Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

With over two decades of experience in product innovation and development, Gaurav Rohatgi is a leader in tech scouting, system design, and engineering across diverse industries. His expertise spans medical devices, diagnostics, wearables, and more, with a focus on building disruptive technologies from the lab into novel prototypes and products. Gaurav’s work is driven by a passion for creating offerings that serve vulnerable populations, showcased by his role at Analog Devices and contributions to the fields of MedTech and Life Science.

Louis Tse is currently a Spacecraft Thermal Engineer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He has served as Thermal Lead for Earth Science missions as well as lunar lander missions. He is also the founder of the Student Movement of Justice and Opportunity (Student MOJO), which provides food, housing, and community to college students experiencing homelessness. He received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA, and his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Arizona State University.

Prof. Orimoto is an experimental particle physicist who studies the smallest constituents of nature using one of the world’s largest science experiments–the CMS Experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland.

Professor Yang’s research group is focused on molecular investigations of modern and ancient organisms, global climate changes, and anthropogenic alternation of physical environments. He is a leading scientist investigating the force, rate, and consequences of global climate change, involving a range of approaches from fieldwork on extraordinary fossils to laboratory experiments on molecular, organic geochemical, and stable isotopic investigations. He holds a doctorate in geological sciences from the University of Idaho.

Shreya Parjan is a member of the Artificial Intelligence Group at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Shreya currently supports the deployment and integration of increased autonomy on-board the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover and serves as a member of the Mars 2020 Engineering Operations team. For this work, she has received both individual and team recognition from the Mars 2020 mission and NASA. Shreya holds a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Wellesley College. Outside of work, she serves as the historian of the JPL Asian American Council and enjoys birdwatching, swimming, and trips to the public library.

Charles B. Chang is a member of the Linguistics faculty at Boston University, where he directs the Phonetics, Acquisition & Multilingualism Lab (PAMLab: sites.bu.edu/pamlab) and holds affiliations with the Center for Innovation in Social Science, Center for the Study of Asia, and Hearing Research Center. Funded in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, his research focuses on phonetic and phonological aspects of language learning, multilingualism, and language attrition. Links to publications can be found on his website at cbchang.com.

Suitcase Stories® explores global migration through storytelling while fostering more welcoming and inclusive communities. Enjoy entertaining and educational stories on themes of identity, belonging, and human rights from two local AAPI community storytellers. Suitcase Stories is presented by Stellar Story Company, which helps people and institutions deliver extraordinary stories and unforgettable events that lead to meaningful change. Learn more: stellarstory.com/suitcasestories

Sri Kuchipudi Natyalaya is a pioneering Kuchipudi dance institute in the New England area. Kuchipudi has been our language through which we tell our stories, its our mode of expressing ideas, thoughts and emotions. To us, Kuchipudi signifies everything that the philosophy of this great Indian art was meant to be.

Gund Kwok Asian Women's Lion Dragon Dance Troupe has been delighting crowds - young and old with their energetic and inspiring performances for the past 26 years. As the first all female and all Asian lion and dragon dance troupe, Gund Kwok's performance is about empowerment and cultural sharing. Gund Kwok invites you to join them in tracing the origins and significance of the Lion Dance in a fun interactive storytelling piece, then perform a colorful and original choreographed lion dance performance and end with the audience getting a chance to try out the lion dance costumes and musical instrument.

Wah Lum Academy brings together thousands of years of cultural tradition with modern cultural awareness and community activism. A queer- and female-led establishment, they comprise an extraordinarily diverse, inclusive, and multigenerational community of close to three hundred members, not only bringing the opportunity to learn Chinese martial and dragon & lion dance art to everybody who desires to do so, but also promoting wellness, self-defense, and cultural and spiritual practice throughout the Greater Boston area and beyond.