AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/18/13 3:43 PM Page 3

he 2013 National Science Foundation Grad- Tuate Research Fellowships are among the nation’s most prestigious awards for graduate study in science, technology, engineering and math. This year, The City University of New York proudly celebrates our 23 graduating seniors and recent alumni who won 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships — more than any other public university system in the Northeast. We’re pleased to spotlight the University’s “All-Star Science Teams” of NSF winners, along with a selection of other honorees from the Class of 2013. The external awards they’ve won underscore the caliber of CUNY’s graduates. These range from feder- ally funded Fulbright Fellowships for research and teaching abroad to acceptance at top-notch graduate and professional institutions around the country, where CUNY alumni are pursuing law, medicine and the full range of arts, sciences and social sciences. New alumni are also entering the workforce, engaging in public service or contributing to charitable activities to enhance their personal growth. This special edition of Salute to Scholars magazine salutes some of these remark- able students. See www.cuny.edu/allstars for a larger listing. The University congratulates all members of the Class of 2013 for enriching our nation and, indeed, our world.

Warm best wishes, William P. Kelly, Interim Chancellor

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 1 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:40 PM Page 4

Mizanur Ahmed Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, ’13 Jonas E. Salk Scholarship

Kyle Athayde Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, ’13 Coro Fellowship

Hunter Gross Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, ’15 Critical Language Scholarship (China)

Anna Groysman Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, ’13 Jonas E. Salk Scholarship

Philip Liu Macaulay Honors College at City College, ’12 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

Ivana Mellers Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, ’12 Fulbright Fellowship

Kristina Navrazhina Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College, ’14 Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program

Ayodele Oti Macaulay Honors College at City College, ’12 Princeton in Latin America

Christopher J. Parisano Macaulay Honors College at Queens College, ’08 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

Aleksey Ruditskiy Macaulay Honors College at City College, ’12 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

Emma Schatoff Macaulay Honors College at City College, ’13 Jonas E. Salk Scholarship

2 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 5

Julius Edson (City College, B.E. in chemical engineering, 2012), now a doctoral student at the University of California-Irvine, has won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship by suggesting a new way of attacking the rising number of lethal bacteria that are immune to antibiotics. He wants to use a substance called chitosan that’s found in the shells of crabs, shrimp and other marine animals. Chitosan can damage the bacterial cell membrane through an electrostatic interaction. “The chitosan sticks to and ruptures the cell membrane of microbes then serves as an antenna to direct the body’s own immune system to attack,” Edson says. But chitosan dissolves only in an environ- ment that is more acidic than the human body can tolerate. Edson intends to chemi- cally modify chitosan so it can readily func- tion in the body without losing its innate properties. He started at City as premed but became interested in this field while studying colloidal systems with associate professor Ilona Kretzschmar. This made him realize that a degree in chemical engineering was “a perfect fit.” He adds: “I’ll still be able to help in the medical field.” Edson was born in Nigeria. As a youngster, he contracted various illnesses and was not expected to survive. “But I am here and healthy,” he says. With survival came a sense of responsi- bility to help others. Edson immigrated to the United States at 7. As a City undergraduate, he won a scholarship from the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, an NSF- funded program to encourage underrepre- sented minority students to pursue a baccalaureate degree in the STEM fields. It enabled him to conduct water-treatment studies in Colombia. He has also conducted research in Sweden and Austria.

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 3 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 6

Nikoleta Despodova (John Jay College of Jan Dominik Stepinski Irina Mironova, Macaulay Honors College Baruch College, ’13 Criminal Justice, B.A. in forensic at City College, ’13 Salk Scholarship, 2013 psychology, 2013) won a National Science Foundation National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to study her hypothesis that inti- Graduate Research Fellowship Elaina Montague Baruch College, ’13 mate-partner violence among same-sex couples may be seen — Jaimie Stettin University of Nebraska-Lincoln, by criminal court jurors — as less serious, less likely to reoccur Macaulay Honors College Liberal Arts, PhD and less likely to lead to physical injuries. at Hunter College/CUNY BA, ’11 Fulbright Fellowship Rukmani Nayyar “The stereotypical image of rape and intimate-partner Baruch College, ’13 violence is of a man being stronger and assaulting a woman, but Alison Wong Baruch College, when faced with two male or two female partners, jurors have Macaulay Honors College Masters of Marketing at Queens College, ’15 doubts about who they’re supposed to believe,” Despodova Jeannette K. Watson Fellowship Hongjie Pan says, citing studies that appear to demonstrate this. Baruch College, ’13 Despodova, who plans to pursue a doctorate, has suggested Madeline Yap University of Edinburgh, deepening the research by giving questionnaires to Macaulay Honors College Business School, MS at Queens College, ’13 240 jury-eligible community members, followed Fulbright Fellowship (Korea) Alina Pavlova by a mock trial. She also proposed investi- Macauley Honors College gating the extent to which myths and stereo- Pietro Barone at Baruch College, ’13 Baruch College, ’13 Tulane University Law School, J.D. types affect such judgments. London School of Economics Despodova first questioned how evidence is and Political Science, Svetlana Rafailova evaluated at 16, during the trial of the motorcy- MSc in International Relations Macauley Honors College at Baruch College, ’13 clist who fatally injured her grandfather. She Mayara G. Guimaraes Baruch College, completed four years of baccalaureate studies in English and Baruch College, ’13 Master’s Degree literature in her native Bulgaria. Then in 2008 she moved to the Harnisch Scholarship and Golden Key International Rebecca Seidman United States to pursue a degree in forensic psychology. She Honor Society, 2012 Baruch College, ’13 attended a John Jay open house and enrolled. Hunter College, At John Jay, she engaged in varied related research. She Ralph E. Labaton Masters in Social Work Baruch College, ’13 worked with professor Elizabeth Jeglic to examine the attitudes Georgetown University, Marissa Stuart, Baruch MBA of student jurors; the research was Law Center, JD Leader of Tomorrow by The St. supported by the U.S. Depart- Gallen Foundation for International Dustin Lee Students in Switzerland ment of Education’s Ronald Baruch College, ’13 E. McNair Postbaccalau- IPG Marketing Ellen Adams reate Achievement Fellowship Award, 2012 Brooklyn College, M.F.A. ’13 Program, which Fulbright 2013 Marco Leung prepares underrepre- Baruch College, ’13 Mizanur Ahmed sented students for Brooklyn College, Macaulay Honors College doctoral work. She Masters of Science at Brooklyn College, ’13 State University of New York, also conducted inde- Logan Luo Downstate Medical Center, pendent research Baruch College, ’13 College of Medicine, MD with professor Pace University, Lublin school of Business, MS Mizanur Ahmed Mark Fondacaro Brooklyn College, ’13 and in professor Lulu Mero JESS, 2013 Margaret Bull Baruch College, ’13 IFM, University of Strath- Nathalie Louise Belkin Kovera’s lab. clyde, MSc Finance Brooklyn College, ’13 Long Island University, Palmer School of Library Sciences, MLS

4 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 7

Dane Christie (City College 2013, B.E. in chemical engi- neering) — who will attend Princeton University in the fall — was awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The Jamaican-born Christie once pitched for the Toronto Bluejays’ Dominican Republic farm team. He now aims to earn a doctorate. “My mom told me I needed to think about college,” he says. “But that was the farthest thing from my mind. I was a 6- foot, 7-inch left-hander.” Ultimately, after two years with the team, he joined his mother in New York, worked in construction for four years and then entered the Hostos-City College dual- degree engineering program. Hostos assistant professor Yoel Rodriguez, who teaches chemistry and physics, “gave me the push and the belief in myself I was lacking at the time,” Christie says. At City, he found new mentors in professor John Lombardi and associate professor Ilona Kretzschmar — with whom

Anthony Bukher Ember Kane Skye Lee Christie researched colloidal Brooklyn College, ’13 Brooklyn College, ’13 assembly. Long Island University, University of Massachusetts, His NSF proposal evolved from his Registered Occupational Amherst, PhD Program research into improving the efficiency of Therapist OTR (Sociology) organic solar (photovoltaic) cells, which Mireille Gold Sarah Ita Levitan generate electricity from sunlight. Brooklyn College, ’13 M.S.E. Brooklyn College, B.S. ’13 For that proposal, Christie suggested University of Washington, National Science Foundation PhD Program (School Psychology) Graduate Research Fellowship researching the purely organic bulk- 2013, Columbia University, heterojunction solar cell. “I proposed an Anna Groysman Computer Science Program experimental protocol, which would boost Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, ’13 Jonathan Lin efficiency,” Christie says. That could lead State University of New York, Brooklyn College, ’13 to better, cheaper and more environmen- Downstate Medical Center, Columbia University, tally friendly solar panels. This approach College of Medicine, MD PhD Program (Sociology) could be applied to other technologies, Quanda Johnson Daniel Margolis including LED lights and batteries. Brooklyn College, ’13 Brooklyn College, ’13 Christie is married to Ashley Christie, Fulbright 2013 University of Massachusetts, Amherst, PhD Program whom he met when she was a student at Yvonne Juris (Political Science) Baruch. She transferred to City College Brooklyn College, ’13 when he did and will enter New York Columbia School of Journalism University’s master’s in social work program.

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 5 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 8

Aaron Dolor (Hunter College, B.A. magna cum laude in biochem- istry, minor in linguis- tics, 2012) won a 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship by proposing a novel way of exploring how “specialized zwitterionic fats” function. “Specialized zwitterionic fats” refers to a layer of fat that separates the interior of the cell from its environ- ment. It has positive and negative electrical charges at different locations, plays a critical role in determining whether molecules can get in or out of the cell, but it’s not clear precisely what mechanism it uses. Dolor, now a doctoral candidate at the University of California-San Francisco, suggests studying the impact of synthetic zwitterionic fats with an inverse electrical charge. “The idea is to understand how, if you reverse the charge, it affects lipid biophysics,” he says. “That can inform our knowledge of how molecules get into cells, which is potentially important for delivering drugs in diseases like cancer and HIV. Perhaps, if you change the charge, drugs can get through the cell membrane.” Dolor has not decided whether to use his grant for this project. He can transfer it to other research. Born in New York City and raised on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia through age 6, Dolor worked for two years as an undergraduate researcher in the laboratory of chemistry professor Charles M. Drain. In 2012, he won a CUNY Jonas E. Salk Scholarship for graduate research.

6 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 9

Meryl Horn (Hunter College, B.A. in biology, 2012), now in a doctoral program at the University of California-San Fran- cisco, will use her National Science Founda- tion Graduate Research Fellowship to develop a better understanding of how memory works. She intends to use her grant to look at how the brain’s circuitry that controls contextual memory can be altered in drug- addicted animals. She explains: “A rat that is addicted to cocaine might be trained to push a lever in a box to get a dose. If it is later put back in the box, even after it has been weaned from the drug, it is likely to press that lever again and again.” In explaining how this is relevant to human behavior, Horn says, “For addicts, contextual cues can trigger processes that lead to relapse and can thus be detri- mental to their recovery.” She decided to pursue her interest in science when she was a receptionist across the street from Hunter College — after she had earned a baccalaureate degree from Clark University in international development and social change. In her first year at Hunter, when she was also working full time, she encountered associate professor Roger Persell, who was teaching an honors introduction to biology class. Ultimately, she says that in neurobiology she found “the perfect combination of hard scientific rigor that was missing in international development.” She then spent three years in the laboratory of assis- tant professor Carmen V. Melendez-Vasquez. At UC-San Francisco, Horn switched her field of research to learning and memory and is studying with neurology professor Patricia Janak, who holds an endowed chair in addiction research.

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 7 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 10

Luciano Melo Sarah Dienstag Vadricka Etienne, a second-year Brooklyn College, ’13 Macaulay Honors College American University, PhD Program at Brooklyn College, ’13 doctoral student at the CUNY Einstein College of Medicine Graduate Center, has won a National Marika Plater Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow- Brooklyn College, ’13 M.A. Emmanuel Ekwedike ship that will help her explore whether the Rutgers University Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, ’13 approximately 776,000 U.S. residents of Haitian Benjamin Rudshteyn City College, MS in Math, ancestry will cling to their roots into the third Macaulay Honors GEM Fellowship Award generation. Or, like so many other groups, will at Brooklyn College, B.S. ’13 Goldwater Scholarship 2012 Mikhail Goman dissolve into the great American melting pot. Yale University, Macaulay Honors College A second-generation Haitian-American who Chemistry Doctoral Program at Brooklyn College, ’13 grew up in Orlando, Fla., Etienne (University of SUNY Downstate Medical College Ayesha Arif South Florida, B.A. in communication, minors in Macaulay Honors College Abraham Haimed sociology and anthropology, 2011) says that at Brooklyn College, ’13 Macaulay Honors College previous research on the assimilation of children SUNY Downstate Medical College at Brooklyn College, ’13 SUNY Downstate Medical College, of immigrants has focused on their ethnic iden- Martha D’ua Awereh EME Program tity choices but not on how members of the Macaulay Honors College second generation try to convey their culture to at Brooklyn College, ’13 Megan Hanson University of Cincinnati Macaulay Honors College their children. Medical College at Brooklyn College, ’13 “While it was less complicated for the first MA in English at BC Touro College generation to pass on their cultural heritage Jerald Cherian Resource Center Coordinator, because they often raise their children in ways Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, ’13 Priya Haran similar to their own upbringing, the second SUNY Downstate Medical College Macaulay Honors College generation has refashioned the cultural heritage at Brooklyn College, ’13 of their parents as they participate in the Amer- Priyanka Chopra Penn State, PhD in Biomedical Science Macaulay Honors College ican culture, which begs the questions of not only at Brooklyn College, ’13 Koby Herman what is the second generation passing on but SUNY Downstate Medical College Macaulay Honors College how,” she writes. at Brooklyn College, ’13 Kathy Chu SUNY Downstate Medical College Her hypothesis is that most likely the third Macaulay Honors College generation will not maintain its Haitian identity, at Brooklyn College, ’13 particularly in cities without strong cultural SUNY Downstate Medical College support. (The 2010 census tallied Stephanie Christie about 268,000 New Yorkers Macaulay Honors College who were born in Haiti or at Brooklyn College, ’13 PREP Program in Biomedical were of Haitian Science at Mt. Sinai descent.) She envisions Robert Colbourn Macaulay Honors College taking an ethno- at Brooklyn College, ’13 graphic approach SUNY Downstate Medical College, involving interviews with families. MD/PhD program Etienne says she applied to CUNY Gerri Connaught because of three professors — Macaulay Honors College Philip Kasinitz, Nancy Foner and at Brooklyn College, ’13 Richard Alba — “who I kept Hunter School of Social Work coming across as I did research on assimilation and black identities” and who have written about immi- gration by various groups, assim- ilation and ethnic politics.

8 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 11

Ru Chen (City College, B.E. in chemical engi- neering, 2013) — won a National Science Foundation Grad- uate Research Scholarship and will enter a doctoral program at the University of Delaware in the fall. She will explore the possibility of detecting cancer by looking for abnormal variations of glycoproteins, which are proteins attached by carbohydrates through a process called glycosylation. Many mammalian diseases involve glycosylation, but its role is not clear. Ru Chen was born in China, in a rural Fujian province. Her grandfather, the area’s only physician, read to her each night from his herbal handbook. Chen was 4 when she first heard about cancer, after seeing a crying woman holding her son. Ultimately, cancer also claimed her grandfather, whom she calls “my greatest mentor.” Chen spent a year in a Chinese law school and barely spoke English when she immigrated to the United States four years ago. Reading the newspaper voraciously helped her to improve her oral English, although she adds that vocabulary was difficult for Eun Jin Hong Samuel Landau Macaulay Honors College Macaulay Honors College her. She emphasizes how grateful she is for the help at Brooklyn College, ’13 at Brooklyn College, ’13 provided by professors and students. “The one thing I SUNY Downstate Medical College UCLA Law School feel lucky for is that math is universal,” she adds.

Andre Jordan Matthew Lee With assistant professor of chemical engineering Macaulay Honors College Macaulay Honors College Raymond Tu, she investigated how temperature at at Brooklyn College, ’13 at Brooklyn College, ’13 the air-water interface affects kinetic differences in University of Miami, PhD in Chemistry SUNY Downstate Medical College, MD/PhD program the self-assembly of the Beta 9H peptide. Nishant Kumar With chemistry professor Teresa Bandosz, she Macaulay Honors College Madeline Mineo explored the synthesis of copper-based metallic at Brooklyn College, ’13 Macaulay Honors College SUNY Downstate Medical College at Brooklyn College, ’13 organic framework composites, which could improve New York Institute of environmental sustainability. She had a summer Swati Kumar Technology College of Osteopathy internship at Merck, related to vaccine research. As Macaulay Honors College president of City’s chapter of the American Institute at Brooklyn College, ’13 Camillia Monestime SUNY Downstate Medical College Macaulay Honors College of Chemical Engineers, she helped introduce at Brooklyn College, ’13 minority middle-school students to potential oppor- SUNY at Stony Brook, PhD in Biology tunities in science and engineering

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 9 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 12

Jasmine Hatcher (Queens College, B.A. in chemistry, 2009), won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to explore whether the radioactive element technetium-99 can be reduced to a pure metal to store it more safely. Technetium-99 exists in two forms. One, 99Tc, is the radionu- clide most commonly used to image the body in nuclear medicine scans. But the other sits in old, potentially leaky waste tanks as a byproduct of uranium and pluto- nium fission from mid-20th century nuclear weapon manufacturing — a terrifying long-term threat to water and the food chain. Hatcher became interested in chemical research at Queensborough Community College, where she earned an associate degree in 2006. Her mentor, associate professor Sharon Lall- Ramnarine, arranged for her to work as her summer research assistant at Brookhaven National Laboratory from 2005 to 2007. “She convinced me to go to grad school,” Hatcher says. “Any excuse or doubts, she shot down.”

At Queens College, Hatcher studied with Sarah Najam Apurva Shah professor of chemistry and biochemistry Robert Macaulay Honors College Macaulay Honors College Engel, and Brookhaven National Laboratory scien- at Brooklyn College, ’13 at Brooklyn College, ’13 New York University College SUNY Downstate Medical College tist James Wishart, who collaborates with Lall- of Dentistry Ramnarine, brought her in to work as a lab tech. Jamille Sutton After earning her bachelor’s degree, she spent Samuel Nourieli Macaulay Honors College Macaulay Honors College at Brooklyn College, ’13 three years at Brookhaven. There, Hatcher at Brooklyn College, ’13 Columbia School of Journalism became proficient at purifying ionic liquids. She Rutgers University, worked with physical and organic chemists and a MS in City and Regional Planning Michele Williams Macaulay Honors College nuclear engineer and says she “saw the need for Amrita Persaud at Brooklyn College, ’13 chemists who are really knowledgeable about Macaulay Honors College Summer Fellow at the Civil Rights nuclear energy and how things work.” at Brooklyn College, ’13 and Restorative Justice Clinic at Hunter College, MA in Anthropology Northeastern University; Wishart recommended that she pursue a University of London, Goldsmith College, doctorate under Hunter professor Lynn Joshua Pulinat Theater and Performance Department Francesconi, whose research focuses on tech- Macaulay Honors College netium. As a first-year graduate student, Hatcher at Brooklyn College, ’13 Julie Zeng Research Study Assistant in Macaulay Honors College is rotating through laboratories to get a broader Psychological and Behavioral Sciences at Brooklyn College, ’13 frame of reference for her doctoral research. at Memorial Sloan Kettering Albany School of Pharmacy

10 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 13

Ben Hixon (Hunter College, B.A. in It dates back to a database class with Hunter com- computer science, 2012), now in a Univer- puter science professor Susan Epstein. Over several sity of Washington doctoral program, won a National semesters, Hixon worked with her on a project related Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to to building a dialogue system for people who are blind explore Open IE — open information extraction — an and want to query the Andrew Heiskell Braille and alternate and useful technique for searching online. Talking Book Library in Manhattan. “In a normal search, you’re looking for key words, but During a 2011 Research Experience for Undergrad- in Open IE, you’re using facts,” he explains. uates program, Hixon worked with Epstein’s collabo- Open IE automatically pulls facts rator — Rebecca Passonneau, director of from news stories, blogs and other Columbia University’s Center for Computa- text on the Internet and catalogs tional Learning Systems. After graduation, them in a database. For example, he returned to work in Passonneau’s lab he says that “if you have the sen- and was to present a paper on this research tence, ‘President Obama is in the at the June 2013 conference of the North White House,’ you can extract that American Association for Computational Obama is the current president.” Hixon Linguistics. is figuring out how to search the database. His research with University of Washington profes- Hixon elegantly simplifies Open IE for the general sor Oren Etzioni, who pioneered open information ex- public. But his research, which began when he was an traction, has shifted from voice recognition to undergraduate, is characterized by depth and detail. “conversational search.”

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 11 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 14

Ekaterina Larina (Brooklyn College, B.S. in Fazaana Ali The City College geology, 2012), now in the college’s geology master’s of New York, ’13 program, won a National Science Foundation Graduate Louisiana State University School Research Fellowship to explore what caused the mass extinc- of Veterinary Medicine tion of ammonites millions of years ago. Monica Bal In the Maastrichtian Age — before Earth’s last mass extinc- The City College tion 65.5 million years ago — ammonites were as dominant in of New York, ’13 American University the sea as dinosaurs were on land. The extinction of these crea- of Antigua School of Medicine tures (think of an octopus with a shell) was most likely due to a sustained global winter. Gabriela Bisono The City College Well-preserved ammonite shells in the Owl Creek Forma- of New York, ’13 tion — a section of ancient ocean floor that Larina studies in SUNY Downstate College Mississippi — could provide a richer understanding of prehis- of Medicine toric marine life. Larina first visited Mississippi through an Mohammed Bouhara undergraduate NSF-sponsored Research Experiences for The City College Undergraduates. of New York, ’13 “I’m trying to reconstruct the temperatures and to study how The Ohio State College of Medicine changes in ammonite distribution could be related to environ- mental perturbations, such as climate or global sea-level Miguel Briones change,” she says. The City College of New York, ’13 Her fascination with fossils began when she PhD, Psychology, was 7, in her native Kazakhstan, when her geol- CUNY Graduate Center ogist grandfather handed her a trilobite. Rochelle Catuira After the collapse of the Soviet Union, The City College Larina’s parents insisted she pursue a career of New York, ’13 in management and economics. She had almost UC Davis School of Law finished a master’s degree there when an opportu- Ru Chen nity arose to study geology here. She had to start from the The City College beginning, taking intensive English-as- of New York, ’13 National Science Foundation second-language courses while Graduate Research Fellowship studying for that B.S. She now conducts research Michael Cinelli Dane Christie The City College of New York, ’13 with her mentor, The City College of New York, ’13 National Science Foundation lecturer Matthew New York College Graduate Research Fellowship Garb. of Osteopathic Medicine Chathuranga De Silva Larina plans to Lucas Corcoran The City College of New York, ’13 earn her master’s The City College of New York, ’13 PhD, Chemical Engineering, degree in 2013 and PhD, English, Columbia University pursue a CUNY Graduate Center Moises Dominguez doctorate with The City College of New York, ’13 her fellowship. Yale School of Medicine She teaches Angela Farooqi undergraduate The City College of New York, ’13 geology and stratig- Frank H. Netter, MD School of raphy courses at the Medicine at Quinnipiac University college.

12 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/18/13 3:44 PM Page 15

Philip Liu (Macaulay Honors College at City College, B.E. in chem- ical engineering, 2012) won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship that will enable him to conduct research at the nano-level of microelectronics. His research relates to “Moore’s Law” — announced in 1965 by Intel founder Gordon Moore — that predicts that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits will double every 18 months. But, as microelectronics researchers try to pack more and more circuits into increasingly tiny packages, they’re colliding with the peculiar physics that take place on the nanoscale. When things get exceedingly small, the risk of short-circuiting soars, and the very flow of electrons makes them too hot to function. Liu intends to pursue a solution. Guided by two professors in the chemical engineering doctoral program at the University of Texas at Austin, Liu will be facing several major challenges. He hopes to create a mate- rial that will insulate electrical circuits and conduct heat efficiently away from Patria Gerardo Rodolfo Martinez them — two seemingly incompatible functions that The City College of New York, ’13 The City College of New York, ’13 have never been combined before. He hopes to do this UMDNJ School Brooklyn Law School of Osteopathic Medicine with a polymer composite, which would enable more Heidy Martinez-Avila silicon chips to be stacked upon one another than is Hyeondo (Luke) Hwang The City College of New York, ’13 now possible. And that would allow adherence to Macaulay Honors College at The Howard University College Moore’s Law. City College of New York, ’13 of Medicine PhD, Chemistry, “My first project is to synthesize boron nitride University of Chicago Jessica Mendez nanotubes, which are long, skinny tubes with The City College of New York, ’13 nanometer diameters,” Liu says David Jacobson PhD, History, Columbia University The City College of New York, ’13 As an undergraduate, Liu had an NSF-funded Brooklyn Law School Neelu Pathayil Research Experiences for Undergraduates at Macaulay Honors College at The Columbia University. He also worked on artificial eye Natalie Marte City College of New York, ’13 The City College of New York, ’13 UC Hastings School of Law research at the Lawrence Livermore National Labora- San Juan Bautista tory. Liu intends to work in industry after earning his School of Medicine doctorate.

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 13 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 16

Christopher Parisano, a doctoral student at the Graduate Center, won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to study how marginalized city residents and the government are squaring off over arche- ological ruins in Lima, Peru. Parisano (Macaulay Honors College at Queens College, B.A. in anthropology 2008) is looking at a plan to empty out and preserve Lima’s pre-Hispanic sites as a tourist-oriented “heritage circuit.” Over the past 30 years, Peru’s highland dwellers have migrated to the city and constructed shantytowns in the ruins. “They come up against a rigid definition of the sanctioned uses of archeological sites that is connected to a rigid defini- tion of the nation-state,” Parisano says. Parisano first went to rural Peru as an undergraduate in 2007, taking an anthropological field-methods course. As a child, he watched his father and grandfather in Willets Point, Queens where they “worked magic” on cars, in the Tariq Radwan Arielle Scardino shadow of the old Shea Stadium. Later, The City College of New York, ’13 Macaulay Honors College also while an undergraduate, Parisano University of Buffalo School of Medicine at The City College of New York, ’13 and Biomedical Sciences PhD, Molecular Genetics returned to Willets Point to analyze how and Microbiology, Stony Brook University Queens was being transformed by immi- Mohammad Rattu grants, the tenacity of local mechanics Macaulay Honors College Nihir Shah at The City College of New York, ’13 The City College of New York, ’13 and the city’s attempts to develop the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine New York College of Podiatric Medicine ostensibly dilapidated area into the “economic engine” of Queens. His work Kijon Roberts Jorge Swett Tapia The City College of New York, ’13 The City College of New York, ’13 won the 2008 Society for Urban, Georgetown University Law Center University of Buffalo School National, and Transnational Anthro- of Dental Medicine pology Student Paper Prize. Natalia Saavedra The City College of New York, ’13 Jan Dominik Stepinski “When I grew large enough to peer Emory University Law School The City College of New York, ’13 inside a car’s engine compartment, my National Science Foundation father sharply announced that I would Alen Sajan Graduate Research Fellowship The City College of New York, ’13 find no future there, as he once did,” SUNY Downstate College of Medicine Parisano recalls. And yet, in a round- about way, he did find his way to the future in Willets Point.

14 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 17

Sarah Ita Levitan (Brooklyn Jonathan Voegeler Justin Joseph The City College of New York, ’13 CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 College, B.S. in computer science, Yale Law School University of Medicine and Dentistry 2013) won a National Science Foundation of New Jersey, Masters, Oral Biology Graduate Research Fellowship that will help her Sally Abdelghafar CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 Makeba Lavan attempt to develop an objective, computer-based Saint John’s University CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 system that would analyze children’s speech, School of Education, Masters Graduate Center, Ph.D. English looking for patterns that could identify those Hogai Aryoubi Dana Manzella with autism spectrum disorders. CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 With an estimated 1 million to 1.5 million George Mason University School University of St. Joseph School Americans having an autism spectrum disorder of Education, Masters of Pharmacy, Doctor of Pharmacy — and the prevalence of autism believed to affect Russell Barlow Joseph Marletta one in 88 children — a reliable method of diag- CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 nosis could help many get the early intervention Fulbright U.S. Student Grant 2013 New York Institute of Technology, that is so important to their future development. (Germany) Masters, Communications

Levitan’s award will support her research in Indra Bohara Immacolata Mazzone Columbia University’s computer science CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 doctoral program. Baruch College, Masters, CUNY Graduate Center, Masters, Public Administration Liberal Arts “As of now, there isn’t a simple diagnostic test for autism,” Levitan says. “It is done by a set of Dexter Corbin Nicolas Montano subjective assessments.” Some, for example, look CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 City College, Masters, Marshall Scholarship, 2013 at turn-taking in conversation — or echolalia, Landscape Architecture Harvard Latino Leadership Initiative, 2012 where children repeat things they have heard instead of engaging in conversation. Adam Goodkind Florina Petcu CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 During high school and college, Levitan volun- Graduate Center, East Bay State University, Masters, teered and then worked with children with Masters, Linguistics Counseling Psychology autism at the Hebrew Academy for Special Chil- Rabiah Gul James Michael Prettyman dren in Brooklyn. She observed that early detec- CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 tion “could make a world of difference.” University of Dayton School of Law Harvard Divinity School, Masters At Brooklyn College, she worked on a compu- Arielle Rothenberg tational biology research project with mentor CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 Dina Sokol, an associate professor of computer School of Visual Arts, and information science. Art Therapy Program “She studies tandem repeats Jon Soto in DNA, which are used to CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 diagnose diseases and in Hunter College School of Education, human identity testing,” Masters, Rehabilitation Counseling

Levitan says. Joshua Trinidad At Sokol’s suggestion, CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 Levitan applied for a Distributed Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship 2013 (Colombia) Research Experiences for Undergradu- ates award from the Computer Research Andrew Ziegler Association’s Committee on the Status of CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 Brooklyn College, Masters, English Women in Computing Research. That led to spending the summer after her junior year conducting research in the laboratory of Julia Hirschberg, director of Columbia’s Spoken Language Processing Group.

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 15 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 18

It sounds like science fiction: The U.S. Army charging across the battlefield, wearing body armor that makes it invisible to the enemy. Yet Aleksey Ruditskiy says that it might be possible with the right assembly of nanocrystals and the presence of an electrical field. “We all like science fiction around here,” says Ruditskiy (Macaulay Honors College at City College of New York, B.E. in chemical engi- neering, 2012), who is working toward a Ph.D. in chemical engi- neering at Georgia Institute of Tech- nology. He adds with a laugh, “It’s how we get our ideas.” Ruditskiy will pursue his research, which also has what he calls “more mundane applications, like seals for doors on a ship that can compress and decom- press by flipping a switch,” with a 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. He is now studying in the laboratory of Evonne Zitouni Mircea Alexandru Comanescu professor Younan Xia, the Brock CUNY Baccalaureate Degree, ’13 John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Family Chair and Georgia Research CUNY Graduate Center, Masters, Liberal Arts Alexander Joseph Memorial Award, 2013 Alliance Eminent Scholar in Sally Abdelghafar Mircea Alexandru Comanescu Nanomedicine. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Born in Minsk, Belarus, he and his New York City Teaching Fellowship, 2013 Graduate Center, Criminal Justice family moved to New York City as Doctoral Program, Rosmarin Belliard Forensic Science Specialization refugees in 2002, when he was 11. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 “My mother and father were both New York City Urban Fellows, 2013 Maxi Cruz engineers who got degrees in the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Carlene Bobb JENESYS 2.0 and Youth Exchange Program Soviet Union,” he says. “I showed John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 with North America, 2013 interest in encyclopedias, so they Signature Role Model Program, 2013 bought them, and I read them.” John Spencer Cusick Joel Cabrera John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 At City College, he worked with John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 New York City Urban Fellowship, 2013 teachers like associate professor Arizona State University, M.A. Ilona Kretzschmar, who supervised Rachelle Theresa Fernandez Anjelica Camacho John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 his work on the electromagnetic John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Columbia University, School of Social Work assembly of Janus particles for nearly JENESYS 2.0 and Youth Exchange Program four years. with North America, 2013

16 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 19

For Jamar Whaley (Queens College, B.A. 2011), it has been a long, difficult climb. But this year, he won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and a federal Fulbright Fellowship. In 2009, he was awarded a federal Goldwater Scholarship. Here are some of the challenges he has faced: Years ago, feeling unprepared, Whaley quit Styuvesant High School. Later, without a GED, he talked his way into a tech- nical position that led to middle management. He had to take a CUNY admissions test to get into Queens. He rescued a crack-addicted friend. Recently, in his 30s, he was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, had surgery, and the prognosis is good. He plans to seek admission to a neuroscience doctoral program. But first he will study at the internationally known Beijing addiction clinic run by Ran Tao, noted for his work on Internet addiction disorder. The United States is said to rank second behind China in the number of individuals whose lives are severely affected by Internet addiction. Whaley’s prospective doctoral work would involve functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare how Internet addicts’ brains function normally and when encountering addictive triggers. Whaley originally planned on clinical psychology, but an experimental methods class led him into research in associate professor Robert Ranaldi’s laboratory. He also decided to become a role model for minority students in his field. Whaley’s great-grandmother, Elizabeth, now 91, raised him from infancy in Flushing, and he says he wants to help others the way she helped him. “I want to make sure others can have a life and excel after they have underachieved,” he says.

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 17 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 20

To win a 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, Jan Stepinski (Macaulay Honors College at City College, B.E. in environmental engineering, 2013) proposed using the data-crunching, mathematical process of inversion to identify components in the chaotic stream of informa- tion detected by atmospheric sensors. At City College, his related core undergrad- uate research was with Alexander Gilerson, an associate professor of electrical engineering, who uses remote sensing to evaluate and predict ocean health. Stepinski, CCNY’s 2013 valedictorian, will attend the Stanford Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering in the fall. During his work at Stanford while an under- graduate, Peter Kitanidis, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, asked him to employ inversion to reveal “how liquids flow through aquifers. This helps scientists to understand the repair of aquifers from fracking and oil drilling.” Inversion is also useful for understanding atmospheric pollutants. Despite the premise of the NSF award, Stepinski has shifted the likely focus of his Lauren Alexandra Fischer Daniel B. Grogul doctoral research, which the NSF grant allows. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 He has been in contact with a Stanford electrical Presidential Management Fellowship, 2013 Uniformed Fire Officers engineering professor who works with radar. Association Award, 2013 Kamar-Jay Foster Although he began his college career more John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Rabiah Gul interested in the humanities and economics, Middlebury College, The French School John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 he now says, “I think mathematics in its purest Thomas W. Smith Fellowship, 2012 Daniel Golebiewski form is an approximation of the world.” John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Khrys-Ann Monique Josephs Born in Brooklyn, Stepinski says he “spent Columbia University in the City of New York, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 most of my youth upstate in the forest.” Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Dean Scholarship from Boston College — M.A. in Human Rights Studies Lynch School of Education, 2013 At City College, Stepinski also won the Belden Medal for Advanced Calculus, the Post Atenedoro Gonzalez Jamila Khan Scholarship from the Society of American Mili- John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Saint John’s University, College of Law, JD CUNY Women's Public Service tary Engineers and the Peggy Cornell Benline Internship Program, 2012 Scholarship from the Municipal Engineers of Daniel B. Grogul the City of New York, all awarded in 2012. He John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Kemar McIntosh Touro Law School, Law School, JD John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 studied at the Frankfurt School of Finance & Stony Brook University — SUNY, Management during the summer of 2011. Graduate School

18 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 21

Maria Louisa Strangas, a Graduate Center doctoral student, has won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow- ship and is heading to the Brazilian forests to study how temperature patterns have affected the evolution of some rare lizards. Strangas (University of Rochester, B.S. in ecology and evolutionary biology, 2010) intends to look for Gymnophthalmid lizards found only on certain mountains. Strangas adds that she chose to study lizards because they are very vulnerable to climate change and don’t move far during their lifetimes. By sampling particular populations, she will get information about the climatic histories of their locations. She says she will, in part, look at “patterns to try to identify regions of the forest that might harbor the species most vulnerable to future climate change.” Her work grows out of her curiosity about the process of diversification in the Atlantic forest of Brazil, which has received far less atten- tion than the country’s Amazon forest. As an undergraduate, she worked on research Melanie P. Monzon Nayanny Yarinet Bello Paniagua projects documenting the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 composition of forests near Alex Smith Award for Excellence Washington DC internship Rochester. She also worked with logger- in Criminology, Interdisciplinary Studies with the Rogowsky program, 2013 Award for Academic Excellence, 2013 Anne Scheiber Memorial Award, head sea turtles through ARCHELON, the Distinguished Service Award, 2013 Sea Turtle Conservation Society of Greece. Shante Morales After graduating Phi Beta Kappa in John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Karolina Przegienda 2012 Women’s Forum John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 2010, Strangas went to work as a techni- Education Fund Scholarship, 2012 Adler School of Professional Psychology, cian in the laboratory of City College assis- Psy.D in Clinical Psychology tant professor Ana Carnaval before Abby Lynn Mulay John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Ratko Rakocevic deciding to pursue a doctorate. Carnaval Long Island University, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 studies spatial patterns of biodiversity and Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program Scholar-athlete, 2013 their underlying evolutionary and ecolog-

Danielle Palumbo Arlety Rosario ical processes. Queens’ Carnaval John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 continues to be her Ph.D. mentor. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Hunter College, MSW Strangas also has taught fifth- and sixth- Forensic Psychology M.A. graders science at an after-school program in Queens.

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 19 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 22

Tayyaba Toseef, a master’s student at Hunter College, has a National Science Foundation Fellow- ship to pursue research that could point the way toward therapies that may reverse the degenerative process in multiple sclerosis patients and regrow the myelin that their central nervous systems have lost. MS is a disease in which the protective myelin sheath surrounding nerves is destroyed. This severely limits nerve function and causes cognitive and motor defects. Myelin is like the insulation surrounding elec- tric wires: If it’s destroyed, the wires can’t function properly. Toseef’s research proposal aims for a better understanding of how oligodendrocytes cells that myelinate neurons (that is, put the insu- lation on nerves) in the central nervous system — function over the course of brain development. Her goal is to knock out a key gene that governs formation of oligodendro- cytes and then compare myelination in normal mice and those missing the gene. Toseef is working under the mentorship of Hunter assistant professor of biological sciences Carmen Melendez-Vasquez. “If we can identify the molecular mechanisms involved in nerve myelination, we can manip- ulate them to occur in adulthood and induce remyelination in conditions where myelin is depleted,” she says. Toseef began elementary school in her Malgorzata Renata Sekowska Chassitty N. Whitman John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 native Pakistan and then in Saudi Arabia. Her Anthony and Josephine Chmura Memorial John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Ph.D. family moved to Delaware when she was in Scholarship, 2012 — Clinical Psychology with full funding fifth grade, and she lived there until earning her bachelor’s degree in biology from Naithram “Nate” Singh Thomas Scot Wolinetz John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Delaware State University in 2011. INTERPOLWashington, D.C., Internship, 2013 Hofstra University School of Law, Toseef has previously worked on two proj- Maurice A. Deane School of Law, JD ects studying brain development. She hopes to Ryan L. Spiker John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 Folashade S. Alawiye enter a Ph.D. program to pursue a career in Presidential Management Fellowship, 2013 New York City College of Technology,’13 academic research. In addition to lab and National Science Foundation Research coursework, she has conducted classroom Arianne Vargas Experiences for Undergraduates Award Macauley Honors College demonstrations of neuroscience topics for at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, ’13 fifth-graders in Harlem Central Middle City College, Computer science School.

20 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 23

Jake V. Vaynshteyn, City Jacqueline Eleanor Anscombe Jeane Ivy Cruz New York City College of Technology, ’13 New York City College of Technology, ’13 College, B.E., 2009, will use his Scholarship Award for Broadway Sound C.A.R.E. Community Service Award in National Science Foundation Graduate Master Classes, 2013 memory of Professor Felice A. Chiaperini Research Fellowship to refine his under- Kristen Battaglia Raymond Garcia graduate research of the brain’s cerebral New York City College of Technology, ’13 New York City College of Technology, ’13 cortex as a first-year doctoral student at Bebe and Louise Hoffman Award The Charles Mauro Award Albert Einstein College of Medicine of for Creative Exploration of Food and Arts Winner, Junior Pastry Chef Challenge, Caroline Godoy Yeshiva University. U.S. Pastry Competition New York City College of Technology, ’13 The cerebral cortex, the outermost layer Société Culinaire Philanthropique Award for of neural tissue on the brain, plays a modu- Erica Dee Breiner Outstanding Potential in Pastry Arts New York City College of Technology, ’13 latory role in memory, perception, atten- Made In NY (MINY) Scholarship, 2013 Lorena M. Gomez tion, thought, language and consciousness. New York City College of Technology, ’13 It may represent the pinnacle of engi- Emilie Chinchilla Grand Central Partnership — neering. New York City College of Technology, ’13 Grand Gourmet Market Master of Science in Sustainability Vaynshteyn was born in the Soviet Union City College of NY to artist parents who left because they were not willing to paint regime propa- ganda. They moved to France and Utah before settling in New York as their son entered junior high school. Vaynshteyn later attended Queens College as a mathematics major and then switched to City as his interest in biomedical engineering grew. About City and the Grove School of Engi- neering, he says: “They craft your mind to solve problems.” For two years after graduation, Vaynshteyn was a technician at Rockefeller University and began asking the kinds of questions that neuroscientists pose regarding the brain. Using his engineering background, though, he was able to help a postdoctoral student develop an animal testing system in a molec- ular genetics laboratory. While at Queens, Vaynshteyn met and ultimately married Wendy Sanchez, who had a dual major in chemistry and computer science and sought to combine her interests in biomedical engineering. She also switched to the Grove School, and they worked on his senior project together. She earned her B.E. degree the year after he did, 2010. The couple, who have two sons, aged 3 and 19 months, are at Einstein.

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 21 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 24

Lukman Solola, Brooklyn College, B.S. in chemistry, 2012, now in a chemistry doctoral program at the University of Pennsylvania — won a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship to help him search for an environmentally friendly way to extract rare-earth metals. Rare-earth metals — including dyspro- sium, europium, neodymium, terbium and yttrium — are in critically short supply. They are needed, though, to produce cell- phones, electronic equipment and clean- energy products such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, photovoltaic thin-film solar cells and fluorescent lights. Despite the term “rare earth,” these and similar metallic elements are not actually rare. They are, though, difficult to extract from the ores than contain them. China has built a near-monopoly with an extraction process that begins with rocks, but then uses chemicals that are not environmentally friendly. Solola is looking for an alternative, cleaner way to do this. In the United States, he emphasizes, “we have a vibrant, environ- mentally friendly policy.” In his laboratory, he emphasizes, he deals with reagents and compounds rather than rocks. His mentor is Eric J. Schelter, an assistant professor of inorganic and materials chemistry. Joseph M. Gordon Melissa Mack Solola was born in New York City College New York City College Nigeria and moved to of Technology, ’13 of Technology, ’13 Brooklyn about six years ago, Partridge Invitation Scholarship Fellowship to attend Master's after finishing high school. In the Foundation Eddie Lane Award program in Mathematics Teacher Education summer of 2011, as an undergraduate, he Gloria M. Granthe St. John’s University. interned at Johns Hopkins School of Medi- New York City College cine. The summer before he worked on on of Technology, ’13 Randa Marie Elizabeth Vicksell Award, 2013 New York City College research on breast cancer vaccines at Albert of Technology, ’13 Einstein College of Medicine. Luciane Grillo Leo F. Caproni Global Citizen Award It was a high school chemistry teacher New York City College of Technology, ’13 Sandy J. Marin who motivated Solola to pursue chemistry. Eddie Bergman Award New York City College Now he volunteers at a Philadelphia high of Technology, ’13 school, helping to teach 11th- and 12th- The International Chefs Associa- tion, Big Apple Chapter Award grade chemistry.

22 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 25

Claudia Sanchez Imani J. Wood New York City College New York City College of Technology, ’13 of Technology, ’13 Société Culinaire Philanthropique The Union Square Hospitality Award for Outstanding Group Award Potential in Culinary Arts Karmen Yu Tom Sander New York City College New York City College of Technology, ’13 of Technology, ’13 PhD program in Math Education, Debragga & Spitler Award Montclair State University.

Carlos E. Santiago Yi Ming Yu New York City College New York City College of Technology, ’13 of Technology, ’13 Bear Dallis Associates Award CCNY’s Master's program for potential in Special Events in Pure Mathematics Planning Management Dmitriy Zemel Adolfo A Seda New York City College New York City College of Technology, ’13 of Technology, ’13 Masters of Architecture Frederick Wildman & Sons, (M.ARCH), Pratt Institute LTD Outstanding Potential in the Wine Industry Award, 2013 Stephanie Jean-Baptiste Queens College, ’13 Roopesh Seenarine Mellon Mays New York City College Undergraduate Fellowship of Technology, ’13 The Betsy Schaible Travel Award Michelle Chan Queens College, ’13 Valentina Stanovova Jeannette K. Watson New York City College Summer Fellowship of Technology, ’13 Harvard University Tara Gildea Graduate School of Design Career Queens College, ’13 Discovery Program Beinecke Brothers Memorial Scholarship Hong Jie Su New York City College Tracy Leong of Technology, ’13 Queens College, ’13 The Halton E. Merrill Award Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Juan Mejia Glenroy A. Moore Diandra Tobon New York City College of New York City College New York City College William A. Leverett Technology, ’13 of Technology, ’13 of Technology, ’13 Queens College, ’13 CCNY’s Master’s program Francis Lorenzini Cuisine Société Culinaire Philanthropique Jeannette K. Watson in Computer Science and Culture Award Award for Outstanding Potential in Summer Fellowship Pastry Arts Juan Mejia Carlos J. Morocho Madeline T. Yap New York City College New York City College Douglas John Triglianos Queens College, ’13 of Technology, ’13 of Technology, ’13 New York City College Fulbright Fellowship National Science Foundation Société Culinaire Philanthropique of Technology, ’13 Research Experiences for Award for Outstanding Potential in New York Law School, JD/MBA Undergraduates Award Culinary Arts Julio Viana Clark B. Monzon Emily Rodriguez New York City College New York City College New York City College of Technology, ’13 of Technology, ’13 of Technology, ’13 Master in Civil Engineering/ The International Chefs Associa- The American Institute Construction Management tion, Big Apple Chapter Award of Wine & Food Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec Canada

CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS 23 AWARDS_StS student awards program 7/15/13 3:41 PM Page 26

24 CUNY 2013 AWARD RECIPIENTS