Team USA Profile
The US has submitted 2 teams who will compete locally and the winner will be put forawrd as Team USA entry. Both teams are from Bergen County Academies.
School Location: Bergen County Academies is situated in Hackensack, in northern New Jersey and serves students from over 70 municipalities in Bergen County. The BCA campus is located approximately half an hour outside of New York City.
Team One
Team Background
This is the first year in which Bergen County Academies is participating in GEC, with two teams vying for the chance to represent the United States of America in the international competition. It is with great hope for success that our team competes, hoping for such success to motivate more teams in the future to take part in GEC.
Coordinator: Dr. Ravinder Sandhu Bajwa, Mr. Steven Schwimmer
Particpants
- Joshua Blecher-Cohen, 11th Grade
- Kamran Fardanesh, 11th Grade
- Yukiho Iwase, 11th Grade
- Aanchal Ramani, 11th Grade
- Christina Tang, 11th Grade
- Max Yelsky, 11th Grade
Website: Bergen County Academies
Particpant profiles
Joshua Blecher-Cohen, 11th Grade - This is Josh’s first year competing in GEC and he is eager to bring to the team his business skills, developed through high school coursework and recognized at both the state and national levels. Josh also looks to contribute his strong writing abilities and presentation skills to the team, especially in formulating the business plan.
Kamran Fardanesh, 11th Grade - Kamran brings an interesting new aspect to this team: he is an extremely motivated individual that has managed to overcome a hearing disability. This will be Kamran’s first year competing in GEC and as a hard-working engineer, his strengths range from creative design to computer science. Furthermore, his skill with rapid prototyping and testing will allow the team to determine which ideas and possibilities are best.
Yukiho Iwase, 11th Grade - Yukiho, better known as Yuki, is the team’s marketing guru. She has gained extensive experience in marketing research as an online marketing intern for a start-up fashion firm. As team co-captain, this is her first year competing in GEC, and Yuki anticipates to contribute her experience in marketing analysis to the team.
Aanchal Ramani, 11th Grade - This is Aanchal’s first year participating in GEC and she intends on contributing her internationally ranked finance skills to the team. Aanchal also brings strong writing skills to the table in order to help put together the requisite business plan. Furthermore, as team co-captain, Aanchal aims to act as a leading and directing force within the team to maximize both efficiency and success.
Christina Tang, 11th Grade - Christina will be competing in GEC for the first time this year. As an art and science student with extensive handiworking abilities, she hopes to contribute to both the creative design and physical production aspects of the project. She is a strong writer and hopes to utilize her video-editing skills to aid her comrades in the competition.
Max Yelsky, 11th Grade - Max will be competing in the GEC for the first time this year. As an experienced engineering student, he can offer his problem solving, creative design, and construction abilities to the team. Having worked to complete scores of complicated projects before deadlines, Max can not only focus under pressure but also motivate others to work hard. Furthermore, as a nationally ranked chess player, Max is trained to see unconventional and decisive solutions to several problems, thereby aiding his teammates in making important decisions.
Team one for Team USA
Mentors
Dr. Ravinder Sandhu Bajwa Teacher Mentor - Dr. Bajwa currently teaches Biology and Environmental Science at the Bergen County Academies. Prior to joining the BCA faculty, she received her Ph.D. in Marine, Estuarine, and Environmental Science from the University of Maryland. She joined Troy State University as an assistant professor in the department of Environmental Analysis and Management. Dr. Bajwa was a NASA Research Fellow at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. She also set up a lab facility for research with help of her NASA/Jove grant at Troy State University.
Mr. Steven Schwimmer Teacher Mentor - Mr. Schwimmer joined the business faculty at BCA in 2009 after his 30 year career on Wall Street in Commercial and Investment Banking. His financial markets experience includes trading fixed income and interest rate derivative products, balance sheet risk management, and structured product development. Currently, Mr. Schwimmer teaches Financial Markets and Trading, Advanced Business Topics, and Entrepreneurial Science. He enjoys relating current world news and economic events to developments in the financial markets.
Team Two
Team Background
Team Two is ready to make a difference in the GEC competition. They want to enforce the interpersonal skills of working with a team to accomplish a project and hopefully achieve some recognition with an innovative, internationally-implemented project!
Particpants
- Eric Chen
- Sung Hun Choi
- Sayani Deb
- Elizabeth Ferrao
- Rebecca Fleiss
- Booker George
- Zachary Jenkins
- Merrill Preska-Steinberg
- Irene Zhang
Particpant profiles
Eric Chen - Eric is interested in pursuing a field that involves communication and creativity (probably a career in the marketing field). Some of his hobbies include piano, drawing, and running. He currently works as a lifeguard at his local swim club.
Sung Hun Choi - Sung Hun wants to go into materials and design engineering. He enjoys breakdancing and listening to music.
Sayani Deb - Sayani is highly interested in finance and sees herself working in corporate finance 10 years from now. She enjoys reading and drawing and is looking forwards to learning a musical instrument this summer.
Elizabeth Ferrao - Elizabeth is really interested in the subjects of mechanical engineering and finance. She loves neon socks, copious amounts of food, reading, and playing sports.
Rebecca Fleiss - Rebecca wants to go into mechanical engineering with an emphasis on aerospace. She likes cats, books, and Disney movies, and does not like matching socks.
Booker George - Booker enjoys building things from paper maché or spare parts, reading books and on websites, and camping. He’s currently narrowing down his choice of future field of employment from the broad range of “science and/or engineering”
Zachary Jenkins - Zach likes to fence, swim, sail, play video games, and watch movies. He also likes to read books, newspapers, and write stories.
Melanie Mariano - Melanie aspires to be a Chief Nursing Officer (with specialization in anesthesia) later in life. However, she hopes to continue to dance as a passion while at the same time working with children.
Merrill Preska-Steinberg - Merrill wants to be a computer scientist. He enjoys making video games and doing graphic design.
Irene Zhang - Irene is currently trying to decide between marine biology and business. She enjoys coffee, daydreaming, and plotting to become the world’s third-largest economy.
Mentors
Michael Liva, Teacher mentor - Mr. Liva has a bachelor’s in physics from the Stevens Institute of Technology, and a Master’s in Physics from the Pennsylvania State University. He currently teaches physics at the Bergen County Academies. He also teaches the elective Energy in Engineering which allows students to build wind turbines from scratch.
Alfred Noto, Teacher mentor - Mr. Noto is a business teacher at the Academy for Business and Finance in Hackensack. He is the Co-Advisor of the DECA Marketing Club and a former college professor teaching business, international business, management, marketing and stock market game theory. He is a former entrepreneur and founder of LL Hosiery and VR business Brokers; was the Former First Assistant Welfare Inspector General for the NYS Department of Social Services. He graduated from Georgetown University with a B.S./B.A. and an M.B.A. from New York University.
About
Bergen County Academies is a public magnet high school with selective admission established in 1991 by the late Dr. John Greico. It houses students in grades 9 through 12 in seven different pre-vocational programs: the Academy for the Advancement of Science and Technology, the Academy for Engineering and Design Technology, the Academy for Business and Finance, the Academy for Medical Science Technology, the Academy for Telecommunications and Computer Science, the Academy for Culinary Arts and Hotel Administration, and the Academy for Visual and Performing Arts.
BCA is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the best high schools in the United States, Newsweek considers BCA to be an "elite" high school, while Bloomberg Businessweek cites BCA as “New Jersey's best high school”. Currently, approximately 1,000 students are in attendance. BCA is situated in Hackensack, in northern New Jersey and serves students from over 70 municipalities in Bergen County. The campus is located approximately half an hour outside of New York City. Students are drawn from a broad range of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds and take part in a variety of extracurricular activities involving academics, athletics, and theater.
