Honors Ambassador Bios

Lead Ambassadors

Elizabeth Kowalchuk - B. Architecture

Elizabeth Kowalchuk is a fourth year architecture student pursuing a five year Bachelors of Architecture degree. She is involved in architectural and historical research, for which she was awarded a Provost Undergraduate Research and Innovation grant working with Dr. Louis Hamilton and Dr. Burcak Ozludil. She also works on building performance and sustainability research with Dr. Hyojin Kim, exhibitions with Dr. Maya Gervits at the Littman Library, and independent research and exhibitions at the James Rose Center for Landscape Architectural Research and Design with HCAD instructor Kevin Hofmann.

Noah Roselli - Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics, minor: Electronic Creative Writing

Noah Roselli (he/him) is a senior at NJIT studying Applied Mathematics and Applied Physics. He is in Dean Hamilton's Rome Research Group and studies whirlpool interactions with Dr. Goodman of the math department. He hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and to be a research professor who conducts research in dynamical systems.

Portia Shaheed - Biochemistry, minor: Psychology

Portia Shaheed is a senior Biochemistry major with a minor in Psychology. She is involved in on-campus through a few clubs, including Circle K International (CKI) and Gigabeats. She also is a Lead Team member for New Student Orientation. Portia conducts organic chemistry research with Dr. Chen at NJIT and math/psychology research with Dr. Rosenberg-Lee at Rutgers-Newark.

Kristen Abraham - Chemical Engineering, minor: Business

Kristen is a fourth year chemical engineering. On campus, she is president of American Chemical Society and secretary of Omega Chi Epsilon. Further, she has interned at Colgate-Palmolive and BP.

Apoorva Amudhan - Biology

Apoorva Amudhan is a sophomore Biology major who is part of the seven-year accelerated program with Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. In addition to being an Honors Ambassador, she is a member of Red Cross League, CKI, and Pre-Health Society. She has also been a hospice volunteer for the past three years, writing letters to residents and spending time with them.

Lucas Bastos - Computer Science, minor: Business

Lucas is a senior studying Computer Science with a Business minor and also pursuing a Master's Computer Science degree with NJIT's B.S./M.S. program. He has been an Honors Ambassador since his junior year. On campus, he is currently involved with research under Dr. Cartwright's Audio Lab for the Open World Sound Event Recognition (OWSER) project to explore machine learning and audio analysis.

Manal Desai - Computer Science & Applied Mathematics

Manal is a second year computer science and applied mathematics major. Manal currently does research on solar transient events at the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research. Manal also is the National Communications Coordinator in Training for Residence Hall Association.

Joshua Gaughan - Mechanical Engineering

Joshua is a fourth-year Mechanical Engineering student working towards a career in aerospace engineering, and hopes to work after graduation.

Erika Hurst - Computer Engineering

Erika is a thrid year computer engineering major who loves to tackle engineering and technology challenges.Some project examples include VirtualBox Linux DEs, a Python.

Ruby Kapoor - Computer Science, minor: Business

Ruby is a second year ADHC student majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Business. She is currently conducting research with Dean Hamilton on religious street shrines in Rome by developing a database to catalog them in. She is involved on campus as the Event Coordinator for NJIT's Association of Indian Students and is a member of ACM, WiCS, and Women in STEAM. In the future, she hopes to be a Data Scientist at a government funded agency where she can utilize her interdisciplinary skills.

Jeena Kataria - Biomedical Engineering, minor: Applied Mathematics

Jeena is a junior majoring in Biomedical Engineering, minoring in Applied Mathematics, and on the Biomaterials / Premed track. On campus, she participates in NJIT EMS, is a secretary and historian of Alpha Kappa Psi Chi Zeta Chapter, and works as a Community Associate at VentureLink. She also co-founded her own startup called Lyra that focuses on educated underserved communities about unconventional STEM.

Grace Leverett - Computer Science/Applied Mathematics

Grace is a third year student double majoring in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics. Grace is a member of the Women in Computing Society (WiCS), and the Knit and Crochet Club.

Jake Martin - Mechanical Engineering

Jake Martin is a senior studying Mechanical Engineering. After graduation, Jake would like to work for Stryker as a Rotational Engineer.

Haylee Merola - Interior Design, minor: Business

Haylee is a third year Interior Design student. She is working towards a Business minor and working on campus as a Learning Communities Peer Mentor. Haylee is the treasurer of NJIT's chapter of the International Interior Design Association and the secretary of NJIT's creative writing club, the Minerva.

Sahana Narayanan - Computer Science

Sahana is a junior majoring in Computer Science, and the officer of Public Relations for Kids Who Code.

Milan Patel - Biomedical Engineering, minor: Computer Science

Milan is biomedical engineering and computer science student whose academic interests include engineering, biomaterials, physiology, and programming.

Malcolm Shuler - Computer Science

Malcolm is a Computer Science student who transferred to NJIT from Bergen Community College in Fall 2020, when classes were online only, Malcolm did research where the goal was to design a payload that would be connected to a High Altitude Balloon that would attempt to collect meteor dust.

Prathisha Shyamsundar - Computer Science, minor: Business

Prathisha is a computer science major, and was a Honors Ambassadors as a first year student. Prathisha is the Secretary for Saavan and Event Coordinator for Kids Who Code.

Shaili Soni - Computer Science

Shaili is a sophomore Computer Science major. She joined the Honors Ambassador program virtually during her freshman year to become more involved with the ADHC community. On campus, she serves as the Community Outreach Coordinator for the NJIT Women In Computing Society and is on the Curriculum Committee Board in Kids Who Code.