OLPCorps Cornell Mauritania/Team

About Us

Eli Luxenberg

-Project Lead

Eli Luxenberg

As someone who uses a computer everyday and has never attended a school without computers my education has been shaped by technology. Whether it is a projector not working or needing a fact that has slipped my mind, the presence of technology in my life is ever-present. I now understand this and realize that many other people around the world have the same potential to succeed, but lack the tools. My goal in the project is to set up the computers and infrastructure in Tidjikja in order to give the tools to children that undoubtedly have the same potential as my classmates, but do not have the tools.

James Elkins

-Logistics Lead

File:James Elkins.jpg

Eli Luxenberg

Hi! I'm a sophomore information science major from Livingston, New Jersey. I've been interested in computers and related technology ever since I took my first programming course. As someone who often uses technology to answer questions, my goal is to enable others to be able to use it as a tool to enhance their own learning. I'm currently the web content editor of the Cornell Daily Sun, and I do research for Jeremy Birnholtz in the area of attention and focus online. I'm interested in ICT education, information visualization, information retrieval, and online journalism.

Alan Garcia

-Technology Lead

Alan is a senior Information Science student at Cornell University. He has experience managing and tackling technical challenges on interdisciplinary teams seeking to instill social change or introducing novel ways of using and thinking about technology. He has worked with professors Phoebe Sengers and Tarleton Gillespie, and interned at the MIT Mobile Experience Lab in the summer of 2008 under Federico Casalegno and David Boardman. His expertise lies in collaborative web technologies and multimedia for interactive performance technologies.

Nora Callinan

-Fundraising Lead

Nora is a recent December graduate from Cornell in Biology and Nutrition. She has a limited background in web design, but has always been driven to help people wherever she can. She is a part of Cornell OLPC to help with fund raising, brainstorming and local support in the Ithaca community.

Seth Luxenberg

-Government Lead/Translator

My name is Seth Luxenberg and I am Peace Corps Volunteer currently serving in Tidjikja Mauritania. I am an environmental education volunteer working on ecological sustainability projects with 2 primary schools in Tidjikja. I have also organized an informal English club as well as a computer club. In addition, I teach a computer course at a local vocational school. I graduated from Cornell in 2008 with a degree in policy analysis and management. During my time at Cornell I founded the outreach sub-team for a project team called Aguaclara which brings affordable municipal scale water treatment plants to Honduras. I am excited to work with OLPC because I think the project could really help the children of Tidjikja. I speak French and Hassiniya, which is the local language of northern Mauritania.

Jawwad Asghar

-Pedagogical Lead

As a mechanical Engineering student Jawwad's skills and education perfectly align with OLPC pedagogical ideology. The engineering curriculum emphasizes a hands on approach and has enabled Jawwad to learn similar to the way that we hope the children of Tidjikja.

Billy Podlaski

-Pedagogical Lead

I am a sophomore biology major, concentrating in neurobiology and behavior. I am specifically interested in the more computational aspects of biology, as I believe that computers and other new technology are at the forefront of innovation and science. I am one of the pedagogical leads for the Cornell OLPC, along with Jawwad Asghar, and we will focus primarily on how to integrate the new technology into the children's education. The essential objective of the OLPC is to help the children learn and grow, and our aim is to find the most effective way to do this.

Charles Curwen

-University Liason

In an atmosphere of thirteen thousand motivated, socially conscious students, there is no better place to turn to than the University itself for helpful advice. As University Liaison I collaborate with the Public Service Center (PSC) to provide support here on campus, including that of professors, faculty, and other organizations.

My name is Charles Curwen, I am a Cornell University Information Science major. I am very excited to be working on this project; I feel there is a lot of potential not only to make this year's project a success, but to continue these deployments for years to come.