This article was originally published in the summer 2012 Harker Quarterly.
Since graduation, Grayson Hurd ’07 and Michael Keller ’07 have been busy carving out music careers with their band, Park Lane. Recently, they finished recording a new EP (“extended play” – a short album with two or three songs) with producer Ben Moody, a founding member of the Grammy winning, multimillion selling rock band Evanescence, and engineer Josh Newell, who has previously worked with Linkin Park and Lacuna Coil.
Hurd and Keller started Park Lane while in high school and continued pursuing music through their college years. Hurd graduated from Saint Mary’s College in 2011 with a split degree in business administration and music. Keller attended Santa Clara University. Last summer the band added vocalist Carley Coma, formerly of the seminal New York band Candiria, after sifting through nearly 2,000 applicants for the position. With producer Michael Rosen, whose credits include Papa Roach and AFI, Park Lane recorded and released their first album, “Letters From the Fire,” on iTunes and toured extensively throughout the United States.
“Now that the recording is complete, we are going to be signing with management in the coming months and should be signed by the end of the summer, fingers crossed!” Hurd said. The band has stated on their Facebook profile that, “if all goes as planned, there will be a full-length [album] after” the release of the EP. Currently, the band is deciding on a different name due to trademark restrictions, but for now they can be found under the name Park Lane on iTunes and at www.facebook.com/plband.
This article was originally published in the Harker Quarterly Spring 2011 Edition
Jason Martin ’07, son of Steve Martin, Harker’s executive chef, is racking up plaudits in the college baseball world. He has been a starter with the San Jose State University Spartans since joining the team as a walk-on in his freshman year.
Back in May, 2010, Martin was named to CoSIDA/ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District VIII Baseball First Team for his 3.34 GPA (he’s a psychology major). More recently, for his on-field efforts, in February 2011, collegesplits.com, a college athletics analysis website, named Martin a preseason defensive All American and one of the players who will “provide the most value in 2011” with his glove.
According to his SJSU bio, Martin, a senior, is challenging a number of school records. He is already at the top in hit-by pitches with 54, but more reflective of his talent, he is six runs short of the school record in runs scored; 21 hits away from the career hits top slot, and “is four doubles, 10 RBI, 14 walks, and 27 at-bats from the top-10 in each category,” according to the site.
Three Harker alumni were featured speakers at this year’s research symposium, “Technology for Life.” Jennifer Ong ’07, a junior at U.C. San Diego, is pursuing biology and communications majors. Richard Kwant ’07 is studying chemistry and physics at Harvard University, and Brian Ma ’08 is a bioengineering major at the California Institute of Technology.
Ong spoke about her new role as chief operations officer for The Triple Helix (TTH), a nonprofit, studentrun organization that publishes undergraduate articles in print and on their website. Founded by Kevin Hwang ’03, its mission, said Ong, “is to allow students the opportunity to voice ideas about the interdisciplinary nature of science, society and law.”
Speaking via teleconference from Harvard, Kwant presented his work on protein structures and interactions. He was able to create crystalline structures of the protein human carbonic anhydrase II, which provide researchers with an atomic level view of what is happening in the protein. “This research will be helpful for biology and medicine in understanding how proteins work and how human biology works,” Kwant said.
Begun as a summer research project at CalTech, Ma’s work seeks to unravel the mystery of how plants, unlike animals, can regenerate. Ma screened epigenetic-related genes to determine if they are involved in the regeneration process.
“Being the first to discover new knowledge is definitely one allure of going into the research field, whether as an undergraduate or afterwards,” said Ma.
For the full report on alumni speakers at the Harker Research Symposium, go to news.harker.org and search on “Research Alumni.”
Three Harker alumni were featured speakers at the April 10 research symposium, “Technology for Life,” in Nichols Hall. Jennifer Ong ‘07, a junior at the University of California, San Diego, is pursuing biology and communications majors. She also volunteers with The Triple Helix. Richard Kwant ’07 is studying chemistry and physics at Harvard University. Brian Ma ’08 is a bioengineering major at the California Institute of Technology.
Ong spoke about her new role as chief operations officer for The Triple Helix (TTH). Founded by Harker graduate Kevin Hwang ’03, The Triple Helix is a nonprofit, student-run organization that publishes undergraduate articles in print and electronically. “Our mission,” said Ong, “is to allow students the opportunity to voice ideas about the interdisciplinary nature of science, society and law.”
TTH currently has 27 chapters and 800 student writers at colleges across the globe. Chapters publish more than 30,000 printed journals annually and the website gets hits from 16 countries. During her visit, Ong announced that Harker will be the founding school for the establishment of TTH in high schools, and encouraged students to become involved. “Writing for TTH teaches skills like research, writing and critical thinking that you can apply in real life,” she said. “Our style of writing is not an academic style. It is ultimately to open up a forum that the general public can become interested in.”
TTH also partners with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and sometimes can open doors for its writers. “Our outgoing CEO, Julia Piper, got an internship at UC Davis through an article in TTH,” said Ong. “That has been happening more frequently, and we want to institutionalize it.”
Speaking via teleconference, Richard Kwant presented his work at the Harvard Whitesides Lab, on protein structures and interactions. Using the effective but difficult process of crystallization, he was able to create crystalline structures of the protein human carbonic anhydrase II. These structures provide researchers with an atomic level view of what is happening in the protein. “This research will be helpful for biology and medicine in understanding how proteins work and how human biology works,” Kwant said.
He also told the students, “When I came to college I can’t say I really liked proteins. As a freshman I wanted some experience working in a lab. Do as many things as you possibly can. Get exposure to many subjects, and if you see something you are interested in, go with it.”
Begun as a summer research project at CalTech, Ma’s work seeks to unravel the mystery of how plants, unlike animals, can regenerate. Specifically, Ma screened epigenetic-related genes – those that do not change the basic DNA sequence – to determine if they are involved in the regeneration process.
Working with 48 mutant lines of seeds, he found at least six epigenetic-related genes that are likely to be involved in the process. Further research will be required to determine the exact pathways of interactions.
With a bit of serendipity, Ma has combined his experience in engineering and producing radio-controlled cars with a long-held interest in biology. “I find that I enjoy the theoretical and practical challenges of biological engineering,” he said. Ma thinks his lab research has given him a rewarding taste of life after college.
“You just want results, and that I was able to get results from my project was very rewarding, because it actually is new knowledge, and you get to be the one to find out first,” he said. “That’s definitely one allure of going into the research field, whether as an undergraduate or afterward.”
Harker students and alumni had the unique opportunity to see one of their own compete in the summer Olympics in Beijing, as MS alumna Andrea Nott ’96 represented the U.S. in the synchronized swimming event. Nott, whose team finished fifth overall in Beijing, discovered her love for the sport at the age of nine, and has been named a U.S. Synchronized Swimming All-American for seven years — since 1999. She was selected as an alternate for the Athens games in 2004.
Surprisingly, Nott said she didn’t feel much pressure despite making her first Olympic appearance. “We did a lot of mental preparation, including detailed visualizations and simulations,” she said. “So, when we were waiting to go out to perform I actually felt surprisingly calm.” She also said that her main goal was to put on the best performance of her career. “I wanted to peak and amaze people at the Olympics,” said Nott. “I think our team did that.”
Nott is the daughter of Debra Nott, Harker’s director of nursing and, following a decompression period, Andrea resurfaced in October to join her mom, who went to Beijing with her, at the Harker Family Picnic. The swimmer noted one of the most remarkable experiences of the games was watching the opening ceremonies.
“A lot of Olympians had told me beforehand that it was their favorite part of the Olympics, but I couldn’t quite grasp how amazing it would be to see them light the torch until I saw it,” she recalled. But above all, it was the opportunity to participate in the games that made the biggest impression. “I had been looking forward to the Olympics for so long that I really didn’t want to realize after closing ceremonies that I had let it all go by too fast,” said Nott. “I knew beforehand that I would be retiring from synchronized swimming after the games, so when I watched the torch light in opening ceremonies, I knew it would be a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.”
For those aspiring to reach the stars, Nott says the key ingredient is determination. “Natural talent is a great gift, but it can only take you so far,” she says. “Hard work and tenacity are what will get you there in the end, and the reward will feel even greater.”
Harker students and alumni had the unique opportunity to see one of their own compete in the summer Olympics in Beijing, as MS alumna Andrea Nott ’96 represented the U.S. in the synchronized swimming event. Nott, whose team finished fifth overall in Beijing, discovered her love for the sport at the age of nine, and has been named a U.S. Synchronized Swimming All-American for seven years — since 1999. She was selected as an alternate for the Athens games in 2004.
Surprisingly, Nott said she didn’t feel much pressure despite making her first Olympic appearance. “We did a lot of mental preparation, including detailed visualizations and simulations,” she said. “So, when we were waiting to go out to perform I actually felt surprisingly calm.” She also said that her main goal was to put on the best performance of her career. “I wanted to peak and amaze people at the Olympics,” said Nott. “I think our team did that.”
Nott is the daughter of Debra Nott, Harker’s director of nursing and, following a decompression period, Andrea resurfaced in October to join her mom, who went to Beijing with her, at the Harker Family Picnic. The swimmer noted one of the most remarkable experiences of the games was watching the opening ceremonies.
“A lot of Olympians had told me beforehand that it was their favorite part of the Olympics, but I couldn’t quite grasp how amazing it would be to see them light the torch until I saw it,” she recalled. But above all, it was the opportunity to participate in the games that made the biggest impression. “I had been looking forward to the Olympics for so long that I really didn’t want to realize after closing ceremonies that I had let it all go by too fast,” said Nott. “I knew beforehand that I would be retiring from synchronized swimming after the games, so when I watched the torch light in opening ceremonies, I knew it would be a once-in-a-lifetime occasion.”
For those aspiring to reach the stars, Nott says the key ingredient is determination. “Natural talent is a great gift, but it can only take you so far,” she says. “Hard work and tenacity are what will get you there in the end, and the reward will feel even greater.