GREATS Scholars 2021-2022 Cohort

Desire M. Ortiz Torres (she/her/hers) is a Latinx 4th-year Ph.D. student in the Chemistry Department. Her research focuses on the synthesis of novel FASN-Specific PET tracers for the discrimination of prostate cancer phenotypes, led by Dr. Stephen DiMagno in collaboration with Dr. John Babich from Weill Cornell Medicine. She is also working as a teaching assistant for undergrad level courses in Chemistry. Prior to coming to UIC, Desire received a BS degree from the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus in Chemistry. In her free time, she is a curly hair & beauty blogger in partnership with local brands. Also, she enjoys dancing salsa and recently finished a sign language ASL intermediate course.

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Pedro Fernandez Jr is a first-year mechanical engineer Ph.D. student in the High-Pressure Shock Tube Lab (HPST) under the guidance of Professor Kenneth Brezinsky. Pedro received his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in May of 2021. During his undergrad, he was a member of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), secretary for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) UIC chapter, team lead for Chicago Hyperloop, and intern for GE Aviation. During the summer of 2018 and 2019, Pedro participated in undergraduate research at Princeton University and the Institute of Nanobiology and Structural Biology in the Czech Republic, respectively. He is driven to help support and mentor students in under-resourced communities. In his free time, Pedro enjoys spending time with family, friends, and loved ones as well as playing sports and working out.

Ashley Blackwell is a fouth-year PhD graduate student in Electrical engineering who recently transferred from Howard University Physics department in Fall 2021. While at Howard she has completed 2 consecutive internships with the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory researching quantum bit designs for quantum computation. While working on this project, she was awarded the National Science Foundation’s Quantum Information, science and engineering Network (NSF QISENET) Fellowship to continue her work with NRL past the summer which lasted for 3 years. Also, during the Fall of 2020, she obtained the GEM Fellowship which she decided to accept through UIC which came with an opportunity to intern at the Commonwealth Edison company (ComED) for the summer 2021. She completed her undergraduate degree in physics at Dillard University in 2016 where her research was in thin film ablation processes which produced 4 published papers. Ashley’s current dissertation at UIC is on an IBM collaboration project in quantum computing titled, “Quantum Permutation Algorithm for Qutrit and Up”, under the direction of Dr. Thomas A. Searles. She is a mother first and academic after as she has a 3-year-old daughter and soon to be newborn son (being welcomed Nov 2021). Her hobbies include travel and anything that is kid friendly.

Kenya Andrews is a Second-Year PhD Student at the University of Illinois Chicago in the Data, Information, and Computation, Equitably (DICE )Lab led by Dr. Mesrob I. Ohannessian. She is a recipient of the Bill and Melinda Gates Millennium Scholarship and NSF Bridge to Doctorate Fellowship. She is researching Machine Learning Justice; her main interests surround algorithmic justice, algorithmic bias, and decision-making with the intersection of Human-Robot Interaction. She is particularly interested in: (1) using machine learning algorithms to mitigate injustice amongst historically marginalized groups so that they have fair access to opportunities through increased visibility of those groups, (2) working towards just algorithmic decision-making which is comprehensive for all people and encourages growth towards a thriving society for all people, and (3) designing just and fair decision-making algorithms that drive Human-Robot Interaction. Her current project is looking at fairness in the allocation of Covid-19 Vaccines amongst vulnerable populations. Kenya is a proud graduate of the Dual Degree Engineering Program with Spelman College where she earned a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science and Auburn University where she earned a Bachelors of Computer Engineering. In her spare time, she mentors several students and connects them with scholarship opportunities. Her main hobby interests lay in mentorship and dance.

Naysha Pinet-Vélez (she,her,ella) is a 2^nd year Ph.D. student in the Chemistry department, majoring in Biochemistry. She earned her B.S. in Biotechnology from the University Ana G. Méndez, Carolina Campus, Puerto Rico in 2020. During her undergraduate research, she became part of a research training program for undergraduate students funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH) that provided funds to conduct biomedical research, participate in international conferences and network opportunities. She was awarded the Puerto Rico Center for Environmental Neuroscience-Center’s Undergraduate Student Fellowship (PRCEN-USF) by NSF that supported her first co-authored publication in environmental toxicology. She was a UIC Summer Research Opportunities Program Scholar two years consecutive that led her to apply and receive the Summer Research Opportunities Program (SROP) Early Admissions Graduate Fellowship. Naysha joined an immune imaging lab led by Dr. Ying S. Hu and her doctoral research focuses on calcium ion (Ca²⁺) imaging on T lymphocytes. She is currently the treasurer of UIC’s Black Graduate Student Association and the Graduate Student Council Representative for the Chemistry Graduate Student Association. She has designed an immunology and imaging mini course that is currently being offered to a High School in Puerto Rico via Zoom as a volunteer. During her free time, she enjoys long walks, painting and yoga.

Salvador Echeveste is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering working in the Robotics and Motion Laboratory (RAM) led by Dr. Pranav Bhounsule. Salvador received a BS in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology with a minor in Mathematics from Texas A&M University. As an undergrad, Salvador was a member of the Mobile Integrated Solutions Laboratory (MISL) where he worked on several rovers including a specimen collection rover for NASA.

At a graduate level he has worked on the design of walking robots, adaptive controllers for pendulum systems, and soft lower body exoskeletons. Currently, he is working on the design and control of a hip exoskeleton that will help combat lower body impairments that affect balance and gait symmetry while walking.

In his free time, Salvador enjoys staying active by practicing martial arts, lifting weights, and training for a marathon.

Yaneris M. Alvarado-Cartagena is a second year PhD student at the Chemistry department at UIC. She grew up in Cayey, a town in the center of Puerto Rico, where she graduated from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey with a B.S. in Natural Sciences. During her time as an undergraduate student, Yaneris developed an interest in conducting research, which inspired her to join a research team on her campus and participate in the Summer Research Opportunity Program at UIC. Her current research interests as part of the Aldrich lab include the use of small molecules as autophagy modulators to study their effects in rare diseases. In her spare time, Yaneris enjoys playing and cuddling with her dog Arya, playing video games, and watching movies and series.

Ernesto A. Hernandez Hinojosa is a Mexican-American Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering working in the Robotics and Motion Laboratory under the guidance of Dr. Pranav A. Bhounsule.  Ernesto received his BS degree in Engineering Physics from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley where he conducted research in the Biophysics lab. During his time there he organized and participated in STEM youth outreach events as president of the IEEE club.

His research interests span the area of robotics, nonlinear control strategies, and hybrid systems, with a special focus on applications to bipedal robotic walking and assistive exoskeletons. He was recently awarded the American Heart Association Pre-Doctoral Research Grant to study human biomechanics and develop human-inspired walking controllers with applications in the fields of stroke rehabilitation and legged robotics.

Some of his favorite activities outside of the lab include going on morning runs along the lakefront trails, watching and playing fútbol and finding new restaurants to visit with his wife.