A Feature on the NJIT Community
Nicholas Volpe, Fourth-year Computer Engineering Major
What are some of your interests?
I absolutely love messing with technology, meeting new people, music, going out and experiencing new things, learning new ideas, and being outside in the sun! Whether it’s messing around with some funny little program, or some huge project, it’s always a great time! A few great friends and I built a full Master Chief helmet with working LEDs and sound effects last semester, just because we wanted to! I also try to be as part of as many things as possible because it allows me to meet new people. Whether it’s going to on campus events or traveling the country for a conference, I have had the opportunity to meet a ton of amazing people who have all made a huge impact on me. I love listening to music just as much as I love playing music. I play percussion! I believe music allows one to express oneself in a way unlike any other. If I could be out in the hot sun every single minute of my life, I would. I love the beach, playing outside — the whole nine yards.
What kind of projects have you done that are your favorites so far? Why do you like them?
My favorite project this year had to be the Master Chief Helmet. It’s a big helmet from a game series called Halo, and we placed RGB LEDs into the visor and gave it sounds and everything. It came out really well, and I’d love to come back and polish it at some time. A friend and I have been talking about making it for a very long time; in October, we finally sank time into it. It took us a total of one month to do, and it was really fun. The time crunch opened the door for some really interesting problems, and it was really cool to work around them. It’s far from the most advanced technical project I’ve done, and it’s far from the most impactful society wise, but it was great to be able to work on something like this with my friends.
What’s your favorite outdoor activity?
I love the beach! Any chance I get, I’m at any listed available beach in New Jersey. Swimming, sand, frisbee, the insanely hot sun — love it all.
What’s your favorite outdoor activity at NJIT? Any memorable or funny moments you’d like to share?
A big one for NJIT outside are our campus-wide capture the flag games. They aren’t part of an event or anything; we just grab as many people as we can, and sometimes play massive capture the flag games using the entirety of campus.
What are some events you’ve hosted as part of IEEE that stand out to you?
Our football event was really awesome. We were able to collaborate with a lot of organizations on campus and the Athletics Department, and all of the students playing and watching had a super great time!
Jeopardy was also extremely fun; dressing up like a Jeopardy host is something anyone would have fun with. Shoutout to AIChE and ACS!
Of course, IEEE’s big one this year was the hardware hackathon. Now, I wasn’t the one to primarily host it — that was the Hackathon Committee — but I still had such a great time being a part of things. There was a huge amount of helping hands in it, and I’m super glad that all of the attendees enjoyed themselves as much as they did because it seems a lot of them were really inspired to make great things.
We have collaborated with so many great organizations on campus, met so many amazing people through them, and been able to inspire and make a positive impact on so many students at NJIT. Doing what I do as part of IEEE — and so many more things at NJIT — has allowed me to be the best that I can be. That’s what it’s all about!
