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Merced Children's Museum Biographies for Spring 2018

Arnold Santiago – Project Manager

Arnold Santiago is a senior Mechanical Engineering student and the Project Manager of the Merced Children’s Museum Engineering Service Learning Team. Being part of this project gives Santiago an opportunity to provide the community of Merced a permanent venue for children to explore. Recently, Santiago worked with the City of Fresno’s Central Valley Energy Tune Up program where he frequently met with community member looking to decrease their home or business’ energy use. He hopes to use his experiences in leadership and community outreach to help plan and develop more sustainable neighborhoods. 

Manuel Mendoza – Assistant Project Manager

Manuel Mendoza is a second year Mechanical Engineering student and the assistant project manager of the Merced Children’s Museum Service Learning Team. Being part of this project provides him a meaningful opportunity to have a positive impact on the Merced community through the creation of a museum exhibit. Mendoza plans to use his experience from his internship at the California Science Center to help with the design of the exhibit. Through this project, Mendoza hopes to acquire the skill sets to be a great manager and acquire experience in design. This invaluable project experience will serve as a foundation for his career in engineering.

Ashia Tymous – Communication Officer

Ashia Tymous is a third year Computer Science and Engineering student and the Communication Officer of the Merced Children’s Museum Engineering Service Learning Team. Being a part of this project provides her a great opportunity to partake in an educational exhibition for the children of Merced. Academically, Ashia is interested in Web App Interface Design and hopes to use her artistic talents to help her work both artistically and computationally. She chose this Engineering Service Learning Project because it is new, and it involves creating an educational piece for Merced, and nothing is better than giving back to the community.

Celina Arellano ˗˗ Intellectual Property Officer

Celina Arellano is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student and the intellectual property officer of the Merced Children’s Museum Engineering Service Learning Team. Arellano joined the team to provide Merced with a children’s museum and ultimately motivate children to be interested in the STEM fields. Academically she is interested in the research of developing green energy sources to power the world.

Miriam Macias – Procurement & Financial Officer

Miriam Macias is a third year Mechanical Engineering student and the procurement & financial officer of the Merced Children’s Museum Engineering Service Learning Team. Being part of this project provides a meaningful opportunity to give back to the Merced community. Academically, Macias is interested in the green building and sustainability industry. As an undergraduate student, Macias worked for the Energize Colleges Program as an intern in the solar panel installing company, Hot Purple Energy, to research degradation of solar cells due to heat. After graduation, Macias hopes to use her experience to aid people in poor areas and help them have access to clean, renewable energy.

Jamie Mariz Laudencia – Team Leader

Jamie Mariz Laudencia is a first year Computer Science and Engineering student and a team leader for the Merced Children’s Museum: Spaceship Exhibit Service Learning Team. Being a part of the service learning team as a first-year student allows Laudencia to get early professional experience in working with a team and explore different interests in the field of engineering. Laudencia chose to join the service learning team looking for experience and growth with the application and relation of subjects she is currently learning to projects that affect the community around her. Laudencia is still looking forward to exploring her interests professionally and personally.

Yurithzy Alfaro Gomez – Team Leader

Yurithzy Alfaro Gomez is a fourth-year student pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.  Alfaro Gomez is a team leader of the Merced Children’s Museum project, where she is working to construct a Spaceship Exhibit. Being part of this project provides her with a meaningful opportunity to help spark an interest in STEM to children and adolescents. Through this project, she plans to gain a better understanding of how to interact with customers and comprehending their needs. One day, Alfaro Gomez hopes to become a contributing member to the community so that she can continue to spark an interest in STEM to kids.

Kasandra Guerra – Team Member

Kasandra Guerra is a first year pursing her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering. Guerra is a member of the Merced Children’s Museum, Engineering Service Learning project. Guerra plans to use her experience from the project to gain practical design and building experiences. As well as, she plans to gain a better understanding of how to interact with customers and understand how to make business decisions. By performing in the operations of the Merced Children’s Museum exhibit, she is interested helping make improvements to the Merced community, where it will bring both joy and education to the children. One day, Guerra hopes to purse her career that will make a difference to the Earth’s environment.

Apolinar Martinez - Team Member

Apolinar Martinez is a third year Mechanical Engineering student pursuing a career in auto mechanics. As a team member on the Merced Children’s Museum Service Learning team, Martinez is working to design and improve the conveyors currently used at Amazon in Patterson California. Martinez has a strong passion for component design and hopes to have a career in the mechanical component design industry after graduation. By performing in the Merced Children’s Museum team, he hopes to gain valuable skills that will serve as a foundation for his career in automotive design.

Raven Robinson – Team Member

Raven Robinson is a fourth year Bioengineering major and a member of the Merced Children’s Museum Engineering Service Learning Team. Robinson joined the team to expand her horizons and try to inspire the next generation to pursue some type of career in STEM. Academically, she is interested in researching nanomaterials and applying them to the medical field. One day, she hopes to attend medical school to become an orthopedic surgeon and develop 3-D printed medical splints, so that she can give back to those around her and revolutionize medicine as we know it.