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Fall 2015 Team Biographies

 

Eric Sosa

Project Manager

Eric Sosa is a senior Mechanical Engineering major with a minor in Writing. He is the current Project Manager for the UAV Team. He joined the UAV team because he finds drones fascinating and wants to gain more hands on experience with the technology. Eric also joined the team to gain more experience as a professional, from presenting to working collaboratively with other individuals. After he graduates he plans to work in the automotive industry helping to advance and promote future innovations for hybrid vehicles and Hydrogen fuel cell cars.

 

Ethan Albrigo

Assistant Project Manager

Ethan Albrigo is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student. Ethan is the Assistant Project Manager of the UAV Engineering Service Learning team . He chose the UAV team because it gave him an excellent opportunity to work with the technology, while also allowing him to work in the field of agriculture which he grew up around. Academically, Ethan is interested in UAVs because they are part of a rapidly growing field, integrating mechanical engineering and other perspectives abroad. Ethan first heard of the Engineering Service Learning program when he visited his advisor, seeking leadership and experience opportunities on campus.

Duncan Klug

Platform Subteam Leader

Duncan Klug is a first-year Computer Science and Engineering student. He joined the UAV team this semester for the opportunity to get hands-on experience with a UAV. Duncan previously led a high school team that created a custom quadcopter. So this experience will greatly help the team and be a good foundation to build upon.

 

Thomas Thayer

Imaging Subteam Leader

Thomas Thayer is a Senior Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering major. He is one of the founding members of the UAV Engineering Service Learning team at UC Merced, and is currently the Imaging Subteam Leader. He joined the team to gain professional experience in the design process and to hopefully make an impact on the use of UAVs in the commercial and scientific world. He enjoys taking things apart to learn how they work and tinkering with components to improve their performance. In the future, Thomas hopes to involve himself in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.

 

Daisy Ramirez Lopez

Communications Officer

Daisy Ramirez Lopez is a third-year Environmental Engineering (ENVE) student born and raised in San Francisco, California. She has selected to be part of the Engineering Service Learning: Unmanned Aerial Vehicle team because of her passion to understand and implement the process of bringing an idea to design to product. She has also selected to study ENVE because it fuses two of her favorite subjects: sustainability and engineering. Scholastically, real world environmental issues captivate Daisy and inspire her to pursue her engineering degree to help alleviate and resolve daunting issues. Aside from her academics, Daisy enjoys to go hiking, backpacking, camping and river floating.

 

Alexander Li

Inventory and Procurement Officer

Alexander Li is a fifth-year mechanical engineering student. He is the Procurement and Financial Officer and a part of the platform subteam of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Team. He joined the UAV team to give him a chance to apply his knowledge and skills to a professional hands-on project along with his  enthusiasm of UAVs. He enjoys tinkering with electronics and taking them apart to examine or fix, and is always interested in solving challenges that arise.

 

Andres Morales

Intellectual Property Officer

Andres Morales is a second-year Mechanical Engineering student. Andres is the Inteleectual Property Officer for the UAV team. He chose it because of his interest in new technologies. On his own time, Andres enjoys designing roller coasters and amusement parks. His goal is to work for Disney or another large ride design company. He also has love for music and enjoys professionally playing with local songwriters. Andres pays attention to every detail of his work and strives to always be the best in what he does.

 

Gabriel Viray

Webmaster

Gabriel Viray is a fifth-year Computer Science and Engineering student. Gabriel is the Webmaster for the UAV Engineering Service Learning team. He was interested in the UAV team because it presented a nice challenge for him to apply his skills and knowledge gained from his major. The team also provided a good opportunity for him to interact with the community outside the university. However he was also interested in the UAV itself and being able to participate in a real life application of the technology. Gabriel's interests are in swimming, programming, gaming, and reading.

 

Jonathan Mayfield

Platform Team Member

Jonathan Mayfield is in his ninth semester as a Mechanical Engineering student. Jonathan is a member of the UAV team. This team’s purpose is to apply UAVs to a particular agricultural problem. He chose this team because of his interest in UAVs and their real world applications outside of the typical use. Academically, Jonathan is interested in the development of prosthetics and robotic prosthetics. This past summer Jonathan worked as an Orientation Leader for the University of California, Merced, and is currently working as a Peer Instructor for the USTU – 10 course.

 

Jacob Cavish

Imaging Team Member

Jacob Cavish is a second-year Computer Science and Engineering Student. Jacob is part of the Imaging subteam for the UAV Team. He chose this team because his major is centered around code and scripts to solve real world problems, and drones was one example that he wanted to apply his skills toward. Academically, Jacob is interested in data structures and has interned at Webgroup Media LLC. in Placentia, California. On his off time, Jacob enjoys video games ranging from single player to Massive Multiplayer Online Role Play Games (MMORPG), or exercise by swimming, weight training, or running.

 

Matthew Bawalan

Imaging Team Member

Matthew Bawalan is a first-year Computer Science Engineering student. Matthew is part of the Imaging subteam for the UAV team. Although lacking in the initial knowledge for a professional project, Matthew aimed to work with technology in his field of engineering and gain hands on training in the fields of Merced. Academically, Matthew is still finding his interest within his major. However, in the big picture he aims to join a small company in developing artificial intelligence or in information technology. In his free time, Matthew enjoys competitive basketball, running, video games and writing poetry. He heard about the UAV team through his advisor during orientation, recommending experience for his first year.

June Suh

Imaging Team Member

June Suh is a fourth-year mechanical engineering student and a team member of the image processing subteam of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Team.  She chose to take part in the UAV team to gain experience in image processing and embedded systems.  Before choosing to study engineering, June spent three years as an English Literature/Cultures major with a writing minor.  Since then, she has enjoyed learning about computer hardware, embedded systems, circuit design, and image processing in her free time while finishing her degree. 

 

Austin Stratton

Platform Team Member

Austin Stratton is a second-year Mechanical Engineering Student. He is a member of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Team in Engineering Service Learning. He chose this team because he felt it would be good hand-on experience in a subject similar to his field of study, as well as giving a chance to provide a service to the community. Although unsure what exactly he wishes to do within Mechanical Engineering, Austin does know he wants to create and work on things that are able to help people, leading this to be an especially good opportunity and valuable learning experience.

 

Majok Ring

Imaging Team Member

Majok Ring is a second-year Computer Science and Engineering major at the University of California, Merced. He has experience with Java and C++ and has team building experience with projects such as TEDxYouthSD and TEDxUCMerced. He is also and is a founding member of the Quantitative Project at UC Merced, which focuses on teaching undergraduates the core concepts of Big Data and how to apply it to real life projects. His interest in the UAV team originates from his
interest in Big Data as UAV’s, after surveying landscapes and completing analyses, need ways to
store and quickly process large amounts of data. This project will tie in with his personal goals will be a valuable learning experience.

 

Hayden Perez

Imaging Team member

Hayden is a first-year Mechanical Engineering student.  Hayden was interested in the UAV team because of chance to work with drones which first got him interested in majoring in Mechanical Engineering.  It provided a great environment to meet and collaborate with new people that have the same interests and skill sets as himself  Hayden’s interests are soccer, exercising, and watching movies