Alumni Scholars

PhD in Biomedical Engineering
Swarthmore, PA
Project: The Age of Artificial Intelligence
Years as a Scholar: 2

Hailee started as an undergraduate biomedical engineering student at Drexel and worked towards her PhD at the University. Through her time volunteering with Next Play Basketball, Philadelphia Youth Basketball, and Girls on the Run, she had developed a passion for service and a commitment to motivating others to get involved.

PhD Architectural Engineering
Yazd, Iran
Project: Environmental Collaboratory Initiatives
Years as a Scholar: 1

Naghmeh was a researcher and innovator whose work bridges sustainability, energy justice, and curriculum design. She won first place in the U.S. Department of Energy’s JUMP into STEM competition for her solar-integrated ventilation system and led Drexel’s Creativity Pitch Challenge with a proposal to embed creativity into undergraduate education.

BS Screenwriting & Playwriting
Philadelphia, PA
Project: Amplifying Experiential Learning through Community Partnerships
Years as a Scholar: 2

As a visual storyteller and community advocate, Dom gathered inspiration from his volunteer work, from guiding young playwrights under the Mantua Project to distributing food and books to West Philadelphia residents through Mighty Writers. He directed promotional documentary work around social issues such as voter registration through his internship with Partners in Kind.

BS Computer Science
Hanoi, Vietnam
Project: Evaluating the Impact of Student-Led Climate Hub Initiatives
Years as a Scholar: 3

Anh was the founder of Eco Peace Wildlife, a wildlife conservation organization, and a project manager for Solar for Change, a start-up company that empowers farmers in Vietnam, to switch to solar energy. As a Drexel Global Scholar, Anh contributed to global leadership efforts and helped foster international community ties at Drexel. Furthermore, Anh had completed an internship at CurveBeam AI, where he engineered crucial software enhancements for medical devices deployed in major clinics in the United States.

BS Mechanical Engineering
Philadelphia, PA
Project: Review of Experiential Learning Opportunities (ELOs) at Drexel University
Years as a Scholar: 1

Ibrahim was a dynamic engineer and entrepreneur whose work spans advanced materials research, pipeline optimization, and startup leadership. He had led process improvements at Stonhard, contributed to MXene battery development at Drexel’s Nanomaterials Institute, and scaled his logistics venture to over 45 trucks and 30 partners nationwide.

BS/MPH Environmental Occupational Health
Monterrey, Mexico
Project: Amplifying Experiential Learning through Community Partnerships
Years as a Scholar: 1

Victoria was a civic-minded global scholar whose work bridges climate justice, public health, and community-engaged education. She had led sanitation equity initiatives in Eswatini, co-designed cultural preservation courses in Philadelphia, and served as Civic Engagement Chair for USGA, championing student activism and institutional accountability.

BS in Computer Science
Lucknow, India
Project: Curricular Analytics & Complexity and Curricular Applications of Generative AI
Years as a Scholar: 2

An AI practitioner with research focused on building machine learning techniques, Satvik drew on his computer science curriculum and psychology minor to take an interdisciplinary, humanistic approach to data analysis. He had been a leader in communities like Philly Codefest, Drexel’s Society of Artificial Intelligence and Biomedical Undergraduate Association while maintaining research roles at Harvard Medical School and UPenn’s Perelman School of Medicine.

BS Mechanical Engineering
Islamabad, Pakistan
Project: Global Safety and Operation Data Analysis
Years as a Scholar: 1

Over three co-op experiences, Sarmad had gained hands-on experience in product design, operations engineering, data analysis and machine learning as well as global perspectives as a participant in an intensive Human’INSA program in France. He also served as a multi-year residence assistant.

BS/MS in Environmental Engineering
Cavalier, ND
Project: Environmental and Social Justice Curriculum Hub
Years as a Scholar: 3

Alyssa had enacted her passion for community-centered sustainability research as a volunteer with Solidarity Engineering and as a STAR Scholar and Velay Fellow, having completed a project on heat disparities within Philadelphia. She was an Aspire Scholar and Community-Based Project Assistant at the Lindy Center for Civic Engagement and she also attended the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference via the Office of Global Engagement.

EdD Educational Leadership and Management
Diamond Point, NY
Project: Amplifying Experiential Learning through Community Partnerships
Years as a Scholar: 2

Charlotte was a special education case manager with a passion for fostering inclusive environments who had led projects promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and social-emotional learning in educational spaces. She was a part-time graduate student at Drexel and had previously obtained an M.S. in Early Childhood Special Education from Syracuse University and a certificate in Social Emotional Learning from Rutgers University.

EdD Educational Leadership and Management
Philadelphia, PA
Project: Establishing Climate and Sustainability Community-Based Experiential Learning
Years as a Scholar: 1

Jessica was an educator who served as the Vice President of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture and the Communications Chair for the Philadelphia Area Peace Corps Association. She worked for more than 20 years at the School District of Philadelphia, where she served as a principal and social work supervisor.

BA Sociology & BA Global Public Health
Rock Springs, WY
Project: Global Safety and Operation Data Analysis
Years as a Scholar: 1

Kaylee had enacted her passion for DEI in numerous research and industry roles — from professional positions at the Philadelphia Orchestra, Kimmel Center and Comcast NBCUniversal, to a research fellowship with the Population Association of America, to her membership on two college’s DEI Councils. She also lead Dragon’s First, Drexel’s first-generation student organization, and performed in three of Drexel’s band organizations.

BS/MS in Biomedical Engineering
Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Project: Teaching with Technology: Creating Student-Centered Learning Experiences
Years as a Scholar: 3

María José (Majo) was President of Drexel’s Undergraduate Student Government Association and a Drexel Global Scholar. She traveled to Ghana as a Dornsife Global Development Scholar, where she learned about health and environmental infrastructures, and conducted bilingual research with the aim of improving pediatric care while on co-op at the University of Pennsylvania.

BSBA in Business Administration
Kolkata, India
Project: Teaching with Technology: Creating Student-Centered Learning Experiences
Years as a Scholar: 3

Ranjini spent most of her childhood learning about nonprofit work to support the underprivileged societies of India; since then, she has learned about her passion for leadership and influencing people on a larger scale. In addition to planning culturally themed events as a Culture and Discovery Committee member of the Campus Activities Board, she researched cognitive behavior in eSports from her first year at Drexel.

BSBA Marketing
Montclair, NJ
Project: Support for Strategic Provost’s Office Initiatives
Years as a Scholar: 1 

Joe was vice president of the Biddle Law Society and a LeBow BRIDGE scholar. His experiences in marketing and attorney recruiting across three co-ops gave him the opportunity to conduct real-world market research, coordinate brand partnership opportunities and apply SEO best practices.

PhD in Mechanical Engineering
Philadelphia, PA
Project: Curricular Analytics & Complexity and Curricular Applications of Generative AI
Years as a Scholar: 3

An NSF Graduate Research Fellow, Sarah was Drexel’s first attendee of the Rising Stars in Mechanical Engineering workshop, hosted by Stanford University, and the first graduate student on the IEEE Computer Society’s Publication Board. A member of the College of Engineering Dean’s Student Leadership Council, she led initiatives around investigating perceptions of Drexel and was an active advocate of academic support for graduate students.

BS/MS in Biomedical Engineering
Long Island, NY
Project: Support for Strategic Provost's Office Initiatives
Years as a Scholar: 2

Ali enriched his data analysis and research experience in co-ops at Merck, where he developed dataflows to optimize manufacturing processes, and Johnson & Johnson, where he derived mathematical models using Python and visualized experimental data in Tableau. He also honed his leadership and communications skills as a teaching assistant for UNIV 101 and a former peer mentor in his school.

BS in Computing Technology for Sustainability and Society (Custom-Designed Major)
Mumbai, India
Project: Climate and Sustainability at Drexel
Years as a Scholar: 2

Through a range of internships and co-ops, Atharva managed an enterprise video networking platform, supported product development for an AR/VR company and analyzed user behavior on web and native applications. Independently, he developed a mobile application aimed at curbing cyberbullying.

MBA, Concentration: Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Berlin, NJ
Project: Nonprofit Endeavors at Drexel
Years as a Scholar: 2

From successfully lobbying for then-employer WeWork to create a nonprofit department, to working with local nonprofits to create volunteer opportunities at Independence Blue Cross, to being part of Drexel’s Anti-Racism Task Force and LeBow’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Action Group, Monique strives to enhance every community she’s part of.

MS in Urban Strategy
Philadelphia, PA
Project: Graduate College Diversity Exploration
Years as a Scholar: 2

Sasha is passionate about community-centered, grassroots activism and social justice causes such as confronting health disparities. With over 10 years of nonprofit public service experience, she actively applied her studies on equitable approaches in community, health and wellness in the nonprofit sector.

BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics
Johannesburg, South Africa
Project: Nonprofit Endeavors at Drexel
Years as a Scholar: 2

At the age of sixteen, August Modiga started a nonprofit organization aimed at empowering young girls in South Africa. Since then, she has hosted a talk show on social justice topics, spoken at a United Nations commission and sharpened her research skills as a Drexel SuperNova Research Fellow. August was part of the Drexel Women's Rugby Team and, after completing a co-op in investment banking on Wall Street, returned to Wall Street full time in 2023.

BS in Chemistry
North Wales, PA
Project: Qualitative Analysis of Student Survey Data
Years as a Scholar: 2

As the chair of Undergraduate Student Government Association’s Academic Affairs Committee, Disha took on initiatives such as enabling Blackboard Ally access across colleges and assisting with course catalog restructuring. She conducted research in multiple labs, including Alzheimer’s research as a STAR Scholar and Biosurgery research as a co-op at Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson’s medical device subsidiary.

MPH/MBA
Philadelphia, PA
Project: Lifelong Learning and the Future of Higher Education; Innovation Engine and Culture at Drexel
Years as a Scholar: 2

With several years’ experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, Michael enrolled at Drexel to fuel a new community and equity-driven career. At Drexel, he conducted research on the Philadelphia municipal budget and presented a proposal for a more equitable distribution of city resources to City Council.

BS in Chemical Engineering
Robbinsville, NJ
Project: Enrolled Students Survey Feedback
Years as a Scholar: 1

At Drexel, Ryan advocated for sustainability and campus safety initiatives while also spearheading a role as his fraternity’s mental health coordinator. His experiences as an intern for a New Jersey state senator and on co-op at places like GlaxoSmithKline and Church & Dwight helped him refine his data analytics and communication skills.

BSBA in Finance and Real Estate Management
Oakhurst, NJ
Project: Reimagining Dual Undergraduate Degrees
Years as a Scholar: 1

With interdisciplinary experiences as a double major, history minor and president of the Biddle Law Society, Jonathan consulted with University leadership on improving curricula and the student experience. He served as a Hillel at Drexel Anti-Racism Fellow, a presenter at the Global Leadership Conference in London and the academic lead of the LeBow Dean’s Student Advisory Board.