Cassandra Reyes

Cassandra is a motivated and curious senior undergraduate in the Bioengineering department
at UC Berkeley with a specific focus on cell and tissue engineering. She has previously worked
in immunology and polymer labs where she formulated and evaluated antibody-conjugated lipid
nanoparticles as well as contributed to the standardization of nanoindentation as a modality for
retrieval analysis of total knee replacement polymer components respectively. Through her
coursework and research experiences, she has developed a strong interest in the field of
synthetic biology which she hopes to utilize to solve problems caused by the climate crisis.
Currently, she is working with Gwyneth Hutchinson and NASA CUBES to engineer Spirulina for
pharmaceutical and flavor production with applications for supporting human exploration of
space. In her free time, you can catch her at the roller rink, or on a hike in the Berkeley hills.

Female student on a white background, wearing a light green shirt and hair up in a bun

Katya Panchenko

Katya is a 4th year undergrad studying Molecular and Cell Biology and Computer Science. She is passionate about the ways in which we can harness biology for sustainability and medical solutions, and is really inspired by the innovative applications of bioengineering at CUBES. She is working within the FPSD division at the Arkin Lab, engineering E.Coli to produce biopolymers suitable for additive manufacturing for human space exploration.

Mindy Duong

Mindy Duong is a junior undergraduate at UC Berkeley studying Molecular & Cell Biology and Public Health. She joined the Arkin Lab as a student laboratory assistant to help with routine upkeep of the entire lab and assist individual researchers with their research projects. In her free time, she enjoys crocheting and learning other fiber arts.

Haoming Ma

Haoming is a rising senior year student at Wuhan University studying Life Sciences and Finance. He is an exchange student in Berkeley and is working with Ruoshi Yuan to develop high throughput platforms to study C.necator in low nutrition conditions. He is skilled in microfluidic chips design and fabrication and he is interested in understanding biological processes in economic terms.

Eliana Matos

Eliana Matos is a highly motivated student pursuing her studies in Bioengineering, with a specific focus on cell and tissue engineering. She has experience working and volunteering with a myriad of organizations, which range from nonprofit hospitals to YMCA Camp Campbell. Here, she effectively applies her optimistic outlook and critical thinking skills. Throughout her undergraduate career, Eliana has explored a broad range of classes and clubs, delving into fields such as neurotechnology, health care advocacy, as well as advanced mathematics and sciences related to engineering. While she expresses an interest in the path towards medical school, she remains fascinated by the multitude of opportunities that bioengineering could potentially offer her. For instance, during her first year of college, she co-authored a research paper on the potential for bioengineering in space exploration, an experience that utterly astounded her. The prospect of integrating her major with space exploration filled her with an exhilarating sense of anticipation. Eliana also enjoys going to the beach and hiking in her free time.

young man wearing a dark beanie, white t-shirt and mustard colored sweater. standing in a garage space with a rocket taller than him

Asa Garner

Asa Garner studied Mechanical Engineering at Cal. He was a member of the CUBES project and is working under Aaron Berliner to study offworld nuclear engineering & develop methods to additively manufacture fissile material. He was also a lead for the Cal liquid rocket propulsion group ‘Space Enterprise at Berkeley’

Skyler Chan

Skyler Chan undergraduate in the departments of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at UC Berkeley. He wanted to become an astronaut since he was 3. In high school, he learned how to fly gliders, and was involved in various student-led space organizations. One of his goals is to make humanity an interplanetary species within our lifetime, and he joined CUBES to advance this mission. Currently, he builds in the Systems Design and Integration Division of CUBES. He is interested in exploring sustainable design on Mars, such as, how to build the first self-sufficient Martian cities. To Skyler, the idea that the choices we make designing the first Martian habitats today will have an impact on the future of humanity never gets old. In his free time, he can be found flying drones, PR-ing at the gym, and filming videos with friends.

Snigdha Jagarlapudi

Snigdha is a freshman at UC Berkeley studying Genetics and Plant Biology. She is working with Dr.Sander on the CUBES project because of their work with the growth coupling of polyhydroxyalkanoate production in species of Cupriavidus for applications in space exploration. She is interested in studying the genetic engineering of metabolic pathways in bacteria and algae, especially in the broader context of sustainability.

Shobhin Logani

Shobhin Logani is a sophomore at UC Berkeley studying Molecular and Cell Biology, and is working with Kelsey Hern on engineering probiotic biosensors for detecting respiratory disease. He is interested in studying functional and comparative genomics, and his research interests lie in manipulating natural biological systems to address issues in human and environmental health. He is also passionate about making new biotechnologies more accessible and cost-effective.

Phillipe Wiederkehr

Phillipe Wiederkehr is an undergraduate in Bioengineering Department at UC Berkeley with a major emphasis in synthetic biology. His interest in microbiology is tailocins, which he hopes could be utilized to revolutionize medicine in the future. He is very interested in just how precise bacteria-tailocin interactions are, and how surface proteins on a cell can have counter-intuitive effects on such events. The overall complexity of viruses interests him, and he will be able to contribute to a greater understanding of their interactions with cells.
He assists with phage-related projects. He has done biological research since high school and co-authored a paper on the effects of cannabinoids on the brain that was published in the Journal of Investigative Medicine in 2019. He is also involved with Berkeley iGEM, a club focussing on synthetic and computational biology.