They Started Something: Here’s to the Class of 2019

Sea of mortarboards at commencement with one in center that says I may be small but I've got big plans.

05/08/2019
By University Relations Staff

They started companies. Created clubs. Formed foundations. Members of UMass Lowell’s Class of 2019 have once again proven that River Hawks don’t wait until they graduate to do great things. They do them while they are here. With Commencement approaching, we salute the Class of 2019 for their hard work and accomplishments. Here’s a sampling of some of the things our graduates started at UMass Lowell and their impact on the campus and the community. Cue the Pomp and Circumstance.
Noelle Lambert poses with 24-year-old Emma Graham and her waterproof prosthetic, donated by Born to Run Foundation
NOELLE LAMBERT

Criminal Justice
Founded the Born to Run Foundation

After losing her left leg in a moped accident in 2016, Noelle Lambert inspired so many with her triumphant return to the UML women’s lacrosse team last year. Lambert discovered two things during her comeback: She couldn’t do it alone, and prosthetics for athletic use are very expensive, ranging from $5,000 to $50,000. So Lambert created the Born to Run Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing child amputees with the specialty prosthetics that will allow them to run again. Read more

Joel Dabady holds a laptop with the Laptech logo on the screen
JOEL DABADY

MIS, Analytics and Ops Management 
Co-founder of startup Laptech

Inspiration struck during a course called “Starting a New Venture” with Assoc. Prof. Yi Yang in the Manning School of Business. Joel Dabady and classmate Keegan LaPierre, a junior, needed to create a feasibility statement for a proposed company. Looking at an external hard drive that LaPierre had taped to his laptop, the students suddenly imagined a laptop case with a built-in external battery. And with that, their company Laptech was born. Read more

Kierra Walsh poses on a roof on the UMass Lowell campus
KIERRA WALSH

Biology
Helped launch UML Green Roofs

It didn’t take long for Kierra Walsh to realize she liked the idea of the DifferenceMaker program. “It was at freshman orientation,” says the biology major. She formed a team that came up with an idea for UML Green Roofs, which would help the university meet its carbon neutrality goal while offering green space and a tranquil place for students to hang out. Read more

Simthyrearch Dy poses holding a scale model of SPACE HAUC, UMass Lowell’s first student-built satellite
SIMTHYREARCH DY

Computer Science, Physics and Math
Student program manager for SPACE HAUC

Simthyrearch Dy dreams of working for NASA someday. He’s gotten a taste of what that might be like as the student program manager for SPACE HAUC (pronounced “Space Hawk”), UMass Lowell’s first student-built satellite, which is scheduled for launch into orbit later this year. Read more

Harry Rider on a mountaintop during a ski trip
HARRY RIDER

History
Co-founder of Ski and Snowboard Club

When a first-year student posted on Snapchat and Facebook that he wanted to start a ski and snowboard club at UMass Lowell, history major Harry Rider jumped in with both ski boots. “I’ve been skiing since I was 6 years old. It’s always been the thing I’ve loved doing most,” says Rider, who served as a captain of the Lowell High School ski team for three years before coming to UML. Read more

Nicholas Shepherd and Alexandra McKinney at the registration table of a blood drive hosted by the Students for Interprofessional Education Club
NICHOLAS SHEPHERD & ALEXANDRA MCKINNEY

Clinical Lab Science, Medical Lab Science
Co-founders of Students for IPE Club

To experience the demands of working on a team with other health professionals, undergraduates in the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences participate in Interprofessional Education (IPE). Under this program, students from different disciplines work together to develop patient care plans, using real-world cases and simulations. As members of the IPE Student Advisory Council that provides feedback to faculty on IPE, clinical laboratory science majors Nicholas Shepherd and Alexandra McKinney received many requests from fellow students who wanted to get more involved. Read more

Craig Kelly wears a prosthetic hand developed by eNABLE Lowell
CRAIG KELLY

Mechanical Engineering
Co-founder of eNABLE Lowell

Craig Kelly knows eNABLE Lowell is in good hands. Not only does he applaud the incoming management team, but he’s been working to ensure that eNABLE Lowell continues to be able to help children with disabilities. In his freshman year, Kelly, a mechanical engineering major, was one of the founders of the student-run, all-volunteer campus chapter of eNABLE, an international organization that makes low-cost, 3-D printed prosthetics for children free of charge. Read more

Kelly Bradford holds a Management Society sticker in the Pulichino Tong Business Center
KELLY BRADFORD

Management and International Business
Co-founder of Management Society

After co-founding the Management Society and helping it grow over the past three years, Kelly Bradford isn’t just handing the reins to new student leaders – she’s giving them a road map for success. Bradford, an Honors College student, created an organizational guide for her Honors project to help future Management Society members with operations and continuity. Read more

Samantha O’Wril, president of the Francis College of Engineering Student Ambassadors program, accepts an award at an event
SAMANTHA O’WRIL

Electrical and Computer Engineering
Helped found Engineering Student Ambassadors

Samantha O’Wril, an electrical and computer engineering major from Lowell, takes great satisfaction in telling people about the wealth of opportunities available at the Francis College of Engineering. And she’s had plenty of practice. O’Wril is president of the Francis College of Engineering Student Ambassadors program, which she helped get off the ground in the fall of 2017. Read more