Magnetic Ball Drop Fall 2021 Bios

Jessica Cervantes

Jessica Cervantes is a first-year Political Science major interested in the study of laws and its socio-economic effects. She plans to attend law school in the future. She currently serves as the Media officer for a Engineering Service Learning project. Jessica looks forward to working with her team and with the Fresno Discovery Center. Her goal is to apply the time management and planning skills to help her with the work that her political science major will bring. After working on the project, Cervantes hopes to gain skills that can be utilized in her future everyday work.

Abiezer Arauza

Abiezer Arauza is a first-year student interested in computer science. Arauza graduated from Linda Marques High School with a 4.2 GPA. Arauza is currently enrolled in ENGR 097. Within the course and his team project, he has assumed the role of Communications officer. He chose this class as recommended to gain more experience in the engineering fields that he is interested in. Arauza hopes to gain many new skills and experiences from this project, with the most important one being the ability to be adaptive, effective and successful in a team environment. 

Zachary Amith

Zachary Amith is a first year at UC Merced, currently majoring in Chemistry. He is the Communications Officer for his Engineering Service Learning team within the Fresno Discovery Center collaboration. Amith joined the class to learn to how to effectively collaborate with individuals throughout the process of design as well as to learn how to contribute his skills within team based settings. Amith has hopes to gain insight on the world around him and become an effective communicator so that he can bring people together and form new cutting-edge projects for the future.    

Alma Aguilar

Alma Aguilar is a first-year student at UCM. She is currently an undeclared major, hoping to graduate from UCM in four years with a Bachelors of Science. While this class was reccomended to her, she is excited to find new interests within the projects that she is working on. She expects to figure out what career path she is interested from this class. Aguilar hopes to use this course as her building block to find her within her college career.

Abraham Avendano

Abraham Avendano is a Mechanical Engineering student at UC Merced currently working as project manager of the his team division within the Engineering Service Learning course. Avendano has worked for Ag Tech in Merced, helping to reverse the effects of climate change while enriching agricultural production and sustainability. He hopes to refine his understanding of the prototype deisgn procress and use this knowledge to empower farmers within the delicacies of combatting climate change. Avendano strives to address the impact of climate change as he pursues expertise in the agricultural sustainabiltiy of our world. 

Fasha Lennon

Fasha Lennon is a second-year student pursuing her Bachelor’s in Computer Science Engineering. She is interested in becoming an Airforce Officer in Cyber Security. A noteworthy accomplishment of hers was being able to compete officially on a college swim team at the age of 15. The project that she is apart of is the Magnetic Ball Drop exhibit. This exhibit will be showcased at the Fresno Discovery Children Museum. She will use her extensive knowledge from her physics and engineering courses that she has already taken to help develop this design. This project will allow her to get the hands-on experience of building and conducting a project that is used in real life. 

Jenna Liwag

 Jenna Liwag is a first-year psychology major at UC Merced who graduated from their high school as valedictorian. Liwag's goal is to attend medical school to become a psychiatrist. Liwag chose to participate in the class project because of the personal influence of the FDC within their own childhood. Liwag strives to be part of the projects created for future generations to enjoy as well. From this project, Liwag will apply their skills of cooperation and organization by managing the financial resources amongst their team. Liwag hopes to further their engineering skills and creative thinking with this project. 

Ediel Lopez

Ediel Lopez is a fifth-year CSE student at UC Merced. He is a former Student Coordinator for the Transfer, Returning, and Veteran Program and a recent Software Engineering intern for Northrop Grumman. Following graduation this December, Ediel plans on pursuing a career in software development. Enrolling in Engineering Service Learning has been an incredibly rewarding opportunity for Ediel. The Magnetic Ball Drop is for the Fresno Discovery Center, which is located near his hometown. Ediel plans to leverage his strong understanding of software development and industry experience to help his team deliver a working product. 

Jennifer Lugo

Jennifer Lugo is a first year Political Science student. Lugo competed in a state level speech team throughout high school and now strives towards a career as a lawyer. Lugo chose this specific project at the Fresno Discovery Center because of  little understanding of it's intriuging industry. Lugo is excited to work with the resilience, effort, and dedication necessary to work with her team. Lugo is aware such skills will be crucial to her future successes and is excited to begin building the skills now. Lugo hopes to gain skills from her officer position, such as, detailed, consistent, and relevant documentation. 

Briana Rubio

Briana Rubio, a first-year student pursuing her Bachelor degree in Psychology,  joined both the ENGSL Project (Engineering Service Learning 096) and Human Centered Research & Design (ENGR 097) in hopes to gain more experience in the real world. Rubio’s interests consist of being able to help others in need and has decided on her career goal; to become a licensed physician assistant. Rubio was involved in the Junior Achievement Company Program of California, serving as head of the marketing team for her company. Both courses will provide collaborative and leadership skills for her future.  

Arline Sanchez

Arline Sanchez is a fourth-year student pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Project Manager for the Magnetic Ball Drop Lab, within her Engineering Service Learning team. Sanchez is pursuing a career focused on environmental sustainability in the water management industry. Sanchez has a strong passion for improving sustainability efforts in the water management industry, specifically in researching alternative wastewater treatment methods to sustainably improve our water conservation efforts. Sanchez hopes to gain research experience in a real life engineering project and further advance her professional development. 

Fanny O'Vincent

Fanny O’Vincent is a first year Psychology major who's interested in pursuing a career in higher education. She won a full tuition scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and founded the first art club at her high school. O'Vincent chose to work with the Fresno discovery center to understand the principles of design and to apply these experiences to managing groups for higher education. In taking the Project Manager position, she hopes to gain leadership experiences and communication skills that’ll complement her background in psychology. She hopes this will help prepare her to lead a classroom and lead other educators who also strive for greatness.   

Peter Sou

Peter Sou is a fourth-year Computer Science and Engineering major. Within the Engineering Service Learning team, Sou is the Media Officer. Sou has previously contributed to the Permafrost display for the Fresno Discovery Center in Spring of 2021. As a member of the Magnetic Ball Drop teams, Sou hopes to utilize his past experience in Engineering Service-Learning to support his team. Sou not only hopes to make an impactful contribution this semester, but also seeks self growth within working in a team-based setting. Currently, Sou is actively seeking an internship or full time position as a software engineer after his graduation in Spring 2022.  

Jose Miramontes

Jose Miramontes is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student who is interested in working anywhere that his skills and experience are needed. Miramontes has previously worked in construction doing various jobs for about two summers. Miramontes' main goal is to pursue a job in the engineering field. Miramontes and his team were assigned the Fresno Discovery Center Project, for the Rube Goldberg machine. From this project Miramontes will gain skills like problem solving, designing, and developing a product which are skills that can be used in the future. Also, Miramontes hopes to gain hands-on experience which is crucial for a job. 

Divina Souza

Divina Souza is a second-year Biology student who is interested in researching about cells and immunology changes in the human body. Souza has previously worked with the medical facility in Hawthorne made for the vaccination and testing center. Souza enrolled in the Human Centered Research and Design course to learn more about how technology can aid real people and the problems that medical facilities regularly encounter. After taking this course, Souza hopes to gain new perspectives in how to relatively connect with public health services better and advance the technology that is readily available within the field. 

Ahmad Suleiman

Ahmad Suleiman is a third year Computer Engineering Student who is interested in exploring all subjects emphasized with Computer Science. Ahmad is currently a full time student taking several CSE courses at UCM as well as working a part time job at Merced Home Depot. He recently started a Development Course and plans on developing a reputable project to release on the Apple Appstore by the end of the year. Ahmad decided to join Engineering Service-Learning after several recommendations and hopes to experience working on team-based projects.