“Fiona’s list of accomplishments is so long, and stretches back so far, that it makes me question how I spent my time in high school and college,” says Professor and Director of the BS in Cybersecurity program, Christo Wilson. In addition to having a 3.975 GPA, Fiona McCrae has made herself an invaluable asset to the Northeastern community and will undoubtedly do the same in her post-graduate endeavors.
For Fiona, choosing Northeastern was an easy decision, as she wanted a school with a rigorous cybersecurity program. Shortly after beginning her freshman year, Fiona secured a spot on the highly competitive Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC) team. In 2019, her team was a local winner in the DOE CyberForce competition; Fiona individually ranked 20th out of 400 competitors. She has also been on the e-board of the NU Security Club and a member of the Khoury Student Advisory Board. In all her activities, Fiona says, “Having the chance to interact with younger cybersecurity students to help from a community within the major has been something I am so proud to have contributed to, even if there is no concrete landmark event for that.”
She also brilliantly worked two competitive co-ops in cyber resiliency at MITRE in Bedford, MA. During her time there, she helped develop pen test software and payloads for satellites and attended testing for Satellite Penetration Evaluation and Environment Demonstration (SPEED).
Fiona’s contributions to NU extend beyond cybersecurity. She was the events coordinator for CoSMO, the computer science mentoring organization that works to connect students across the discipline. She was also a teaching assistant for Discrete Structures, Foundations of Cybersecurity, and Object-Oriented Design. Professor Jason Hemann worked with Fiona in 2020 and says, “She went out of her way to create detailed guides and documentation to help students learn better in this new modality. When there’s a problem lurking, or a solution that needs to be implemented, Fiona steps up.”
After graduation, Fiona will work as a cybersecurity engineer at MITRE. Newly engaged, she is excited to celebrate with friends and family. “She’s warm, outgoing, witty, strong, personable, dependable, and honest,” Professor Hemann says. “She’s the kind of person that other people want to be around.”
Compass AWARD RECIPIENT
Khoury College of Computer Sciences
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Fiona’s list of accomplishments is so long, and stretches back so far, that it makes me question how I spent my time in high school and college,”
Professor and Director of the BS in Cybersecurity program, Christo Wilson
The best journalists see things from multiple viewpoints and have limitless interests. Taraneh “Tara” Tabib-Azar has a head start, as she is also a photographer, performing artist (guitar, piano, bass, and banjo,) 3D visual artist, and activist with an interest in documentary filmmaking, harm reduction, and mutual aid. A candidate for a bachelor’s in Journalism and Political Science, Tara has a 3.8 GPA and has been on the Dean’s List all semesters.
Tara has already taken the first steps toward her career as an investigative journalist. She served co-ops at NBC News Investigations Unit and the NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt in New York City. Additionally, she was an intern at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) where she wrote articles about humanitarian crises.
Committed to community service, Tara has been involved with several mutual aid organizations in Boston, including Chrysalis Collective where she cooks with fellow members and distributes food and clothing. Tara worked with Program RISE, a harm reduction organization where she helped organize NARCAN (Naloxone) trainings and distributions. She also volunteered her time with the Dorchester Art Project (DAP) as a print intern and in their shop.
In addition to her volunteerism, Tara has proven to be a leader on campus. She was named editor-in-chief for Storybench, NU’s School of Journalism publication and editor of the Northeastern University Political Review. As co-director and political education coordinator with NU SAID (Students Against Institutional Discrimination,) she arranged and moderated a speaker event with New York Times best-selling author of How to Be an Antiracist and director of BU’s Antiracist Research Center, Ibram X. Kendi.
Even with so many other important obligations, Tara still finds time to pursue her passion for photojournalism, fine art photography, and the performing arts. “I am a musician and frequently perform live shows in New York,” she says, “and am currently working on my second full-length album, which will be released in 2022.”
After graduation, Tara will complete a summer internship with USA TODAY’S investigative unit and then apply to The New York Times Fellowship Program. She plans to publish a book on the socio-political impact of memes and viral content.
Tara’s future looks bright. According to Prudence Hkinda Chaiban from the UNFPA, “Tara walked in and lit the place up with a can-do attitude and creativity—and most importantly, with empathy and wisdom. No task was ever too difficult for Tara.”
Compass AWARD RECIPIENT
College of Arts, Media and Design
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Tara walked in and lit the place up with a can-do attitude and creativity—and most importantly, with empathy and wisdom. No task was ever too difficult for Tara.”
UNFPA Member Prudence Hkinda Chaiban