LEGO League Teams Up With Mercy Alumnus

FLL Team Members: Audrey Hull, Elise Bergeron, Aidan Stephenson, and Hank Perry

This fall, the Lego League had a unique opportunity to work with Mercy Alumnus, Nick Farina (‘94), on a class project. The students were putting together a project that utilizes technology within the Montessori math environment. The group’s idea is to utilize sensors on Montessori math materials that will provide immediate feedback about their usage and project completion through an app. Nick heads up the mobile technology division of Aruba Networks in Portland, OR which writes apps and manufactures Bluetooth sensors. The class was excited to have the opportunity to meet with him via FaceTime at one of their meetings. On the call, Nick reviewed the project and gave great feedback. He loved their idea and thought it was very realistic.

Special thanks to Nick for sharing his time and talents, to Libby Cherrington and Kim Perry for organizing the LEGO League, and our wonderful LEGO League participants for their innovative idea!  LEGO League Team: Hank Perry, Audrey Hull, Elise Bergeron, and Aidan Stevenson.

About Nick Farina

Nick graduated from Mercy along with the first-ever 8th-grade class of 1994. After 4 years at Cornell University, he set out to sunny Portlandia (Portland, OR) to start a company with a friend from the Human-Computer Interaction Lab.  Together, Nick and his business partner built “mobile apps” before anyone had smartphones, specializing in indoor location and navigation. They built many “apps for places”, including Barnes & Noble, Boston Children’s Hospital, and the new Levi’s Stadium for the 49ers. In 2013 their company was acquired by Aruba Networks, and he is now leading their mobile technology division. Nick resides happily in Portland with his wife and his iPads.