2020-2021

Leadership

Executive Board

Lisha White

President

Lisha is a mechanical engineering PhD student from Portsmouth, Virginia. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in engineering from James Madison University in 2016. Lisha began her journey at Carnegie Mellon as a GEM Fellow and is currently conducting research on 3-D printing inside of a gel support matrix. Lisha enjoys soccer, reading, exercise, learning new languages, and diverse catalogs of music. A fun fact about Lisha is that her favorite food is anything cookies and crème!

Bryanna Brown

Vice President

Bryanna is an electrical and computer engineering master’s student from Hempstead, New York. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Binghamton University in 2019 on scholarship with a focus on wireless communication systems, and digital signal processing. Since her enrollment at Carnegie Mellon University, she has shifted her focus to software engineering in order to broaden her field of knowledge. Bryanna is a full GEM Fellow at Carnegie Mellon with her supporting company being MIT Lincoln Laboratories which is where she interned at in the summer of 2019. During her internship at MIT Lincoln Laboratories, her project involved research on radar systems using Software Defined Radios. She is currently exploring research with an interest in wireless communication systems. Bryanna’s hobbies include baking, reading, watching horror films, and dancing!

Shaquetta Johnson

Treasurer

Shaquetta is a dual-degree master’s student majoring in both and electrical and computer engineering and engineering & technology innovation management from Fayetteville, North Carolina. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from North Carolina A&T State University in 2019. Shaquetta’s technical background is primarily in digital systems design and validation. Her academic projects include scalable designs for vending machines, digital lock systems, as well as traffic lights. Her industry experience with Intel relies on her expertise in validation, both simulation and formal. As a GEM Fellow at Carnegie Mellon, Shaquetta is leveraging her technical acumen to develop policy for emerging technologies. Since enrolling at Carnegie Mellon, Shaquetta has produced product roadmaps, devised execution strategies in heavily regulated industries, and reconstructed corporate innovation portfolios based on resources and current policy.

Jasmine Bitanga

Secretary

Jasmine is a mechanical engineering master’s student from St. Louis, Missouri. She obtained her bachelor’s of science degree in aerospace engineering with a minor in engineering mathematics from Saint Louis University in 2015. During undergrad, Jasmine was a Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar, co-founded the collegiate chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers at Saint Louis University, and served as the Vice President of said chapter. Prior to graduate school, she worked in the aerospace and defense industry as a manufacturing engineer, quality engineer, and process engineer at companies like United Technologies and Northrop Grumman. As a GEM Fellow and graduate researcher, Jasmine is designing the thermal regulation system of MoonRanger, an autonomous rover that will explore the lunar south pole in search of ice. Jasmine is passionate about exploring space, practicing yoga, and mentoring underrepresented students of color.

"Skee Wee."

Uche Agwu

Service Chair

Uche is a mechanical engineering PhD student from Denver, Colorado. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering with a minor in aerospace engineering from Santa Clara University in 2018. As a GEM Fellow at Carnegie Mellon, Uche conducts research on structural mechanics and computational design and analysis. He is focusing on generating light and stiff lattices for additive manufacturing applications within the aerospace industry. Uche enjoys soccer, piano, and Latin dancing!

Malik Blackman

Social Chair

Malik is a mechanical engineering PhD student from Chicago, Illinois. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2019. Malik is both a GEM Fellow and a published researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His hobbies include skateboarding, drawing, and beat-boxing!

Claude King III

Outreach Chair

Claude is a biomedical engineering PhD student from Clayton, North Carolina. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Hampton University in 2019. As a GEM Fellow, Claude conducts research on the 3-D printing of silk fibroin for adipose tissue applications. In his spare time, he works on his personal brand King’s Creations, where he creates spray paint art, assembled furniture, and fixes small repairs.

John Hill

Publicity Chair

John is a music education student (M. M. Ed) from Detroit, MI. He obtained his bachelor's degree in music education from Norfolk State University. While at NSU, John was a charter member of the Psi Beta chapter of Order of Omega Greek Leaders Honors Society and holds scholasticism to the highest degree as he researches progressive philosophy and pedagogy within music education. His hobbies include bowling, listening to music, and cooking.

Primary Advisor

Ms. Shernell Smith

Executive Director, Center for Diversity and Inclusion

Ms. Shernell is the executive director for the Center for Student Diversity and Inclusion. She helps to coordinate multi-cultural, diversity and inclusion programming for the campus community, such as CMU’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration, and is an adviser to various student organizations, like the Asian Student Association. She’s a housefellow for students in the Margaret Morrison Apartments, Woodlawn Apartments, Roselawn Apartments and Spirit House, and a college liaison for the College of Engineering.

She also advises sustainability initiatives on campus, like Sustainable Earth and the upcoming Sustainability Weekend in April, and she has used her green thumb to help students grow CMU’s community garden on Winthrop Street.

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