MERGE Lab Research Alumni
Claire Bengtson (M.S. ME ’21, B.S. ME ’20) conducted graduate research in the Nonlinear Controls and Robotics lab on human rehabilitation devices. She is a contributor to the MERGE Lab’s OER design textbook and served as a Teaching Assistant for EML4502.
Marilyn Braojos (B.S. ME & B.S. Neuroscience ’21) is an M.S. ME student in the UF Precision Space Systems Laboratory. She was the MAE Department’s Fall 2020 Peterson Family Fellow and seved on the 2021 Fall EML4501 Teaching Team. In 2021 Spring, Marilyn was the EML4501 Teaching Team Program Manager. Her MERGE Lab research explored peer evaluation for teams of students in large-enrollment capstone design courses. She created a tool to measure the impact of peer feedback on teamwork performance of individual students in a group.
Ezinne Chukwunenye (B.S. ME ’20) is a 2021-2022 MERGE Lab Instructional Fellow. She is pursuing a UF ME M.S. with emphasis on Design. As an undergraduate student, Ezinne was a Teaching Assistant for Computer Programming for Engineers and was a member of the EML4501 Teaching team from Summer 2020 through Spring 2021. During the summer terms, she interned with GE Aviation. Ezinne also earned a patent for a multi-compartment pitcher she designed with a colleague. Her MERGE Lab project is developing metal casting capabilities for the lab.
Ezinne was offered a position in GE Aviation’s Edison Engineering Development Program. It is a rotational early career program, so she will be starting off in Cincinnati, Ohio and moving to various places in the United States, every six months, depending on project.
Cristian Dionisi (B.S. ME ’21 & B.S. Math ’21) is a University of Florida graduate with a strong passion for teaching, engineering, and mathematics. Cristian joined the MERGE Lab in Spring 2021, and he was a 2021 MERGE Summer Fellow and Program Manager of the EGN3353C Fluid Mechanics (with Lab) course, Cristian is currently a Teaching Assistant for Mechanical Design 2 and 3, and he has extensive experience in engineering analysis and design. He has conducted research at the Center for Safety, Simulation, and Advanced Learning Technologies (CSSALT); the Nonlinear Controls and Robotics Lab; the Integrative Mechanobiology Lab; and the Precision Agriculture Lab. Cristian’s research interests include Autonomous and Dynamical Systems, Optimization and Control, Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos, Computer Vision, and Machine Learning. His personal interests include weight training and nutrition, hiking, hardware/software modding, and investment trading
Gaby Faxas (Senior Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate) works with high school students as a mentor for the STEM Tank summer program. She is a member of Generational Relief in Prosthetics (GRiP) and has developed toys for children with movement disabilities as part of GRiP. Gaby also volunteers at UF Health Shands Hospital where she assists medical staff in the Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Institute with application and removal of orthopedic casts and shadows OT and PT procedures.
Sydney Fletcher (B.S. ME ’20) is an engineer at Edwards Lifesciences where she develops tools and technologies to help surgeons and patients. While in the MERGE Lab at UF, Sydney was on the EML4502 Teaching Team, and she was also a Design and Manufacturing Lab Undergraduate TA. Her MERGE Lab research focused on developing low cost instructional tools for high-school biology classrooms.
Nina Jones is an engineering intern at SpaceX and was previously a Design Engineer at Engineer Inc. Her undergraduate Honors thesis, conducted in the MERGE Lab, focused on design and fabrication of a hands-on fluid dynamics teaching laboratory kit to enable remote learners to experimentally measure pipe flow velocity profiles. This experiment in used now in the MAE Department’s EGN3353C Fluid Dynamics course. Nina’s research paper on how this kit was developed was named Best Undergraduate Paper at the 2021 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Southeastern Section Conference.
Lingwei “Will” Kong (B.S. ME ’20) is a contributor to the OER textbook being published by MERGE Lab. He was also a teaching assistant at the Design and Manufacturing Lab, facilitating a hands-on manufacturing experience for undergraduate students in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department. Will previously worked in fiber optic manufacturing and has acted as a mechanical consultant to the UF ChemE Car design team.
Francesca Lopez (Senior ME Undergraduate) is a 2021-22 MERGE Instructional Fellow. She joined the MERGE Lab in 2021 Spring as a member of the EML4501 Teaching Team where she initiated work on mixed media instruction of senior design students. Francesca’s technical interests include manufacturing design, the automotive industry, and material science and engineering.
Luis Mendoza (B.S. ME ’21 & B.S. AE ’21) completed his undergraduate honors thesis in the MERGE Lab. Luis’s research involved testing an apparatus for measurement of the unsteady Bernoulli’s Equation to predict drain time correctly. This fluids experiment supports development of hands-on laboratory teaching kits for remote learners. In the past, Luis assisted as a tutor in the UF calculus sequence and introductory physics courses with the goal of helping students achieve academic success. In 2022 Spring Luis entered the aerospace engineering Ph.D. program at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Thomas Murphy (B.S. ME ’21) joined the MERGE Lab in the Spring of 2021 as an Instructional Fellow embedded with teh EML4501 Teaching Team where he worked on mixed media instruction for senior design students. Thomas was also involved with EML4502 as a Design Critic. His other interests include renewable energy, robotics, racing, and novel applications of engineering methods.
Ava Nemanic (B.S. ME ’21) is a Mechanical Engineer at General Motors. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from UF where she was on the MRI Team of UF’s Dream Team Engineering, and he conducted undergraduate honors thesis research in the MERGE Lab. Ava’s research project was to design, build, and test a miniature Tesla Turbine for use in a thermodynamics teaching kit for remote learners. Previously, she interned at Garmin, GE Appliances, and Siemens Energy.
Ava’s working title right now is ICE Development Engineer in the Chassis & Thermal Management department
Daniel Prestridge (B.S. ME ’21) is a Process Engineer with Proctor & Gamble. While at UF, he was a contributing co-author on the MERGE Lab OER engineering design textbook, and he was a member of the 2020 Fall EML4501 Teaching Team where he served as class liaison to ANSYS, Inc. Prior to UF, Daniel served in the U.S. Navy and held several technician jobs. He worked in multiple UF engineering laboratories across three engineering departments: Biomedical, Civil, and Mechanical & Aerospace contributing to projects including 1) a device that targets and kills cancer cells, 2) wind speed and direction collection towers that stand in the eyes of hurricanes, and 3) an autonomous go kart. Daniel also served as lead mentor for a high school robotics team lighting the way for future engineers.
David Summa (B.S. AE ’20) graduated Summa cum Laude from UF. David joined Gator Motorsports shortly after arriving on campus in 2016 and spent four years growing into his eventual role as the lead intake and exhaust design engineer. For David’s MERGE Lab undergraduate thesis, he developed a new method for optimizing intake and exhaust parameters based on a combination of simulations and track data. David is currently working at Blue Origin and pursuing a Masters of Science in Aerospace Engineering through UF EDGE.
Samuel Toby (B.S. ME ’21) is a Manufacturing Engineer at United Plastic Fabricating. While in the MERGE Lab, he was a contributing author to the lab’s OER engineering design textbook, and he was a member of the 2020 Fall and 2021 Spring EML4501 Teaching Teams. Samuel received the MAE Department’s 2021 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Award for contributions to Mech II. Previously, he was a mentor for a high school robotics team in the FIRST competition.
Brooke Towns (B.S. ME ’21) is a Magna cum Laude UF graduate with a Minor in Biomechanics. She is pursuing an engineering M.S. at Boston University starting in Fall 2021. Brooke was a 2021 MERGE Summer Fellow. She also served on the MERGE Lab research team that reduced to practice a human lift and support harnesses derived from 2020 Spring’s EML4501 course project. This device enables rehabilitative elliptical machine exercise for patients suffering leg motor control loss due to illness or injury. This design is among six finalists in the nation selected for the 2021 SB3C/NSF UG Student Design Competition. In addition, Brooke volunteered as a Project Manager for Generational Relief in Prosthetics (GRiP) as well as being an Undergraduate Researcher for the UF Nonlinear Controls and Robotics Lab.
Josh is a first generation, third-year, Mechanical Engineering undergraduate student. He is currently the chassis lead for Gator Motorsports, the UF Formula SAE team. His research focuses on composite laminates, namely how to decrease the weight and increase the torsional stiffness of a chassis using composite materials. His research interests include composites, aerospace structures, and racing.