Team

A Collaborative & Diverse Group
We are a group conducting interdisciplinary research that values curiosity, collaboration, hard work, and a healthy amount of fun. Our group welcomes researchers at any level who share our enthusiasm for science.
Roberto Andresen Eguiluz
Principal Investigator
randreseneguiluz@ucmerced.edu
Chaos coordinator
Grace Newman
Ph.D. Candidate, QSB gnewman3@ucmerced.edu
MCA mechanics
Sixin Zhai
Ph.D. Student, MBSE szhai2@ucmerced.edu
Rotating
Peyton Pettyjohn
B.S. Student, Biology
TUSCEB Fellow
ppettyjohn@merced.edu
Epithelial contractility
Nicolas Mendoza
B.S. Student, Bioengineering and Materials Science and Engineering
nicolasmendoza@ucmerced.edu
ECM-lubricin interactions
Nathan Roehrig
B.S. Student, Computer Science and Engineering
nroehrig@ucmerced.edu
SFA FECO analyzer
Stephan Gilbert O’Neil
B.S. Student, Materials Science and Engineering
sgilberoneil@ucmerced.edu
Poisson’s ratio of hydrogels

Ariell Smith
Ph.D. Candidate, MBSE
asmith85@ucmerced.edu
ECM viscoelasticity
Metzli Montero
Ph.D. Student, MBSE
mmontero7@ucmerced.edu
Endothelial mechanobiology
Diego Jaramillo Pinto
Ph.D. Student, MBSE
djaramillopinto@ucmerced.edu Nanobiotribology
Nahtalia Bellio da Silva
Ph.D. Student, MBSE
nbelliodasilva@ucmerced.edu ECM-biofilm interactions
Surbhi Salgarkar
B.S. Student, Biomengineering
TUSCEB Fellow
ssalgarkar@ucmerced.edu
Cell-cell communication via ECM
Benjamin Heufner
B.S. Student, Computer Science and Engineering benjaminheufner@ucmerced.edu Computational predictions of peptides

We are currently looking for motivated, hard-working researchers. Previous experience in the topics listed is not required.

Alumni

Tajin Syeda Ahmed
Postdoctoral Scholar (Fall 2021 – Summer 2025) – Scientist at Sangamo Therapeutics

Iago Peters
Visiting Scholar (April 2025 – July 2025) – Ph.D. candidate at Vienna University of Technology

Ummay Honey
M.S. Student, MBSE (Fall 2023 – Spring 2025) – TBD

Dalton Coleman
NSF Sites I-BEST fellow (Summer 2025) – TBD

Louiegail Nazareno
B.S. Student, BIOE (Fall 2024 – Spring 2025) – TBD

Ramon Paez Reyes
B.S. Student, MSE (Fall 2024 – Spring 2025) – TBD

Isaac Sousa
B.S. Student, CSE (Summer 2024 – Spring 2025) – TBD

Kaleb Cutter
B.S. Student, Biology (Summer 2024 – Spring 2025) – MD student at the UN Las Vegas

Mayra Manzo
UROC fellow (Summer 2024) – TBD

Katelyn Lunny
NSF SITES I-BEST fellow (Summer 2024) – Ph.D. student in Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University

Breanna Remigio
UC LEADS fellow (Summer 2024) – Ph.D. student in Computational Bioscience, CU Anschutz

Brandon Pardi
B.S. Student, CSE (Summer 2022 – Spring 2024) – M.Sc. student in Computer Science, UC Davis

Dominique Inocencio
B.S. Student, BioE (Spring 2022 – Spring 2024) – Lead of Mechanical Testing, Zero Waste Energy LLC

Warren Flores
B.S. Student, BioE (Fall 2023 – Spring 2024) –

Tejveer Bagri
ACS SEED fellow, El Capitan High School (Summer 2023) – B.S. student in Computer Science, UC Berkeley

Dion Deng
B.S. Student, BioE (Summer 2022 – Spring 2023) – Assistant Scientist, Thermo Fisher’s PPD Clinical Research Group

Bianca Ortiz Larios
B.S. Student, MSE (Fall 2022 – Spring 2023) – Engineer I, Silk Road Medical

Emily Junez
B.S. Student, MSE (Spring 2023) – Hardware Engineer, General Motors Company

Tiffany Murga Duarte
B.S. Student, BioE (Fall 2020 – Fall 2022) –

Shane Holmes
NSF CREST CCBM fellow (Summer 2022) – Ph.D. student in Biomedical Engineering, University of Arizona

Joyce O. Saltzherr
B.S. Student, BioE (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) – Solutions Engineer at Salesforce Tableau

Muhammad Ahmed
B.S. Student, BioE (Summer 2021 – Spring 2022) – Twist Biosciences

Saigheeta Bhaskar
B.S. Student, BioE (Summer 2020 – Spring 2022) – M.Sc. student in Clinical Research, UC San Francisco

Yekaterina Zhezherya
B.S. Student, BioE (Fall 2021 – Spring 2022) – TBD

Isha Saini
B.S. Student, BioE (Summer 2021 – Spring 2022) – Apple Technical Support Advisor, Ceres, CA

Justin Pham
B.S. Student, MSE (Summer 2021 – Fall 2021) – TBD

Amar Mann
B.S. Student, BioE (Fall 2019 – Summer 2021) – M.Sc. student in Biomedical Engineering, UC Davis

Benjamin Reams
NSF CREST CCBM fellow (Summer 2021) – Ph.D. student at Washington State University

Felipe Ramirez
B.S. Student, BioE (Fall 2019 – Fall 2020)

Nicole Garza
B.S. Student, Biological Sciences (Fall 2019 – Summer 2020)

Syndee Villa
B.S. Student, MSE (Summer 2020)- SEM/Materials Analyst, Advanced Materials.