LEED Lab Biographies for Spring 2016


	Moses Chun- Project Manager Moses Chun is a fourth year Materials Science and Engineering student. Chun started his academic career with Materials science from an interest in physics and chemistry. He now studies characterization techniques of nanoparticles in the air. He focuses on using multidisciplinary strategies for creating sustainable solutions. In addition to his studies, Chun works as a Wilderness Ranger at Yosemite National Park. His other interests include being in the outdoors and playing music. Moses chose to work with LEED Lab for opportunities in contributing to real life projects with the UC Merced campus community. As a Yosemite Leadership Program alum, he hopes to help develop leadership skills in both himself and his teammates.
	Merari Cisneros - Assistant Project Manager Merari Cisneros is a second year Bioengineering student at the University of California Merced. Cisneros is from San Diego California where he lived for all of his nineteen years. Cisneros was born of two immigrants from Guadalajara Mexico who have since then become full-fledged citizens. Cisneros chose LEED lab in order to gain a feel for team based projects and thus improve his leadership capabilities. As an added side effect, taking part in LEED lab allows Cisneros to help his university gain LEED certification for all of its buildings, which is a great source of Pride. When not studying, Cisneros partakes in videogames and running.
	Tiffany Tang – Communications Officer Tiffany Tang is a second year Biomedical Engineering student. She is the Communications Officer for the LEED Lab Engineering Service Learning team. She chose to be a part of LEED Lab because it gave her an opportunity to be a part of the Engineering Service Learning Team that was involved with the environment. Academically, Tang is interested in creating different projects and has been apart of Engineering Service Learning for four semesters. She has joined the team LEED Lab because she wanted to be a part of a great opportunity of experiencing a hand on environmental friendly engineering project. She also loves to play basketball and her favorite the basketball team are the Golden State Warriors.
	Ricardo Vasquez - Intellectual Property Officer Ricardo Vasquez is the Intellectual Property Officer for the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning Team as a second year Mechanical Engineering undergrad. He chose to take Engineering Service Learning because he wanted an opportunity to be part of a team and be able to have an impact on the school campus, by making it more sustainable and environmental friendly campus. Academically, Vasquez enjoys to work on difficult math problems to challenge himself. He hopes that his math skills will help him obtain a degree. On his free time, he likes to work on old vehicles and making them run again. Vasquez hopes for one day be able to travel around the world.
	Vincent Gallardo - Finance and Procurement Officer Vincent Gallardo is a fourth year Bioengineering major at UC Merced. Gallardo is the Finance and Procurement Officer of ESL’s LEED Lab. He decided to become a part of this team because he has always had a passion for the environment and green energy use. Gallardo is member of Biomedical Engineering Society where they have a project goal of creating a CT-Scanner from scratch, which he is very excited for. During his free time, he enjoys to play basketball and video games. Gallardo hopes to hopefully one-day use his skills in Bioengineering to better cure the injuries of athletes.
	Jaimee Balansa - Energy & Atmosphere Team Leader Jaimee Balansa is a fourth year Mechanical Engineering student. She currently works at the Office of Student Life as a Graphic Design Intern. Balansa will also be doing research for Professor Gerardo Diaz on the topic of biomass gasification. Within the LEED Lab Engineering Service Team, she is the Energy & Atmosphere Team Leader. Balansa accepted this responsibility because she believes it is a great opportunity to further her understanding of sustainability. She aspires to one day be a contributor to solving world issues, concerning sustainability, through engineering. During her free time, Balansa enjoys finding adventure through traveling. She also has a variety of unique hobbies such as singing, graphic design, CAD, sewing and snowboarding.
	Jessica Gray - Team Leader Jessica is a fourth year Mechanical Engineering student. Jessica is the team leader of LEED Lab’s Indoor Environmental Quality sub-team. She chose to join LEED Lab because she realizes the unique opportunity that this offers; allowing her to give back to the school and gain valuable experience in the process. Outside of Engineering Service Learning, she conductions computational biology research using her mechanical engineering background and works as an Assessment Analyst. When she is not at school, Jessica enjoys playing video games, running, and paining.
	Zackary Solati - Team Leader Zackary Solati is a first year Psychology major hoping to specialize in Sports Psychology. Solati was a three-year AVID student and graduated with honors from the class. Additionally, his experience with advanced environmental science classes will help propel the LEED Lab Certification project forward. LEED certification and environmental science has been an interest of Solati’s since his first energy conservation seminar in elementary school. In high school, he was the president of two clubs and a member of a few others. Solati takes his fantasy football very seriously and one day aspires to win all of his leagues.
	Christian Cuevas – Indoor Environmental Quality Team Member Christian Cuevas is a fifth year Bioengineering major student at the University of California, Merced. He is a part of the Indoor Environmental Quality sub team for the LEED Lab Engineering Service Learning team. Cuevas wanted to join the LEED Lab team because he knew it was a great opportunity to gain hands on experience with a real engineering project. He has always been fond of the environment and being able to go “green”, and felt this project would go along with those ideals. During his free time, Cuevas really enjoys outside activities like biking, hiking, and playing soccer with friends.
	Alyssa Valdez - Team Member Alyssa Valdez is a first year Undeclared student, but she hopes to pursue a degree in Mechanical Engineering. Valdez is a first semester member of the LEED Lab Engineering Service Learning team. She chose this team because she is interested in sustainability and found it to be a promising opportunity to gain some more knowledge about the topic. While this is Valdez’s first time participating in a service learning oriented team; she has been a part of various other teams such as cross country and AVID. She enjoys running and, on her free time, she makes balloon animals to alleviate stress.
	Jagger Melcher - Team Member Jagger Melcher is a first year mechanical engineering major. Melcher is a team member of LEED energy and atmosphere. He chose this because he felt there was too much free time in his student schedule. Melcher was only able to register in 13 credits this semester because the required courses were full. Outside of academic work he spends his free time playing video games and watching movies. His biggest achievement in his academic career was graduating high school, but that isn’t anything special. One fun fact about Melcher is that he has had a rat-tail since kindergarten.
	Juan Rodriguez - Member Juan Rodriguez is a 3rd year Mechanical Engineering student. Rodriguez is part of the LEED Lab team and sub team that specializes in the Indoor Environmental Quality of buildings at UC Merced. He choose to join this team because it interested him and hoped to work in a professional work environment with a team that could potentially have a lasting impact on certified LEED buildings. Rodriguez also has an interest in design and hopes to achieve his goal of working in the automotive industry. Rodriguez also has some experience with computer design software such as AutoCAD, Inventor, and Fusion.