McNair Scholars, 2020

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Rafaela Frota, '20

Rafaela Frota

Rafalea Frota is working with Dr. Kris Davis at UCF researching how to improve solar cell characterization methods. She is majoring in photonic engineering with a minor in technological entrepreneurship. Rafaela’s fascination of the intersection of health and technology led her to create her own start-up company, Wawwe. Wawwe is an intelligent software platform that advises hospital patients with diet restrictive illnesses on food choices that will maximize their personal health. Rafaela works part time with the Institute of Simulation and Training Mixed Emerging Technology Integration Lab at UCF. She also volunteers with Dr. Stephen Florczyk’s research lab that focuses on the development and processing of three-dimensional bio-material scaffolds. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, kayaking, good stories, nature, jazz, vinyl records, innovation, and hot tea. Her future plans are to obtain her MBA, a master's in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D. in materials science engineering.
Carla Garcia, '20

Carla Garcia

Carla Garcia was born in Miami, Florida and raised in Melbourne, Florida. She is pursuing a bachelor's degrees in economics and political science. She holds leadership positions in the Economic Studies Consortium and the International Relations Club at UCF. Carla is currently researching the impact of regional trade agreements in Sub-Saharan Africa under the guidance of Dr. Uluc Aysun. She previously researched the connection between US foreign military training and coups under the guidance of Dr. Jonathan Powell. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. in economics and continue her research in the public sector or academia.
Daniela Gonzalez, '20

Daniela Gonzalez

Daniela Gonzalez Salcedo was born and raised in Barranquilla, Colombia. She came to the United States to pursue a bachelor’s degree in psychology. Daniela is very passionate about promoting diversity and researching personality traits in the workplace. She volunteers with different non-profits and profit organizations to learn more about employee motivation, training, and diversity initiatives in the work field. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology to make a positive impact in her community and in the industrial and organizational psychology field.
Sandra Montenegro, '20

Sandra Montenegro

Sandra was born and raised in Bogota, Colombia. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in statistics. Her passion to learn and explore has led her to multiple areas of interest including cultural barriers to expand global markets. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. in I/O Psychology to gain the skills and ability to implement many positive changes in her community.
Darwins Olcima, '20

Darwins Olcima

Darwins Olcima was born and raised in Margate, Florida. I pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in leadership. My passion for Industrial psychology started when I get involved as an orientation leader.
Bianca Pizarro

Bianca Pizarro

Bianca Pizarro was born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Her passion for social change peaked her interest in sociological research focusing on Puerto Rico in order to influence public policy. Bianca is currently researching the effect of hurricane Maria on college students of The University of Puerto Rico under the guidance of Dr. Fernando Rivera. She plans to obtain his Ph.D. in Sociology and return to Puerto Rico to give back through research and eventually become a professor.
Bianca Pizarro, '20

Bianca Pizarro

Bianca Pizarro was born and raised in Ponce, Puerto Rico. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in sociology. Her passion for social change peaked her interest in sociological research focusing on Puerto Rico in order to influence public policy. Bianca is currently researching the effect of hurricane Maria on college students of The University of Puerto Rico under the guidance of Dr. Fernando Rivera. She plans to obtain his Ph.D. in Sociology and return to Puerto Rico to give back through research and eventually become a professor.
Alan Trudeau, '20

Alan Trudeau

Alan J. Trudeau Muñoz was born and raised in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. He is currently researching the biosynthetic pathways utilized by microorganisms to produce nitro containing compounds as natural products; with an emphasis in understanding the bionitration mechanisms involved in the production of secondary explosives and propellants that contain nitro groups. He plans to obtain his Ph.D in Inorganic Chemistry and become an industry oriented researcher.
Julissa Burgos, '20

Julissa Burgos

Julissa Burgos was born and raised in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences and a minor in Chemistry. Julissa is currently isolating and characterizing a heme protein involved in N-nitroglycine biosynthesis under the guidance of Dr. Jonathan D. Caranto. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. In Microbiology and become a research scientist. She hopes to collaborate with other scientists to aid in controlling outbreaks caused by pathogens.
Stephanie Castelin, '20

Stephanie Castelin

Stephanie was born in Fort Lauderdale, FL and raised in Palm Beach, FL. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in statistics. Her passion to help other students has led her to hold leadership positions in several campus organizations and serve as a mentor and tutor for high school and college students. Stephanie has had over a year of research experience in the Neurolinguistics Lab at UCF where she is studying the psychophysiological differences between bilingual and monolingual speakers. She is currently working on her Honors in the Major thesis, which seeks to evaluate the effects of the Strong Black Woman schema on black women's mental health. After obtaining her bachelor's degree, Stephanie would like to attend a doctoral program in clinical psychology to pursue a career in child clinical psychology. In doing so, she would like to help advance the field of mental health in under served children through research, teaching, and treatment.
Gillian Gomer, '20

Gillian Gomer

Gillian is an Undergraduate Research Assistant in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. She is interested in pursuing a PhD and career in Astronomy, where her work will help advance space research. Her research background is in Planetary Science, though she is also interested in exploring stellar evolution and cosmology.
Luis Hurtado, '20

Luis Hurtado

Luis Hurtado was born in Cienfuegos, a city on the southern coast of Cuba. He was raised in Miami, Florida. Luis is currently attending the University of Central Florida and is pursuing a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. He is highly interested in the synthesis of nano-scale materials for next generation electronics and energy storage applications. His goals are to one day graduate with a PhD in Electrical Engineering and then plans to pursue a faculty position.
Stephanie Mecassi, '20

Stephanie Mecassi

Stephanie was raised in the beautiful city of Boca Raton. She is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Sciences. Her passion for outreach has led her to become the current president for American Society for Microbiology – UCF Student Chapter which provides its members with resources to grow professionally as well as opportunities to give back to their community through science. Stephanie is currently researching the effects of electrical stimulation on the regeneration of cells under the direction of Dr. Kaitlyn Crawford. She plans to obtain her Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences and become a college professor to continue her journey of educating future generations of scientists
Isaiah Morales, '20

Isaiah Morales

Isaiah Morales is a student in the School of Visual Arts and Design in the College of Arts and Humanities. His interests fall within the creation of experiences through software and visual art on digital platforms. Moreover, within the realm of computer science, he works on his understandings of computer organization, data structures, and back-end web development. In terms of research, Isaiah looks to get his PhD in Human Computer Interaction or Modeling and Simulation tech.
George Walters-Marrah, '20

George Walters-Marrah

I am a junior at UCF majoring in biotechnology and biomedical sciences with an emphasis on molecular microbiology. I find microbial pathogens and how they interact with the environment extraordinarily interesting. I currently study mycobacteria in Dr.Kyle Rohde's research lab at the UCF Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. My career aspirations are to obtain a Ph.D. relating to immunity and pathogenesis, go into either academia or the biotechnology industry, and possibly start a biotech business based on a conceptual computer program that I am brainstorming about.