STEAMFest
A Celebration of STEAM Events, Activities & Challenges
Our Judges
We had a fabulous group of STEAMFest volunteers who helped us by judging all of our 2023 STEAMFest challenges. We couldn't have done this amazing event without all of them!
DONNA
DAVIS
Donna Davis has been a resident of Millburn Township for 40 years and has served in many leadership roles in the South Mountain School PTO as well as in the South Mountain Estates Civic Association. Donna’s interest in art has recently led her to work in pottery and photography. The Millburn Art Advisory’s many activities focusing on expanding the arts in Millburn inspired Donna to participate in the Advisory’s appraisal events and to support young artists through the Committee's AP Art Scholarship program.
MOLLY
EISERT
Molly Eisert is very excited to be judging for the second time this year. She is the former president of the Maplewood Strollers theater group. Molly had been nominated for a Perry award for her work in stage management. She lives in Millburn and owns an appraisal firm. In her free time, she volunteers with Many Paws animal rescue, NJCAR, and lives with her tolerant partner and two fur children, Tava and Poirot.
MOLLY
KOHL
Molly Kohl is currently the Director of the Theater Program at Winston Prep in Whippany. She is a founding member on the board of Drama of Works, a Brooklyn-based puppetry company that creates original works and re-imagines classics. She is also a founding member of In Strange Company in Albuquerque. Previously she was the Artistic Director of Equilibrium Theater Company (VSA North Fourth Arts Center in Albuquerque), a theater company for artists with disabilities, which focuses on advocacy. She also worked behind the scenes for many years at The Public Theater/NYSF and as assistant to the producer of Joe’s Pub. She has performed with various companies in black box theaters around NYC. Recently, Molly worked with NYC-based Outside Voices, a theater company dedicated to disability justice. She studied theater at Eugene Lang College at The New School. Molly lives with her theater-lovin’ family in Millburn, NJ.
ZEV
MARINOFF
Zev Marinoff has been called many things -- liar, scoundrel, lover -- but first and foremost, he is someone who feeds off of the accomplishments of others, thus inevitably leading him to a life of cinephilia. He is a film/video major at a college. His animated film Eidolon, which was a finalist in Millburn's Film Festival in 2022, has since been selected as a centerpiece for the Yale Film Festival.
Michelle
San Fillipo
Michelle San Fillipo is a New Jersey native and Columbia High School Graduate. She and her husband settled in Millburn in 1984 and are proud to have raised their family there. She is well known for her service to the Girl Scouts, serving as troop leader, trainer, cookie unit service manager, and community service director. In 2002, Michelle was honored as a Patriot Award winner for her service to the community on behalf of Girl Scouting.
Cari
Strassberg
Cari Strassberg is a network television producer who has won nine News & Documentary Emmy Awards, as well as multiple Cine Golden Eagle International Journalism Awards, Edward R. Murrow Awards, Gracie Awards, and three Peabody Awards. In her position as the Entertainment Producer for ABC’s Good Morning America, Cari worked with legendary movie critic Joel Siegel, covering the film industry. In this capacity, she viewed over 200 films every year, occasionally as many as four a day. She has interviewed every global celebrity under the sun and attended 15 years’ worth of Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice, and Academy Awards. Cari has lived in Millburn since 2004 with her three sons: Matt, Alex, and Zach, all proud graduates of Millburn High School.
DAVID
LAZARUS
After a successful career as programmer and software developer, David began his seventh decade in September of 2016, teaching and coaching at Deerfield Elementary and South Mountain. David continues to teach and coach at South Mountain and taught classes and coached at Deerfield through 2020. In 2017 David introduced chess at the newly opened Washington School in Millburn and in 2019, his team won the league title. David has also coached at schools in Summit and New Providence. In addition to his teaching and coaching duties, David has worked at the Westfield YMCA's Sunday tournaments and is also co director. David has directed Virtual Chess Tournaments for Millburn Education Foundation since 2021.
BEN YANG &
YUMENG CHEN
The Math Contest problem sets were designed by Mr. Ben Yang and Ms. Yumeng Chen. Both were former Millburn/Short Hills residents, Mr. Ben Yang is a gold medalist of International Mathematical Olympiad 2007 and an MIT PhD in Mathematics, and Ms. Yumeng Chen is a graduate from Tsinghua University and an experienced and devoted Math Olympiad coach. Mr. Ben and Ms. Chen together run an online math competition training program (contact email yangben.pku@gmail.com), targeting students from grades 1 to 12, helping students prepare for math contests like AMC 8/10/12.
Ana
Sepetovska
Ana Sepetovska is a software engineer at Microsoft. She studied computer science at NYU Tandon School of Engineering and worked as a teaching assistant during her time there. In her free time, Ana enjoys hiking, bullet journaling, and seeing live music near her home in Seattle.
Anya
Parker-Lentz
Anya Parker-Lentz is the founder of Landau Agency, a digital marketing company for modern entrepreneurs. She studied applied physics at NYU Tandon School of Engineering and completed many coding projects during her computer science classes and multiple hackathons. Anya enjoys seeing – and playing – live music in NYC and skateboarding or climbing outside on sunny days.
Dr. Preeti
Arya
Dr. Preeti Arya is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Textile Development and Marketing at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in NY. She teaches Textile Science, Textile Finishes, Coloration & Sustainable Applications, Textile Product Development, and Performance Textiles. Her PhD is in Textile Science and Technology, and her area of research interest is sustainability in chemical finishes, textile processing, performance textiles, natural composites, and closed-loop textile production systems. Dr. Arya has presented research papers at several research conferences and is always willing to collaborate with academic researchers and companies to encourage research and development. Dr. Arya has been quoted in several articles published in the past few years. She has presented at several industry conferences where she has been invited to speak as a specialist. With over 22 years of academic and industry experience, Dr. Arya is a strong supporter and a regular spokesperson of sustainable products, and practices in the textile industry at various professional platforms, academic and industrial conferences, seminars as well as her local community.
RADHIKA
SHRINIVAS
Radhika Shrinivas is a Senior VP of Global Sourcing and Strategy for Grey Matter Concepts Apparel, a 7 year old woman-owned apparel company. Prior to joining the apparel industry, she spent more than a decade in the home fashion industry in leading finance and strategy roles at Creative Home Ideas and prior to that at Welspun which is amongst the top 3 home textiles manufacturers globally. She currently sits on the Board of Advisors for the Ethical Apparel Index, an initiative by North Carolina State University which aims at providing visibility to consumers on Ethical Sourcing of textiles. From June 2019 to July 2020, she was also a member of the Home Fashion Products Association, an industry association of home textiles suppliers. Prior to entering the textile industry, she worked in investment banking, consulting and CPG industries. In her spare time, she enjoys music and playing her favorite instrument, the veena.
BILGEN
SAZCI
Bilgen Sazci, currently 22 years old, started chess when he was 4.5. He became a prominent chess player fast, by attaining Istanbul Chess Champion title for many times. During his participation in the national championships, he became a member of the national team. He represented Turkey in Georgia, Greece, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Czech Republic, Romania, and other places with international success. U-9 category he became 4th in World Scholastic championship in Greece. As mentioned above, with his success Millburn High School became successful in chess. As he moved to Millburn from Istanbul Turkey at the beginning of his high school career, he became the champion in the 46th National Chess Congress Philadelphia in U2000 section and the champion in the 48th National Chess Congress Philadelphia in U2200. In his junior year of high school, the high school chess team became the national champions with his major contributions. With his rating above 2250, he is a National Master of chess. He is currently studying in Rutgers University.
GENsay
SAZCI
Gensay Sazci, currently 24 years old, started learning chess at the age of 5 and entered his first regional tournament at 6. Living in Istanbul, Turkey, he gained regional recognition. In his high school years he became the chess champion in Istanbul International Schools Chess Championship for 3 consecutive years. In his last year of high school, the Sazci brothers came to Millburn, New Jersey. In his time in Millburn High School, for the first time MHS won an award in chess, by becoming second as a team in the New Jersey Chess Varsity tournament. With Bilgen and other two players, they also won the Top High School team title in The U.S . Amateur Team East Chess Championship 46th Anniversary in 2016. He has been teaching chess professionally for over 6 years. He graduated Rutgers University with Summa Cum Laude.