MOVERS AND SHAKERS
IN ACADEMIA, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INDUSTRY
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SPOTLIGHTS
THIRD-YEAR STUDENT ETCHI AKO WINS FIRST PLACE FOR TECHNICAL RESEARCH EXHIBITION AT NATIONAL SOCIETY OF BLACK ENGINEERS FALL REGIONAL CONFERENCE
Etchi's award-winning research project, "Downregulation of Genes by Neuregulin-1 in pMCAO Stroke Models," examines the drug Neuregulin-1 (NRG-1) as a potential treatment for stroke and analyzes how treatment affects gene regulation in rats after a stroke.
TWO BIOENGINEERING UNDERGRADUATES SERVE AS CLASS OF 2021 COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERS FOR THE COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Sumanth Dara, B.S., 2021
Sumanth Dara is from Central Valley, the heart of California’s agriculture and petroleum industries. Surrounded by pioneers in the research and development of these technologies, Sumanth was inspired to pursue an impactful career in research to advance the current field of science. Since making that decision, he has been involved in various labs and research groups, with focuses spanning from the development of microbial technologies to neurocomputational advancements.
As a student of BCOE and UCR, Sumanth served as an officer in both Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, and Engineers Without Borders, while also working on campus as a resident advisor for residential halls and a director in the Associated Students Program Board.
Sumanth plans to utilize the skills he fostered at UCR from all of these experiences to pursue a career in academia, focusing both on integral biotechnological research and nurturing and inspiring future generations of innovators. Inspired by the incredible faculty and staff of BCOE, Sumanth hopes to work towards developing life-saving technology like his professors.
David Wong, B.S., 2021
David Wong has fought to protect underdogs his whole life. To help low-income classmates graduate on time, he spearheaded a bill (AB3153) to increase funding for Cal Grant recipients taking summer courses. He switched his major from CMDB to bioengineering so that he could find ways to assist people with tangible technologies in addition to policy changes.
At BCOE, David was the Operations Lead for a health-centric hackathon known as BioHack, re-evaluating its budget and programming in a way that helped future hackathons succeed in a remote environment. Finally, he led the Chess Club through the pandemic and rekindled UCR's chess culture by assembling an esports team that reached the national playoffs.
Before pursuing a master's in Bioengineering, David will compete in the Deep Space Food Challenge to design nutritional technologies for future astronauts.
OUR ALUMNI WORK
IN INDUSTRY:
IN ACADEMIA:
