Professional Biography
I am a undergraduate student studying chemical engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) in the University Honors program. I am currently the student vice president of the UMD chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), a member and tutor for the chemical engineering honor society Omega Chi Epsilon, and a member of the battery sub-team for the UMD Chem-E-Car team.
Along with my involvement in the chemical engineering department, I am a member of the honor society Alpha Lambda Delta and Phi Eta Sigma as well as a recipient of the Charles E. and Joan M. Waggner Endowed Scholarship, UMD Dean's Scholarship and Office of Multi-ethnic Student Education Academic Excellence Award.
I have been involved with research through the UMD First-Year Innovation and Research Experience (FIRE) Program where worked in the Engineering Biosensors (EB) lab in conjunction with the Winkler lab to study aptamers for use as a biosensor. I am also a part of the SUIN REU (https://senic.gatech.edu/education-and-outreach/reu-program/) funded by the National Science Foundation where
I am working in the Filler lab to investigate a process of bottom-fabrication of transistors.
My Story
At a young age I always knew I wanted to be an engineer, even if I didn't know what an engineer was. I was always fascinated by how things worked and why they worked the way they did. My two favorite books as a child were "How Come? Planet Earth" by Kathy Wollard and Debra Solomen and the "Star Wars: Complete Vehicles: Incredible Cross-Sections of the Spaceships and Craft from the Star Wars Galaxy" by DK. I enjoyed these books for their in-depth look and explanations at the how's and why's regarding each topic from natural phenomena to the various Sci-Fi vehicles in Star Wars.
As a kid, and even now, I love learning and gaining new experience and it is what helped to propel me in my career in school as well as influence me to take AP Chemistry in my junior year of high school. This was the best decision of my life as I found that I loved the course. This is what influenced me to then pick chemical engineering as my field of study upon entering the University of Maryland, College Park (UMD) as a student. Given UMD's status as the flagship research institute in the state of Maryland, I decided to also pursue research in the university along with my coursework which is what pushed me to join the FIRE program at UMD. Here, I grew to enjoy the research I did regarding aptamers and biotechnology. Along the way, I got involved in the chemical engineering department at UMD, especially in the various organizations such as American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), Omega Chi Epsilon and Chem-E-Car. I have helped AIChE with various events such as Maryland Day and supporting the general body meetings, and I am currently the student vice president of the organization. I also tutor and help students in the chemical engineering department and have volunteered for organizations such as Wider Circle and Community Forklift through the honor society Omega Chi Epsilon of which I am a member. And, I am member of the battery sub-team of Chem-E-Car and have attended the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for the competition.
Currently, I am a student researcher through the NSF funded SUIN REU at Georgia Institute of Technology where I am working in the FIller lab investigating the bottom-up fabrication of transistors.Â
In the future, I hope to be able to utilize my knowledge and experience with chemical engineering and research to help improve the food processing industry, energy industry or biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry and address the issues of our time such as growing food scarcity, climate change and disease prevention/treatment