Maria Vera Wins Scholarship
 Maria
Vera, ChE junior has been
selected as recipient for a
Hispanic Engineer National
Achievement Awards Corporation
(HENAAC) Scholarship for
2009-2010. Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Math (STEM)
students were selected on the
basis of grade point average,
leadership, and campus/community
service. Each scholarship
recipient will receive an
educational grant plus travel
and hotel accommodations to the
HENAAC Conference in Long Beach,
California, and honored at the
HENAAC Student Leadership Dinner
to be held at the Long Beach
Convention Center on Saturday,
October 10, 2009. Maria’s
scholarship is sponsored by BP.
The photo shows her at the Great
Wall in China during a visit
with one of the ENGR4060 study
abroad classes. In
addition to her academic
performance, Maria is President
of the OSU Society of Women
Engineers, Member-at-large of
the CEAT Student Council, member
of the Multicultural Engineering
Program Advisory Board, and a
Member and past Secretary of the
Society of Hispanic Professional
Engineers. She serves as a CEAT
Success Coach for freshmen
during the fall. She also
plays ultimate Frisbee with the
Honors College Athletic League.
Her community service activities
include Emergency Room intake
volunteer at Stillwater Medical
Center (presently) and at the
Xavier Medical Clinic, Tulsa, OK
for two summers. Last
summer Maria worked in a
research position. As a Sir
Alexander Fleming Research
Scholar at the Oklahoma Medical
Research Foundation, Oklahoma
City, OK, she investigated
mechanical properties of
biological filaments involved in
bacterial conjugation under Dr.
Philip Silverman in the Genetic
Models of Disease Department.
Continuing in the school year,
she works in the Molecular
Bioengineering Laboratory at
Oklahoma State University,
Stillwater, OK. Here she is part
of the research team of Dr.
Sundar Madihally producing
chitosan hydrogels that mimic
cartilage and performing
mechanical testing on specimens.
Maria is from Tulsa, OK, and
a graduate from Union High
School.
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