Fall 2017

JOSHUA JENSEN – PROJECT MANAGER, IMAGING TEAM  

Josh Jensen is a fourth-year Mechanical engineering student. Jensen is the Project Manager of the UAS Engineering Service Learning team. He has always been passionate about community service, making this project a good fit. With knowledge from this hands-on learning project, he plans on finding further applications for drones in everyday life. Jensen is avidly interested in sustainable, renewable energies and hopes to carry this into his work in any way he can. He loves traveling, already visiting nine different countries and planning trips to several more in the near future.  

Kevin Garcia – Member  

Kevin Garcia is a first-year student pursuing his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He chose to be part of the UAS (unmanned Aerial System) team to gain hands on experience early on in his educational journey. Back home he was part of the FIRST Robotics team and was the coding team lead. He is interested in attaining a career in the automotive industry. He enjoys playing soccer and going to the gym alongside with hanging out with friends on his spare time. 

Ian DeLaura- Intellectual Property Officer 

Ian DeLaura is a second year Computer Science and Engineering student. DeLaura is the Intellectual Property Officer for the Engineering Service Learning Unmanned Aerial Systems team. He chose this because he is interested in autonomous aerial flight, research in the field of agriculture using the technique of autonomous aerial flight, and broadening his knowledge in the computer coding in this project. Academically, DeLaura is actively interested in computer coding, and works with friends to design programs that serve publishable potential. He also works hard to learn new techniques and trade to improve his variety of skill in both academics and extracurricular.  

CHARLES WHITE – COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER 

Charles White is a third year Computer Science Engineering major. White is the communications officer for the Engineering Service Learning team, Unmanned Aerial Systems. He chose it because he was interested in drones and wanted to get more practical engineering experience while learning more about something he was interested in. Academically, White would like to use Computer Science to make video games and simulations that could help people learn about environments or scenarios they would not otherwise experience. Charles prefers to go by his middle name, Henry, and is an Ocean Lifeguard for the City of Laguna Beach in the summer. 

Ethan Murcia- Procurement and Financial Officer 

Ethan Murcia is a second-year student, pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He is the Procurement and Financial Officer for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Engineering Service Learning team. Murcia chose this team because he has had prior experience in UAV flight and design which was exercised in an international UAV competition. He also felt very passionate about helping the local community with concepts he has learned and will have learned. Murcia is also a part of team conducting research on pulse jet engines at the Mesa Labs. Through all this hands-on work, Murcia plans on taking all the lessons learned and apply them to the aeronautical industry.  

Brian Rendon – Team Member (Platform) 

Brian Rendon is a fourth-year, mechanical engineering major student attending UC Merced. Rendon is a member and pilot for Engineering Service Learning team, UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). He joined this team to refine his related skills in engineering through hands-on experiences and to better understand the concept of autonomous objects through the use of autonomous flight programming for the drone. He hopes his skills benefit the team and the local community. Two of his favorite hobbies include road trips and hiking. 

Alexis Ramirez -  Team Member 

Alexis Ramirez is a first year Mechanical Engineering student. Ramirez is a member of the UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems), an Engineering Service Learning Team. He has received various awards on behalf of his mathematical and science skills throughout his high school career, including a couple of leadership recognitions from having a leadership position on his High School Marching Band which he was very involved in. Through this project, Ramirez expects to gain to gain valuable experience about teamwork and the mechanics behind designing and constructing a drone. On his free time, he enjoys not only listening to music but also playing it and he has a passion for cars and anything automotive related. 

Amanda Olson-Webmaster, Platform Subteam

Amanda Olson is a fourth-year student majoring in Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Merced. Olson chose to be a member of the Unmanned Arial Vehicles team in the engineering service learning program because she has an increasing interest in autonomy. Olson also chose this team because it provides an insight on both software engineering and mechanical engineering, while offering hands on experience. Currently, Olson is working in a subdivision of Google in helping develop their self-driving cars. The art of creation and design is one of Olson’s greatest passions, along with spending time with her family. 

Marco E. Mendez – Assistant Project Manager 

Marco Mendez is a second year Mechanical Engineer. Mendez is the Assistant Project Manager of the Engineering Service Learning team UAV. Mendez has been involved in the development of UAVs since high school, he started building models from cardboard and later developed his first quadcopter out of carbon fiber. Which that gave him the opportunity to present his model at UCSD in a speech about robotics. Mendez is hoping that he can not only learn and help in this project but also leave knowledge that he has been gathering throughout the years.  

Richard Manrique - Team Member 

Kevin Garcia is a first-year student pursuing his Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He chose to be part of the UAS (unmanned Aerial System) team to gain hands on experience early on in his educational journey. Back home he was part of the FIRST Robotics team and was the coding team lead. He is interested in attaining a career in the automotive industry. He enjoys playing soccer and going to the gym alongside with hanging out with friends on his spare time. 

Victor Mojica – Team Leader [Imaging]

Victor Mojica is a fifth-year student pursuing his Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Mojica is the team leader for the Imaging sub-team under the Engineering Service Learning team, UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems). He chose to be a part of the UAS team after taking the Mechatronics course offered by Dr. YangQuan Chen, who founded the Mechatronics, Embedded Systems and Automation (MESA) Lab at the university. Academically, Mojica is interested in industrial automation and has built and programmed several personal robotics configurations as a result. Outside of school he enjoys exploring nature, working on small engineering projects, and making music via Ableton Live.