CSTEM Student & Faculty Awards

2026 Celebration of Achievement

Annually, the College honors the accomplishments and outstanding contributions of the students, faculty and staff of the College of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics.

Celebration of Achievement Program

Wednesday, May 13, 2026 | 4:30-7:30PM | USU Ballroom

2026 Dean's Outstanding Graduate Awards

The Dean’s Outstanding Graduate Award in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics is given to a graduating student who exemplifies the core values of research, creative activities and commitment to discovery. The student has not only demonstrated academic excellence, but has also shown a strong record of service to the college, the university and the surrounding community.

2026 Awardee: Isabel Serrano, Biochemistry

The Office of Graduate Studies recognizes the importance of graduate education at California State University San Marcos by honoring the achievements of an outstanding master’s or doctoral degree recipient. Graduate study emphasizes both independent scholarship and close intellectual collaboration with faculty mentors, as students develop advanced knowledge and expertise in their field. Award recipients demonstrate excellence in advanced coursework as well as meaningful engagement in independent study, research, scholarship, or creative activity.

2026 Awardee: Callie Steppat, Biological Sciences

2026 CSTEM Awardees

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Faculty/Student Collaboration Award - Biological Sciences

The Outstanding Faculty-Student Collaboration Award honors a tenure-track faculty member and a student from the Department of Biological Sciences for achievement in the area of collaboration on a project related to research and/or teaching. CSTEM prides itself on active student research and the teacher-scholar model. This award will showcase how closely our faculty work together with our students on innovative projects, while helping our students learn and grow from the experience.

Awarded to Dr. James Kezos and Nessa Jamalian, M.S. in Biological Sciences.
Faculty/Student Collaboration Award - Biotechnology

The Outstanding Faculty-Student Collaboration Award honors a tenure-track faculty member and a student from the Biotechnology Program for achievement in the area of collaboration on a project related to research and/or teaching. CSTEM prides itself on active student research and the teacher-scholar model. This award will showcase how closely our faculty work together with our students on innovative projects, while helping our students learn and grow from the experience.

Awarded to Dr. George Brusch and Diana Lujan-Johnson, M.S. in Biological Sciences.
Faculty/Student Collaboration Award - Chemistry & Biochemistry

The Outstanding Faculty-Student Collaboration Award honors a tenure-track faculty member and a student from the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry for achievement in the area of collaboration on a project related to research and/or teaching. CSTEM prides itself on active student research and the teacher-scholar model. This award will showcase how closely our faculty work together with our students on innovative projects, while helping our students learn and grow from the experience.

Awarded to Dr. Karno Ng and Theodore Cummings, B.S. in Chemistry (Fall 2025).
Faculty/Student Collaboration Award - Computer Science & Engineering

The Outstanding Faculty-Student Collaboration Award honors a tenure-track faculty member and a student from the Department of Computer Science & Engineering for achievement in the area of collaboration on a project related to research and/or teaching. CSTEM prides itself on active student research and the teacher-scholar model. This award will showcase how closely our faculty work together with our students on innovative projects, while helping our students learn and grow from the experience.

Awarded to Dr. Sreedevi Gutta and Sahar Akbarzadeh, M.S. in Computer Science (Spring 2026).
Faculty/Student Collaboration Award - Electrical & Computer Engineering

The Outstanding Faculty-Student Collaboration Award honors a tenure-track faculty member and a student from the Electrical & Computer Engineering Program for achievement in the area of collaboration on a project related to research and/or teaching. CSTEM prides itself on active student research and the teacher-scholar model. This award will showcase how closely our faculty work together with our students on innovative projects, while helping our students learn and grow from the experience.

Awarded to Dr. Reza Kamali and Kevin Gomez, B.S. in Electrical Engineering (Spring 2026).
Faculty/Student Collaboration Award - Mathematics

The Outstanding Faculty-Student Collaboration Award honors a tenure-track faculty member and a student from the Department of Mathematics for achievement in the area of collaboration on a project related to research and/or teaching. CSTEM prides itself on active student research and the teacher-scholar model. This award will showcase how closely our faculty work together with our students on innovative projects, while helping our students learn and grow from the experience.

Awarded to Dr. Shahed Sharif and Jacob Mendenhall, B.S. in Mathematics.
Faculty/Student Collaboration Award - Physics

The Outstanding Faculty-Student Collaboration Award honors a tenure-track faculty member and a student from the Department of Applied Physics for achievement in the area of collaboration on a project related to research and/or teaching. CSTEM prides itself on active student research and the teacher-scholar model. This award will showcase how closely our faculty work together with our students on innovative projects, while helping our students learn and grow from the experience.

Awarded to Dr. Stephen Tsui and Mahika Kahlon, B.S. in Applied Physics.
Minerva Award for Oustanding Graduate Teaching

The College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Student Teaching Award acknowledges outstanding student teaching achievement by a ��ԭ�� student in the College of Science, Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics-related settings, courses and programs. This award is designed to recognize and promote effective teaching practices, to celebrate the work of outstanding teaching assistants, and to inspire future STEM educators.

Awarded to Kaden Winspear, M.S. in Biological Sciences.
Community Engaged Scholar
The Community Engaged Scholar Award honors a from the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics for achievement in collaboration with a community partner on a project related to research and/or their studies.

The Community Engaged Scholarship is a mutually beneficial collaboration between the university and a community partner. The purpose of the collaboration is to bring together the specialized knowledge of the student and the university with the specialized knowledge of the community partner to generate new knowledge that is applied to solve critical issues of interest to both. Scholarship means a process of inquiry that contributes to a body of knowledge and includes discovery of new knowledge, integrating existing knowledge in new ways, or coming up with new methods to address a problem.

The student and the community partner should both benefit from the project. The project should be related to the student’s area of study. This type of engagement is not primarily driven by a research question, though a research question may be of secondary interest in the activity.

Examples for this award include but are not limited to the following:
- - Service-learning
  - Community engaged research as part of university classes
  - Study abroad programs with community engagement components
  - Programs for youth in K-12
  - Providing educational enrichment programs
  - Creating materials to enhance public understanding
  - Self-direct, managed learning environments, such as museums, libraries, or gardens.
  - Providing technical assistance
  - Consulting Policy analysis
  - Diagnostic services
  - Human and animal patient care
  - Participating with boards or committees and other discipline-related service to community organizations.
Awarded to Tracey Ta, B.S. in Biochemistry (Spring 2026).
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award

The College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CSTEM) Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award acknowledges outstanding student research achievement by a ��ԭ�� student under the mentorship of CSTEM faculty. This award is designed to recognize and promote the high-impact practice of undergraduate research, to celebrate development and accomplishment as an independent student investigator, and to inspire future STEM researchers.

Awarded to Marisa Mendoza, B.S. in Biological Sciences, Molecular and Cellular Biology Concentration (Spring 2026).
Molsoft Award - Computational Science (Biology and Chemistry)

This award is designed to give a student an advantage in their future studies. Molsoft hopes that providing this software licensing for free will make it easier for students to advance their projects and explorations outside of class.

The awardee will have incorporated computation into their undergraduate research projects or as part of advanced coursework in the department. Students who have demonstrated exceptional programming skills and using Mathematica are particularly noteworthy.

Awarded to Brosnan Chernobieff-Brook, B.S. in Computer Science.
Wolfram Award - Computational Science (Mathematics)

Continuing its long-standing commitment to education-related programs, Wolfram Research, the producer of Mathematica, has provided CSTEM with a generous annual award for an undergraduate student. This award will be given to an undergraduate student for achievements in computational science, broadly defined. It is intended that this award will give the student an advantage in their future studies. By providing Mathematica for free, Wolfram Research hopes to make it easier for students to advance their projects and explorations outside of class.

The awardee will have incorporated computation into their undergraduate research projects or as part of advanced coursework in the department. Students who have demonstrated exceptional programming skills and using Mathematica are particularly noteworthy.

Awarded to Eric Nardi, B.S. in Mathematics (Fall 2025).
Oustanding Student Leader Award
The College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CSTEM) Outstanding Student Leader Award acknowledges outstanding student leadership by a California State University San Marcos student within CSTEM. This award is designed to recognize and promote leadership that fosters engagement and builds community among CSTEM students and between CSTEM students and faculty. Criteria includes the following:
- - Exceptional leadership efforts across the year
  - Progressive independence in leadership activities
  - Demonstrated leadership in CSTEM events
  - Outstanding oral and/or written communication with student teams
  - Completed (or completing) at least two semesters in a leadership position within the college, such as a student organization that is part of the CSTEM Student Organization Council, leadership of the Student Organization Council, or ASI CSTEM representation.
  - Excellent academic performance of >3.0 GPA either overall or in the upper division major or graduate work (where applicable)
Awarded to Haley Burch, B.S. in Biochemistry, Minor in Green Chemistry.
Inclusive Excellence & Diversity Award
The College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CSTEM) Inclusive Excellence and Diversity Award acknowledges outstanding student leadership in advancing diversity in STEM as well as inclusive excellence, educational equity, and social justice within the college and on the ��ԭ�� (��ԭ��) campus. This award is designed to recognize and promote a safe and welcoming teaching and learning environment and to celebrate development and accomplishment in student leaders who are passionate not just about their academics, but also about bringing more voices to their fields in STEM. The award program is open to any ��ԭ�� College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics undergraduate student who meets the following criteria where applicable:
- - Exceptional commitment to the promotion of diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and/or social justice
  - Demonstrated leadership in the enhancement, development, and sustainability of diverse, inclusive, and equitable spaces on campus, especially within CSTEM
  - Outstanding oral and/or written communication in the promotion of their DEI efforts
  - Clear and positive impact on the CSTEM community
  - Excellent academic performance of >3.0 GPA either overall or in the upper division major
Awarded to Organ Saraphoka, B.S. in Biochemistry.
K. Brooks and Marion Reid Student Achivement Awards
Thanks to a generous donation by the Founding Librarian Dean and Librarian Emerita Marion Reid and Founding Faculty Member and Professor Emeritus K. Brooks Reid, the Department of Mathematics is able to give awards to students at the end of the fall and spring semesters. The awards distinguish students that have shown exceptional accomplishments in Algebra/Analysis, Discrete Mathematics, and graduate-level coursework.
- Reid Fall 2025 Graduating Student: Stella Muehlhausen
- Reid Discrete Mathematics Awardees: Michael Guzman and Cipriana Rodriguez
- Reid Algebra Awardees: Kristy Franco Niebles and Daniel Villanueva
- Reid Analysis Award: Diana Garcia
- Reid Graduate Student Award: Elizabeth Goehe
- Reid Probability/Statistics Award: Kayla Barrett
CSU Trustee Emeritus Kenneth Fong Scholar Award

The CSU Trustee's Award for Outstanding Achievement, the highest student distinction in the California State University system, honors 23 students - one from each campus - who cemonstrate superior academic performance, personal achievements, community service, financial need, and remarkable resilience in the face of significant challenges.

Awarded to Oscar Loyola Torres, B.S. in Biological Sciences, Molecular and Cellular Concentration.
COAST Undergraduate Research Awards
The provides funding to every campus in the CSU to support undergraduate student participation in faculty-mentored marine, estuarine, coastal and coastal watershed research. The goal of this program is to engage students interested in pursuing marine-related careers and provide them with the opportunity to obtain the skills necessary to join a highly skilled, technologically advanced workforce while promoting and supporting CSU faculty research.
- Jackson Cross and Dr. Hamed Nademi, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.
- Aubree Keyser and Dr. Hamed Nademi, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.
- Mireya Zamora and Dr. Hamed Nademi, Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering.
- Alexander Sypowicz and Dr. Darcy Taniguchi, Department of Biological Sciences.
- Marissa Geving and Dr. Elinne Becket, Department of Biological Sciences.
- Brosnan Chernobieff-Brook and Dr. Elinne Becket, Department of Biological Sciences.
Finalists at the Symposium on Student Research, Creativity and Innovation
The Office of Graduate Studies hosts ��ԭ��’s annual campus-wide showcase and selection event for the CSU Student Research Competition. Students from all disciplines present original research, creative work, and innovation projects. Through this juried competition, ten outstanding projects are chosen to represent ��ԭ�� at the statewide competition. Our ��ԭ�� student delegates attended the , hosted by San José State University on April 24–25, 2026.
- Tania Hernandez and Casandra Nguyen - Faculty mentor Dr. Carlos Luna Lopez, Department of Biological Sciences.
- Harnoor Boparai - Faculty mentor Dr. Carlos Luna Lopez, Department of Biological Sciences.
- Miguel Kinyon - Faculty mentor Dr. Betsy Read, Department of Biological Sciences.
- Julian Banuelos Torres - Faculty mentor Dr. Diego Sustaita, Department of Biological Sciences.
- Christopher Lambert - Faculty mentor Dr. Kang Du, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.
- Max Hyman and Madison Gill - Faculty mentor Sean Fraser, Department of Physics.
CSU BioTech Scholars
- Howell Research Scholars Program: Monica Ambrocio
- President's Commission Scholar Award: Spencer Wiggins
- Faculty-Graduate Student Collaboration: Cassandra Nguyen and Dr. Carlos Luna-Lopez
��ԭ�� Grand Slam

The Annual Grad Slam is a campus-wide competition where both undergraduate and graduate students present their research and scholarly work in a concise and engaging manner to a non-specialist audience. It challenges participants to distill complex ideas into clear and compelling presentations within a short time frame. Grad Slam is not a research competition but a research communication competition. The goal is to effectively communicate the significance and impact of their research in a way that is accessible and engaging to a wide audience.

Graduate STEM Category Winner: Callie Steppat, M.S. in Biological Sciences (Spring 2026)

Undergraduate Category Runner Up: Sophi Theriault, B.S. in Biochemistry (Spring 2026)
Outstanding Lecturer
The Outstanding Lecturer Award honors an adjunct faculty member in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics for achievement in the area of teaching, with emphasis on the last three years.
- - Performance as reflected on student evaluations
  - Innovative teaching techniques
  - Course and program development
  - Authorship of textbooks, software, and other similar instructional materials
  - Direction of individual student work
  - Grants directly related to teaching or curriculum development
  - Honors or awards for teaching
Awarded to Dr. Sujal Phadke, Department of Biological Sciences and Professional Master's Degree Program in Biotechnology (EL).
Outstanding Staff

The College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Outstanding Staff Award acknowledges outstanding staff achievement by an Administrative or Technical staff member in the College of Science, Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics. This award is designed to recognize and promote effective practices, innovation, and teamwork.

Awarded to Courtney Nance-Sotelo, Instructional Support Technician III, Department of Biological Sciences.
Faculty Outreach Award
The Outstanding Faculty Outreach Award honors a faculty member in the College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics for achievement in the area of student and community outreach.
- - Activities and events in the community, feeder schools and junior colleges
  - Participation in committees or groups for student outreach and recruitment
  - Grants directly related to outreach and recruitment
Awarded to Dr. Diego Sustaita, Department of Biological Sciences.
President's Outstanding Faculty Award for Scholarship and Creative Activity

This award seeks to recognize and reward faculty whose scholarship and/or creative activity contributes significantly to their fields.

Awarded to Dr. Yanyan Li, Department of Computer Science & Engineering.
��ԭ�� Harvey Neufeldt Faculty Hero Award

The Harvey Neufeldt ��ԭ�� Hero Faculty Award recognizes a faculty member for their contribution toward the achievement of the university’s mission and demonstrated service to the campus community. The recipient of this award may be selected on the basis of a career of achievement or for extraordinary service toward a single event.

Awarded to Dr. Suzanne Hizer, Lecturer, Department of Biological Sciences, and Co-Director of the HSI-STEM grant.
2026 Gonfaloniere

Each year, the colleges select a faculty member to lead their degree candidates in the procession at the College’s Commencement Ceremony. These faculty are called the “gonfalonieres”, because they carry the college’s gonfalon, a banner that hangs down from a crosspiece and bears that college’s name and symbol. The gonfaloniere was a prestigious post in Italian medieval and Renaissance communities.

The CSTEM Gonfaloniere, chosen by his/her faculty peers, will have compiled a record of outstanding achievement at the University and is worthy of special recognition. Previous gonfalonieres for CSTEM were: K. Brooks Reid (2012), Richard N. Bray (2013), Victor Rocha (2014), Robert Sheath (2015), Linda Holt (2016), Charles De Leone (2017), George Vourlitis (2018), Jacqueline Trischman (2019), Katherine Kantardjieff (2020) and after a COVID break, Michael Schmidt (2022), and Brian Norris (2023).

Awarded to Dr. Ricardo Fierro, Department of Mathematics.
CSTEM Hero Award

Each year, CSTEM recognizes campus heroes who have helped us achieve our goals through their outstanding service and support.

Awarded to Caitlin Rondoe, Mecca Danishwar, and Zayla Paschall, Office of Events & Conference Services.
CSTEM Community Partner Award

Each year, CSTEM honors a community partner who has demonstrated a commitment toward helping ��ԭ��, and CSTEM in particular, to fulfill its mission of student success.

Awarded to Mark Rodriguez, Electrical Engineer, General Atomics (retired) and member of the CSTEM Advisory Council.

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