Every fall and spring, seniors in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Management present their senior capstone design projects to an audience of peers, faculty, family, and industry guests. In spring 2019, we decided that it would be beneficial to film the event for a variety of reasons: to offer it as a livestream for families who could not attend, to provide an educational tool for current and future students, and to archive the presentations for historical and accreditation purposes. My inquiries with Marketing led me to Zebra Communications and the then-current CEO, Aislinn Speranza. It did not take me long to realize that Zebra was a professional and customer-oriented student-run operation. I was duly impressed from the start! I met with Aislinn to review our project, and she hit the ground running to plan the event. Several Wilkes departments collaborated in the effort: Athletics provided the livestream link and final copy of the video, Marketing created the webpage and uploaded relevant content, IT assisted with the technical setup, Communications provided the video equipment and the student videographers, and Mechanical Engineering offered general direction and logistical assistance while also providing the subject of the film. The project executed very successfully: many families were happy to see their children presenting live, and the department now has the videos archived for our program records.
After this successful partnership with Zebra last spring, I knew that I wanted to work together again in academic year 2019-2020, this time filming in both fall and spring. Fall filming is helpful for students planning their capstones in the current academic year: they can view the film after the fall event in order to improve their presentations for the final event in the spring. In the summer, I contacted Zebra’s faculty advisor Kristen Rock to request Zebra’s help again, and after consulting with the team to prioritize this year’s projects, Ms. Rock informed me that Zebra’s students were happy to help. I was delighted! This year, I am pleased to be working with Parker Dorsey as the Zebra team leader. Parker is a professional, enthusiastic young man who strives to meet the needs of his customers. He has taken charge of the project planning and delivery, following up as appropriate and informing me when he needs any assistance. Since Athletics could not provide the livestream link this fall, we had to change the platform through which the livestream is delivered. I created the Wilkes ME & EMGT YouTube channel, which removes our dependence on Athletics for future livestreams and provides an efficient way to archive the videos. Parker has access to upload and manage videos. He has taken care of all technical and logistical aspects of the project, devoting hours to testing equipment in advance of the event and creating the schedule of student videographers. He has demonstrated flexibility by developing a plan to suspend the livestream and not to film one group upon their request. Parker has even gone above and beyond my expectations by timestamping last year’s video on the YouTube channel for viewers’ convenience, and he has even uploaded individual project videos for those viewers who do not wish to view the entire six-hour video. Our fall presentations are this Saturday, November 23, 2019. I know we are in good hands under Parker’s leadership and the expertise of the students of Zebra Communications. I look forward to seeing the results of our collaborative efforts!
I think the two above paragraphs make it obvious that I am grateful for Zebra Communications. Zebra is a fine example of a student-run organization that strives to meet the needs of its customers in an enthusiastic, collaborative, can-do spirit. The students are first-class professionals. It is my honor and privilege to offer this positive testimonial, and I look forward to working with the students of Zebra Communications for years to come.
