Sivels is Gold

To be born Black and female is to be born with two strikes against you in the world of academia, and Dr. Ciara Sivels has stepped up to bat and hit a home run. Sivels has made history as the first black woman at the University of Michigan to earn a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering. While clearly the STEM field is one she dominates, Sivels didn’t originally have plans to pursue the world of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Professor X: Leader of the New School

There are many factors that may differentiate your average scholar from the next: GPA, socioeconomic status, school district, etc. But the one thing that most successful graduates typically have in common is a teacher that motivated, encouraged, and challenged them to be better tomorrow than they currently are today. This mantra is at the very core of Xavier Shackelford, affectionately known as Professor X, and his teachings.

Berger With a Side of Code

Many things may cross your mind when you think about the different possibilities of coding and what exactly can be programmed as “code”. Very few have taken coding as far as Michigan Tech Ph.D candidate Jamie Berger, founder of Berger With a Side of Code. Jamie takes some of our favorite rap lyrics and transcribes them into code on her Instagram account @bergerwithasideofcode.