Student Spotlights

Developing microfluidic tissue-on-chip systems through immunoengineering. Studying how extracellular vesicles in bacterial cells communicate with human cells. This is the parlance that National Institutes of Health (NIH) independent research scholar Parinaz Fathi speaks with confidence. The former mechanical engineering major (with an Honors College citation in the Gemstone program) is one of the youngest principal investigators in the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at NIH. She began in July 2022 as an independent research scholar working on nanotechnology and microfluidic models, specifically biological nanoparticles.

Safiullah Rifai ’23 is a graduating senior in the Integrated Life Sciences (ILS) program majoring in math, biology and computer science. He has worked as a research associate at the […]

Kousalya Gaddam is a sophomore DCC student studying public health science on the pre-dental track. She is the DCC Honors Ambassador's Team Captain, Co Leadership Vice President of her professional co-ed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, a Students Engaged in Public Health member, a Resident Assistant, and works at McKeldin Library. Kousalya is also currently a research assistant and is completing an independent study project.

Mingxin is currently pursuing a dual degree in chemistry and mathematics on the statistics track. She is in University Honors.  On campus, she is the vice president of SHARE (Supporting Hospitals Abroad through Resources and Education), which aims to ship medical supplies overseas to underprivileged countries. She is also a CMNS Ambassador and part of the Federal Fellows Program in the Global Health & Water Security sector. She is also an AMP for CHEM177 and helps first-year chemistry majors adjust to UMD and the chemistry department.

Jahnavi is a junior Honors Terp pursuing a dual degree in government and politics (international relations) and public policy, with two minors in history and law and society. She is an alum of the Honors Humanities program and works extensively across campus to make new Terps feel like UMD is home! Aside from school, Jahnavi is involved as an Honors Ambassador, a resident assistant (RA), and a teaching assistant, and also founded a student organization.

Jiayi is a sophomore in the Interdisciplinary Business Honors (IBH) program majoring in finance and information systems. She is involved in IBH as a teaching assistant for HBUS 100, a peer mentor, a member of the student advisory board, and a student ambassador for the Honors College. 

Amanda Liu is a senior majoring in computer science (CS) and minoring in statistics. Her Honors living-learning program is ACES. Some of her favorite activities at UMD have been TAing for CS classes, doing Natural Language Processing (NLP) research, helping to organize their flagship hackathons (Technica and Bitcamp), and conducting student outreach through the Honors Ambassadors and Computer Science Ambassadors programs.

We aren't surprised to see some of our Honors students among UMD's "amazing freshmen" this fall! The Maryland Today feature spotlights figure skater Ella Chen (UH), esports leader Raymond Flowers (ACES), climate activist Javier Fuentes (DCC), baker and businesswoman Savannah Grooms (UH), and magazine co-editor-in-chief Abbey Vanasse (UH). We are continually amazed by all that our students are doing to change and improve the world!

Junior Gemstone student and public health major Esohe Owie ’25 had two internships this summer—one at the Maryland Center for Health Equity (through the Do Good Institute's Impact Interns program) and another at the Maryland Department of Health. In both positions, she was involved in community-centered work geared toward promoting equitable health access in Maryland through improved health literacy and communication. Her work involved documenting public response to the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting a program to help underserved Medicare communities access health care in our region.

Senior ACES student and computer science major and cybersecurity minor Antonio Farias ’24 interned this summer at Hanscom Air Force Base. Antonio learned about the internship through the exclusive Cybercorp Scholarship for Service career fair, where he spoke with recruiters for the Air Force’s Premier College Internship Program (PCIP). His internship explored the Air Force's current mission to transition to a Zero Trust Architecture over the next decade.