2 February, 2021 at 8:21 AM
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Words hold power and weight – disproportionately impacting Black, Indigenous, and people of color. “People claim that words don’t matter, yet they literally affect the way people are treated,” said Spark! Fellow Shateva Long. “Racial bias is found all throughout medical textbooks and it is negatively affecting the lives of women of color, especially Black […]
If artificial intelligence is the future, why does AI seemingly fall short when it comes to biases embedded in its algorithms? Coded Bias’ Director Shalini Kantayya took to the Spark! virtual stage this month to explore this question and more during a Q&A following the exclusive screening of her documentary that premiered at Sundance Film […]
Looking back on 2020 and how the Spark! community rallied together, one of the highlights is easily NextTech. The two-day event allowed our student innovators and technology’s most influential leaders to come together and explore how emerging technologies can help solve real-world problems. Whether it was through panel discussions, mini-workshops, or the networking opportunities, students […]
In a whirlwind of a year that could’ve gotten to the best of us, Demo Day was a reminder that the Spark! community is just as resilient as ever. Every one of the participants demonstrated perseverance in the face of adversity. How else do you explain how they spent an entire semester developing fully functioning […]
2020 magnified several faults in our system that have existed for ages — xenophobia, racism, classism, among countless other defects. A single hackathon paved the way to addressing those issues head on. Spark!’s Resiliency Challenge allowed students, mentors, partners and alike from around the globe to develop innovation which addresses challenges associated with COVID-19. Project […]
A rescinded job offer, graduation plans cancelled and little to zero social contact – can leave even the most positive people – at a loss. This was the case for computer science graduate student and Spark! software engineering TA, Asad Malik. “What I noticed was that a lot of my friends were going through similar […]
Machine learning, coding, software engineering – all concepts related to Spark!, but the real moving parts that keep Spark! going can’t be coded or prototyped. Students and faculty are at the heart of the process, and you don’t know enough about Spark! if you don’t know the name Dharmesh Tarapore – BU alum and Spark!’s […]
Growing up with a Greek grandfather means two things – never complaining about being hungry when you have an entire Mediterranean spread to eat, and obsessively drinking coffee with almost every meal. At least, that was the case with Zach Halvorson. Flashback to his high school days, and he was supplementing pre-workout with extra strength […]