Congratulations to the 2023 winners of the Division of Engineering & Mathematics Excellence Awards!

E&M Academic Excellence Award – First Honors

Harper is selected for the work performed in the MATH REU 2022 research project. Harper was selected to give a talk at the 14th annual Northwest Undergraduate Mathematics Symposium on the project: A Markov Partition for the Penrose Shift, in which Harper won 1st prize. They also gave a talk at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Boston. Harper had two poster presentations on this research. A resulting research manuscript is posted to ArXiv with a revision in progress to be submitted to a refereed journal. One of their math faculty said: “Harper’s presentation skills are beyond anything I have observed as an undergraduate student. The enthusiasm and charm they bring to their research presentation make people want to hear more about their research.”

Devon N. Munger

Devon’s performance in his math courses is outstanding. He took an independent study in Advanced Topics in Matrix Theory, and ‘his performance and grasp of the material rivals an advanced graduate student,’ said his math professor. Devon worked on two math research projects. In the first project, he and his advisor worked on proving the converse of a recently rediscovered result on polynomials with nonnegative coefficients. The project results in a manuscript currently being revised in the esteemed Elsevier journal, Linear Algebra and its Applications. In the second project, Devon solved a complex problem on eigenvalue trajectories related to the Karpelevic theorem, which is about to be submitted to the Journal of Mathematical Analysis and Applications.

E&M Academic Excellence Award – Second Honors

Eric Mendoza

Eric is a pre-engineering student at Heritage University (HU) and was a summer research student at UWB through the HU STEM Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program. Eric worked with UWB Mechanical Engineering professor Dr. Jong Yoon and HU biology student Maria Barrios on Automating a Diagnostic Ultrasound Imaging Exam. He described a highlight of his summer research experience as collaborating and learning from his research project partner to bring their biology and engineering backgrounds together to contribute to robotic biotechnology. Eric presented his work at the UWB STEM Student Research Symposium in August and at the HU Honoring Undergraduate and Graduate Scholars Symposium (HUGSS) in March. He was awarded the HUGSS Undergraduate Student Oral Presentation prize for his talk on the Design and Optimization of a Collaborative Robot-Assisted Ultrasound for Automated Vascular Imaging. After completing his pre-engineering courses at HU, Eric plans to transfer to UWB to pursue an engineering degree.

Gabriel Hearon

Gabriel’s academic performance at UWB has been exemplary. Through dedication and hard work, he has exceeded expectations. As a peer facilitator and a grader, he has helped other students to learn and succeed. By serving as a lab assistant in one of the EE labs, he has attained a very good command of EE fundamentals and has become proficient in explaining engineering concepts and their practical implications to other students. Additionally, Gabriel has performed undergraduate research with a focus on RF control systems. This award is in recognition of Gabriel’s exceptional achievements at UWB and the help and service he has provided to other students and faculty.

Martin F. Martinez

Martin is an 18-year-old first-year student majoring in mathematics at the UWB. His math faculty said: ‘Martin is an exceptional talent who displays intellectual maturity and depth well beyond his years (he took a class covering modular arithmetic, set theory, proofs, mappings, groups,

E&M Leadership and Service Award

Kaiyana Schalau

As a student assistant in STEM Undergraduate Academic Services Office, Kaiyana has demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities, selflessness, and an unwavering commitment to serving the students, faculty, and staff of the School of STEM. Kaiyana’s support has been invaluable for recruitment of prospective students, welcoming new students during orientation, administering the Avanade Scholarship program, and development of the School of STEM Capstone and Symposium website. This award is in recognition of Kaiyana’s dedication and service to the School of STEM.

Kalani Taladoc

Kalani has served as president of the IEEE UWB student chapter during the past year. She has demonstrated excellent communication skills and exceptional leadership skills. Kalani has been instrumental in organizing a mock interview event every quarter to help students sharpen their interview skills. In addition to EE undergraduate and graduate students, the mock interview events have been attended by computer engineering and computer science students. She has also helped organize two soldering workshops and she has served as a peer facilitator for the EE fundamentals workshop. This award is in recognition of Kalani’s exceptional leadership and service to students.

E&M Resilience Award

Erin Martin

Erin has shown exceptional resilience while pursuing her education at UWB. Erin has been involved in a multi-vehicle accident which left her with a concussion. Despite the neurological and psychological challenges, Erin has persevered; she enrolled at UWB while raising her two daughters. Erin had to travel often home to Canada in order to support her mother while her stepfather was battling cancer. Erin takes her education at UWB seriously. She is very motivated to succeed and works hard to achieve her goals. This award is in recognition of Erin’s resilience by overcoming health challenges while achieving academic success.