Get S.E.T. Fall 2019 Team Biographies

Helen Ayala

Communications Officer

Helen Ayala is a second-year Mechanical Engineering student. Ayala is bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish and a first-generation student. Ayala currently works as a research assistant with Professor J.Q. Sun in sustainable energy research. Ayala chose the Get S.E.T team because it was a very hands-on project that involved positively influencing the young. Ayala like that the project would make students ready for whatever path they chose. Some of Ayala’s professional goals consist of her being able to speak confidently in front of others and being to communicate her ideas thoroughly and thoughtfully.

Kaycee Biscayda

Team Leader

Kaycee Biscayda is a second-year Computer Science and Engineering student. Biscayda is currently a student worker on campus, working for the Office of Information Technology. She is also pursuing her passion for robotics and would love to focus on mechatronics. Biscayda is a team leader of the GET S.E.T. Engineering Service Learning team. She chose to join this project to further her real-life skills and to give back to the community. Her goal for the end of this semester is to improve her presentation skills and become a better leader and team member.

Octavio Carranza

Procurement and Financial Officer

Octavio Carranza is a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering major. He is the procurement and financial officer for the Get S.E.T. Engineering Service Learning Team. Carranza has a strong desire to help others. He joined Get S.E.T. because it allows him to help students and teachers that can often get overlooked. While at UC Merced, Carranza earned his Engineer-In-Training certification from the Board of Professional Engineers, Geologists, and Land Surveyors to help him become a Professional Engineer in the future. Though Carranza still needs to narrow his interests to a particular field before entering the workforce.

Julie Contreras

Team Member

Julie Contreras is a first-year Computer Science and Engineering student, and a member of the Get S.E.T. Engineering Service Learning Team. Contreras enjoys finding ways to solve problematic situations and improve her community. She found an internship at The Golden Living Center in Reedley, Ca which allowed her to do just that. Contreras chose the Get S.E.T. because it aligned with her passions and prior work. She hopes this project will grow her skills as a CSE major and help her understand what it is like to be part of a professional team.

Kyle Danh

Team Member

Kyle Danh is a fifth-year student Human Biology Major with a Chemistry minor and a member of the Get S.E.T. Engineering Service Learning team. In alignment with UC Merced’s mission, Danh joined the team to help elevate the San Joaquin Valley community through their school systems. With a background in biological systems, Danh hopes to bring a scientific outlook to modeling the educational process in the community and takes this experience to future health professions. Additionally, Danh participates as a dancer for Homebound and Hip Hop Movement of UC Merced as well as works for Engineering Service Learning as a Digital Media Assistant.

David Fabian

Team Leader

David Fabian is a third-year Computer Science and Engineering major and the team leader of the GET SET Team. Being part of this project provides him the opportunity to give back to the community as well as gaining professional skills. As the team leader, he helps communicate between team members and work on a project that will help high school students improve in specific subjects. Academically, Fabian is interested in computer graphics and hopes to become a game developer. Fabian plans to use the skills gained from this project to prepare him for the workplace after he graduates.

Josue Figueroa

Team Member

Josue Figueroa is a fifth-year Mechanical Engineering student pursuing product design and sustainability. As a team member on the Get SET Engineering Service Learning team, Figueroa is working with a group to create a productthat would help a local community high school. The outcome of the product is to create a good learning experience while also making it interesting enough to catch students' attention. By completing this project, Figueroa is hoping to gain skills that willbe useful for his career in the future and help him build even more group skills.

Luis Gatica

Team Member

Luis Gatica is a first year student pursuing his bachelor’s Degree in mechanical engineering. Gaticais a member of the Get S.E.T team of the Engineering Service Learning Project. Get S.E.T. is collectively working on a project for Mr. Blair Riding. Gatica has a lot of experience in working with teams as he was the CEO of his business team from 2017-2019. Gatica joined the Engineering Service Learning Project because he wants to gain experience and work with real work environments. Gatica hopes to bring Mr. Riding a great solution to his problem by being the best team player he can be.

Diego Gonzalez

Team Member

Diego Gonzalez is a fourth-year student pursuing a bachelor’s degree at UC Merced. As a team member on the Get S.E.T. Lab Engineering Service-Learning team, Gonzalez is working to research and develop academic aids for the local community. Gonzalez has a strong passion for solving issues by utilizing technology to increase accessibility to education. Gonzalez hopes to eventually pursue a career in the sustainability industry to help engineer a better future. He hopes to gain valuable teamwork and project management skills that will serve as a foundation for his lifelong career by collaborating with colleagues to provide resources for our local community.

Joseph Hoang

Team Member

Joseph Hoang is a second-year student at UC Merced pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering. Joseph is a member of the Get Science, engineering, and technology (S.E.T.) Engineering Service Learningproject. He is collaborating with his other team members designing and engineering projects for the local high school like egg catchers and rockets. Joseph is an Orange County native who has a strong interest in physics. He joined the Get S.E.T. Engineering Service Learning team to gain practical design experiences by applying different kinematics to assist students in their understanding of physics.

Herbert Leblanc

Team Member

Herbert Leblanc is a fourth-year Earth Systems Science student who is pursuing to be a Game Warden, which is a police officer for wildlife. Leblanc is a wildlife enthusiast that hunts, fishes, and competes in college bass fishing tournaments. Leblanc’s dad is a welding contractor and taught him how to weld and build structural steel. Leblanc did not choose the Get S.E.T. team, it was assigned to him, but he does like the challenge of helping students with physics. Leblanc'sprofessional goals are to get some teamwork experience and get ready for the real world when applying to be a Game Warden.

Josephine Mulherin

Team Member

Josephine Mulherin is a fourth-year Cognitive Science student from Victorville, CA. Mulherin is now the Project Manager of the Engineering Service Learningteam, Get S.E.T. She chose this team hoping she could get more people interested in the S.T.E.M. fields. Mulherin has previous experience with leadership, event planning, creating a congressional bill, and scientific posters. She plans to further her education by going to graduate school for Data analytics in hopes of becoming a Data Scientist. Fun Fact: She was raised trilingual and is trying to be a hyperpolyglot. If you speak to her in another language she might understand you.

Jesus Ramirez Pulido

Team Member

Jesus Ramirez Pulido is a second-year student pursuing his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Ramirez is a member of the Get S.E.T. project. He is working to design a physics project for students to connect the mathematical relativities to real-world scenarios. As a Central Valley native, Ramirez has a strong passion for local communities and their resources and is interested in understanding how and why concepts are applied in a real-world setting. Additionally, Ramirez has mastered and received a multilingual seal of proficiency to expand the spectrum of who he can communicate with.

Steven Soe

Assistant Project Manager

Steven Soe is a fourth-year Bioengineering student and the Assistant Project Manager of the Get SET Engineering Service Learning Team. Being part of this project allows him an opportunity to leave an impact on the education system in the local community. Academically, Soe is interested in Biomedical Imaging and has been working in the Biomedical Imaging Lab at UC Merced under Dr. Changqing Li. Soe hopes to attend graduate school to be more prepared to become an innovative leader in the field of the biomedical imaging world. Soe plans on innovating imaging systems with techniques such as creating hybrid imaging systems.

Jose Zamora

Intellectual Property Officer

Jose Zamora is a second-year Mechanical Engineering student at UC Merced and the Intellectual Property Officer of the Get S.E.T. Engineering Service Learningteam. Zamora is an Orange County native who has a strong passion for community service. He plans to use his experience and knowledge to help the Merced community solve educational barriers through the use of technology. Also, Zamora joined the Get S.E.T. team to gain practical engineering experience and to further his skill set. One day, Zamora hopes to become a Mechanical Design engineer helping companies create new and innovative products.