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Alan Cuautle-Palafox Project Manager Alan Cuautle-Palafox is a fourth-year student at the University of California, Merced pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He is also the Project Manager of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning team. As Project Manager, Cuautle-Palafox plans to gain the knowledge of leading and managing resources efficiently in order to acquire the LEED certification of SAAC and Gallo recreational centers at UC Merced. Cuautle-Palafox plans to use his mechanical engineering skills in the future to improve and design cars that are more fuel efficient while simultaneously reduce the carbon footprint for a cleaner tomorrow. |
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Cynthia Vazquez Assistant Project Manager Cynthia Vazquez is a second-year Environmental Engineering student at UC Merced and the Assistant Project Manager of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning team. Participation in LEED Lab provides her with the opportunity to submerge in a passion for environmental sustainability. As a freshman, Vazquez strengthened her leadership qualities through the Margo F. Souza Entrepreneur in Training track. Vazquez’s current goal is to engage with the USGBC LEED Online application through the LEED Lab and prepare for the LEED v4 Green Associates Exam. She aims to incorporate and fuse educational experiences in order to prepare herself for a professional career. |
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Dylan Basco Intellectual Property Officer Dylan Basco is a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student with a minor in Writing and the Intellectual Property Officer of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning team. Basco is currently interested in the manufacturing and design of parts and hardware that would be used in the defense industry and hopes to attain an internship or full-time career in this field. Though not specifically in this area, the LEED certification process of the designated buildings will provide him with additional exposure and experience to other aspects of Mechanical Engineering that he previously did not consider. |
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Sabrina Gallardo Communications Officer Sabrina Gallardo is a third-year Applied Mathematics major with an emphasis in Engineering. Gallardo serves as the Communications Officer on the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning team. Her interest as to how a building can become LEED certified led her to choose this project. Apart from being the Communications Officer, Gallardo is working to assess the energy performance for the Joseph E. Gallo Recreation Center and Student Activities and Athletics Center. Through this project, she plans to gain a better understanding of sustainability within buildings. |
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Ulises Yepiz Yepez Procurement and Finance Officer Ulises Yepiz Yepez is a fourth-year Earth Systems Science student and the Procurement and Finance Officer of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning team. As an officer and team member, the responsibility of Yepez in the LEED Lab is to monitor, understand, and interpret the water management credit for the Gallo and SAAC recreation building. Yepez chose the LEED Lab because he is interested in environmental development and sustainable practices. Yepez is interested in pursuing a career in hydrology to help improve the water issues that California currently encounters. |
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Marcos Alberto Jr. Team Leader Marcos Alberto Jr. is a first-year Civil Engineering major. Alberto is the Materials & Resources and Indoor Environmental Air Quality team leader of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning. He chose the LEED team because he is interested in the sustainability of the environment since their goal is to be “Green from the Ground Up”. Throughout this hands-on project, he hopes to gain experience in the certification of buildings which he can apply in the real world. He plans on obtaining a masters degree in the field of civil engineering, and by taking this course, it will open doors to better opportunities for his future success. |
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Taylor Cottrell Team Leader Taylor Cottrell is a first-year undeclared engineering major. She is a part of the Leadership in Environmental Energy and Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning team and serves as the team leader. As a native of Merced, California and living in a place where sustainability is not prioritized, she felt prompted to join this project to contribute to the University of California Merced’s dedication of being green from "the ground up.” Being involved in maintaining the LEED accreditation for the Operations and Maintenance of Existing Buildings will build upon her skill set to aid her towards success in the field of sustainability.
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Jesus Valdez Team Leader Jesus Valdez is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student and the team leader of the Energy and Atmosphere sub-group of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab class. Jesus joined the LEED Lab to explore more areas in the engineering spectrum, specifically sustainability. To create and learn more about sustainability, Jesus wanted to partake in the learning process of certifying sustainable buildings. After graduation, Jesus hopes to continue his career in the engineering industry to locate current problems and come up with practical solutions, and eventually get a master degree in a field of engineering. |
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Horacio Ledesma Team Member Horacio Ledesma is a fifth-year Mechanical Engineering student and team member of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning team. He joined this team with the idea of learning more about the LEED Certification process. Ledesma plans to gain knowledge on how a LEED-certified building should be performing. Also, Ledesma was an intern for the USDA-NIFA-HIS program during summer 2017. He also has an interest in agricultural technology where he feels he can make a favorable impact on his community with the knowledge he gained. |
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José Mijares Team Member José Mijares is a fifth-year Earth Systems Science student pursuing a career in the National Parks Service. Mijares is a team member for the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning team, which is something entirely different from his usual line of work. Mijares hopes to continue working for Yosemite National Park, using his experience to find better sustainability practices for the park. As a mounted patrol ranger in Yosemite, Mijares does front country and backcountry patrols on horseback, trains the new horses for ranger use, and is a mule packer. |
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Jenniffer Oroxon Team Member Jenniffer Oroxon is a third-year pursuing her Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering. Her professional interests are sustainability, agriculture, and water remediation. Oroxon is a member of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning team, where she is working on getting the credit for water metering for the recreation centers. Oroxon chose this specific Engineering Service Learning team because she wants to know the process it takes to get a building LEED certified and possibly become LEED certified herself. One day, she hopes to work in the water industry to improve water quality and scarcity. |
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Alejandra Saucedo Team Member Alejandra Saucedo is a first-year Computer Science and Engineering student and is a part of the Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab Engineering Service Learning team. She is a member of the sub-team, Location, transportation, and water efficiency for LEED lab. Being a part of this project brings awareness to sustainability and allows for certification of operation and maintenance of the Joseph Edward Gallo Recreation Center and the Student Activities and Athletics Center at UC Merced. Through this experience, she hopes to work alongside her team and gain skills that will help her be active in a professional setting |
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Matthew Quinn Team Member Matthew Quinn is a fourth-year at UC Merced pursuing his Bachelors of Science in Cognitive Science. He is a team member the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Lab, an Engineering Service learning team. Quinn has a great interest in learning about the growing fields of sustainability and green technologies and hopes to learn more about these subjects through his experiences in this class. He also hopes to gain practical skills in the work environment through the experiences in this class. Quinn enjoys spending his free time reading and learning about history. |
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Anson Yu Team Member Anson Yu is a first-year Computer Science and Engineering student with interests in sustainability. As a part of the Engineering Service Learning team, Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Lab, Yu is monitoring the energy consumption of buildings to discover possible new methods to save more energy and meet the standards to get the buildings LEED certified. Yu is interested in the methods used to cut down on energy usage and learning to how make buildings more sustainable. He plans to use the knowledge obtained in the LEED lab to help find more efficient methods of energy usage for technology. |
