ESW Fall 2015 Biographies

Carlos Benavente

Project Manager

Carlos Benavente is a fifth year Mechanical Engineering student. He chose this team because he has a strong passion for the environment and believes that anything that anyone can do makes a difference. Because of this, he has worked the UC Merced Energy Manager with energy audits of the school to make sure that sustainability remains a goal. Aside from his academic life, he enjoys spending his time with his own research with autonomous vehicles, specifically MAVs (Micro Air Vehicles).

Danny Mauricio, Assistant Project Manager

Danny Mauricio is a second year Undeclared Engineering student. Danny is the assistant project Manager.He choose it because due to his schedule it was the only available Service Learning class. Danny enjoys running and during his high school years he ran 2 marathons and 2 half marathons. He enjoys giving back to his community by volunteering in community events or at schools. He may seem quiet at first without much to say, but over time he will become louder.

David Valles, Webmaster

David Valles is a second year computer science and engineering major. He chose this team because he finds the process of converting companies to become more ecofriendly interesting and wants to help this team with their vision as much as he can. Being involved and helping his community is what he enjoys. Other than this, he is also heavily involved in many other activities, from  dancing, basketball, gaming, Kendama and community service, in which he holds the position of Vice President for CKI. Leadership is one of his strong suits as he has been in many leadership positions before and hopes to contribute his skills appropriately to aid the team in any way he can.

Andrea Mascareno, Procurement and Financial Officer

Andrea Mascareño is a fifth year UC Merced student majoring in Environmental Engineering while also pursuing a minor in Anthropology. Andrea joined the KivaGreen project because she saw importance in educating low-income groups about financial alternatives when looking for sustainable energy. She hopes to refine her own communicational and financial skills by working in this project. In her spare time, Andrea enjoys creating new culinary dishes, reading up on interesting anthropological case studies, and playing videogames.

Clarissa Machado, Team Member

Clarissa Machado is a fourth year Earth System Science student. Clarissa decided to join Engineers for a Sustainable World because it was the project that seemed to incorporate her field of study as a student at the University of California, Merced. She hopes to gain experience in helping the community find alternatives for sustainable energy and ways to achieve environmental goals.  Clarissa enjoys spending time with family and going on strenuous hikes at Yosemite National Park.

Ranjit Chahal, Team Member

Ranjit Chahal is a fifth year Mechanical Engineering student. He chose this project in order to do something meaningful and to impact people globally. Along with his goal to impact people globally, Ranjit has his own robotics and manufacturing company that sells parts globally (WestCoast Products & Design LLC). Academically he enjoys learning about different manufacturing processes and using MatLab to computationally solve problems. During his free time, Ranjit loves traveling, playing basketball and video games.

Curtis Marks, Team Member

Curtis Marks is a first year Material Science and Engineering student. He chose this team because it allows him to work to try and make the world more eco-friendly. Curtis has done some volunteer work, which includes helping out in homes, helping out the less fortunate youth, and raising money for cancer awareness. Curtis loves to play soccer in his free time, but does not like to run for fun.

Natalie Vidales, Team Member

Natalie Vidales is a third year Environmental Engineer student. Natalie is a team member of the Engineering Service Learning team Kiva Green. She chose this team because it helps to further her goals of creating a more sustainable and renewable world for the future by working with the local community. She is a first generation college student who hopes to use her education to maintain our waterways by working in water and/or waste management. During her free time, Natalie likes to read, play soccer, and learn new vegetarian food recipes.

Francisco Torres, Finance Team Leader

Francisco Torres is a fourth year Mechanical Engineering student. He is a Team Leader for the Kiva Green Project for the Fall of 2015. Francisco joined Engineers for a Sustainable World because it was the only Engineering Service Learning class that his class schedule allowed. He hopes to learn new things while he is involved with the Kiva Green Project Francisco will be doing research this fall with Professor Abel Chuang on fuel cells. He enjoys playing video games and exercising on a regular basis and he likes to hike and snowboard whenever he can.

Robert Manuel Jr, Audit Team Member

Robert Manuel Jr. is in his third year studying Environmental Engineering. He is part of the Engineers for a Sustainable World (ESW) team of the Engineering Service Learning class, and serves as a team member. He joined ESW because of his eco-conscious and his urge to help others. Robert has done some volunteer work in the past such as surveying food accessibility and assisting at covalence hospitals. He enjoys reading rich stories of adventure and trials of the human spirit as well as playing mindless video games of adventure and taking down bad guys who lack a human spirit.