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Nathan Ibarra Project Manager Nathan Ibarra is a third-year student striving to earn his degree in Mechanical Engineering and is currently the Project Manager of the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Engineering Service Learning team. Ibarra was also the Project Manager last year and stayed to continue leading the team toward accomplishing the project goal. He is very interest in how drones could be applied to everyday life and what the benefits are for doing so. He views the UAS team as the best environment to further his experience in drone applications/development and to continue onward towards a future career in this field of aviation. |
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Jeffrey Ng Assistant Project Manager Jeffrey Ng is a second-year Computer Science and Engineering student. He was previously a member of the imaging team and is currently the Assistant Project Manager of the Engineering Service Learning team, Unmanned Aerial Systems. Ng joined the team to gain practical experience managing a team as well as developing an impactful application. He saw this team as the best opportunity to work with aviation and leading-edge technology. He is passionate about dealing with environmental issues and intends to mitigate these issues through the use of UAS and computer vision in his career. |
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Sydney Washington Intellectual property officer Sydney Washington is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student with a focus in Robotics. Washington joined the Unmanned Aerial Systems Engineering Service Learning team because of her interest in drone research. This semester she will be the Intellectual Property Officer and is a team member of the imaging team. Through this project, she hopes to learn a little bit about coding. Sydney plans to use her acquired knowledge from this project of java interface on her further practices of robotics. In the future, she aspires to create affordable robotics that can be accessible to people of all income groups. |
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Elsie M. Reyes Communication Officer Elsie Reyes is a fifth-year Environmental Engineering student. She is the Communication Officer for the Unmanned Aerial System team of Engineering Service Learning. She chose to work on this project to experience more hands-on engineering activities. She is interested in environmental related works and she enjoys doing field works outdoors. Other than environmental related fields, she is also interested in how mechanics such as drones could help the environment around us, especially in this growing modern world. In the near future, she wants to help the community she grew up in at her hometown, Philippines, where it needs a helping hand. |
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Giovani Rodriguez Procurement and Financial Officer Giovani Rodriguez is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student and the Procurement and Finance Officer of the Unmanned Aerial Systems Engineering Service Learning team. Being part of this project provides him the opportunity to provide farmers a reliable and affordable method of detecting water stress levels in vineyards. Academically, Rodriguez is interested in providing new and affordable methods for constructing homes that will reduce the number of casualties to natural disasters. By practicing the skill of innovation at an affordable cost to the public, Rodriguez plans on creating the foundation for affordable advancements within communities. |
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Christopher De La Cruz Web Master Christopher De La Cruz is a first-year majoring in Computer Science & Engineering at UC Merced. De La Cruz choose to participate in the Engineering Service Learning team, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) because of their interest in programming and the calculating of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). De La Cruz has worked on various programming projects outside of the UAS project and has gained much of their experience from working with various clients. De La Cruz’s professional goals are to double major in Criminology and minor in Psychology to eventually work for an intelligence agency. |
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Alan Bohannon Team Leader Alan Bohannon is a second-year student pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science. As the Team Leader of the Imaging team on the Engineering Service Learning team, Unmanned Aerial Systems(UAS), he wishes to gain critical insight on how to effectively delegate tasks to members. He previously worked as an intern at a radar company and built an imaging program to assist a contract’s goals in simulating radar performance. Bohannon hopes to one day launch and oversee his own business ventures in an engineering related field, which is what motivated him to join the UAS project. |
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Alejandro Sanchez Team Leader Alejandro Sanchez is a second-year Mechanical Engineering student and the Team Leader of the Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Platform team for Engineering Service Learning. Being a part of the UAS project has provided Sanchez an avenue into professional engineering development and an opportunity for him to lead and collaborate with students that share similar interests. Academically, Alejandro studies vector calculus, engineering statics and dynamics, and is enrolled in an introductory Java programming course. Currently, he focuses on excelling in mathematics, engineering, and computer science, and aims to conduct research in aeronautical engineering by next summer, where he hopes to gain experience working with AutoCAD, software development, and/or mathematical modeling. |
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Lui Cheuk Ho Team member Lui Cheuk Ho is a fourth-year Bioengineering major and team member of the Unmanned Aerial System Project for Engineering Service Learning. Being part of this project provides an opportunity to help out the California grape industry via an autonomous system. Academically, Cheuk Ho is interested in stem cells research and has been working in a stem cells lab at UC Merced. Cheuk Ho hopes to become an expert on using the knowledge of stem cells and engineering to improve health care. More specifically, Cheuk Ho plans on going to graduate school to have a deeper understanding of bioengineering. |
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Asael Rivera Platform Team Member Asael Rivera is a first-year student pursuing his Mechanical Engineering major at the University of California, Merced. Rivera is platform team member on the Unmanned Aerial System team Engineering Service Learning project, where he is working to automate drone test flights to efficiently identify the Pierce’s Disease in crops. Rivera has a strong passion for machinery and has joined the Unmanned Aerial System team in hopes of gaining experience in working with a drone and a team. He hopes to use the experience he gained with the UAS team to assist him on his journey to becoming a Mechanical Engineer. |
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Felix Diego Solano Flores Team Member Felix Diego Solano Flores is a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student interested in working with the Engineering Service Learning team, Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). Flores' involvement in the UAS team stems from his interest in past work with drones doing mini-projects including search and rescue missions, along with learning about the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) policies and regulations to be safe in the airspace. His goal is to help the UAS team be able to deliver their project to detect water stress that could be related to Pierce’s Disease in grapevines by implementing a UAS and help out the agriculture community. |
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Eric Peña Team Member Eric Peña is a fourth-year Mechanical Engineer major and is a team member for the Unmanned Aerial Systems Engineering Service Learning team at UC Merced. This project focuses on using drones to fly over vineyards in order to detect Pierce’s Disease so that farmers could save their crops before the disease takes a toll on the crops and they are no longer available for consumption. Peña chose this project because he is very interested in aviation and hopes to one day be able to work in the aerospace industry to fulfill a childhood dream. |
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Annaliza Torres Team Member Annaliza Torres is a fourth-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Materials Science and Engineering with a Nanotechnology Emphasis and Physics Minor. Torres is training to become a pilot for the Unmanned Aerial System Engineer Service Learning team. Torres hopes to gain experience in working with drones and flight designs to assist her to become a Materials Scientist and Engineer. She chose this team because the objectives of the Unmanned Aerial System team cater to her interests in science, engineering, and drones. She hopes that participation in Engineering Service Learning will improve her academic and professional skills. |
