Hey everyone! My name is Laith Abu-Taleb, and I'm really excited about the rest of the year. I am a Junior in Bioengineering, and plan on attending Law School upon graduation. Well, that's one of my options at least! I'm also looking at graduate schools, and going right into industry. The beauty of bioengineering is that it is a sought after degree in every field, and so it's easy to switch paths! I currently work in Dr. Kofinas's lab on hemostatics and nano-structured blood coagulation hydrogels, and over the summer I worked at the United States Patent and Trademark Office doing patent examining work. I'm also an RA this year in Cambridge Hall!

I joined SoBE my freshman year to meet new people. I'd be lying if I said the free pizza wasn't an incentive. But in between slices, I got to meet a lot of upperclassmen and underclassmen as well, and hear from industry speakers as well. This led me to run for President this year so that I can help you guys with as much as I possibly can; from guest speakers to ice cream socials to holiday parties, I'm doing my best to try to make this department as cohesive as possible, both academically and socially.

Hi, my name is Victoria Stefanelli, and outside of SoBE I am also involved with Engineering Ambassadors, the Society of Women Engineers, and Gemstone’s Team L.E.G.S.. The past two summers I have held different NSF REU internships involving neural tissue engineering and controlled-drug release biomaterials. When asked what I want to do with bioengineering, I typically tell people that I’m on the anti-pre-med track— which at least for the short run means that I’ll be going to graduate school for biomechanics.

I have been a regular member of SoBE since my freshman year, when I used the club as a venue to meet and get advice from bioengineers of all grade levels (of course the free food was nice too). As Vice President, I hope to continue SoBE’s tradition of enhancing camaraderie among UMD bioengineers through various social and community service events. However, I also aspire to increase SoBE’s emphasis on exposing our members to the wide variety of career options available to today’s bioengineers. Thus, a main part of my role as VP is communicating with diverse biotech companies and organizations to arrange for interesting guest speakers.

Hi, my name is Kelsey Harrison and I'm the secretary of SOBE for this year. I currently work at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on the Systems Engineering team for the James Webb Space Telescope project. In addition, I work with a graduate student in the Functional Macromolecular Laboratory on campus. We are researching nanostructured color-changing polymers for food pathogen and chemical/biological threat detection. I am also involved with the Women in Engineering program on campus as a mentor to incoming freshman women. Although I'm undecided as to where my future will take me, I am very interested in the fields of biosecurity/biowarfare prevention and hope to pursue those interests in my career. As a member of the SOBE exec board, I am very excited for upcoming events and hope that you will choose to be a part of our growing organization.

Hey guys my name is Karan Raje and I am the treasurer of this fine organization. I am currently a junior and have been part of SoBE for two years now. After graduation I plan to pursue a higher education in either genetic engineering or exercise physiology. I am currently employed as a personal trainer at Eppley Recreation Center and I'm starting research with Dr. Bentley regarding metabolic engineering and cell to cell communication.

We have been lucky this year to have a society that is enthusiastic and eager to get involved, but we can always improve and grow! I highly encourage any newcomers, along with the current members, to take part in our activities and events throughout the year. It's a great way to meet people in your major. Since we are a growing society, I especially encourage all of you to take part in our fundraisers and think of new ways of raising funds for our organization. The more we raise as a group, the more we can do as a group. I look forward to having a fun year all of you! One Love.

My name is Alison Clark and I am a junior and the Fundraising Chair this year for SoBE. I am currently working at US Army Research Laboratory in Aldephi, MD where I work in a biology laboratory investing various metabolic pathways in an attempt to identify a new source of biofuels from excessive waste products. I started this internship during the summer of 2010 and I plan to continue my work their for the remainder of the school year. In the summer of 2009, I held an internship at US ARMY Aberdeen Test Center where I tested instrumentation that measured mental workload based upon EEG and ECG data. I am also actively involved in the QUEST program where I am able to apply my knowledge of engineering, while also learning about product and process innovation and quality enhancement. At this point, I am unsure about where I am headed in the future, but I hope to apply the knowledge and skills that I have gained in my previous experiences to my career.

Dear fellow Bioengineers, hello. My name is Il Kyoon Kim but everybody calls me Jay. I am a sophomore bioengineer on pre-med track and this year's Chair of Events. Outside of SoBE, I am a member of a volunteer fire house near campus and a volunteer at a bioimaging lab working with Dr. Yu Chen on application of Optical Coherence Tomography on MRI operation.

It's difficult adapting to a new environment of college while deciding on your academic and ultimately your future career path. For me, as a freshman, SoBE answered and solved a lot of the concerns. This organization not only provided me with the opportunity to make many friends but also showed me a great deal about the career opportunities and the application of bioengineering in variety of fields including medical practice. Now as an officer of the club, I wish to provide the same experience and opportunities to you. So come out and join us!

My name is Krishan Patel and I am currently a senior here at the University of Maryland. I have been involved with SoBE since I was a freshman and it has given me great insight on what Bioengineering has to offer. I have been on the Executive Board of SoBE for the past two years holding the position of Treasurer and currently the Engineering Student Council Liaison. I definitely encourage everyone to join SoBE or atleast come to one of our events to meet other students in your class and ask upperclassmen any questions you might have. We are all excited for this upcoming year and hope you can be a part of our growing organization.

Hey! My name is Aamir and I'm a Sophomore from Frederick, MD. I was born and raised in India, then lived in Tokyo, Japan for two years before moving here to the US where I've been living for the past 10 years. I'm Majoring in BIOE because I think it is the future for medical therapies and my career aspiration is to become either a Radiologist or a Surgeon or an Engineer designing synthetic organs and fluids for quick and temporary transplantation. I'm undecided as of now but I'm also a Pre-Med just in case. Aside from becoming one of those three professionals I want to own a supercar, become a Mayor for a big city, and coach a High School Soccer Team. My favorite classes so far at UMD have been BIOE120, Physics 1 and 2, ENES100, and, HONR269X (Faith in Science). I love having desi food, playing soccer and basketball, and spending time with my friends. As a recruitment chair I hope to get fully know each and every incoming and current members of SoBE.

As an underclassmen, getting acquainted with the rigors of college life can be stressful, and as an upperclassmen, the ambiguity facing one's future is also stressful. In these tough times, SoBE can provide guidance to its members so that they can be more focused on their goals and less stressed out. I believe that providing guidance and support to its members is the primary goal of SoBE. From having guest speakers to doing book exchanges to even providing help in study sessions, SoBE can successfully acheicve that goal and reflecting on our progress so far, the current exec board as been doing a fine job in that section. But life should not be all about work and should include some play as well. I believe SoBE should incorporate that element to its goals as well and I hope to increased participation of SoBE members in various fun activities and events.Our Ice Cream socials have been a big success and more events such as those should be and are indeed planned for SoBE members. As a recruitment chair though, I have a personal goal of getting atleast 50% of each BIOE class to become active members of SoBE and I hope you find SoBE as a good companion during your time as BIOE majors here at the University of Maryland.

Hey, my name is Monica Ashok and I am a sophomore bioengineering major. I am involved in SoBe, Primannum Honor Society and the Student Health Advisory Board at the Health Center. Over the summer, I worked at the Food and Drug Administration Center for Devices and Radiological Health. I worked in a blood damage lab and researched the effects of shear stress and exposure time on hemolysis of red blood cells. I think bioengineering is a lot of fun and SoBe has helped me meet other awesome bioengineers.

I joined SoBe my freshman year and thought it was a cool way to meet people and take part in fun events. This year the exec board is trying to raise more money for SoBe, plan events where people can mingle and get to know each other, bring in guest speakers, etc. As historian, I have been taking great pictures at all the events. Enjoy our website!

Hi! My name is Adam Zviman and I am the webmaster for SoBE this year! I am currently a junior in Bioengineering, and I am planning to enter medical school after my time here is done. Through UMD, I have been able to get some pretty sweet internship offers, and I currently work at the FDA doing Cardiovascular Intervention research.

On my spare time, I am an avid soccer enthusiast. My favorite teams are Leeds United and Barcelona. If you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to ask me, unless you're a Man U fan. I can be reached at zviman@umd.edu!