The Martina Leach who was a freshman at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga four years ago is not the same Martina Leach who will graduate on May 6. “I don’t know if this would make sense, but I saw personal growth in myself. I just feel like who I was coming into this is not the same person who’s leaving from here.”
During Julia Stranahan’s time at UTC, “I learned a lot about being a leader”
Julia Stranahan, who will be graduating on May 6, has had numerous leadership opportunities at UTC, including being a member of the Freshman Senate, an orientation leader and the facilitator of the Feminist Action Movement. She also served in a statewide office as lobbying director of the Tennessee Intercollegiate State Legislature.
First gen graduate gives back and pays forward
Juan Carlos Aponte Ortiz’s experiences at UTC led him to become deeply involved with student-oriented, peer-mentoring programs on campus. He has worked with Student Support Services, Student Success Programs, the Office of Student and Family Engagement, the Center for Women and Gender Equity, and the Center for Wellbeing.
“I realize this sounds strange, but in a way I’m thankful for COVID. It was the wakeup call I needed”
Keslin Moore was a student-worker in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Division of Communications and Marketing during the spring 2023 semester. Moore, a Stophel Scholar in the Gary W. Rollins College of Business, is graduating in May with a bachelor’s degree in marketing and a minor in communication. She is a 2019 graduate of Bledsoe County High School in Pikeville, Tennessee.
Master’s thesis survives the horror of “The Dark South”
Paul Zachos can thank COVID-19 for his horror novel, “The Dark South.” He can thank “The Dark South” for his master’s degree in creative writing.
“These students are the future of our city and the future of our country, and we are proud to have them represent University High”
A ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, April 27, officially launched University High, a new two-year program designed to help Hamilton County High School students get a head start on a college degree. University High will be headquartered on the UTC campus.
Engineering students design musical fun for preschooler with disabilities
At the spring 2023 UTC College of Engineering and Computer Science Technology Symposium, students designed and built a table with musical instruments attached and just the right height for Benny, a 4-year-old preschooler at Soddy Elementary School with cerebral palsy.
Student dissects song lyrics to win Fly! Pitch Contest
Senior Sami Belcher’s idea caught the attention of judges who selected her poster-making business—Halfway Down Design Co.—as the winner of the recent Student Fly! Pitch Contest, held in the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Overcoming adversity: Mechatronics student Fatimah Musa won’t let visual impairment hold her back
UTC mechatronics student Fatimah Musa was born with cone-rod dystrophy—a type of inherited retinal degeneration affecting the retina’s photoreceptor cells. Musa said “visually impaired” is usually the correct term for her case, “but I generalize myself as blind because blind does include the visually impaired.”
The heat is gone: Energy efficient window covering wins Fly for Researchers pitch competition
Dr. Sungwoo Yang, assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Chemical Engineering, won the second annual Fly for Researchers Pitch Competition. By winning, he will receive $20,000 to apply to research on what he calls Aerogel 2.0—“the next generation of aerogel.”