Design Factory Student Spotlight: Sachin Archer

Sachin Archer (BS in Computer Science ’25) is a Seidenberg student who traveled with the NYC Design Factory to Geneva, Switzerland during the Fall ’22 semester. While there, Sachin and his teammates met experts from CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and collaborated with other teams from the Design Factory Global Network. Team Fusion, consisting of Sachin, Susanna Lammervo (MS in Human-Centered Design ’23), and Aastha Bhadani (MS in Human-Centered Design ’23), was led by Seidenberg professor and NYC Design Factory Director, Andreea Cotoranu, as well as the Dyson Film and Screen Studies chair Luke Cantarella.

This trip was a transformation on both a personal and educational level.

Although this annual project is usually only offered to seniors and graduate students, Sachin was noticed because of his exceptional track record, and Seidenberg staff member Jill Olimpieri recommended him for the program. Although he was hesitant to join the project first because he felt too inexperienced, his older sister persuaded him to give it a shot.

And what was it that was so unique and different about this project? As Sachin succinctly put it, it is about “connecting CERN technology and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.” Every year, the Design Factory’s Challenge Based Innovation A³ project focuses on developing innovative outcomes to explore problem areas framed by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development goals with the help of CERN and ATTRACT technology. “This year, our overall focus was good health and well-being. We were asked to choose a specific opportunity space to focus on, and we chose Goal 3.6. The aim of that is to decrease the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents. Over the course of this project, we took this opportunity space and narrowed it to the NYC area to see what changes and advances could be implemented based on the information we collected.”

All in all, it was a tremendous experience that instilled a lot of motivation and hope in me that I never deemed possible in the world of tech, and more specifically computer science. Learning about design thinking was also life changing because I found myself using certain aspects of it in my day-to-day life.

Once these parameters were decided, Sachin and the team traveled to CERN’s Ideasquare space in Geneva, Switzerland. While the trip was filled with workshops and collaboration with other teams from all over the world, Sachin found it to be personally engaging as well. “This trip was a transformation on both a personal and educational level. It opened my eyes to an unimagined space in the tech world and gave me hope for my future as a not-so-stereotypical computer science major. It was refreshing to be in a space that recommended and supported one's creativity to their fullest potential. Collaborating with teams from different walks of life was a beautiful thing in itself. It was amazing to see how we all worked with our respective teams and also when we were away from that normality. All in all, it was a tremendous experience that instilled a lot of motivation and hope in me that I never deemed possible in the world of tech, and more specifically computer science. Learning about design thinking was also life changing because I found myself using certain aspects of it in my day-to-day life.”

Finally, when we asked Sachin if he could recommend one thing to say to any Pace student considering applying for the Design Factory program, Sachin had this to stay: “Just take the leap of faith and do it. It is an experience to say the least, and very enriching in more ways than one. Just promise yourself that you will be present, stay open-minded, and make connections.”

Check out Team Fusion’s project in more detail!