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in
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MATT ROUSH

A scene from Latke Vodka 12 at the Majestic Theatre

Latke Vodka 13

Cool Opportunity

NEXTGen Detroit’s hallmark event
returns to Midtown Detroit Nov. 25.

FJA student learns code at LTU
to help autonomous car project.

BECKY HURVITZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

MATTHEW ROUSH SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

A

sk most teenagers what
on producing computer code for a
they did on their summer
small vehicle Kerns had assembled
vacation and you might get
out of inexpensive parts. The aim of
answers like summer camp or work- the code was to use machine vision
ing in a fast-food joint.
to get the vehicle to follow a
ABOVE:
But for Isaac Mintz of
white line around a dark sur-
LTU robotics
West Bloomfield Township,
face. The vehicle has three sen-
instructor
the answer is a bit more
sors and each sensor’s input
James Kerns, FJA
grown-up — develop-
— black or white — produces
student Isaac
ing computer code for an
Mintz and LTU a number that in turn produc-
autonomous vehicle.
es an output to the vehicle’s
Professor Don
Mintz, who just started
wheels that steers the vehicle,
Reimer.
his sophomore year of
following the numbers that
high school at Frankel
correspond to the white line.
Jewish Academy (FJA) in West
Kerns said the idea is to produce
Bloomfield, worked with Lawrence
a low-cost autonomous vehicle
Technological University (LTU)
that young students can afford to
robotics instructor James Kerns and buy and program, using 3D print-
Professor Don Reimer of the College ing technology. The total cost of all
of Engineering to arrange what
components of the little car, Kerns
amounted to a one-student summer said, is less than $50, putting it with-
computer code camp.
in the reach of almost anyone.
Mintz said he spoke with Ella
“I had wanted to do this, but
Dunajsky, a college counselor at FJA, didn’t have the opportunity,” Kerns
about what summer education pro-
said. “When Isaac came in, here was
grams might be available to him and the opportunity. He didn’t have a
she suggested contacting Reimer,
programming background, but he
who has a longstanding relationship sure grew, progressed and learned
with the academy, including teach-
over the summer.”
ing an entrepreneurship class there.
Mintz isn’t sure yet what he wants
Mintz and Reimer met.
to do for a living — only that it will
“We talked the whole lunch hour
be “something to do with technology
and so far into my next class period
or engineering” — or what college
that I had to get a pass,” Mintz
he’d like to attend.
recalled. Reimer quickly figured out
But he had this to say about LTU:
Mintz’s strong interest in technology. “It’s amazing that kids my age are
Then, Mintz said, “Professor
able to use this sort of technology in
Reimer connected me to Professor
a learning experience. I am grateful
Kerns, and that was that.”
for the opportunity to have learned
Mintz spent the summer work-
these things with Mr. Kerns and to
ing in LTU’s new Robotics Lab,
have a relationship with Lawrence
part of the Taubman Engineering,
Tech and Professor Reimer.” •
Architecture and Life Sciences
Matthew Roush is director of media relations at
Complex that opened in August
Lawrence Technological University.
2016. Most of the time, he worked

18

November 9 • 2017

jn

W

ell before the leaves start
to change and the tem-
perature drops, when
summer is still in full swing with
trips to the pool and backyard BBQs,
NEXTGen Detroit is thinking about
late November.
Why? For more than a decade, the
Saturday night after Thanksgiving
has been the date for its biggest
event of the year, and outdoing
themselves each year has become
a welcomed challenge for the staff,
event co-chairs and committee mem-
bers who make it their mission to
top every Latke Vodka that has come
before.
“Latke Vodka is a tradition for
so many young Jewish Detroiters.
People know exactly where they’re
going the Saturday night after
Thanksgiving,” said Ashley Silverman,
NEXTGen Detroit board member
who is chairing the event for her
second time. “With tons of people
coming back year-after-year, we con-
stantly need to think of new ideas to
make the night feel fresh while still
giving our guests the event elements
that they’ve come to love.”
NEXTGen Detroit, the young adult
division of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, welcomes
1,000 party-goers to Latke Vodka
every year, close to a third of whom
are native Detroiters currently living
out-of-state.
“Latke Vodka is a chance to be
welcomed back home. The response
from young expats and Detroiters
who attend is initially a bit of shock
and then excitement,” says event co-
chair and NEXTGen Detroit board
member Michael Rubyan. “Looking
out at a sea of people in three packed

adjacent venues in Midtown Detroit
— you can’t deny that young Jewish
life in Detroit is alive and thriving.”
Sponsored once again by Detroit
Popcorn Company, Latke Vodka is
returning Nov. 25 to the Majestic
Theatre, Majestic Café and Garden
Bowl on Woodward. The event
moved to the city two years ago
from Royal Oak. The current venue
offers three distinct areas for guests
to explore, each featuring different
entertainment, food and music.
“The Majestic Theatre is the
largest space in the venue, and we
really want to embrace the fact it’s
a theater at heart,” said Alex Scharg,
NEXTGen Detroit board member
and event co-chair. “Our vision for
this year is inspired by Cirque du
Soleil, and we’re working to make
this a real production with live per-
formers and an interactive, decora-
tive space to bring the theme to life.”
The event will also include dueling
DJs battling it out on old-school turn-
tables. The Garden Bowl will again
be open for guests, this year with a
competitive twist and the chance to
win some great prizes. But it’s the
interactive surprises that NEXTGen
Detroit is most excited about.
“Our Latke Vodka committee is
thinking way outside of the box this
year and exploring very cool local
vendors, artists and performers to
make this an event for all the senses,”
said Alyssa Gorenberg, NEXTGen
Detroit’s lead staff for the event. •

Tickets to Latke Vodka are $20 at LVintheD.
org or $25 at the door. From every ticket sold,
$18 is a gift to the Jewish Federation, making
everyone who purchases a ticket a donor to
Federation’s 2017 Annual Campaign.

