ACTIVE, the CU Engineering Faculty Development and Leadership Intensive, is an expense-paid, three-day program open to doctoral students whose identity community/ies are underrepresented in STEM and who are interested in pursuing engineering faculty careers. In November 2018, CU engineering welcomed 14 graduate students from across the country to spend three days on campus learning about future careers as engineering professors and researchers. Scroll down to meet our fellows and learn more about them.
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College of Engineering & Applied Science
2018 ACTIVE Fellows
Obiechina Abakporo
“Obie” is a doctoral candidate at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in Tallahassee, Florida. His focus area of research is in heat transfer and thermal fluids (Mechanical Engineering Department), primarily focusing on sustainable energy. His dissertation project involves developing a thermal fluid selection process for organic Rankine cycles (ORCs) using the Lee-Kesler method. Obie is the founder and director of the Aspiring Engineers Inspiring to Make a Difference Summer Science Camp (AEIMD SSC) at his university. This camp encourages middle to high school youth (primarily minorities) to pursue a degree in STEM upon entering college by providing fun, interactive introductions to STEM concepts. He loves making and listening to music, hiking with his two dogs, and exercising during his free time. In addition, he is of Jamaican and Nigerian descent, first generation American.
Sierra Adibi
Sierra is an NDSEG Research Fellow and doctoral student in the William E. Boeing Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics at the University of Washington. Sierra completed her BS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada Reno in 2016 where she focused her specialization in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Her current research focuses on the dynamics and control of vehicles as they face complex problems, such as strict size constraints, sensing limitations, and bluff body aerodynamics. Sierra also serves as her department's senior representative to the UW Graduate and Professional Student Senate where she is Financial Director of the Diversity Committee, and as a member of the UW Chapter of Women in Aerospace. Sierra is passionate about pursuing a career in academia where she can work to create more opportunities for those historically underrepresented in the engineering disciplines.
Noah Allen
Noah obtained his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 2009, an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2015 and is currently completing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech. His research focuses on measuring growth related atomic defects in gallium nitride grown by MOCVD and understanding their role in non-ideal power device operation. Throughout his graduate career, he has completed 15 semesters of teaching assignments over 5 courses in two departments. After successful defense of his dissertation, he will pursue a faculty position in Electrical Engineering where he can continue his research and teaching interests.
John Angarita
John is a PhD candidate in the Aerospace and Ocean Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. John graduated with an Engineering Mechanics Bachelor of Science from Columbia University in spring 2014. His research at Virginia Tech focuses on system identification of multirotors with the purpose of fault detection and control stability. In his free time, John is an active member of the Society and Hispanic Professional engineers and plays multiple sports including soccer and boxing.
Nomar González-Santini
Nomar was born and raised in Puerto Rico, and in May 2014, he completed my Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering (EE) at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez. Since then, he joined Michigan State University and has been working towards his Ph.D. degree in EE. His research is focused on the applications of power electronics in electric vehicle battery chargers, and he is expecting to graduate by the summer of 2019. When he is not studying or doing research, he likes to spend time with his family and friends, or play sports, including chess which is his favorite. He also likes to expose and motivate the younger generation (especially minorities) into STEM fields, as well as participate in professional development seminars. His ultimate goal is to become a college professor while contributing to global warming reduction by advancing technologies in the areas of electric vehicle and renewable energies.
Cynthia Hampton
Cynthia is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She also serves as program and student support for the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED). While at Virginia Tech, Cynthia has directed summer bridge programs, led peer support initiatives for underrepresented groups, and served on various commissions, committees, and research groups focused on student support, organizational change, graduate student policy, and culturally responsive evaluation. Her research interests include organizational behavior and change as it pertains to engineering education and broadening participation, faculty change agents, and complex system dynamics. Her research investigates narrative inquiry of faculty who use their agency to engage in broadening participation in engineering activities. Cynthia received her B.S. in Biological Systems Engineering from Kansas State University and will receive her M.S. in Management Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech in 2018.
Juliet Johnston
Juliet is an NSF-fellow working on her PhD in environmental engineering. When you flush the toilet, the microbes at a wastewater treatment plant eat the harmful remnants of your waste. She uses molecular methods to investigate these wastewater microbes, how they fluctuate throughout the seasons, with an emphasis on nitrification failure during cold temperatures. Additionally, she is the organizer for Queer Science to inspire upcoming LGBT scientists. Previously, she earned her bachelor’s in environmental engineering with a minor in women’s studies from Clemson University. She is often found lounging in coffee shops, rock climbing, baking, and taking long walks in the bitter cold with her dog.
Meghan Kaminski
Meghan is a graduate student in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at the University of Virginia with an expected graduation date in December of 2019. She received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University in 2016 where she played on the women’s varsity soccer team. She grew up in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, just north of Philadelphia. Her research focus is in Wind Energy with interest in both the aerodynamics and blade structures. Her current project includes an extreme-scale morphing wind turbine designed by researchers at University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado School of Mines, The University of Texas at Dallas, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, National Wind Technology Center, and University of Virginia. Outside of research, she spends plenty of time being active in many activities including beach volleyball, Frisbee, rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, and anything else that is active and outside!
Héctor Rodríguez-Simmonds
Héctor was raised in South Florida, born in Mexico. Half Colombian and half Mexican; proud MexiColombian. Héctor acquired his Masters degree in Computer Engineering and is currently pursuing a PhD in Engineering Education, both from Purdue University. His research investigates the experiences of students at the intersection of their LGBTQ+, gender, ethnic, and racial identities. He uses critical theories, methodologies, and methods that emphasize the voice of participants in research. As a cisgender, gay, Latino, immigrant, engineer with many "homes" he uses his positionality to help guide his work exploring the narratives of students at the margins of engineering spaces.
Cassady Rupert
Cassady is a sixth-year Ph.D. candidate in biomedical engineering, researching cardiovascular engineering in Dr. Kareen Coulombe’s lab. She graduated from Cornell University in 2013 with a B.A. in physics and applies her unique academic background to an interdisciplinary approach to engineering mature cardiac tissues. Cassady’s current research aims to develop and characterize novel biological and synthetic hybrid scaffolds that facilitate electrical and mechanical development in cardiac tissues engineered from human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes. Cassady plans to pursue a career in academia, ultimately establishing her own research laboratory.
Stephany Santos
Stephany is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering and a recent recipient of the 2017 Ford Foundation Pre-Doctoral Fellowship administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Her primary research focuses on experimental characterization of cartilage tissues. She serves as a member of her institution's IRB, as well as the co-founder and co-advisor for UConn's Engineering Ambassadors program, where she trains undergraduate students how to effectively present engineering topics and engage with K-12 students during STEM Outreach. She has developed courses to teach confidence and public speaking for engineers, advanced presentation skills, and effective research methods in Biomedical Engineering. Her engineering education related research interests include confidence and identity development, learning leadership, and exploring metacognition and the science of learning in underrepresented students. Stephany serves as the Co-Program Chair for the Student Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and looks forward to combining her passions of research in engineering and engineering education to inspire and empower the next generations of engineers.
Luz was born in Mc Allen, Texas, and raised in Leon, Guanajuato, Mexico. Having spent her formative years in rural and urban areas of Mexico, she returned to the United States to pursue her higher education. As an undergraduate student, Ms. Sotelo was named Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Student of the Year, in light of her academic performance as well as her research, mentoring, and leadership activities. In May 2016, Ms. Sotelo graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
Currently, she is pursuing her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln (UNL). Her research involves quantitative methods for ultrasonic nondestructive evaluation, and their applications to emerging materials, industries, and technologies, specifically in metal additive manufacturing. She has received multiple institutional fellowships and was awarded a 2018 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Luz is also an advocate for diversity, access, and inclusion. She serves as the UNL Graduate Student Assembly Diversity and Inclusion Committee Chair, the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Graduate Student Advisory Committee Chair, and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers Community Service Chair. In her spare time, Ms. Sotelo enjoys reading fantasy books and dancing to Latin music.
Noel Vera-González
Noel is an NSF Graduate Research Fellow in the Center for Biomedical Engineering at Brown University. Noel's current research focuses on developing responsive and targeted biomaterials for the treatment of fungal infections. Prior to joining Brown in 2015, Noel was a Pratt Engineering Research Fellow at Duke University where he received his Bachelor of Science in Engineering in 2015 with a major in biomedical engineering and minor in chemistry.
Alexandria Will-Cole
Alexandria is currently a PhD candidate and Blue Graduate College Doctoral Fellow at Drexel University in the Materials Science and Engineering Department. Her advisor is Prof. Jonathan E Spanier in the Mesoscale Materials Laboratory. Alexandria develops novel thin film growth strategies to tune ferroelectric complex oxide material structure-property relationships through substrate engineering and composition. She explores crystallographic, electronic and domain structure with respect to photovoltaic and microwave frequency response. Concurrent with her graduate research, Alexandria holds a doctoral minor in Undergraduate STEM Education through the NSF PROFESS program. She strives to improve the culture of STEM through both educational outreach programs in the greater Philadelphia area and student advocacy as the Graduate Student Association President. Alexandria earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona in Physics with a minor in Geoscience. During her academic career, she has had internships through the Translation Applications for Nanoscale Multiferroic Systems NSF Engineering Research Center, Army Research Laboratories, and NASA Space Grant Consortium.