[Madeline Lowry] In my free time, I ride horses.
I don't play with Arduinos.
[Justin Page] And we got to see all the national parks in California.
[Mirka Arevalo] And a polar bear mascot just cheering on runners.
[Henry Leach] And I even became a resident advisor.
[Anoop Kiran] I'm actually a student pilot, so I'm on my way to getting a private license.
[Amy Faville] Starting a lot of new things and never quitting them apparently.
[Henry] I think leadership is involved with helping people reach their own potential and kind of pushing
them past their own boundaries so that they can be the best, in our terms as engineers, as they can be.
The opportunity that I've benefitted from by far the most has been working with the nanosatellite lab at UB.
Kind of came in there working on guidance and over time became the chief engineer of the Falcon satellite project.
So now I'm one of two undergraduates responsible for making sure that it works when it gets built
and presenting all our ideas.
I mean, that's had me working with the Air Force Research Lab,
NASA, going to the small satellite conference to present and just generally giving me a
idea of what it's like to be working in the space industry, and what a aerospace engineer does as a whole.
Got no idea what I want to do in the future.
I'm currently between looking at grad school for some kinds of fluids or
propulsion design or even systems engineering. At the NASA campus where the guy,
his main idea was if you see a line, get in it.
And I've been trying to follow that, you know. Hey, do you want to work on satellite?
I said, sure. That's my advice to others.
Just when you see an opportunity or when you get an idea to do something, just take it.
[Mirka] Hi, my name is Mirka Arevalo and I'm receiving the Humanitarian Award from the MAE department.
As an engineer, it's really important to understand the people we serve.
And if we don't understand individuals on like a person-to-person basis,
then how could we effectively solve problems? On being Latina, being native,
I think it's really helped me bring a different perspective to the field,
as well as gain insight on like how other people think and how other people view the world.
As part of the amazing mentorship programs, that honestly,
if it wasn't for that,
I don't think I would be in college or I would have gone away to college or even would have
thought of engineering, like I could do that.
I then had the opportunity to join the National Residence Hall Honorary and be their VP of Service
and then organize service events in the larger,
Greater Buffalo area.
We've worked with Teacher's Desk,
With Ronald McDonald House Charities, with food pantries, you name it.
I think that's what kept me going was the problem solving
mentality that you're learning in class.
It doesn't matter if it looks completely impossible.
If you want to do it, you can do it.
If you have the drive, you can do it. If you don't know how to do it, people can help you.
Being on the other side is really rewarding.
Like I'm able to help other families as my family was severely impacted and helped.
And it's just something to always keep in the back of your mind.
It's like I'm here to serve the world.
I'm here to serve people, not just myself, not just a company.
And to keep in mind, look how you are impacted.
[Justin] Hi, my name is Justin Page.
I am a senior here at UB and I'm receiving the Young Professional Award.
Freshman and sophomore years, it was really difficult
to get through the classes and it took a lot of effort,
and it's very difficult mentally at times as well to really convince myself that this
is what I wanted.
But the second that I stepped into my first internship, it was super clear that this is what I...
I wanted to stick with because I wanted to be there again once I graduate.
Working for NASA JPL was my favorite experience
that I've ever been through. Walking into work and seeing people
working on the Mars rover and all these famous robotics experiments all around you
is just so inspiring every day.
It's not that I have low expectations,
but I never could have imagined that I would be able to get into these positions of working
for my both of my dream internships at NASA and SpaceX.
Next year, I'll be attending Cal Berkeley for my MS/ PhD.
Being able to truly delve at a PhD or even master's level on certain topics is something
that I'm very excited about and something that I
hope I come out with great robotics experience and great insights into what the future of
space robotics needs. Don't have too much wisdom,
but I definitely think that UB, as well as everything in life,
whether it's a job or internship or even just school in general, it really is what you put into it.
I've seen a lot of people do amazing things with hard work,
and I think that putting yourself in the positions to get lucky and have your dream internships
and jobs come true is all you can do.
[Madeline] My name is Madeline Lowry.
I am a senior majoring in mechanical engineering,
and I also have a major in mathematics and I am this year's Diversity and Inclusion Award winner.
I was never really super interested in taking things apart and putting them together.
I just really enjoyed learning and applying the math I learned.
I had worked as a construction inspector for the DOT for a few summers, felt like I
wasn't really included as much as the other guys.
And just I really started to see that discrepancy and it was kind of like a shocker.
I wanted other girls and women to know that, you know, this might happen.
It doesn't make it OK, but you're not alone and it's not your fault. Whether it was the
super quiet girl in the class that always,
like, sat alone and then came up and talked to me at the end of class,
and, you know, I could tell that she felt comfortable around me.
Those small interactions make it all worthwhile to me because I can tell that someone else is
starting to feel more comfortable and accepted being themselves because of the way that I'm acting.
And that's really all I wanted to give.
For other people, just, you know, understand that not everyone's like you.
Just because someone's not like you doesn't mean they're not just as much of an engineer as you.
If I were to offer someone advice, like either in my shoes or just like another engineering student,
don't be afraid to show some vulnerability.
Just the thought that I could help one person sort of gets me to do it.
[Anoop] Hi, I'm Anoop Kiran, junior majoring in aerospace engineering, and I'm this year's recipient
of the Undergraduate Research Award.
Early on I got influenced by the way pilots describe about their experience, feeling extremely grateful.
My freshman year I was involved in the Design/Build/ Fly Competition where I really got to share my
passion with fellow classmates.
We actually looked more in detail about how aircraft response to various conditions and
how we could win in various challenges.
And that's what really got me interested into taking up a research project later on.
I'm actually a student pilot, so I'm on my way to getting a private license.
So I'm truly grateful to the club and all the opportunities that I've had at UB
This summer, actually, I'll be working at Boeing Research and Technology Division under the Aircraft
Structures team to look for better ways to optimize the long term performance.
And moving ahead, I would like to apply the skillset I've learned so that I could go on to work
in the R&D sector eventually. I've been able to surround myself with mentors,
especially in the MAE department, who have helped me at each stage of research and understanding
these concepts.
And I had the opportunity to introduce Dr. Dexter Johnson, who is one of the NASA technical
fellows for Loads and Dynamics.
He's a proud UB alumni and through the McNair program
I've gotten to learn more about research in general, but getting that first hand experience
from him through the research conference,
learning from him on why research matters, whether it be NASA or the broader impact towards
the betterment of humanity in general.
[Amy] My name is Amy Favell.
I am a senior graduating with a BS in mechanical engineering and I'm winning the Chair's Award.
In high school,
I did a biomedical engineering program and chemical engineering program
at Cornell University through 4H.
I think initially what stood out to me a lot was just being around like minded people or
would make really nerdy jokes or understand my nerdy jokes.
I could work with these people for the rest of my life.
It was really eye opening to see how much engineers do influence the world and how much
they're responsible for.
I'm at my happiest when I am busy and frustrated about having too many things to do.
Honestly, what I expected to participate in my freshman year changed every single semester
through my involvement with 199, with Theta Tau,
I've met so many interesting and unique individuals and heard their stories and it makes me excited
to work with them.
Since taking the freshman seminar myself, I became a student leader for the class and then a grader
and then a TA my senior year.
It just like compounded to have like this greater like effect over me.
I think I would honestly say that doing research is probably one of the things I'm most proud of.
It's not something that I really saw myself doing at some point.
It was frustrating because I felt really lost.
It was me coming out of my comfort zone. Especially for women in engineering,
have confidence in yourself and you assert yourself and that's going to get you the respect
that you want in the workplace and in the classroom in engineering.