June ’25 ASPIRE Student Section
Welcome to our ASPIRE Student Newsletter!
In this section we highlight students and their research, discuss events and student news, and provide a place to celebrate the successes of our students at ASPIRE!
Congrats to Our Spring Graduates!
Undergrads:
Daniel Ashby, USU
Kade Bushman, USU
Taylor Anderson, USU
Brett (Chase) Bruggeman, USU
Seth Stock, USU
Braxton Geary, USU
Joe Brijs, USU
Addison Collard, USU
Allan Lyn, USU
Sally Vogel, USU
Brittany Piquet, USU
Kaiden McMillen, USU
Master’s:
Alan Petersen, USU
Orion Watson, USU
Aashay Mahesharkar, USU
Allan Lyon, USU
Sajid Hasnat, USU
Jorge Hernandez Ramiro, USU
Nathan Stott, USU
Braden Cook, USU
Stockton Smith, USU
Bethany Clapier, USU
Ph.D:
Hector Cruz, UTEP
Patrick Lawton, Auckland
Parichehr Dogani, Auckland
Upcoming Dates & Events
ASPIRE ASA Leadership Applications Open
ASPIRE is streamlining student leadership positions by combining the ASA and SLC. The President and Vice President of each ASA will be considered Student Leaders in ASPIRE and unlock special access to leadership trainings and skills like the cohort trip and financial incentives.
If you would like to get involved, feel free to reach out to Melanie Conrad at melanie.conrad@usu.edu.
Applications are currently open, so make sure to throw your hat in!
Student Achievements
Congratulations to Bruno Moras and Kenny Wijaya for successfully passing their preliminary exam and advancing to Ph.D. candidacy!
Read more about their research here.
Bruno — who additionally received Purdue’s Future Mentors Program’s Outstanding Graduate Research Mentor Award from the John Martinson Honors College — was also able to present his research at the 66th International Meeting of the Transportation Research Forum that occurred in St. Charles, Missouri. His research was co-authored by Dr. Chiara Cervini and Professor Nadia Gkritza.
Check out this article for additional information.
We look forward to seeing Bruno and Kenny’s continual successes!
Congratulations to Pedram Balooch Sirgani who successfully defended his doctoral proposal. His research is entitled “Investigation of Thermal Effects Induced by Wireless Power Transfer Systems on the Performance of electrified Asphalt Pavements”.
Learn more about his accomplishment here.
Way to go Pedram!
Congratulations to Zainab Imran on her new Electronic Systems internship at Cummins Inc, a global leader in technology and a member of our Industry and Innovation Board.
Read more about her exciting opportunity here.
Event Highlights
USU ASA Oldcastle Visit
On April 11, the ASPIRE Student Association located at Utah State University visited the Oldcastle Infrastructure’s pre-cast pavement facility in Ogden, Utah. After touring this full-scale manufacturing facility and learning about its operations, as well as the technical and commercial challenges associated with the various infrastructure, they looked towards the future as they discussed engineering careers and mentorship opportunities.
Student Highlights
Hector Cruz
Degree Type: PhD
Discipline: Civil Engineering
ASPIRE Project: Electrified Roadways
Graduation Date: May 2025
Fun fact: I enjoy assembling large jigsaw puzzles, framing them, and using them as decoration in my workspace.
Missel Sanchez
Degree Type: Bachelor’s
Discipline: Civil Engineering
ASPIRE Project: N/A
Graduation Date: December 2025
Fun Fact: I enjoy hiking.
Lazlo Stepback
Degree Type: PhD
Discipline: Engineering Education
ASPIRE Projects: I am working on the Pathways project looking at how engineers (and ASPIRE) can work with technicians and labor unions.
Graduation Date: Spring 2026
Fun Fact: I have done the Running of the Bulls in Spain, and I also play electric bass.
Sarah Sami Khan
Degree Type: PhD
Discipline: Electrical Engineering (Power System)
ASPIRE Projects: N/A
Graduation Date: 2028
Fun Fact: I am a Fulbright scholar from Pakistan. Aside from this I enjoy seeking out new adventures fueled with caffeine. Whether it’s exploring new cities, a mountain trail, or movies/songs. In the wintertime, I am on a mission to watch every movie ever made, starting with the classics.
Patrick Gu
Degree Type: PhD
Discipline: Electrical Engineering, specializing in Cyber-Physical Security with applications to Power Systems and Vehicles
ASPIRE Projects: My work with ASPIRE concerns integration of electric vehicles into the power grid as a possible attack vector for demand side attacks, and the security of the grid given this increased demand.
Graduation Date: 2026
Fun Fact: I enjoy hiking, traveling, and hobby gaming such as board games.
Tenzin Lhaden
Degree Type: PhD
Discipline: Mechanical Engineering
ASPIRE Projects: Development of an EV charging station simulation model (Master’s Thesis); optimization of the number of charging stations based on user patterns (IISE 2024 Conference Paper); Optimization of photovoltaic (PV) utilization for EV charging station microgrids (Submitted for WSC 2025 Paper); Prediction of dynamic electricity pricing for EV charging stations (Current project).
Graduation Date: May 2029
Fun Fact: Currently obsessed with experimenting to find the perfect parameters for the ideal sourdough loaf.
Daniel Ashby
Degree Type: Bachelor’s
Discipline: Mechanical Engineering and Computational Mathematics
ASPIRE Project: I’ve primarily been involved with the Kenworth 1MW project.
Graduation Date: May 2025
Fun Fact: I love to bake pies!