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2017 CEBR Students

Adrienne Banks

CEBR_BanksAdrienne_PhotoInstitution: Williams College
Faculty Mentor: Christine Luscombe, Materials Science & Engineering

Adrienne goes to Williams College (in Massachusetts) and will likely major in Chemistry and Environmental Studies. She’s interested in the scientific side of issues like clean energy and healthy ecosystems, as well as the social side, specifically environmental justice. Adrienne is a member of the Williams cross country team, Divest Williams, and plays the violin. She loves the state of Oregon and the Ducks, her family’s 9-year-old goldfish, and anything outside and/or near mountains.


Arthur Beausoleil

CEBR_BeausoleilArthur_Photo
Institution: North Seattle College
Faculty Mentor: Xiaodong Xu, Physics

Arthur Beausoleil is an aspiring Materials Science Engineer attending the University of Washington in Autumn 2017. He has completed the Clean Energy to Bridge 4-Month Exploratory program in Summer 2016. One goal for his future is to specialize in material analysis and design for Green Energy technologies. He is also planning to travel the Grand Canyon by river raft after earning his undergraduate degree.


Samantha Brick

CEBR_BrickSamantha_PhotoInstitution: The George Washington University
Faculty Mentor: G. Graham Allan, Environmental and Forest Sciences

Samantha Brick is a rising sophomore at the George Washington University, pursuing a degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering. In her first year of college, she became involved with the Engineering School through an engineering leadership development program and ended up participating in multiple engineering related projects. This summer, Samantha is working in the Bioresource Science and Engineering department in Graham Allen’s lab. She hopes to one day use her engineering degree for global benefit and believes that producing clean energy methods is the best way to accomplish this. Currently, she is interested in researching various techniques for trapping and storing energy, as well as discovering ways to implement these techniques in different environments and on both small and large scales.


Alexander Diaz

CEBR_DiazAlexander_PhotoInstitution: Valencia College
Faculty Mentor: David Ginger, Chemistry

Alexander Diaz is a rising sophomore at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. He is planning on majoring in photonics science and engineering once he graduates from Valencia. Alexander is also married to a wonderful woman and cannot pass up the opportunity to praise his wife for remaining faithful and loving through life’s struggles. As a student, junior pastor, and martial artist, Alexander is as comfortable in a classroom as he is sparring in the gym. This has caused his academic interests to encompass topics such as physics, as well as theology and human biology. Through the acquisition of knowledge, Alexander hopes to have a profound impact on the direction the world is heading in. Success is not something that Alexander searches for, but has already found through his everyday actions of helping anyone in need.


Nahom Girmay

CEBR_GhirmayNahom_PhotoInstitution: Seattle Central College
Faculty Mentor: Arka Majumdar, Electrical Engineering

Nahom’s intended major is Mechanical Engineering with a focus in Mechatronics and Renewable Energy. He attended Seattle Central College and got his AS degree last spring. Nahom is hoping to transfer to the UW Mechanical or Electrical Engineering department this fall. His short-term goal is to finish his undergraduate degree and continue on to graduate school to get more in-depth knowledge in his major. His long-term goal is to work on making sustainable energy and technologies accessible and affordable to all. Since last summer, Nahom has been tutoring Physics and Math for the Math, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program at Seattle Central College. He has always loved sharing his knowledge and experiences to help others, and tutoring gives him that opportunity. Being the first in his family to obtain an education, he knows how it feels not getting the help you desperately need. To find a sense of solace and personal well-being, in his spare time, Nahom turns to painting and drawing. He has participated in several art shows and last year one of his art pieces was recognized as a finalist in the Student Art Innovation exhibit representing Seattle Central College.


Gerardo Gomez

CEBR_GomezGerardo_PhotoInstitution: Bellevue College
Faculty Mentor: Gerald Seidler, Physics

Gerardo is interested in researching and creating clean, reliable, safe and affordable energy for the world. He is also concerned with keeping the world and environment clean while still advancing in technology and making improvements to our world. One of his personal interests is playing and listening to music. He has past musical experience with the violin and guitar. Gerardo also enjoys political discussions because he knows how important the role of politics has played and will play on environmental issues. Lastly, he knows there is still a lot of steps left to fix the energy situation and he will strive to improve our world’s energy, as well as pollution issues and hopes that this research can be one of those steps.


Alicia Hugget

CEBR_HuggettAlicia_PhotoInstitution: Carnegie Mellon University
Faculty Mentor: Lilo Pozzo, Chemical Engineering

Alicia has always had a passion for all things science, but through her coursework she’s found her main research interests are physical and organic chemistry, and materials science. In her summer physical chemistry lab with Dr. Pozzo, she’s working on modeling the behavior of conjugated polymers using molecular dynamics simulations and quasi-elastic neutron scattering. Year-round she works with Dr. Kowalewski at Carnegie Mellon University on exploring the electronic structure of nitrogen-enriched nanocarbons using computer modeling, XPS, and DLS. Outside of the lab, she can be found playing pickup soccer (her favorite sport), hiking/adventuring (which Seattle is wonderful for), laughing at her own jokes (she’s really funny), and (ab)using parentheses.


Miwako Ito

CEBR_ItoMiwako_PhotoInstitution: Bellevue College
Faculty Mentor: Jim Pfaendtner, Chemical Engineering

Miwako Ito is attending Bellevue College and pursuing an Associate’s in Science transfer degree. She hopes to transfer to the University of Washington for a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering. Miwako currently works with the Pfaendtner Research Group focusing on high performance computing. Her research interests include materials development of electrolytes and solvents for redox flow batteries. Outside of school and work, Miwako is the president of the Bellevue College Chem Club. Her club activities include visiting schools to teach labs. Miwako enjoys spending her spare time with her mom, brother, boyfriend, and cat.


Hannah Larson

CEBR_LarsonHannah_PhotoInstitution: Harvey Mudd College
Faculty Mentor: Minoru Taya, Mechanical Engineering

Hannah Larson is an incoming sophomore at Harvey Mudd College. She has had the opportunity to explore many different areas of STEM work in the classroom and is excited to be able to start lab research. Hannah has a special interest in engineering and working to create things with a positive impact upon society. When not going to classes or doing homework, Hannah loves reading about anything, crafting, and building things with her hands. One of her favorite parts about freshman year was her ability to access her college’s machine shop, learn about machining and woodworking, and the hammer she was able to build using these tools.


Adonay Lebeneh

CEBR_LebenehAdonay_PhotoInstitution: Seattle Central College
Faculty Mentor: Richard Shi, Electrical Engineering

Adonay Lebeneh is from Ethiopia. He has been here in the U.S for two years. He is passionate about renewable and sustainable energy. He hopes to pursue his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and focus on different forms of energy during his graduate degree. In the future, Adonay wants to work on solar panels in the developing countries. He is currently studying in a physics lab about a laboratory-based hard x-ray monochromator for high-resolution x-ray emission spectroscopy and x-ray absorption near edge structure measurements.


Ashley Mapile

CEBR_MapileAshley_PhotoInstitution:University of Puget Sound
Faculty Mentor: Vincent Holmberg, Chemical Engineering

Ashley Mapile is a junior Chemistry major from the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA. She is interested in environmental chemistry and pharmaceuticals, yet also holds a strong passion for science education and advocacy. Outside of chemistry, Ashley loves to play music. She is classically trained on the clarinet and also plays guitar and piano in her free time.


Emily Steiner

CEBR_SteinerEmily_PhotoInstitution: Niagara University
Faculty Mentor: Christine Luscombe, Materials Science and Engineering

Emily Steiner is a rising junior at Niagara University in Western New York. She has three semesters worth of research experience in an organic chemistry lab, where she has been exploring possible synthetic manufacturing routes to ent-Artemisinin, a potential antimalarial drug. In her free time, Emily enjoys playing board games, running, and laughing with her loved ones.