FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM SEPTEMBER 13, 2018 • QUEENS BUSINESS • THE QUEENS COURIER 41
queens business
Queens College students develop app to help users fi nd Halal food
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
edavenport@qns.com / @QNS
A group of students at Queens College
that allows users to learn about and fi nd
Halal food in the area.
Th e app, which is called Hungry4Halal,
launched on Aug. 19 and was developed
by fi ve students who were enrolled in
Professor Gina Keatley’s International
Cuisine class.
During one of the class’s “Eat and
Tell” session, Keatley noticed that when
her Muslim students spoke about Halal
dishes to their classmates, it sparked
wider conversations about culture and
religion and allowed the students an
opportunity to act as cultural ambassadors.
“Th is is how the Hungry4Halal idea
was born,” Keatley said. “Th e app fi lls a
need for the user, as well as its creators.
Users have an easily accessible way to
learn about and enjoy Halal food, and
the creators have an opportunity they
might not otherwise have had to educate
others about aspects of their culture.”
Th e Hungry4Halal app off ers a dine-in
and eat-out option. Th e dine-in section
off ers recipes and a search function so
users can fi nd recipes by title or ingredient
while the eat-out section uses a mapping
function to locate the user and pinpoint
the nearest eateries off ering Halal
selections.
Th e app also features a video library
of the team presenting cooking demonstrations
as well as videos from around
the web.
“When I think about the best experiences
I’ve had working on teams, what
comes to mind is the feeling of satisfaction
and a sense of accomplishment,”
said Afroja Mustofa, a student working
on the app. “I was very motivated to
work on the app because I gained valuable
tech and business experience. It’s
also something I did for my community.
By working on the app, I was able to
share my knowledge of and experience
with Halal food. I think our community
will see long-term benefi ts in sharing
aspects of our culture with the world.”
Th e app is available for free on iOS
and Android.
Th e student team that developed the
app includes Afroja Mustofa, Kashfi
Fahim, Sharmin Joya, Christopher
Almodovar and Rumana Rumman.
Th e students involved are a part of
the school’s partnership with Simmer,
a new tech and food collaboration program
between the Queens College Tech
Incubator (QCTI) and the school’s
Food, Nutrition, and Exercise Sciences
Department (FNES) that unites students
from multidisciplinary fi elds to create
food- and health-related technologies.
“What an extraordinary demonstration
of learning through diversity, something
that we are well acquainted with
at Queens College,” said Félix V. Matos
Rodríguez, president of Queens College.
“A vital component of a diverse learning
environment is a faculty skilled in
bringing students together in ways that
demonstrate there is more that unites
than divides us.”
Photo: Tech Collective
Renowned LIC music instruction and rehearsal facility set to reopen
BY JENNA BAGCAL
jbagcal@qns.com
@jenna_bagcal
A Long Island City music instruction
and rehearsal facility will hold its grand
reopening celebration this Saturday.
On Sept. 15 at 7 p.m., Sage Music, located
at 44-02 23rd St., Suite 204, founder
Jason Sagebiel invites guests, students and
the media to celebrate the institution’s
reopening at the evening launch party.
Members of the media are also invited to
take an exclusive tour of the newly renovated
school starting at 6 p.m.
“Due to the school’s explosive rate of
growth, we had to put a hold on the
acceptance of new students,” Sagebiel
said. “However, because of the requests
from the many folks who were turned
away due to our limitation of space, we
made the decision to expand our Queens
location. Today, as I look around, I’m
overjoyed that our new facility will now
be able to accommodate the growing
musical ambitions of our rapidly expanding
body of students.”
Sagebiel founded the school in 2012
aft er a traumatic brain injury from his
time as a U.S. Marine in the Iraq War
impaired his cognitive and motor functions.
During his recovery process, his
music research and therapy eventually led
him to become a music teacher.
Th rough his research and experiences,
Sagebiel created the ARPEGGIO™ lesson
system, which he developed through
“the science and psychology of learning.”
According to Sagebiel, the school is the only
music teaching facility in the United States
or abroad to teach their students to hone
their craft using the ARPEGGIO system.
Sage off ers lessons to both children and
adults of all ability levels. Th e school also
off ers a variety of musical instruction in
piano, guitar, voice, violin, viola, cello,
saxophone, clarinet, fl ute, drums, trumpet,
composition and improvisation.
For more information about Sage’s
Photo via Sage Music
grand reopening, contact Jason Sagebiel
at 718-361-2933 or by email at sage@
sagemusic.co. Th ose interested can also
check out sagemusic.co or @sagemusicco
on Facebook.
Sage Music will reopen on Saturday, Sept. 15.
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