Nathan Mahary is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering Department. He interned at , a global medical device company, and has been heavily involved with the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) during his time at 桃色视频.

Medtronic treats about 70 health conditions and their technologies include cardiac devices, surgical robotics, insulin pumps, surgical tools and patient monitoring systems. 

How did you first get interested in electrical & computer engineering? 

Growing up, I loved playing with electronics either if it was taking apart RC cars and helicopters and putting them back together. That curiosity naturally led me to engineering. I joined a robotics program in high school, which helped me realize how much I enjoyed the combination of electrical and software engineering. When I started college, I initially entered as an open engineering major to explore my options, but inevitably knew I鈥檇 end up in electrical and computer engineering. I just love how the two fields complemented each other, allowing me to work in both hardware and software.

How did you find out about the internship with Medtronic?

Through NSBE, we had a connection with Medtronic. Medtronic invited NSBE members to visit their facility, and they asked for resumes for anyone interested in learning about their career opportunities. I submitted mine and then received an email inviting me to an interview. I wouldn鈥檛 have had that opportunity to learn about Medtronic without NSBE.

What was it like knowing that NSBE played a role in securing your internship?

It was surreal. Glory to God! Our goal in collaborating with Medtronic was to open up opportunities for NSBE members. When they mentioned internship opportunities, I figured I had nothing to lose by submitting my resume. Medtronic was an opportunity to work in an area that had matched my skill set and gave me an opportunity to strengthen those skills.

What kind of projects did you work on during your internship?

My role was primarily in software engineering. I developed a testing application for the surgical operations software team using a programming language of my choice. I wasn鈥檛 very strong in Python at that time, so my mentor encouraged me to work on that and by the end of the summer, I had significantly improved my coding skills. It was an eye-opening experience because I never saw myself working in the medical field. My true passion has been space technology, but this internship showed me how impactful and rewarding medical technology can be.

Beyond technical skills, what did you learn from the internship?

One major takeaway was learning to work on a larger team. In my school projects, I had worked with at most up to four people. At Medtronic, I was part of a much larger team, and I had to learn how to do my part while integrating my work into a bigger system. 

Another incredible aspect was being able to shadow other engineers. Since I have an electrical background, I was honest with them and wanted to explore both software and hardware. One of the managers connected me with a hardware engineer who I got to work with in the lab where I soldered components and learned more about the hardware. That hands-on experience helped me stay connected to my electrical engineering roots.

How has NSBE influenced your professional development?

NSBE has played a huge role in my college journey. Before 桃色视频, my cousin, who was on the NSBE board, encouraged me to attend a meeting. At first, I was only focused on academics鈥攇etting good grades and doing well in class. But NSBE introduced me to the professional side of engineering: how to market myself, build a resume and practice for interviews. That changed everything for me.

During my sophomore year I became the media chair and helped promote events to our members. I wanted to give back more to NSBE and thankfully became vice president my junior year, which gave me the platform to help others in the same way NSBE had helped me. Leading NSBE meetings and connecting our members with more opportunities helped grow my leadership tremendously.

What was your experience like at NSBE鈥檚 professional conferences?

The NSBE National Convention is an incredible opportunity, and I always encourage students to attend. Over 300 companies and grad schools participate, and the career fair alone is a game-changer. At home, you might apply to two or three jobs a day, but at the conference, you have hundreds of companies right in front of you. It鈥檚 one of the best ways for students to land internships and jobs. 

What are your post-graduation plans?

I have two major goals. God willing, first, I鈥檓 returning to Medtronic in the fall as a software engineer, which is a huge opportunity for me. Second, I鈥檓 working with a few other students on a potential startup. My business minor has been incredibly valuable in that process, and I鈥檝e always been passionate about the business side of engineering. I even took an engineering management course this year to sharpen my skills. Whether it鈥檚 through Medtronic or this startup, I鈥檓 excited about what鈥檚 ahead!

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The American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) has recognized 桃色视频 as one of the top 200 colleges for Indigenous students in its 2024-2025 national rankings.

, a national organization dedicated to increasing Indigenous representation in STEM fields, evaluated schools based on the strength of their support programs for Native students, as well as undergraduate enrollment and graduation rates.

The AISES chapter at 桃色视频 serves as a community for Indigenous students in the College of Engineering and Applied Science and across campus, connecting those interested in STEM and supporting them academically and professionally. This recognition reflects 桃色视频鈥檚 commitment to fostering an environment where Indigenous students can thrive in STEM鈥攁 commitment embodied by the leaders of its AISES chapter.

Noelle Bagola, the chapter鈥檚 treasurer, said  her journey with AISES has empowered her professionally and personally.

鈥淏eing part of AISES allowed me to grow as a leader,鈥� she said.

Through her involvement, Bagola developed skills in areas she once found challenging, like connecting with professionals at conferences and building strong peer relationships.

鈥淣ow, I feel confident communicating with people and stepping up to help others. Becoming a leader has been my biggest accomplishment with AISES.鈥�

For Shellene Redhorse, AISES chapter president and a third-year aerospace engineering student, the chapter鈥檚 impact extends beyond 桃色视频鈥檚 campus.

鈥淎 lot of what AISES does is about supporting our members and the Indigenous community,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he Indigenous community at 桃色视频 may be small, and the STEM students within that community are even more rare, but we are here.鈥�

One of her proudest achievements was taking students to this year鈥檚 national AISES conference in San Antonio, where they connected with other Native scientists. Redhorse also highlighted the chapter鈥檚 outreach to Indigenous students in Denver, where they host hands-on STEM activities, including rocketry demonstrations at Lake Middle School.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to inspire middle-schoolers by showing them what a future in STEM could look like,鈥� she said.

鈥淲hen I was in school, I didn鈥檛 think a STEM career was possible for me until I got to work on hands-on projects. I know many Native students don鈥檛 have those opportunities, so we鈥檙e working to change that.鈥�

Looking forward, AISES aims to establish a more permanent support network for Native students in Denver, opening more pathways into STEM fields.

Indigenous Knowledge and STEM

Both Bagola and Redhorse draw from Indigenous knowledge to inform their approach to STEM.

Redhorse, who is of Navajo (Din茅) and Chickasaw descent, described how her cultural heritage shapes her engineering perspective.

鈥淚n our culture, we observe nature closely鈥攈ow animals act, how weather patterns shift, even how the stars guide us. Our ancestors used this knowledge for everything from growing crops to building structures,鈥� she said.

Inspired by these traditions, she incorporates Indigenous wisdom into school projects.

鈥淚 remember building a small rover in sixth grade based on how a beetle moved away from light. It鈥檚 that respect for nature and deep observation that really inspires me.鈥�

Redhorse often reflects on Navajo understandings of stars and space, which she sees as especially relevant to her studies in aerospace. She also appreciates Indigenous approaches to sustainability, noting how Native architecture adapts to harsh climates in environmentally mindful ways.

鈥淲hether it鈥檚 the way water moves around structures or how a hogan鈥攁 traditional dwelling and ceremonial structure鈥攔etains heat, these hold incredible value in my engineering work.鈥�

Bagola, an integrative physiology student and a member of the Navajo (Din茅) and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes, finds similar connections in her field.

鈥淔or us, health is not just physical鈥攊t鈥檚 about mind, spirit, and experience,鈥� she explained.

鈥淚ndigenous medicine, like using sweat lodges, plays an important role in healing. Staying connected with your spirit is essential to being truly healthy.鈥�

Community and Advice for Indigenous STEM Students

鈥淎ISES is a really welcoming community for Native students here at CU,鈥� Redhorse said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a safe space where we can connect, share and rejuvenate. Our meetings are open to anyone, you don鈥檛 have to be Native. We welcome anyone who wants to learn about our culture and support us.鈥�

• American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
• Native American Law Students Association
• Center for Native American & Indigenous Students (CNAIS)
  • Undergraduate Certificate
  • Graduate Certificate

Like Bagola, Redhorse also said her involvement with AISES has helped her grow as a leader. Recently, she was invited to welcome the keynote speakers at 桃色视频鈥檚 Indigenous Peoples鈥� Day plenary event鈥攁 role she could not have imagined for herself as a first-year student.

Chantal Baca, academic services manager for the BOLD Center, has served as the AISES faculty advisor for the past academic year. She noted the inclusive community for Indigenous students and credits AISES鈥� executive student board and members over the last five years.

鈥淭he AISES chapter is a remarkable group of student leaders who embody the vision, achievement and STEM student success,鈥� said Baca. 鈥淭heir membership has made a significant impact in the College of Engineering and Applied Science.鈥�

Student leaders offer heartfelt advice to Indigenous students interested in STEM.

鈥淚t鈥檚 OK to feel alone sometimes, but find your community, and don鈥檛 be afraid to ask for help,鈥� said Bagola. 鈥淛oining AISES helped me step out of my comfort zone, gain confidence and start reaching out to my professors and others in my field.鈥�

鈥淚n engineering, there were five women in a room of 50 students鈥攁nd being Native added another layer,鈥� said Redhorse. 鈥淏ut, I鈥檇 tell anyone in that position: keep going.鈥�

鈥淥ur people are resilient, and if you push through and find your community, you鈥檒l thrive.鈥�

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桃色视频 researchers are exploring the use of sodium-ion batteries as an alternative to lithium-based energy storage.

While sodium is abundant and could help address supply chain issues linked to lithium scarcity, current sodium-ion batteries have not performed as well as lithium-ion batteries due to their lower energy density and shorter lifespans.

To tackle these challenges, Chunmei Ban, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science, and her research team are developing new electrolytes and studying how they interact with battery electrodes to enhance performance and longevity.

Funded by the , this work aims to improve the overall effectiveness of sodium-ion batteries making them a more viable energy storage option.

Ban notes that sodium, widely distributed in the Earth鈥檚 crust, is an appealing candidate for large-scale energy storage solutions and is an emerging market in the United States.

鈥淭he sodium-ion battery market provides significant opportunities for new companies and a pathway to domestic manufacturing dominance,鈥� said Ban. 鈥淪odium may offer a potential remedy to concerns over resource scarcity with lithium-ion batteries.鈥�

Researching battery alternatives

Kangmin Kim, a fourth-year chemical engineering student and BOLD Scholar, participated in the research project through CU SPUR gaining hands-on experience in hopes to further his research interest in battery technologies for graduate school.

鈥淟ithium battery technology is reaching a point where improvements are becoming more incremental than transformative,鈥� said Kim, 鈥渟o we need alternative renewable technologies that we can rely on.鈥� 

He believes improved battery technology is essential for advancing society and fostering a more sustainable energy future.

鈥淲e will need these improved battery technologies for everything from electric vehicles to drones and cell phones,鈥� he said.

Through Kim鈥檚 research experience, he developed battery fabrication skills and learned the importance of precision and attention to detail in creating high-quality batteries.

鈥淭he lab work was actually quite similar to cooking, which is an activity I love to do,鈥� said Kim. 鈥淜nowing what ingredients we need, what precautions must be taken, what tools and techniques are used are just like working in the lab.鈥�

In mentoring students like Kim, Ban highlights how fulfilling it is to work with students who demonstrate a strong passion for science and technology and eagerness to learn.

鈥淚t has been a rewarding experience to witness undergraduate students like Kangmin grow their research and scientific skills in helping to solve some of our major global challenges.鈥� 

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Assistant Professor Maria Pacheco is driven to connect LGBTQ+ individuals with opportunities both in and outside of the classroom. 

Pacheco, based in the Department of Computer Science, earned the 2024 Dr. Evelyn Hooker Advocacy Award presented by the Out in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (oSTEM) organization at 桃色视频. oSTEM honors one faculty member or teaching assistant of the campus community annually who has inspired LGBTQ+ students through mentorship or research to flourish in STEM.

鈥淢aria has been advocating to create a safe and welcoming environment for her students,鈥� a statement from the oSTEM executive board said. 鈥淲e are honored to give Maria the recognition she deserves for supporting the LGBTQ+ community on campus.鈥� 

Pacheco, although early in her tenured-track career, has already left an impactful mark on the students she serves. One of her students, Juan Vasquez, received mentorship even before he began his PhD journey. 

鈥淒r. Pacheco supported me as a queer Latin American student in academia,鈥� said Vasquez, 鈥渁nd she offered specific advice about how to face some particular issues I might encounter given my particular identity.鈥� 

That advice helped him land several PhD offers and grants, and now as one of her lab students, he sees how he鈥檚 improved as a researcher. Pacheco understands that queer PhD students come from diverse backgrounds and face unique challenges, and is always discussing how she can better support them, he notes.

鈥淗er openness to diversity makes her an incredible asset to academia. True mentors foster their mentees鈥� strengths while also celebrating their unique identities,鈥� said Vasquez. 

Service through leadership

鈥淢y own motto is essentially to get involved so we can empower each other in our communities,鈥� said Pacheco. 鈥淎s a LGBTQ person myself, sometimes just serving in professional spaces is helpful for students.鈥�

Pacheco, who wanted to be part of a queer community interested in AI/ML issues, first became connected with the organization as a graduate student at Purdue University. 

Queer in AI is a global grassroots organization that raises awareness of queer issues in AI/ML through a community of queer scientists. She recommends any student who wants to connect to join their Slack group through where they can pitch ideas for workshops, bounce ideas for research opportunities, raise funds for conferences and network with industry and NGOs. 

Pacheco is chairing the diversity and inclusion committee at the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (NAACL) taking place in Mexico City this summer, where she will provide support for the Latinx in AI and Queer in AI affinity groups. She expressed excitement since this is the first time the conference is being hosted in Latin America and expects strong participation from Latin American institutions. 

She encourages students to submit their work in progress to affinity group workshops like , and Queer in AI, which are usually co-located with these larger, wider conferences like the NAACL and the International Conference on Machine Learning. She said it can be a welcoming and supporting environment for early career students and a stepping stone to publishing in the main conference.

Even if students are not ready to present, Pacheco hopes students can participate in conferences to connect and receive feedback from researchers in their community and meet people who share similar identities. 

Inclusive advocacy

Through Pacheco鈥檚 collective leadership with other Queer in AI organizers, the group has focused on making professional conferences more inclusive. Conference organizers have laid out guidelines to add pronouns to name tags and publications. Her fellow organizers are starting to tackle the high costs for attending the conferences, a major pressure point for students and the community.

She maintains inclusive practices by hiring graduate students in her lab who belong to the LGBTQ+ community where individuals from many different communities can feel supported. 

Then, there鈥檚 her research group, the . BLAST explores queer topics that are not usually  at the forefront of research, but because she recruits students with diverse interests and backgrounds. 

Her students draw from their personal experiences to inform their natural language processing research focusing in areas like education, media and journalism and views on economy at the national level. 

Vazquez, her PhD student, is interested in going beyond hate speech detection and diving into the linguistic patterns of what constitutes hateful speech against LGBTQ+ folks and how it can be weaponized against vulnerable populations in Mexico. 

鈥淲hen you show up and start meeting folks, you start to band together with individuals who have shared interests,鈥� said Pacheco, who is now one of the for the group. 

Core organizers are researchers, graduate students or individuals from industry who are passionate about AI/ML who have academic backgrounds in computer science, engineering, robotics and neuroscience, among others. 

Pacheco, who is in her first year as a faculty member, is balancing the role as an assistant professor, researcher, advocate and mentor. 

鈥淚 think sometimes it鈥檚 hard because it feels like a lot of the service falls on us as well,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut at the same time, it is very rewarding to create these spaces for both yourself, peers and students, so I鈥檇 say it鈥檚 really worth it.鈥�

About the Dr. Evelyn Hooker Advocacy Award

oSTEM presents the Dr. Evelyn Hooker Advocacy Award to commemorate an individual鈥檚 work and emphasize the importance of advocacy. Nominees are selected by 桃色视频 students and alumni, and the winner will be selected by a diverse board of staff from the BOLD Center, Center of Inclusion and Social Change and the College of Arts and Sciences.

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Dunn was a peer mentor with the BOLD Center in spring 2021 and was honored as Outstanding Undergraduate of the College. 

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