Return to Camp Cody
Why GEL Alums Annually Support Project Engineering Course
Camp Cody. Mention the name to a GEL alum, and you’ll likely see a smile cross their face. Perhaps a wistful look of remembrance. They’ll definitely have some stories to tell.
Every year during the IAP session, GEL holds its Project Engineering course at Camp Cody in Freedom, NH. In the summer, it’s a kids overnight camp. For four days in late January, it’s where GEL students learn to propose, manage, and design engineering projects start to finish.
Project Engineering has been a key part of the GEL program since 2010. Olivier L. de Weck founded and taught the course until last year when Bryan Moser took over. The rigorous, hands-on course is well-known for teaching engineering project management skills in a realistic context.
Nearly all GEL 2 students attend each year as well as many GEL 1s. Students call it “GEL Camp” but it’s more than a place. It’s an experience.
“Camp Cody is a key part of community-building for the program. Students learn together, bunk together, have meals together, go tubing and skiing together at King Pine ski area," says Leo McGonagle, Executive Director of the GEL program.
"Maybe it’s the intensity of a four-day course. Maybe it’s the amazing cuisine the camp staff serves us. Whatever the case, students form lifelong friendships there.”
Some GEL 2s can’t get enough of Camp Cody. They return as alumni to serve as project team mentors and course assistants. They engage with students, offering feedback and industry perspectives. They are key to the impact and success of the course.
This committed group includes Max Brand, Anjaney Kottapalli, Vijay Umapathy, Danielle DeLatte, Elizabeth Ohrt Sondecker, David Ricardo, Carmen Chan, and Areen Bahour.
So, what brings these GEL alumni back year every year to this frozen summer camp in the middle of nowhere?
We asked some of them...
Anjaney P. Kottapalli ’11 ’13
Course 16
Research Senior Manager - aerospace industry
13 years returning to Camp Cody
I regularly come back 1) to help students learn the fundamentals of project engineering that will enable them to make lasting impacts in their career, 2) to refresh myself on the foundations of project engineering and execution, which I use in my daily work, and 3) to reconnect with the GEL staff and alumni network.
The students get a deeper understanding of how to plan and execute projects that are of the complexity seen in industry. I hear of students who attended Camp Cody going on to build amazing things and/or start their own companies.
There are so many special memories from Camp Cody... the amazing food, my “annual” ski trip at King Pine, the bridge exercise is also a blast! The entire weekend is is memorable for the students and staff.
Max Brand ’11
Course 16
Senior Systems Engineer - Muon Space
12 years returning to Camp Cody
I enjoy coming back to help teach this course, which is extremely valuable for engineering students. The tools and concepts that they learn will be incredibly useful in their careers, whether they end up designing and leading projects themselves, or work on projects as individual contributors.
The material is taught and practiced extensively through a combination of lectures, case studies, group projects, presentations, and panel discussions.
Camp Cody has also become an annual reunion with fellow GEL classmates who are course assistants.
My fondest memories include a cabin vs cabin snowball fight, practicing rocket staging while snow tubing at King Pine, and receiving wise life and career advice GEL staff. Of course I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the incredible food at Camp Cody!
Danielle DeLatte ’11
Course 16-2
Director of Client Operations - Ketryx
6 years returning to Camp Cody
Aside from interacting with the students and getting that fresh perspective, I really appreciate how every year I come back, I see the material in a slightly different way because I'm a different person and I'm changing and I'm having different work experiences.
This is one of the most impactful classes that students can take, because as engineers who eventually are going to be running projects, it's vital to have tools in your arsenal that you can apply to those projects. Across the alumni community, we really appreciate the tools that we started practicing in this class and then how we’ve applied them.
Something really special is the involvement of the alumni and the different perspectives that we each bring, because we're all at different points in our careers and in different industries. Some of us have taken “traditional” career paths and some of us have taken really wild windy paths, and students can see that all of these are valid options for them.
David Ricardo ’18
Course 6-3
Software Engineer - Google
6 years returning to Camp Cody
I return to give back to the students, hear their hopes and fears, and give them the alumni perspective. Also, now that I'm at a stage in my career where I'm managing projects instead of being managed in projects, it benefits me to refresh myself in a deep foundation of understanding of these topics.
What the students get out of the weekend is project engineering frameworks and vocabulary, bonding with other GEL students -- which is really important -- and industry perspectives and relationships.
The ELLs give them a little bit of that, but here they have an opportunity to have deeper conversations and perspectives.
Carmen Chan ’22
Data Science (Wellesley)
Forward Deployed Engineer - Voice AI
3 years returning to Camp Cody
The reason I come back is because I got a phenomenal amount of value out of Project Engineering and really want to make sure future students have the same experiences and understanding of how the course will benefit them after graduation.
The mentors are really valuable in terms of being able to directly translate the contemporary learning in class, to chime in and say, “I've seen this in X project at my company and this is exactly how the concepts you just learned a moment ago helped me make these decisions.”
Another big benefit of the course is the cohort that they’re with. They are their future colleagues, forever peers, it's really a special bond that they have learning so quickly together.
Areen Bahour ’16
Course 10
Principal Solutions Architect - Cambridge Mobile Telematics
1 year returning to Camp Cody
I couldn’t attend as a student, so I was thrilled for the opportunity to experience Camp Cody as a course assistant, allowing me to engage with the GEL community while simultaneously giving back to the program.
The GEL community bonding experience at Camp Cody is truly unique. While students receive an intensive, hands-on crash course in project engineering, what sets Camp Cody apart is the immersive environment. Riding together to NH, sharing every meal, spending time on the slopes with fellow GELs and ending with team project presentations provides a much more enriching experience than a traditional on-campus class.
Also, breaking the season record for the number of connected snow tubes going down the tubing hill together was pretty cool!
Every alum has their own reasons for returning to Camp Cody. Nothing deters them. Not even the harsh New Hampshire weather. It's all part of the experience.
"In 2024 we were there during one of the coldest stretches in many years,” recalls Leo. “Temperatures were well below zero. Walking to the dining hall and bunkhouses was frigid. It didn't matter. The students, the staff... everyone still had a blast.”
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