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Student Spotlight
CSU-LSAMP PROUD Scholars
The CSU-LSAMP Program for Recognition of Undergraduate Distinction (CSU-LSAMP PROUD) is a program designed to recognize and highlight the achievements of our outstanding LSAMP students.
Cal Poly LSAMP would like to select four students or alumni based upon their achievements, such as outstanding academic performance, research accomplishments, service, leadership, or personal triumph.
Each PROUD Scholar receives a certificate acknowledging her/his distinction, and is featured in an annual CSU-LSAMP publication (available on the CSU-LSAMP website), released each October.
Nominations Now Open!
If you would like to nominate yourself or a fellow LSAMP student* to be recognized as a 2015 PROUD Scholar, please complete this form by Friday, April 17, 2015**.
Awardees will be selected by May 1, 2015.
*Award recipients must be a current or former Cal Poly LSAMP student eligible for financial support. "Non-eligible" LSAMP participants may be nominated for a Cal Poly LSAMP award using this form.
**Completion of this form does not guarantee that you or your nominee will be selected as a PROUD Scholar.
2014 PROUD Scholars
Kimberly Harry
Kimberly dreamed of becoming a successful woman in engineering, not by achieving personal academic and professional success, but by educating and empowering others through her efforts. She moved to the US from Trinidad in pursuit of higher education; after enrolling at EI Camino College, Kimberly worked diligently to maintain good grades while tutoring and being involved in great programs, such as MESA and WIT (Women in Technology). Kimberly received an NSF Award and the Kinder Morgan Scholarship while at EI Camino. Kimberly transferred to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in Fall 2011. At Cal Poly, she maintained an overall 3.5 GPA and received scholarships from Raytheon and Chevron. She was involved in student organizations where she demonstrated true leadership. Kimberly was an active member in the Society of Black Engineers and Scientists (SBES) for three years. For two summers, Kimberly worked in multiple states across the U.S. as a mentor in NSBE’s Summer Engineering Experience for Kids (SEEK) program. As a SEEK mentor, she increased elementary school students’ aptitude in math and science and their interest in pursuing STEM careers by engaging them in interactive, team-based engineering projects. In her second year at Cal Poly, she took a leadership position with Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, San Luis Obispo (IVSLO), a nationwide interdenominational campus ministry. Kimberly was also involved with Driven Toward Sisterhood (DTS), a cultural group on campus whose purpose is to create a positive environment and support system for African American women and women of African descent. Kimberly graduated with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering in Summer 2014.
George Brusch
As a first-generation college student, a love of nature was not enough to keep George in school after starting Cal Poly as Forestry major in the summer of 2003. Despite leaving Cal Poly with a 1.7 GPA, George was readmitted in the Fall of 2011 and hit the ground running. Switching his major to Biology, he maintained over a 3.9 GPA, was on the Dean’s List seven of eight quarters, and raised his cumulative GPA to above a 3.2. An active member in Cal Poly’s LSAMP program and the Biological Sciences Department, he conducted reptile and amphibian surveys at local reserves, created independent research projects on campus, traveled internationally to conferences, and assisted in numerous projects in one of Cal Poly’s Physiology labs. In addition to coauthoring three scientific papers, George participated in the Organization for Tropical Studies Research Experience for Undergrads (REU) program, where he travelled to Costa Rica, conducted his own research project, and wrote a manuscript that will soon be published in a scientific journal. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Cal Poly, George was offered Ph.D. fellowships at two top universities, and began at Arizona State University in the fall of 2014, studying physiology with Dr. Dale DeNardo. Most recently, George was awarded a highly competitive Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, which will help support up to three years of his Ph.D. program, allowing him to focus on cutting-edge research.
Adam Smith
Adam is an Industrial Engineering major and second-year transfer student from San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA. He was involved in the school’s MESA program, where he joined a vibrant community of supportive students. He became the co-president of the SJDC chapter of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), and led the expansion of members from seven to forty-two. During the summer of 2013, he interned for Bayer HealthCare’s biomanufacturing facility in Berkeley to learn and contribute to operational excellence activities on-site; an experience that cemented his decision to pursue a career in the field of industrial engineering. Adam was ecstatic to be accepted to Cal Poly, his dream school. In his first year, Adam became the Transfer Student Representative for the school’s SHPE chapter. In this capacity, he lead fundraising activities in partnership with GRID Alternatives to install solar panels on the homes of low-income residents of the Central Coast. Adam also took a one-week trip to Shanghai as part of an International Supply Chain Class where he met with industry experts, and explored the city’s cultural and tourist locations. During summer 2014, Adam interned at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems in Santa Barbara in a supply chain management role for electronic sub-components. This academic year, Adam is the vice president for Cal Poly’s SHPE chapter, and is working to send a record number of students to the SHPE National conference. Adam is thankful for how much his mom has sacrificed to make things possible for him.
Javier Suarez
Javier Ibarra Suárez transferred from Riverside Community College to Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where he received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering. During his undergraduate studies, Javier took advantage of a number of internship opportunities both domestic and abroad. During summer 2012, the German academic exchange service (DAAD) awarded Javier a 2 month internship to work in Germany for the University of Freiburg. In Freiburg, the research dealt with the design of an ASIC that was capable of being self-sustaining with the use of fuel cells that could also transmit data wirelessly. The following summer he was awarded an internship from Intel. At Intel, Javier worked in a lab where he programmed in a variety of languages, made measurements, automated several time-saving processes to make manual measurements, and developed debug tools. As a result of his contributions, Intel selected Javier as one of their doctoral fellows in the National GEM Consortium Fellowship program. In Fall 2013, he was invited to be a part of the MERGE cohort, a multicultural recruiting event sponsored by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). More recently, Javier has been admitted as a Ph.D. student to the prestigious department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UIUC. He is a 2014 recipient of a SURGE fellowship sponsored by UIUC and in the Fall of 2014 he began his work with Bliss Professor of Engineering, Dr. Stephen Boppart, in the field of Optogenetics.
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CSU-LSAMP at Cal Poly is supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. HRD-1826490 and the CSU Chancellor's Office, and coordinated by the Center for Engineering, Science, and Mathematics Education (CESAME) at Cal Poly, SLO. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
