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After completing co-ops at Universal Studios and Hasbro, Ariana Pertuz, a fourth-year mechanical engineering and design student at Northeastern University, has a much deeper appreciation for the science behind some of her favorite amusement park rides.
It’s those experiences that arguably make her the perfect leader to helm Northeastern’s Theme Park Engineering Club. The club, formed in early 2023, covers “the methodology and the engineering behind the rides at theme parks and theme experiences in general,” says Pertuz, who is president of the club.
“We have a lot of exciting activities planned for this semester. We’ll have guest speakers from Disney [and] Universal,” she adds.
It’s a novel idea — an engineering club dedicated solely to theme parks — and is illustrative of the diversity of options students have when deciding to join any of Northeastern’s more than 500 clubs and organizations.
The Boston campus was a frenzy of activity on Tuesday — a near-cloudless late summer day in New England — as hundreds of those groups set up tables throughout campus as part of Fall Fest, an annual event that helps kick off the semester by introducing students to new friends and new interests.
Representatives from clubs and organizations lined Centennial Common, Krentzman Quad, Cabot Quad, West Village and all points in-between. Deejays from campus radio station WRBB-FM 104.9 blasted music, food trucks served fried dough and other treats, and students stuffed bags with giveaways and information pamphlets.
Whether they were looking to join a sports club or a group focused on a specific hobby or topic, students had plenty of options to ponder over as they focused on their particular areas of interest.
Have a knack for beekeeping?
Northeastern’s Bee Society meets at 5 p.m. on Mondays this semester, and individuals with even the slightest interest are encouraged to take part, explains Gillian McMurty, the club’s scheduling coordinator.
“Beekeeping is one of the oldest forms of agriculture,” says McMurty, a fifth-year environmental sustainability science major. “It’s a really interesting field, and there are so many health benefits to honey and bee products.”
The club has access to two honey bee hives on campus located at the quad near the Northeastern University School of Law on Huntington Avenue, she says.
“If you want to join the club, you can come to our general meetings,” she says. “We also host how-to like learning educational classes throughout the semester. We’ll have a classroom session where we’ll teach you the basics, show you the suits.
“Once you’ve completed that, we’ll have a practical lesson. We’ll take you out to the bees, show you how it works, either you’ll watch us at our hive inspections or you’ll put on the PPE yourself and do it yourself with our guidance,” she says.
Northeastern’s Pages for Pediatrics group plans to use the art of storytelling to bring awareness to pediatric diseases.
Throughout the year, members of the club work together to produce a children’s book centered on reducing the stigma of a specific disease or condition.
The Northeastern club, which officially goes live this semester, is a chapter of the California-based nonprofit Pages for Pediatrics. The organization has published four children’s books so far, including “The Giraffe That Stood Tall,” which focuses on addressing misconceptions around dwarfism and “Tommy and the Twig,” which focuses on reducing the stigmas of using prosthetics.
Amy Yan, president of Northeastern’s Pages for Pediatrics and a fourth-year health sciences major, says she wanted to bring the organization to campus after hearing about it from her friend who is part of the UCLA chapter.
“I really like creative endeavors, and I wanted to integrate that interest with my other interests, which are pediatrics and pre-med related.”
Producing a children’s book is no small feat, Yan explains, and the group will have specific groups dedicated to part of the process, including a writing and editing team, a design team, and an outside marketing team — a perfect opportunity for students with a variety of different creative interests.