SGA President Paves the Way for Current and Future Students

Although Yael Mendez Saavedra came to New York Tech because of its strong reputation, he ended up enjoying his extracurricular leadership positions just as much as he enjoyed his computer science studies.

As he prepares to graduate in May, Saavedra is wrapping up his service as president of the Student Government Association (SGA) on the New York City campus. Previously, he held several leadership positions in the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers student chapter, including a year as its president. Leading the SGA in his final year at New York Tech has fulfilled a goal he had since his freshman year.

“I wanted to be SGA president because I wanted to make a difference for the students,” Saavedra says. “I bring student concerns to the higher administration to see if we can meet student needs.”

Saavedra takes pride in his accomplishments, both great and small, that have benefited New York Tech’s students. For example, Saavedra prompted university dining services to better advertise accommodations offered to students with dietary restrictions, such as kosher and vegan meal options. And last year, he recruited new mentors for the United Engineering Hackathon called Coding for a Cause, in which students from five major clubs within the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences developed hardware and software solutions to social good challenges they saw in New York.

“I was able to get Bank of America to collaborate with us, even though they had no previous association with New York Tech,” Saavedra says. “They sent software engineers to give advice to students working on their hackathon projects. It was fun to accomplish that for those students.”

As his time at New York Tech winds down, Saavedra is paving the way forward for future student leaders by officially documenting his responsibilities as SGA president.

“When I entered the role of SGA president, it was ambiguous, and I didn’t have guidance from my predecessors,” Saavedra says. “I think I could have done more work if I had understood the role more quickly. So, since we’re in the midst of SGA elections, I made it a requirement for student organizations to provide documents to help successors understand what it’s like being in those roles.”

Moving toward his future career, Saavedra recently started an internship as a data engineer at Cadent, a company that offers predictive advertising powered by artificial intelligence (AI), and he plans to pursue a master’s degree in data science so he can use his skills to benefit others. “I’m currently focused on data science in the health sector, which could involve developing AI that can, for example, assist doctors in the emergency room to prioritize patient care based on the severity of the situation.”

Saavedra credits New York Tech’s myriad opportunities for student growth and preparing him to take his next step forward.

“New York Tech offers students opportunities that aren’t available at other schools. At some schools, you have to interview with student clubs just to be a general body member,” Saavedra says. “The opportunities at New York Tech helped me achieve a lot during my time here.”

By Ashley Festa