The Debugged Podcast

In the second part of the two-part finale of the first season of Debugged, Medha Gupta brings in Aryan Mittal, the first place winner of the 2021 Congressional App Challenge from District CA-45, to pitch his winning app Voluntime to previous guests and investors Rick Lane and David Rosenblatt. In the episode, Mittal discusses his app in-depth with Lane and Rosenblatt and answers a variety of common entrepreneurial questions to test the knowledge of his app. He addresses questions regarding the possible competitors to his product, his inspiration for creating the app, the challenges he has experienced getting schools and nonprofits to adopt Voluntime in their organization. The group talks about the challenges of scaling Mittal's product for enterprise use via forming a LLC or a sole proprietorship and the importance of following privacy laws and COPPA for apps targeted for children. For anyone interested in taking their idea from an app on the app store to a business used worldwide, this is a must-listen episode. Thanks for joining us for Season 1 of Debugged. We hope you stay tuned for the beginning of Season 2 in the fall!

In this first part of the two-part finale of the first season of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Rick Lane, a tech policy expert, child safety advocate and CEO of Iggy Ventures and David Rosenblatt, the co-founder of QuickenLoans at Intuit and a managing director at Blackrock to discuss all things investing and entrepreneurship. In the interview, they discuss their path to entering into entrepreneurship and their passion to continue working in the space to this day. They give advice for young students interested in becoming entrepreneurs or venture capitalists as well as critical advice for maintaining and growing an early stage start-up to a big enterprise company. They also discuss the importance of balancing feasibility and profitability of a company with its vision and social good, hinting at future fields like renewable energy that might be hot investing points in the near future. Stay tuned in 2 weeks for the finale of Debugged where Lane and Rosenblatt give feedback on the pitch of the product of one of our Congressional App Challenge winners this season! This is a two-part episode you definitely don't want to miss!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Christopher Adams, a drug policy analyst with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), current professor at Dartmouth College, and former antitrust and competition specialist at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Adams discusses the effects of the capabilities of new technology like machine learning on the CBO's forecasts regarding key U.S legislative decisions and in fields like economics and data analysis. Adams gives his take on why he joined the CBO and his inspiration for working in econometrics and statistics, and his most memorable moments working thus far in both the CBO and FTC. Furthermore, Adams elaborates on the skills needed for students to join the next generation of econometricians at the CBO and his inspiration for learning programming - an important skill in his field. Finally, Adams notes the most impactful research papers in the field of econometrics. With an all new Pop Culture Byte with host Michael Batavia, this is a must-listen episode of the Debugged podcast!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta talks to Christine Rushlow, a professor of biology at New York University and director of the WINS program at NYU, to discuss her unique research in the genetics of embryonic development and how it has influenced her to create a program aimed at advancing the inclusion of women in STEM. In the interview, Rushlow not only discusses her passion for this research and its future importance in curing disease but also the skills that high school students and undergrads need to master in order to become a cutting-edge researcher. She further discusses the pivotal role of computer science in any research interest. She elaborates on how students can obtain these skills in the WINS program and network with others in order to learn and grow together in their education with both hard skills and soft skills. Finally, she gives some parting advice for students interested in research with the best way to contact professors to enter their lab! All this and more with an all-new Pop Culture Byte with host Meryl Matthew in Episode 12 of the Debugged podcast!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta talks to Ramansh Sharma, an undergraduate researcher at the Approximate Bayesian Inference Team at RIKEN and a member of Conex Research. Sharma discusses his experience developing AI-For-Good research projects and the different use-cases of AI research in STEM. Sharma gives advice on the best courses to learn machine and deep learning as well as organizations that can facilitate people's interests in AI conferences and events. Furthermore, Sharma discusses his interest in astrodynamics and how his specialization in AI has assisted his work in changing the landscape of space exploration. Look for his soon to be published research! With an all new Pop Culture Byte with host Michael Batavia, you won't want to miss episode 11 of the Debugged podcast.

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta talks to Trisha Prabhu, an undergraduate student at Harvard University and the 21-year old CEO and founder of ReThink™, to discuss her journey creating the company and its special cyberbullying prevention technology that has led to her success nationwide. In the episode, she describes her motivations for creating the technology and how it has positively bolstered students to stand up against cyberbullies. She then gives advice for how students can address similar problems and elevate the scope of the problem to make it a regional or national issue. Prabhu also notes the uniqueness to each generation's way of solving such dilemmas and how this generation's greatest asset is technology. Finally, Prabhu notes her experience at the White House and on Shark Tank as well as the lessons learned while being on those national stages. With all new pop culture with host Meryl Mathew, you won't want to miss episode 10 of the Debugged podcast!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta talks to Caeley Looney, a space mission analyst at L3Harris Technologies and the founder of Reinvented Inc., to discuss her journey starting Reinvented and the process of creating the eponymous magazine that empowers young girls to pursue STEM fields. She also discusses her job as a space mission analyst, her favorite part of working in aerospace engineering, and how her work in space has influenced her goals with creating the magazine. Moreover, she explains how Reinvented magazine's mission differentiates itself from other magazines. Finally, we have a return to the latest tech news at the end of the interview with a new edition of the Tech News Roundup with host Michael Batavia. Be sure to tune into this very special Episode 9 of the Debugged podcast! PLUS this month, Debugged will be featured in Issue 11 of Reinvented and is being featured each Friday on the company's social media; be sure to check our article and each of our posts out when they are released!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Yannic Kilcher, the CTO of DeepJudge, a law and technology based startup in Zurich, Switzerland, and a YouTube personality. They discuss his experience founding DeepJudge and his reason for creating easy-to-digest videos on YouTube to help others understand the latest AI research. He also discusses his interests in artificial intelligence and its potential limits as it increases in importance and use through the STEM fields; he follows that up with a small discussion on the legal and ethical implications of AI. Furthermore, Kilcher gives advice about getting started in computer science research and working on making the next big discovery in computer science. Moreover, Kilcher reveals his interest in music through his rendezvous as a street musician and research he's done at the intersection of music and tech. Finally, we have an update on all of the latest trends in the tech world with an all new Pop Culture Byte with host Meryl Mathew. Make sure to tune into Episode 8 of the Debugged podcast!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Ruthe Farmer, the founder and CEO of the Last Mile Education Fund, to discuss her journey in helping young women and other minorities receive the funding needed to complete their education in STEM fields. In the episode, Farmer describes how her fund has inspired students to create apps that challenge gun violence in their communities, tackle misinformation online, and scan the dark web to identify the potential formations of extremist groups. She also discusses potential sources for reading about these achievements such as in the Reinvented magazine, which aims to change the perception of women in STEM by encouraging them to be ambitious and dream big. Moreover, she elaborates on the work of other organizations like NCWIT (National Center For Women and Information Technology) that continue to further promote diversity in today's computer science workforce. Finally, we have a special cryptocurrency and Valentine's Day edition of the Pop Culture Byte with host Michael Batavia in store for you. This is definitely not an episode to miss in Episode 7 of the Debugged podcast!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Dee Nickerson, the managing director of Oracle PeopleSoft of Bart & Associates and the Vice-Chair of Girls in Technology, to discuss the importance of technology in the public sector as well as how HR leverages innovations in tech. She also describes how IT has evolved during her 30 years of experience in the sector and gives advice for those interested in IT. Furthermore, she emphasizes the importance of mentorship for young women interested in STEM and the need for these organizations to expand out of Silicon Valley all across the U.S. Finally, we continue our pop culture segment with the latest trends in the media and tech with host Meryl Matthew! Listen now in episode 6 of the Debugged podcast.

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Sayan and Sohil Bhatia, co-founders of the organization Start STEM Early, to discuss the creation of their nonprofit and the inspiration for their interest in computer science. Start STEM Early is an organization that provides free STEM education to middle school students in the context of non-technical subjects. In the episode, the Bhatias give advice to fellow students about the advantages and difficulties of starting in the field and discuss how they have overcome these difficulties while learning about their individual interests in computer science. Finally, the two discuss their favorite events that they have organized and some of the benefits of running their organization in the greater Seattle area. Plus, we debut our all-new pop culture segment with host Michael Batavia! All this and more in episode 5 of the Debugged podcast!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Charlie Liu and Albert Hao, members of the Congressional App Challenge Alumni Advisory Board (AAB), to discuss their individual journeys through computer science. In the episode, the two of them identify their starting points for getting involved in the field and how they continue to maintain the passion for working in computer science by participating in hackathons, learning interesting concepts in the various subfields of computer science such as machine learning and web development, and interning for big tech companies. They also reveal the academic prerequisites of being a CS major and the soft skills they recommend to excel in both academics and job interviews. Finally, Liu and Hao discuss their reasons for joining the AAB of the Congressional App Challenge and why they're passionate about encouraging middle and high school students to create real world solutions using computer science. All this and more in episode 4 of the Debugged podcast!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Kiera Peltz, the founder of The Coding School and QubitByQubit, to discuss her unique journey with computer science and her aim to train the next generation of students for the jobs of the future today. In the interview, Peltz elaborates on the importance of learning computer science in its slow yet growing influence in other fields such as economics, politics and sociology as well as how her non-profit, The Coding School, prepares primary and secondary school students to learn programming languages and paradigms so they can effectively use these techniques in their future jobs. Peltz also examines the role of quantum computing in our current landscape and its bright future as a possible companion or replacement to our modern-day classical computers and supercomputers as it relates to the founding of QubitByQubit. In one of our widest-ranging interviews yet, this is one to definitely check out in the third episode of the Debugged podcast!

In this episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Dhruv Gupta, former YCombinator-backed founder and serial entrepreneur, and Dr. Jinyan Zang, a Fellow at the Harvard Public Interest Tech Lab, to discuss their new podcast How Tech Becomes Law. In the episode, the duo introduce their new podcast to listeners, teasing their current and future guests from all over the political, economic and legal spectrum, and give their rationale for the creation of the podcast. The duo also explain the importance of studying computer science as an aid to understanding domestic and worldwide geopolitical decisions and how students enrolled in research academies can use their innovations to impact how technology affects these decisions and legal systems all throughout the globe. All this and more in the second episode of the Debugged podcast!

In the first episode of Debugged, Medha Gupta sits down with Joe Alessi, the director of the Congressional App Challenge and a career non-profit management professional, to discuss the impact of the Congressional App Challenge - a congressional initiative dedicated to the cultivation of computer science students nationwide - on the United States and its growth over the past decade as well as secret tips and criteria for applying and dominating future challenges. The pair also discusses the importance of coding in our daily lives, how it has become an essential requirement for jobs in the 21st century, and resources for beginners at programming. Tune into the first episode of the Debugged podcast!

In this trailer debut of the Debugged podcast, Medha Gupta gives an in-depth look into the future interviews, news and ideas that will be featured on the podcast every episode while also introducing the analytical and relatable nature that will be featured during each conversation. These conversations, talking points and ideas will all start on the first episode, set to debut in just one week!