Meet the Outstanding Graduates of Fall 2020

This year’s Outstanding Undergraduate of the College is Michelle Galetti. She’s graduating with a degree in Creative Technology & Design through the ATLAS Institute.

The outstanding graduate of the college is selected based on their overall excellence in academics, service and research. Michelle has all of these in spades.

Michelle is from Colorado Springs but graduated high school in Seattle. A student with deep intellectual curiosity and a strong ability to persevere, Michelle is known by her professors for producing exceptional work inside and outside of the classroom.

During her undergraduate career, Michelle experienced sudden, total hearing loss. While navigating her new reality, Michelle used the experience to inform her classwork and projects. She developed a voice transcription app for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and embarked on a research project to create an interactive jacket that provides haptic feedback as an alternative sensory experience of music.

A diligent student, Michelle is a member of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars. As an Engineering Fellow, she performs mentoring and service activities to support fellow students, and has also served as a learning assistant for two ATLAS courses. She also completed an internship with the Southwest Research Institute’s space operations in Boulder.

After graduation, Michelle will move into a full-time position as a student scientist in mission operations and a senior web developer for the Southwest Research Institute.

Rachel Mamich is from Littleton, Colorado, and is earning a joint bachelor’s and master’s degree in aerospace engineering with a minor in computer science. This award recognizes a student who demonstrates outstanding engagement in the international arena.

During her time at CU, Rachel has served as an intern and graduate assistant in LASP, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. There she has been a valuable contributor to the United Arab Emirates’ Mars mission since the summer of her freshman year.

Described as a diligent and dedicated contributor, Rachel has been involved with various parts of the mission, including camping on the roof of the LASP building to assist in live-sky testing and handling the subsystems during realtime operations in the middle of the night.

As part of a large international team, Rachel has frequently and confidently interacted with counterparts in the UAE and beyond in ways that are accomplishing the space mission and building bridges between cultures.

Rachel plans to attend UT Austin to pursue a PhD fellowship in aerospace engineering, specifically focused on optical navigation.

The Outstanding Undergraduate for Service award recognizes a student who has performed meritorious service at CU Boulder or within the wider community. This year’s recipient in Meredith Kee from Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Meredith is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.

Meredith was nominated based on the breadth of their service work as a student, which includes volunteering with Boulder Food Rescue delivering food to food-insecure community members. An environmentalist, Meredith also assisted Eco-Cycle and served as president of the CU Environmental Board, overseeing a team of students in charge of a $6 million budget. 

They also served as a member of the Student Advisory Board for the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and served as a class note-taker for fellow students who requested extra support through disability services.

Meredith has been heavily involved with Out Boulder County since May 2018, volunteering at events, attending trainings and supporting non-binary and transgender voices in the local community.

When Meredith isn't volunteering, you can find them biking around town or trying a new recipe at home.

Meredith plans to become a water resources engineer in the Denver area.