Mentors Make a Difference for the Class of 2025

05/12/2025
By BCCS Staff

As UMass Lowell’s Class of 2025 prepares to turn the tassel, we highlight six exceptional seniors and the mentors who helped guide, inspire and support them along the way.

Whether through research, academic exploration or career preparation, these connections reflect the powerful role mentorship plays in helping students grow into confident scholars and future leaders.

Mechanical Engineering Major Kay Wojtowicz and Alex Krueger ’18

Ph.D. student Alex Krueger ’18 jokingly refers to senior mechanical engineering major Kay Wojtowicz as his “padawan,” a Jedi-in-training in the Star Wars universe.

“Slowly, I will become a Jedi. I’m almost there,” Wojtowicz says with a smile.

Wojtowicz met Krueger last summer after joining a materials research group led by Assoc. Prof. Alireza Amirkhizi and Prof. Christopher Hansen, chair of the department. Wojtowicz was already a learning fellow in a manufacturing lab led by John Connery ’21, assistant director of the Lawrence Lin MakerSpace.

“Alex took me under his wing, since there was a lot of information I needed to learn while spanning the two labs,” says Wojtowicz, an Honors College student from Methuen, Massachusetts.

Specifically, Wojtowicz needed to learn how to use the Split-Hopkinson Pressure Bar, an apparatus used to conduct high-strain rate testing on materials.

“He taught me absolutely everything I know and has pushed me to be better,” says Wojtowicz, who will continue using the device as a Ph.D. student at UMass Lowell. 

Krueger is proud to see Wojtowicz mastering the specialized equipment and carrying the research forward.

“From our first meeting, I knew Kay had so much potential, always so motivated and curious to explore the world of research,” Krueger says. “It really is something special to see someone with so much drive, always pushing to not only learn, but to truly understand our field of engineering and mechanics.”

Wojtowicz feels fortunate to have had several strong mentors in the Mechanical Engineering Department, including Asst. Teaching Prof. Kari White, alum Robert Lahaie ’18, ’20, ’22, Connery, Amirkhizi and Hansen.

“Having so many people helping me has definitely pushed me to work harder,” says Wojtowicz, who received the Francis College of Engineering’s Craig Douglas Undergraduate Research Award this spring. “Not only do I want to impress them, but I want to show them their effort is not being wasted.”

Nutritional Sciences Major Jillian MacLean and Mary Kate Keyes

Jillian MacLean was always interested in nutrition and human health, but it wasn’t until she took a nutrition elective that she realized she could major in nutritional sciences.

“The chemistry of food is fascinating to me, and I know I’ll be a lifelong student, always trying to learn more,” says MacLean, a Chelmsford, Massachusetts, native.

MacLean dove right in, excelling in and out of the classroom. She conducted research, served as president of the Nutrition Club and was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. To top it all off, she recently won the Outstanding Dietetics Student Award in Massachusetts.

MacLean is grateful for the support of her nutrition professors, especially Clinical Instructor Mary Kate Keyes of the Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences Department.

“Mary Kate has been an incredible source of support and an inspirational professor who is always willing to answer questions, offer guidance and provide encouragement,” says MacLean. “Her knowledge and passion for the field have really inspired me and helped shape my own goals and confidence as a future nutrition professional.”

Keyes recalls MacLean’s interest in nutrition as an asset to classroom discussions.

“When Jill needed clarification, her excellent questions showed that she understands the underlying biochemistry or physiology and was thinking critically about how to apply this knowledge,” Keyes says.

After graduation, MacLean will pursue a Master of Public Health in Dietetics to become a registered dietitian. Her goal is to start a nutrition-based business, creating her own brand of baby food and formulas.

“I’m excited to continue learning and to make a meaningful impact in the field of nutrition and public health,” she says.

Business Major Sudeep Gubbala and Belleh Fontem

Senior business major Sudeep Gubbala never had Belleh Fontem for a class, but the assistant professor of operations and information systems still had a big impact on Gubbala’s undergraduate career.

Through the Business and Entrepreneur Scholars in Training (BEST) program, which pairs Manning School of Business students with faculty mentors for one year of paid research experience, Gubbala assisted Fontem with his work on resource optimization.

“It was cool because I had done research in the past, but nothing in my field,” says Gubbala, an honors student from Chelmsford, Massachusetts, whose concentrations are in management information systems and analytics and operations management. 

Together, they used the MATLAB programming language to develop analytic models that can help businesses allocate marketing resources more effectively. 

“I learned about different types of coding and testing and was able to apply it to a real-world scenario with a mock company,” says Gubbala, who appreciated Fontem’s mentorship style. “He was incredibly supportive. Anytime I didn’t understand something, he would take the time to explain it clearly.”

Gubbala and Fontem presented their research at the 2024 Northeast Decision Sciences Institute Conference in Cambridge, Massachusetts — Gubbala’s first major academic conference.

That same week, Gubbala presented the work at UMass Lowell’s Student Research and Community Engagement Symposium, where he was named the Manning School’s undergraduate winner.

“Mentoring Sudeep has been an incredibly rewarding experience,” says Fontem, who served as Gubbala’s Honors project advisor. “He consistently demonstrated a strong ability to work independently, often taking initiative and showing remarkable dedication to our collaboration.”

Fontem also wrote several letters of recommendation for Gubbala, who landed a full-time project management analyst role at Dell Technologies in Franklin, Massachusetts, after graduation. 

History Major Campbell Tacey and Patrick Young

History major Campbell Tacey counts several faculty members as mentors, but Assoc. Prof. Patrick Young is the one who most closely shares her fascination with modern European history, she says.

Tacey has taken four classes with Young over the past two years: The French Revolution, Fascism and the Radical Right, World of Things (a history of consumer culture) and Immigration and Assimilation in Contemporary Europe.

“His classes are great. He teaches history in a very in-depth way; he really pushes us to look at things like painting and film and literature and consider them historically, rather than just look at history books,” she says.

A paper that Tacey wrote for her first class with Young became the basis for her Honors College thesis, a comparison between the Women’s March on Versailles during the French Revolution and the women-led “bread riots” during the American Civil War. Young served as her thesis committee member.

“He was super-great because he knew the subject very well, so he was able to help me narrow down sources,” she says. 

Tacey, who plans to become a history teacher, says Young has always made time to talk with her, including about the pros and cons of pursuing a master’s degree in history or a master’s in education with a history focus. And he wrote a recommendation for her successful application to the history graduate program at Tufts University, which she will start in the fall. 

Their admiration is mutual. Young says that Tacey, the outgoing president of the History Club, is a “community builder” who creates a welcoming environment in the History Department, helps students connect with faculty and inspires other history majors to work to a higher intellectual standard.

And, Young says, she respectfully challenges his positions, which stimulates better class discussions and keeps his teaching fresh.

“She sometimes disagrees with me — and that’s great,” he says. “It keeps me on my toes.”

Computer Science Major Chisom Ukaegbu and Sashank Narain

Chisom Ukaegbu is graduating with more than a bachelor’s degree in computer science. The Washington, D.C., native is also a co-author of a published research paper and a member of UMass Lowell’s first-ever winning team in the Northeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (NECCDC) — two opportunities made possible thanks to Sashank Narain, an assistant professor in the Miner School of Computer and Information Sciences.

“Prof. Narain has played a pivotal role in expanding my understanding of what's possible in the field of computer science,” says Ukaegbu, who is staying at UML to complete a master’s degree in computer engineering.

Narain, along with Ph.D. computer science student Pranathi Rayavaram, invited Ukaegbu to assist with programming a novel educational tool to teach K-12 students about cryptography. The Association for Computing Machinery published a research paper about the educational tool, which Ukaegbu co-authored.

“It was pretty surreal,” he says. “Being an author on a research paper is not something I imagined possible prior to coming to college.”

Ukaegbu competed in the NECCDC for the past three years and served as co-captain for the last two. Under the guidance of co-coaches Narain and computer science Ph.D. student Chris Morales ’21, Ukaegbu and co-captain Matthew Harper ’23, another computer science Ph.D. student, led UML to victory in the 2025 NECCDC.

“Chisom has been an integral part of our cyberdefense team, and it has been inspiring to watch his growth over the past few years,” Narain says. “From quickly mastering complex topics like Terraform, Ansible, Linux and Windows security to leading technical initiatives and supporting his teammates, he consistently brought both skill and leadership to the table. His impact on the team and his peers has been lasting, not just in competitions, but in the collaborative and driven spirit he helped foster.”

Chemistry Major Melanie Guerra and Erin Bertelsen

Honors chemistry major Melanie Guerra found a mentor in Erin Bertelsen, an assistant professor of physics. As a sophomore, Guerra began working as a paid undergraduate student researcher in Bertelsen’s radiochemistry lab through the Kennedy College of Sciences’ Science Scholars program.

Initially, Guerra struggled with the work, which involved using cyclic voltammetry to separate similar radioactive elements.

“After months and months, I was not getting any data. But Dr. Bertelsen was very patient with me,” Guerra says.

That patience paid off. Two years later, Guerra is still with the lab, training other students on the instrument and writing its standard operating procedures. She will continue working in the lab while pursuing a master’s degree in chemistry at the Kennedy College.

“We’re excited to have Melanie staying with us,” says Bertelsen, who served as Guerra’s honors thesis advisor. “She’s the backbone of the lab right now. We depend on her to manage and lead and mentor new students.”

Throughout her time at UML, Guerra has benefitted from Kennedy College mentors. After spending her first year of college online because of the pandemic, Guerra began commuting to campus from home in Lawrence, Massachusetts, as a sophomore.

“The transition from online to commuter student was really bad,” says Guerra, a first-generation college student who was “overwhelmed” by her course load. She thought it might be easier if she lived on campus, but finances were a concern. Guerra told Khalilah Reddie, an associate teaching professor of chemistry, that she was thinking of dropping out of UML and going to community college. 

“You’re not leaving,” said Reddie, who helped Guerra find the financial aid she needed to live on campus.

“Without her, I would not have stayed here,” says Guerra, who flourished as a residential student. She joined the UML student chapter of the American Chemical Society and became a peer leader for the River Hawk Scholars Academy, a chemistry tutor and a student ambassador for the Kennedy College. As a senior, she serves as the Class of 2025 vice president.

Guerra says Reddie and Jessica Garcia, an associate teaching professor of chemistry, have been “like mothers to me” at UML.

“Whenever I was stressed or worried about anything, I would go to Dr. Garcia,” Guerra says.