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Debraliz Isaac Aragones, '19
Debraliz Isaac Aragones
Debraliz Isaac Aragones was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico and moved to Clermont, Florida at the age of six. She received her associate's degree from Lake Sumter Community College in the fall of 2015. She transferred to the University of Central Florida in pursue of a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering with a minor in mathematics. Her passion for mathematics, learning, and space exploration led her to this career path. She has research backgrounds in materials science with a focus on additive manufacturing and heat transfer focused on thermal management of electronics. Debraliz is very involved in STEM outreach and is currently an UCF STEM ambassador. She hopes to inspire young children, especially girls, to pursue careers in STEM and higher education. Her future goals are to obtain a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and work in research and development in the space industry. Her long-term goal is to return to academia to share her career experiences with the next generation of engineers.
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Sire Kassama, '19
Sire Kassama
Sire is a third-year student attending the University of Central Florida pursuing a B.S. in biotechnology. Sire is an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Dr. Anna Savage, Department of Biology at the University of Central Florida. Currently, she is doing research on the genotype-phenotype association of an important root trait in the common bean under the tutelage of Dr. Anna Savage and Dr. John Hart, Earthwork Seeds. Sire also, led an undergraduate research project on evaluating the roles of flavin reductase related and ubiquinone methyl transferase related proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana in the laboratory of Dr. Klaas van Wijk, Department of Plant Biology at Cornell University. In the future, she will attain a Ph.D. in plant breeding to develop new crop cultivars that are more disease resistant by utilizing bioinformatics and high throughput phenotyping.
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Sarah Parker, '19
Sarah Parker
Sarah Parker was born and raised in Pembroke Pines, Florida. She is pursuing a bachelor's degree in sociology and a certificate in gender studies. She is passionate about giving back to her community, and is currently studying food insecurity among college students under the guidance of her faculty mentor, Dr. Amy Donley. Additionally, Sarah is researching how Puerto Rican students displaced by Hurricane Maria are coping with the impact of the storm and relocation to Orlando, Florida, under the direction of Dr. Peter Jacques. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. in Sociology and become an applied sociologist and university professor.
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Sharon Park, '19
Sharon Park
Sharon Park is a junior studying mechanical engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF). As well as being an engineering student, she is an undergraduate researcher in materials science and engineering at the Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, focusing on gas atomization processes and additive manufacturing. She is also part of the Career Advancement and Mentorship Program at UCF working on developing a startup for a new audio technology, and a team member of AstroKnights competing in NASA’s Hybrid Rocket competition.
Sharon plans on using her engineering education and research experience in order to obtain a graduate degree. Eventually she plans to move on to make in impact in industry, in the field of sustainable energy. Along with mechanical engineering, Sharon’s interests include materials science, space exploration, efficient transportation and computer science. She hopes to have a major influence in one of these fields using her education, experience and strong desire to succeed.
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Vanessa Rijo, '19
Vanessa Rijo
Vanessa Rijo is an undergraduate McNair Scholar at the University of Central Florida. They is pursuing a bachelor's degree in sociology with a minor in women's and gender studies. Their research mentor is Dr. Michael Armato, lecturer at the department of sociology in UCF. After earning their PhD, Ms. Rijo intends to become a professor at a research focused university in which they can mentor students and pass down all they have learned through the years of academic work. Vanessa presented her first research project, titled "Social Standards for Femininity and its Correlation to Rape Culture", at the Southern Sociological Society conference 2018. This research intended to empirically test claims that emerge within a rape culture that engages in blaming the victims of sexual harassment for their misfortune. Through the collection of 283 surveys, Ms. Rijo ran their statistics and found that no correlation was implied between women's effort on the portrayal of femininity and the occurrence of sexual harassment. Vanessa intends to graduate in the Spring of 2019 and apply to a PhD program in the United States. Furthermore, Vanessa intends to continue researching within the discipline of gender and sexualities in order to contribute to the literature focused on deconstructing the gender non-binary and record the voices of those who struggle to understand their position in society.
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Ali Younis, '19
Ali Younis
Ali Younis was born in Khartoum, Sudan and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida. He is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. His passion for the discipline led him to begin working as a supplemental instructor in for courses such as Chemistry 1 and 2. As a member of the UCF Speech team, he understands that having an inspiring message or, in the context of Chemistry, sound data supporting a novel theory is futile if one cannot expound upon and discuss it coherently to a diverse audience. Ali is currently researching the characterization and modeling of meta-stable state photoacids using computational methods. He plans to obtain his Ph.D. in Bioinorganic Chemistry and continue research as a postdoc.
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Juan Arias, '19
Juan Arias
Juan Esteban Arias was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, and moved to the United States at the age of 14. He is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in chemistry with a minor in physics. As a dance instructor for Latin Rhythm (UCF’s Latin dance club), Juanes found a passion for teaching others. Through research, he found a passion for science. In combining the two, he hopes to explore science & inspire others as a chemistry professor in a university. He is currently performing computational studies on metastable-state photoacids under the guidance of Dr. Karin Y. Chumbimuni-Torres.
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Lianne Brito, '19
Lianne Brito
Lianne Brito was born and raised in La Habana, Cuba. She moved to the United States in December of 2010. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with a minor in international engineering. After starting her college career at UCF with the LEARN program, she developed a passion for research. She has explored her research interests within civil engineering by gaining experience in the construction, structural, and geotechnical fields. Lianne also dedicates her time to extracurricular activities by taking on roles such as UCF STEM Ambassador and Communications Chair for the SHPE student organization’s Executive Board. Her future plans are to obtain a Ph.D. in civil engineering and become a professor.
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Antonett Nunez- del Prado, '19
Antonett Nunez- del Prado
Antonett Nunez-delPrado was born and raised in Peru. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Physics. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. in Physics and a Masters in Mathematics and become a leading researcher in the Research and Development (R&D) field.
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Daniela Ojeda, '19
Daniela Ojeda
Daniela Ojeda was born in Caracas, Venezuela and moved to Florida when she was 5. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering with a strong interest in 3D printing and it applications. Daniela is currently conducting material testing research in the Mechanics of Materials Research Group under Dr. Ali P. Gordon and Jonathan Torres. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. in Material Science and become a college professor.
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Gisselle Pombar, '19
Gisselle Pombar
Gisselle Pombar was born and raised in Coral Springs, Florida. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. Her desire for learning and always questioning how the world works has propelled her into obtaining a PhD in her field. She hopes by becoming a professor she has a chance to inspire students to become passionate in their studies and also become masters in their fields. Gisselle is currently researching naturally occurring THF derivatives that are used by microbiologists and botanists by synthesizing them in the laboratory with the guidance of Dr. Yu Yuan. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry where she will become a college professor by getting to do what she loves most: teaching and learning.
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Tristan Reynoso, '19
Tristan Reynoso
Tristan Reynoso was born in Plantation, Florida and moved to Orlando to attend UCF. He is pursuing bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Physics and is minoring in Computer Science. His passion for Mathematics has led him to become and officer of UCF’s Collegiate Mathematical Society, which educates undergraduates about the beauty, importance, and abundance of all different forms of Mathematics. Tristan has conducted research in the Physics department under Dr. Richard Klemm and is currently researching solutions to the Parker Problem in Hall MagnetoHydroDynamics under the guidance of Dr.Bhimsen Shivamoggi. He plans to obtain his Ph.D. in Mathematics and continue teaching at a university while conducting research.
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Victor Rodriguez, '19
Victor Rodriguez
Victor is a mechanical engineering undergraduate at the University of Central Florida. He currently conducts research at the Nanoscience Technology Center. At the center, he works with novel 2D materials for the development of transistors. Upon completing his undergraduate degree, Victor is interested in pursuing a graduate level degree in a study that focuses on the interface between technology and society; specifically, a technology policy degree. His interest in this field comes from his involvement in the local community, and his first-hand experiences in regard to how technology affects society in positive and negative ways.
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Yves Valentin, '19
Yves Valentin
Yves was born and raised in Miami, Florida. He is pursuing a bachelor's degree in psychology. HIs passion for human-computer interaction with cutting-edge technology led him on the path of human factors. Yves is currently at the University of Central Florida, researching cognitive processes and visual attention using an eye tracker which may help increase awareness of developmental disorders under the guidance of Dr. Valerie Sims. He plans to obtain his Ph.D. in human factors and become a human factors specialist.
