Meet the Team

Communications Team

You can contact the communications team at ct09comm@wpi.edu until May 2011.

Matthew Careyprofile_pic_ctpc_final

Hi! My name is Matthew Carey and I am a junior robotics and electrical engineeing major. I completed my college project requirement here in Cape Town Africa with twenty-seven other students and faculty. I applied for this project because I wanted a place where I could not only fufill a requirement, but also leave behind work that would have a lasting impact on people. My communications team project enabled me to do that, allowing me to not only develop real-world skills and experience, but also help the informal settlement community through education, job creation and other aspects. Back home I enjoy playing informal sports, scuba diving and flying. Also a rather big Patriots fan :).

Sarah Beth Johnson

DSCF3506I am currently a junior actuarial mathematics major with a minor in management and law.  On campus I am a member of Phi Sigma Sigma, I play varsity Softball and I work in the mailroom.  The Global Studies Program is the reason I applied to and chose to attend WPI.  My whole life I have wanted to travel to Africa so when I found out that I had the opportunity to work on a project here I immediately made up my mind that I was going.  I have loved being able to work everyday with the community members and seen the effect of our project work on their lives.  On celebration day looking around the room and seeing every community member smiling made all the hard work worth it.  Over the eight weeks here I learned alot about working on a team and how to overcome those difficulties.  After I graduate I plan on acquiring a masters in criminology and eventually continuing on to law school.  I will definitely be returning to Africa at some point during my life.

Kealeboga Merafhe

Kealeboga MerafheI am currently a junior at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, majoring in Chemical Engineering. I am originally from Botswana, Africa and travelled to the Worcester Massachusetts, in the United States of America to pursue my college Bachelor of Science degree. With Africa being close to my heart, it was a privilege to be able to fulfill my Interactive Qualifying Project in Cape Town. I have always had a great desire to work in Africa and change Africans lives for the better. Being part of the communications team, we were able to do just that by focusing of sustainable redevelopment efforts and initiatives that ensure that lives are continuously being changed as a result of our work. I hope to one day take these ideas and implement them in Botswana. Working in Monwabisi Park has been a life changing experience that I will always treasure. It has given me to opportunity to grow as a professional and to be thoughtful and indebted. Working with the people of Monwabisi Park was both refreshing and satisfying. Having had the opportunity to work with the City of Cape Town and several sponsors, life long networks were created that will I will always be thankful for.

Terry Tata

Terry TataI am currently a junior at WPI majoring in computer science. I’m scheduled to graduate in the spring of 2011 for my B.S. and will be pursuing my M.S. afterwards. The Cape Town Project Centre was my first choice for overseas IQP. I chose it because I really wanted to feel as though I left a major impact on people’s lives that wasn’t there before. I also wanted to see a place that I wouldn’t have the opportunity visit to again with a group of friends. I chose to be a member of the communications team because the opportunity to get people involved in an important cause appealed to me. One of the major questions I had was how could we make our project sustainable and a success. The theory of implementation is very easy compared to the actual implementation.  Like most projects, our project shifted once we arrived in Cape Town. Our team did a lot of brainstorming and was able to come up with new ideas to move forward. Most of my hobbies revolve around sports and watching them. I am a huge fan of the Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Cavaliers and Cleveland Browns. I am not from Cleveland. Since coming to Cape Town, I became somewhat of a soccer fan. I now passionately root for Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League and the Orlando Pirates, a local South African team based in Johannesburg.