what is citylab?
CityLab is an active learning experience at John's Hopkins and other institutions conducted in cities all around the world. There are few traditional lectures, class sessions, or tests, but instead, learning is done using various methods of discovery, inquiry, and analysis. Throughout the process, students develop a deep understanding of livability challenges in urban neighborhoods and then work on revitalization projects that can transform urban livability challenges into opportunities for shared value creation.
My neighborhood of focus is Gateway in Washington's Ward 5.
Meet me
Mark
From a young age, Mark has had inquisitive spirit supplemented by a passion for problem solving and a persevering heart. A competitive swimmer, Mark trained for hours in the pool year-long throughout high school and college which taught discipline and time management. During his time studying engineering at Cornell, he grew older, explored interests further, and thought about the world in a broader sense.
Mark Stepanian is currently the Director of Technical Services at Dreamcraft Attractions and helps create some of the world’s most memorable attraction experiences around the world by integrating imaginative storytelling, state of the art technology, dynamic ride systems, and immersive environments. Seeing a need to develop a largely technical skillset, Mark enrolled in John's Hopkins Business school program where in, addition to his job at Dreamcraft, he is expanding and strengthening his skills in finance, management, contracts, and marketing.
Before working with Dreamcraft, Mark worked as a Project Engineer at Premier Rides. During his time there, he further developed hard, technical skills while also learning new soft skills. Besides designing roller coasters, Mark learned how to build business and personal connections with people from Bandung, Indonesia to Doha, Qatar. He learned how to ask the right questions and when to ask them. Further, he learned how to negotiate from machine shop floors in rural Ohio to 50-story office buildings in downtown Beijing.
Mark believes that every experience in life is important. He is fortunate to have had a depth of experiences, technically and otherwise, both within the amusement industry, and also outside, to draw from professionally to guide decision making. Mark embraces each new experience and looks at new challenges as opportunities to make mistakes, to learn from them, and ultimately become better every day, professionally and personally.
Mark Stepanian is currently the Director of Technical Services at Dreamcraft Attractions and helps create some of the world’s most memorable attraction experiences around the world by integrating imaginative storytelling, state of the art technology, dynamic ride systems, and immersive environments. Seeing a need to develop a largely technical skillset, Mark enrolled in John's Hopkins Business school program where in, addition to his job at Dreamcraft, he is expanding and strengthening his skills in finance, management, contracts, and marketing.
Before working with Dreamcraft, Mark worked as a Project Engineer at Premier Rides. During his time there, he further developed hard, technical skills while also learning new soft skills. Besides designing roller coasters, Mark learned how to build business and personal connections with people from Bandung, Indonesia to Doha, Qatar. He learned how to ask the right questions and when to ask them. Further, he learned how to negotiate from machine shop floors in rural Ohio to 50-story office buildings in downtown Beijing.
Mark believes that every experience in life is important. He is fortunate to have had a depth of experiences, technically and otherwise, both within the amusement industry, and also outside, to draw from professionally to guide decision making. Mark embraces each new experience and looks at new challenges as opportunities to make mistakes, to learn from them, and ultimately become better every day, professionally and personally.
First Let's discoverA brief history on Ward 5's Gateway neighborhood may shed some light on the current situation.
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Now let's examineWhat elements of a healthy community are present within Gateway? What is missing?
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reach outFill out the contact form and I'll be in touch with you shortly.
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