News & Stories

Faez Ahmed Ph.D. ’19

Assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, head of the institute’s Design Computation & Digital Engineering (DeCoDE) Lab

Through his research on machine learning and engineering design, Ahmed hopes to automate and accelerate product design leading to the betterment of society.

Dr. Kathleen Neuzil ’83

The Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH, Professor in Vaccinology, director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health and chief of the division of geographic medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Neuzil, who is among the world’s leading research scientists in vaccine development and policy, was instrumental in developing and testing COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

Evandro Valente ’03, M.S. ’06, and Pramod Raheja ’91

Co-founders of Airgility

Former aerospace engineering students, Valente and Raheja founded Airgility to design and manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can improve and save lives.

Akash Magoon ’18

Co-founder, Nayya

A UMD computer science alum, Magoon co-founded Nayya to help employees choose and enroll in health benefits and then engage with their health plans.

Audrey Awasom ’18

Founder, Noble Uprising

A graduate of the Robert H. Smith School of Business, Awasom founded Noble Uprising to empower women in shelters through job readiness skills training and job opportunities.

Matthew Hollister ‘18

Chairman and CEO of The James Hollister Wellness Foundation and co-founder of Save Pharmaceutical

As head of The James Hollister Wellness Foundation, Hollister works to reduce medication waste by collecting and sending donated medications to countries in need.

Over the past year, the University of Maryland Alumni Association has had the pleasure of featuring more than 100 passionate, innovative and fearless Terps on this blog, sharing their many talents and experiences with alums around the world. 

There’s no such thing as a slow news day for Bofta Yimam '04, an Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist and Washington correspondent for the Black News Channel.

For more than a decade, entrepreneur Lauren Banyar Reich ’02 worked for public relations agencies in New York City.

Briana A. Thomas M.A. ’17 has been published in Washingtonian Magazine, the historic Afro-American newspaper, and the Washington Post throughout her journalism career.