan
I am working on the NSF-funded Disruption of illicit supply networks (DISN) project with Dr. Matt Kammer-Kerwick. Working here has provided me with a multi-disciplinary perspective on various problems.
What do you envision yourself doing, career-wise, when you graduate?
Cecilia
I’m still job hunting but I’m eager to work in a tech startup. Long-term I would love to do my MBA after a few years of experience.
Daniela
I want to work either as a data scientist or in information security. My longer-term goal is to be part of a team that builds technology for helping people.
Ishani
I am doing a 4+1 program to get my MPH after which I hope to graduate from the UT Health Texas Health Science Center next year with a concentration in Healthcare management.
Jaxson
I have a lot of strong career aspirations that I have yet to settle on, but I’m really interested in either getting a Ph.D. in Political Theory and trying to do academic work in the field or getting an MFA in film and trying to find work as a screenwriter, cinematographer, or director. My longer-term career goals involve aspirations to sell feature-length screenplays and an interest in policy-making or political journalism.
Nyan
I will probably be working in the industry as a software engineer.
Sydney
I would love to attend graduate school in Art History or Library Sciences after graduation. My goal is to do archival or curatorial work for museums or archives in the future!
What has been your favorite class at UT – and why?
Cecilia
Architecture and Society because it was a class that was completely unrelated to my major and I got to learn a lot about a new discipline and see a new perspective on things.
Daniela
Ethics for AI, because I learned a lot about ethics and other codes of conduct from all over the world and how they could be relevant in an AI-driven society.
Ishani
The capstone class that I’m currently taking. I love it because I am able to write about any topic I want so I have chosen to write about the 1947 Partition of India and the need to reclaim the narrative of partition history by acknowledging social history through Partition Fiction as most of the official history currently just focuses on high politics and largely ignores the lived experience.
Jaxson
Either Environmental Science: A Changing World with Prof. Thoralf Meyer or Classics of Social and Political Thought. The first one engaged a lot with very pertinent content for current policy questions related to the environment and the latter introduced me to my first readings of Plato, Rousseau, and Nietzsche.
Nyan
Statistical Methods -1. The class is super fun and there are free donuts and candies.
Ridha
US Foreign Policy class freshman year. I thought it was really interesting to learn about current events from an academic lens and to see how theory plays out in real life.
Sydney
Problems in Art Historical Research. We spend half of the time having discussions about readings, and the other half examining objects at the Harry Ransom Center. Our main goal for the semester is to develop an archive project related to the Surrealist magazine View. I have had the wonderful opportunity to spend many hours at the HRC and explore some really amazing things!
Favorite food item or vendor/restaurant in Austin?
Cecilia
My favorite restaurant is Malibu Poke.
Daniela
Teji’s Indian Restaurant, I love their butter sauce!
Jaxson
I’ve recently become aware of how much I love fried fish, whether it’s catfish or snapper, I want it on my plate.
Nyan
Mexican from CAVA.
Ridha
K-bop on Guad! The food is really good and their yogurt boba is amazing.
Sydney
This is a hard question! I would have to say that my favorite food item is the falafel wrap from MezzeMe. A close second would be anything from Mandola’s Italian Kitchen!
What’s your favorite activity? (Besides working at IC², of course 😊)
Cecilia
Playing golf!
Daniela
Painting!
Ishani
My favorite activity currently is being a hair and makeup artist for Saffron which is a South Asian-based editorial magazine. I enjoy going to the shoots, meeting new people and just being a part of the creative space.
Jaxson
Going on road trips with close friends to remote places.
Ridha
In the cooler months, I love going for walks around campus!
Nyan
Cooking, grocery shopping, and exploring new places.
Sydney
Cuddling with my cats is definitely high on my list! I also love to read, listen to my favorite podcasts, and do my makeup.
Anything from your time at UT that makes you beam with pride?
Cecilia
Not missing more than one UT football game
Jaxson
Proving to myself that I can dedicate a lot of time studying for subjects I’m not good at.
Nyan
Publishing my first research paper and presenting its poster at a conference. Making a bunch of amazing friends at UT.
Ridha
Being a Resident Assistant! I love the community of RAs and all the different facets of this role that I get to experience. I have gone from learning how to make candied fruit for a community event to holding a conflict mediation on the same day – the sheer breadth of what this role entails makes it truly unique and exciting every day!