Brunelli, TSA Complete Impressive Second Year as Co-Curricular Club

After developing and piloting a new academic club, rising senior Gavin Brunelli is already seeing his hard work pay off.

In its second year, CBA’s Technology Students Association (TSA) saw major success, including Brunelli and teammate Aneel Pitchumoni ‘28 qualifying for the National TSA Conference this month in Washington, D.C.

The duo competed in the Debating Technological Issues category at the New Jersey TSA State Conference, where they earned a silver medal and the qualification for the national conference. 

“It’s research, it’s engineering, and ultimately, it’s science,” Brunelli says when describing TSA. “For me, that was researching Mars dirt and the plants you can grow inside of it.”

Watch Brunelli's Full Student Leader Spotlight Q&A (story continues below)

As the club’s president, Brunelli’s enthusiasm for the subject is palpable. He and his team are taking on more than just their conference preparation, leading the charge to reimagine CBA’s long term projects lab. 

“We are turning it into what is ultimately going to become a research lab, which will be very helpful for the student researchers on both science team and TSA,” he says.

In tandem with his involvement in science team, Brunelli thinks his academic skills have blossomed because of his co-curricular work at CBA.

“Being clinical, being intentional and deliberate, and following processes,” he says, “It has taught me to follow these procedures and these steps, and I have applied that to other areas of my life.”

He believes he owes much of his success in TSA to the science teachers that he has worked with at the Academy.

“The faculty have done an extraordinary job in helping me,” he says. “I came in with not a ton of science knowledge and they’ve developed me over my three years here. Mrs. Morgan, Mrs. Heidelberger, and Mr. Dash has developed my science skills in bio, in physics, and everything in between.”

Brunelli and Pitchumoni will head to D.C. on June 20 for the National TSA Conference. Over the course of four days, they will participate in debates surrounding ethicality and morality of artificial intelligence use.