Meet our Hearst Tech Summer Cohort Class!
by Johann R. Rodriguez
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Hearst Tech is kicking off its first-ever Technology Summer Cohort Class! This inaugural cohort will spend 10–12 weeks embedded in our engineering, product, data and business teams to work on some of the highest-impact problems in media in a cross-disciplinary environment.
Hearst Tech, led by Hearst CTO Phil Wiser, develops digital and technologies strategies and products across all of the company’s divisions. Major projects include MediaOS, a next-generation publishing platform serving all of our internal digital properties as well as third party brands, Core Audience, the company’s programmatic ad buying division, and data science efforts.
“The mission of Hearst Tech’s Cohort Program is to provide students with an opportunity to gain high level industry experience and work closely with senior management on projects that will go live.” — Jessica Tortorici, Program Manager
The program was conceptualized by Phil Wiser and is led by the following team:
- Barin Rovzar, Cohort Program Director
- Jessica Tortorici, Cohort Program Manager
- Alyson Lindquist, Human Resources & Recruitment
So, without further ado, here’s the 411 on our summer cohort!
Drew Tomlinson
Drew comes to us from Watchung, New Jersey. He previously attended the Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains and is now a current junior at Fordham University in the Bronx. He describes himself as an outgoing and out-of-the-box thinker who always looks to perform efficiently and on time. Drew’s going to be working with our Core Audience team using digital marketing platforms and speaking to potential clients about digital ads.
A fun fact about Drew is that he was the lead role in his high school musical for Shrek playing the part of Lord Farquaad. In his spare time, Drew enjoys spending time with his family, as they are his number one priority. He’s an avid sports fan and loves going on spur-of-the-moment trips creating Go-Pro videos to capture the memories!
“I am thrilled to be apart of a fantastic team and look forward to a great learning experience!” — D. Tomlinson
To see more of Drew’s (and Dunkin’s) adventures, you can request to follow him on Instagram below:
Miriam Goldenberg
Miriam just completed her first year in Columbia Business School’s Media and Technology program. Prior to starting her MBA, Miriam was a Strategy and Analytics consultant in IBM’s Global Business Services practice. In her free time, she loves running and going to the beach in her hometown in South Jersey. Miriam is thrilled to join the Products, Technology, and Partnerships team to help drive some of the initiatives the team is working on and she cannot wait to support Hearst’s leadership in embracing new technologies in the rapidly changing media landscape.
“I am extremely excited to be a part of the Summer Cohort program. In addition to attending the multitude of informative and fun events planned for this summer, I cannot wait to learn about the projects my peers are working on and to have the opportunity to gain exposure to numerous Hearst Technology initiatives!” — M. Goldenberg
Omry Sass
Omry’s roots are planted in Tel-Aviv, Israel. He has been living in New York City for almost a year now. He’s pursuing a dual MS degree from Cornell Tech on Information Systems with a focus on media technologies. He attends the new Cornell Tech campus inside the Google building in Chelsea.
This summer, Omry will be working on a variety of product management tasks and projects, including an A/B testing platform.
“I’m always happy to learn something new and I believe that if you don’t try, you don’t succeed” — O. Sass
Omry is an avid pool player and he once won a snooker championship (although later lost to an 11 year old boy!). He thoroughly enjoys New York City and he tries to spend the majority of his time exploring it.
Omry does not use Instagram or Twitter, but he did try to hack Snapchat as part of a course he had last semester. When asked about his taste in music, Omry believes he can sum it up with “Comfortably numb” by Pink Floyd.
Aparajita Choudhury
Originally from India, Aparajita is currently pursuing a Masters in Computer Science from NYU with a major interest in Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing. Prior to NYU, she was working at CapGemini for three years as a developer in technologies like Big Data, Data warehouse and ETL.
Whenever she has the time and opportunity, she attends hackathons and entrepreneurship events. When she’s not doing assignments for school, she can be found working on some of her pet projects.
“My project on Non-Invasive Cancer Detection using Machine Learning algorithms is very close to my heart.” — A. Choudhury
Apart from that, Aparajita loves reading books, listening to music and performing Indian classical dances. At times, she tries her hand on the piano and guitar.
Gabriel Dell’Accio
Gabriel comes to us from Ithaca, New York. He’s an undergrad at Vassar College pursuing a major in cognitive and computer science. He recently completed his sophomore year.
Some of his passions include technology, problem solving and computing and he envisions his professional future in data science. He would love to work with rapidly changing technologies to organize and extract intelligence from unstructured data such that it can be put to use solving real problems facing our world. In his free time, he enjoys being outdoors, hiking, reading, and playing soccer.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to shadow members of the Hearst Data Services team this summer!” — G. Dell’Accio
George Niedermayer
Born and raised in New York City, George is a rising senior at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. This summer, he will be working with the Corporate Finance Team. George is a very passionate New York sports fan and he is always up for a friendly debate. In his spare time, he’s a big movie enthusiast and also enjoys playing pick-up soccer whenever possible.
“A fun fact about myself is that I am actually half French (on my mom’s side) and I speak the language fluently.” — G. Niedermayer
Shubham Jain
Shubham is from New Delhi, India. He is currently doing his masters in Computer Science from NYU. Before that, he worked for Oracle Corporation as a software developer for 2 years. Some of the projects Shubham will be working on are about deep learning and natural language processing. One of which would be to extract an article from a bunch of images. Another project will involve extracting topics/keywords from articles using a tool called Spacy.
Shubham is very skilled at math, which is very practical given his passion for learning new things related to machine learning and natural language processing.
“Fun fact — I am a huge fan of Marvel and DC Comics and I know all of the characters and their stories! I would love to discuss the different theories related to these characters and to have a debate on them :D” — S. Jain
In his spare time, Shubham loves to sketch using pencil and charcoal. Here’s some of this work:
To catch more of Shubham’s work, check out his Instagram below:
Mrityunjay Gunjiyal (Jay)
Mrityunjay Gunjiyal (aka Jay) is originally from India. He recently graduated from the NYU Tandon School of Engineering with a Masters in Management of Technology and a Minor in Business Analytics. This summer the summer, he will be working on various Cyber Security projects.
Jay mentions he’s passionate about learning things that make him feel curious. In fact, he usually spends his spare time learning about things that are new to him, including reading and watching self-help and inspirational articles and videos. He also loves to do some exploring when he travels and has a knack for photography.
“A fun fact about me is that I can spin objects on my finger and also juggle!” — M. Gunjiyal
Jacqueline Pang
Jacqueline has a diverse background — she was born in Shanghai and brought up in Beijing. But, she also lived in Japan and Hong Kong when she was a young child.
Her summer project is trying to use Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning techniques to process, analyze and summarize legal documents. Her hope is that we can diminish the human effort in tedious reading and instead allow our human intelligence to focus on higher levels of efficiency. She loves Hearst’s innovative attitude toward new technologies.
“I’m passionate about machine learning and trying my best to prepare to be a qualified data scientist. I love data!” — J. Pang
Turns out Jacqueline is also a good (Chinese food) Chef, and she’s passionate about backpacking trips. She has been to more than 25 countries between Asia, Europe and North/South America. Her next destination is Africa.
Carly Goodwin
Originally from Morristown, New Jersey, Carly finished her undergrad degree from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She majored in Communications and obtained a minor in Educational Media. Carly has a diverse background in Marketing and Business Analysis and is looking forward to gaining new skills while working with the Core Audience team. This summer, she will also be assisting the Hearst Digital Media team revamp their marketing materials.
On her free time, Carly loves to stay active and try new things. A self-proclaimed foodie, Carly is always seeking out the new hot spots for food trends. She is also very passionate about health and fitness. She spends her summer months swimming, hiking, running, and mountain climbing. Additionally, a zealous dog lover, Carly devotes her spare time volunteering for local shelters.
Her favorite TV shows include Friends, How I Met Your Mother, House of Cards, and anything on Bravo. She relishes the energy NYC has to offer, and enjoys the opportunities where she gets to travel. Her favorite travel destinations include Paris, Rome and promises to one day explore Australia.
Another fun fact about Carly is that she loves to cook and bake on her free time. She classifies herself as a dessert person and can never say no to a sweet-treat. Pictured are two desserts that Carly whipped up in her kitchen:
Although born and raised in New Jersey, Carly spent two years living out West in Jackson, WY. Located right outside Grand Teton National Park, Carly enjoyed many recreational activities including hiking, trail running, rock climbing, cliff jumping, canoeing, and paddle boarding. Here is a picture of Carly’s favorite hike that she’s ever accomplished in the Tetons — an 8-mile ascend up to Delta Lake!
Jake Fogel
Jake Fogel comes to us from Saratoga Springs, NY, which is about 20 minutes north of Albany. He currently attends college at Stony Brook University, where he’s pursuing a degree in neuroscience with a minor in computer science.
This summer he will be working with the Enterprise Technology team on projects related to Procurement and Chargeback models. He’s passionate about learning new things and finding solutions to complex problems.
“One fun fact about me is that I once took a 30-hour train ride from New Orleans to Albany.” — J. Fogel
One of Jacob’s favorite hobbies is photography. It’s one of the reasons he enjoys to travel so much — capturing amazing things with his camera. Here are some Jacob’s pictures:
Tim Begley
Tim is originally from the Boston area but has lived in New York City for the last four years. He’s currently pursuing his MBA at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
This summer, Tim will be supporting the Corporate Finance team across a variety of different initiatives. Professionally, he’s passionate about working with highly-motived, engaged teams and personally, he’s passionate about all of his Boston sports teams.
“In addition to pursuing my MBA and completing my Hearst Summer Cohort Program, I will also be getting married this August!” — T. Begley
In his spare time you can find Tim playing golf, listening to country music, or otherwise enjoying the company of his family and friends.
Pranitha Guntuka
Pranitha is from Boston. She’s doing her Masters in Computer Information Systems from Boston University. The summer project that she’s working on at Hearst Tech is MediaOS. She’s passionate about all the fun Do-it -Yourself (DIY) stuff on the internet, like home décor, beauty, cooking etc. In her spare time she enjoys watching cooking shows, doing research on different recipes and trying them out.
“I love shopping. I shop till I drop!” — P. Guntuka
Pranitha also has a passion for traveling and she prefers driving around on her own when she’s away. She likes to explore different places and is always up for adventures. She actually read a quote about travel which inspired her:
“The world is a book and those who don’t travel read only one page”.
“The cohort program will give Hearst an opportunity to identify the next generation of Hearst employees.” — Jessica Tortorici
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