Mission
To amplify the voices and concerns of international students within the College, to raise the visibility of our multicultural student body, to foster community building, and to ensure College leadership acts proactively to improve the international student experience.
Vision
These pillars will comprise a framework for accomplishing our mission:
Outreach
- Engaging our CEAS international student body academically, professionally, and socially.
- Clearly communicating initiatives, opportunities, or policies that affect international students.
Visibility
- Capturing and disseminating international student stories to raise empathy and awareness within our College community.
- Signaling our commitment to supporting and cultivating international students and scholars.
Advocacy
- Identifying barriers to international students' academic, socio-emotional, and professional development and raising recommendations to College and campus leadership.
- Fostering partnerships across campus that bolster our advocacy at the campus, industry, and federal levels.
- Acting as an intermediary between faculty, staff, and international students.
Community Building
- Developing initiatives and programming that foster connectedness among international students.
- Creating intentional opportunities to build connections between domestic and international student populations.
- Strengthening ties between students, faculty, and staff.
- Facilitating a smooth transition of new international students into the campus life.
Members
Catalina Bastias
Catalina Bastias is from Chile but has lived in the U.S. for about half her life. She is majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Catalina chose CU because her father completed his PhD at CU when she was little, so she has been a Buff basically all her life. Serving on the International Student Advisory Board for the College of Engineering provides Catalina the opportunity to work with her peers, and for other international students. Being an international student herself, and one that has lived in both the United States and in Chile, Catalina can relate with the challenges of being a foreigner. Catalina loves being a part of the ISAB and contributing to the international student community, especially in this unprecedented time.
Lukas Buecherl
Lukas Buecherl joined CU Engineering in Fall 2020 as a member of the IQ Biology program. He is also a PhD student in the Genetic Logic Lab under the supervision of Dr. Chris Myers. His research focuses on synthetic biology and its possible applications in improving human lives. Lukas was born and raised in Munich, Germany, and obtained a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Ulm, Germany in 2019. As a member of the ISAB, Lukas wants to improve new international students' transition to the American academic system. Based on personal experience, he also wants to accept foreign letters in the system since the german umlaut in his last name often causes problems with his visa and identification. Lukas enjoys what Boulder offers by hiking, running at the Creek, and playing the guitar in his free time.
Shrivatsan K. Chari
Shrivatsan K. Chari is from New Delhi, India. He is currently pursuing a master's in Aerospace Engineering here at CU. He is a sucker for tea, and he likes all things fast - cars, bikes, and planes. Through ISAB, Shrivatsan hopes to increase collaboration between the local aerospace industry, international universities, and CU to generate more job and research opportunities for international students in the field of Aerospace.
Chantal Iribagiza
Chantal Iribagiza is currently a Rwandan Ph.D. student in the Environmental Engineering Program, whose research is focused on monitoring and improving access to clean drinking water and clean cooking services. Chantal joined CU Boulder in 2018, after completing her undergraduate and master’s studies from the University of Rwanda and Portland State University, respectively. She is passionate about reducing inequalities in access to basic human services, resources, and opportunities globally.
Chantal has previous experience mentoring students here at CU Boulder, including peer-mentoring and mentor-mentee instances. She sees the ISAB as an opportunity to foster connection and collaboration among international students here at CU Boulder, learn from each other, and support each other’s academic journeys.
Chieri Kamada
Chieri Kamada is a second-year international student from Saitama, Japan. She is studying aerospace engineering with a minor in computer science at the University of Colorado Boulder. Chieri chose CU because of its renowned aerospace engineering program and Colorado's beautiful nature. In the future, she wants to pursue a career in aerospace engineering to find solutions for Earth's space debris problem. Chieri is excited to share her experiences and learn from others in similar situations to amplify the voice of international students within CU Engineering.
Varsha Koushik
Varsha Koushik is a 4th PhD student in the Department of Computer Science. She is advised by Shaun Kane, and her research takes an interdisciplinary approach in exploring accessible computing education tools that support people with cognitive disabilities in everyday activities. Varsha is from Bangalore, India. She chose CU for her graduate studies because of its flexible course requirements and opportunities for inter-departmental collaboration. Varsha’s research has been published in premier international computer science conferences and has won a Best Paper Honorable Mention award. Outside of research, she enjoys teaching and promoting the interests of graduate students within the CS department. Varsha is passionate about voicing student needs and concerns, working to increase support for international students, and celebrating the diversity of our student community.
Ken Oguri
Ken Oguri is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. He is originally from Nagoya, Japan. Ken started his PhD study at CU Boulder after completing his BSc and MSc in Aero/Astro at the University of Tokyo. He came to the U.S. to advance his research in the field of astrodynamics. Ken’s academic goal is to contribute to humanity's sustainable space exploration as an astrodynamics researcher. He worked at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Summer 2018 and Fall 2019 on mission design of two NASA asteroid exploration missions. He loves hiking, rock climbing, and snowboarding. As a member of the ISAB, Ken would be happy to support the international student community across the College of Engineering at CU. In particular, Ken hopes to give back to the community the support he has been given from his peers and advisors through his academic career.
Alexander Pichler
Alexander Pichler is a sophomore majoring in Aerospace Engineering and minoring in Business. He was born in Los Angeles, CA and moved to Vienna, Austria when he was four years old, where he lived until coming to CU. Some of Alexander’s interests include space exploration, political theory, management, skiing, traveling, meeting new people and Mario Kart Wii. Alexander is especially proud of having had the opportunity to co-draft a plan of action on youth unemployment in the EU which was ratified by the European Parliament. When he was thinking about universities, CU’s engineering school came out as a clear winner since it provides Alexander with a top-notch education while easily allowing him to pursue his other interests. While serving on the ISAB, Alexander most looks forward to providing a link between international students and the College of Engineering, as well as facilitating international students’ transition to life and academia in the U.S..
Vishal Ray
Vishal Ray is a PhD candidate in Aerospace Engineering and Sciences. He was born in the north-eastern part of India and moved around the country growing up. Vishal’s research is being funded by NASA’s FINESST grant and focuses on the effects of atmospheric drag force on satellite orbits and how people can better model them. Choosing CU Boulder came very naturally to Vishal since CU is one of the world leaders in space research, and getting the opportunity to work with his advisor, Dr. Daniel Scheeres, was a dream come true. The campus being recognized for its inclusivity definitely helped with his decision. Vishal is glad to have the opportunity to serve in the inaugural ISAB as he believes the board can serve as an important communication channel between international students and the campus leaders. This is especially important now with sudden changes in federal level policies contributing to a lot of uncertainty for the international student community. Vishal hopes to serve as the intermediary that international students can turn to in times of need.
Young-Young Shen
Young-Young Shen is a PhD candidate in the Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences. His research studies the use of wearable inertial sensors to observe human motion inside spacesuits. Young-Young was raised in Ottawa, Canada and obtained his BASc Eng. Sci. and MASc degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Toronto. He has had a lifelong interest in human spaceflight, which led him to choose to pursue his PhD at the University of Colorado Boulder, one of the only institutions in the world to offer human spaceflight as a program of study. Young-Young's primary motivation for joining the ISAB is to advocate for the interests of international students studying aerospace engineering and to work with the college and the university to address the longstanding regulatory and policy obstacles that prevent international students from obtaining employment in the aerospace industry in the US. In his spare time, Young-Young enjoys skiing and playing the violin. He also holds a SCUBA diver certificate and a private pilot certificate.