Pine Crest School | The Magazine Spring 2019

THE MAGAZINE

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Disrupting Traditional City Scaffolding with Urban Umbrella

Walk along a New York City sidewalk for long enough and you may discover a delicious slice of pizza, a one-of-a-kind retail flagship store, dozens of highrise buildings — and miles and miles of scaffolding, also known as sidewalk sheds.

Made of wooden planks and metal poles, the sheds are temporary structures on the outside of a building being built, repaired, or restored. New York City’s Local Law 11 requires owners of buildings above six stories to have their facades regularly inspected to prevent any debris or masonry from shaking loose, falling from great heights, and injuring pedestrians below. Scaffolding is so prevalent in New York City that, in 2017, The New York Times reported 280 miles of sidewalk scaffolding in front of 7,752 buildings, which is enough to encircle Manhattan nearly nine times.

In 2009, the City of New York Department of Buildings launched a design contest in the hope of one day replacing traditional dark sheds with visually appealing options. Pine Crest School alumnus and architect Andrés Ulises Cortés ’92 and his team at Agencie Group entered the design contest and beat out over 450 entries from major firms around the world to win for their Urban Umbrella design. After the contest announcement, the Agencie team began engineering, testing, and building the first Urban Umbrella, which was unveiled by Mayor Michael Bloomberg at 100 Broadway in the heart of Manhattan’s

Financial District.

The possibility of redefining city sidewalks in dense urban centers for new development or restoration became a reality. Andrés and his team began developing business plans and raising venture capital and by 2016 had acquired new customers in New York City, Vancouver, and Toronto. Urban Umbrella appeals to city business owners. While traditional scaffolding serves a practical need — pedestrian safety — it negatively affects urban businesses due to poor visibility and decreased foot traffic.

“With rents as high as $6,500 per square foot in major cities like New York, businesses are loath to lose customers due to poor visibility,” said Andrés.

Using robotically fabricated recycled steel components, translucent panels, and customizable LED lighting, Urban Umbrella resembles an open umbrella. With its elegant, inviting design, Urban Umbrella allows for air, light, and movement while a building is under repair, solving a big pain point for businesses while also allowing pedestrians to continue to enjoy exploring the city.

As with most startup ventures, there have been bumps in the road — supply

Andrés finalizing a 3D model.

shortages and design challenges, for example — that have required Andrés to go back to the drawing board repeatedly to improve design, fabrication, supply chain, marketing, and all areas of his business. When listening to Andrés speak about his work at the Agencie Group and their Urban Umbrella project, it is abundantly clear that he is doing what he loves. To him, an entrepreneurial mindset requires a willingness to persevere and work under adverse conditions.

“There are going to be successes and failures; I take nothing for granted,” said Andrés. “Knowing this, my advice to students and young adults is to select a career path based on something you are passionate about. Make decisions based on what you enjoy…that is the fuel that will push you through the tough times.”

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Giving Students the E.D.G.E.

By Danielle Weisfisch ’20

Pine Crest’s Entrepreneurship Dedicated to Global Engagement, or E.D.G.E., is home to the School’s entrepreneurship program and STEM-related student organizations.

E.D.G.E. was designed with student input as a space for collaboration. Some of the features of the space include floor-toceiling whiteboards, multiple collaborative stations, computers tailored for computer assisted design (CAD), modular furniture, and various accessories to facilitate students’ creativity.

These resources help students brainstorm and bring their ideas to life with all the materials they need at their fingertips. Beyond the space, E.D.G.E. programs promote the development of an entrepreneurial mindset in Pine Crest students.

“The E.D.G.E. space promotes cooperative learning,” said John Kolettis ’21. “Students can develop their ideas in an environment where failure and risk-taking are encouraged and will ultimately lead to success.”

E.D.G.E. was developed after students working in the Zimmerman Family iLabs and Mintz Family iLabs, our Fort Lauderdale campus and Boca Raton campus makerspaces, were looking for ways to take their ideas to the next level.

With a focus on social impact projects and entrepreneurial ventures, the E.D.G.E. space has become a home for students to refine and further develop their ideas.

Students’ passion for this field is driving a new arm of the School’s curriculum. Currently being planned for the 2019-20 school year are a variety of opportunities for students in Lower, Middle,

and Upper School to integrate design thinking, principles in economics, and social entrepreneurship.

Lessons for students will be designed for every grade level to be age-appropriate, and will introduce challenges and projects based on real-life businesses, explore major areas of business, and introduce students to key marketing concepts.

“These resources will be invaluable to students,” said Amy Varo-Haub, Fort Lauderdale Middle School Head and Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Pine Crest School. “This curriculum will allow students to take away the concept of idea versus opportunity and apply it to solve real world problems.”

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Student Entrepreneurs Making Their Name in The Community

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Upper School Students Rhea Jain ’20 and Neil Sachdeva ’21 were selected to join the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) in the fall of 2018.

YEA! is a program that supports aspiring entrepreneurs in middle and high school. The program runs for nine months and connects students with local industry leaders, community members, and educators to develop their interests. At the end of the program, students pitch their ideas to a panel of investors. The first place winner receives seed money for their company.

This year, Rhea and Neil won first and second place, respectively, in the “Shark Tank” event, the culminating event of the program where students compete for seed money for their businesses.

“My mom actually found the Academy online,” said Rhea. “She encouraged me to get involved with them to grow my business, which I was just getting off the ground.”

Rhea started Rénoosh — a high-end, petite clothing line in 2017 — as a freshman.

“I struggled to find clothes that fit me,” said Rhea. “I am only 5’1”! I have a large social media following, and people would reach out to me asking where I find my clothes. So I decided to create my own. I created nine pieces that are interchangeable — you can make more than 25 looks with the pieces.”

As the first place winner, Rhea traveled to Rochester, New York to compete against the YEA! winners from around the country at Rochester Institute of Technology. Contestants compete to win scholarship money and other prizes. Rhea was part of the top 10 finalists, finishing in sixth place.

Sherese James-Grow , Foundation Manager of Boca Raton YEA!, Rhea Jain ’20, and Troy McLellan, CEO of the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce.

Neil’s company, Vulcan AI, creates chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to answer questions in real time.

“They are placed on my clients’ websites,” said Neil. “Customers who are looking for quick answers can simply ask the bot, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Chatbots improve customer service and customer experience for businesses.”

Neil got the idea to launch his business after working with an AI firm in the summer before entering his sophomore year.

“I was working with chatbots and conducting research there on where and how the bots are used,” said Neil. “They are great tools but they aren’t widely used, yet! I thought that I could help get the word out.”

Neil won second place in the competition and has garnered attention from local business leaders who have offered to buy his service and invest in his company.

Neil isn’t the only entrepreneur in his family. His younger sister Annika Sachdeva ’25 is also involved with the YEA! and has been working to launch her business, SunStreaks.

As a long-distance runner, she found carrying a bottle of sunblock to be inconvenient. SunStreaks are individually packaged sunscreen wipes for athletes on the go.

Annika won first place at YEA!’s Elevator Pitch Competition in which she had 60 seconds to pitch her business to local entrepreneurs.

Congratulations to our Young Entrepreneurs Academy winners Rhea, Neil, and Annika!