Meet the Outstanding Graduates of Fall 2020

Every semester, the College of Engineering and Applied Science recognizes exemplary students who have excelled in academics,听research, service and international engagement听during their college careers.

The Outstanding Undergraduate of the College听and the Outstanding Undergraduates听for Service and International engagement听are selected from nominations by faculty and staff, while the Outstanding Undergraduates for Academic Achievement are honored based on their overall grade point averages. The college also recognizes one PhD graduate with the Outstanding Dissertation Award, granted to a student who contributes significantly to their field of study and produces a particularly strong dissertation.

The recipients are honored each semester during graduation ceremonies.

Watch the virtual Graduation Ceremony at 6 p.m. Dec. 15

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Michelle Galetti, Outstanding Undergraduate of the College

This year鈥檚 Outstanding Undergraduate of the College is Michelle Galetti. She鈥檚 graduating with a degree in Creative Technology & Design through the ATLAS Institute.

The outstanding graduate of the college is selected based on their overall excellence in academics, service and research. Michelle has all of these in spades.

Michelle is from Colorado Springs but graduated high school in Seattle. A student with deep intellectual curiosity and a strong ability to persevere, Michelle is known by her professors for producing exceptional work inside and outside of the classroom.

During her undergraduate career, Michelle experienced sudden, total hearing loss. While navigating her new reality, Michelle used the experience to inform her classwork and projects. She developed a voice transcription app for deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals and embarked on a research project to create an interactive jacket that provides haptic feedback as an alternative sensory experience of music.

A diligent student, Michelle is a member of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars. As an Engineering Fellow, she performs mentoring and service activities to support fellow students, and has also served as a learning assistant for two ATLAS courses. She also completed an internship with the Southwest Research Institute鈥檚 space operations in Boulder.

After graduation, Michelle will move into a full-time position as a student scientist in mission operations and a senior web developer for the Southwest Research Institute.

Rachel Mamich, Outstanding Undergraduate for International Engagement

Rachel Mamich is from Littleton, Colorado, and is听earning a joint bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degree in aerospace engineering with a minor in computer science. This award recognizes a student who demonstrates outstanding engagement in the international arena.

During her time at CU, Rachel has served as an intern and graduate assistant in LASP, the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. There she has been a valuable contributor to the United Arab Emirates鈥� Mars mission since the summer of her freshman year.

Described as a diligent and dedicated contributor, Rachel has been involved with various parts of the mission, including camping on the roof of the LASP building to assist in live-sky testing and handling the subsystems during realtime operations in the middle of the night.

As part of a large international team, Rachel has frequently and confidently interacted with counterparts in the UAE and beyond in ways that are accomplishing the space mission and building bridges between cultures.

Rachel plans to attend UT Austin to pursue a PhD fellowship in aerospace engineering, specifically focused on optical navigation.

Meredith Kee, Outstanding Undergraduate for Service

The Outstanding Undergraduate for Service award recognizes a student who has performed meritorious service at CU Boulder or within the wider community. This year鈥檚 recipient in Meredith Kee from Arlington Heights, Illinois.

Meredith is graduating with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in civil engineering.

Meredith was nominated based on the breadth of their service work as a student, which includes volunteering with Boulder Food Rescue delivering food to food-insecure community members. An environmentalist, Meredith also assisted Eco-Cycle and served as president of the CU Environmental Board, overseeing a team of students in charge of a $6 million budget.听

They also served as a member of the Student Advisory Board for the Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering and served as a class note-taker for fellow students who requested extra support through disability services.

Meredith has been heavily involved with Out Boulder County since May 2018, volunteering at events, attending trainings and supporting non-binary and transgender voices in the local community.

When Meredith isn't volunteering, you can find them biking around town or trying a new recipe at home.

Meredith plans to become a water resources engineer in the Denver area.

Outstanding Undergraduates for Academic Achievement

Cailyn Craven

Cailyn Craven is graduating with CU Boulder鈥檚 new post-baccalaureate degree in Applied Computer Science, an online program designed for working professionals.听

Cailyn already holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree in history and English with a minor in atmospheric and oceanic sciences from CU Boulder.听

She owns and operates an ecommerce business and pursued the computer science degree in order to work on software tools to help herself and fellow business owners.

She is mom to two young children.

Thomas Dolan

Our second Outstanding Graduate for Academic Achievement, Thomas Dolan, is also earning his degree in Applied Computer Science.

Thomas moved to Boulder in 2012 for the amazing rock climbing and then met his wife, Amanda. They live in Boulder with their daughter Madeline and another child on the way.

Thomas previously earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in economics from Indiana University in Bloomington. He served in the U.S. Air Force from 2015 to 2019 and worked in satellite and ground radio systems. After training, he spent three years with the 5th Combat Communications Group in Georgia. While deployed in 2018 and 2019, he learned to code as a way of passing the time during 12-hour shifts.

He ended up loving coding and decided to pursue his degree and a career in software engineering. Thomas is currently applying to software engineering roles and hopes to eventually find his way back into government work.

Michael Dresser

Also earning the Outstanding Undergraduate for Academic Achievement recognition is Michael Dresser.听

Michael grew up in Palo Alto, California, and is earning a joint bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degree in computer science. He says he both loves and hates computers.

While a student, he was a member and officer of the CU Boulder Cybersecurity Club and studied abroad in London. He completed internships with Overwatchid, Logrhythm, Twilio, and Google, and also served as a graduate student assistant in the Computer Science department.

After graduation, Michael will be joining a promising startup as a software engineer.听

Anne Lydens

The fourth recipient of this year鈥檚 Outstanding Undergraduate for Academic Achievement award is Annie Lydens.

Annie is also a student in the Applied Computer Science program and a senior developer for Thoughtbot in Austin, Texas.

She also holds a bachelor鈥檚 degree from Pomona College in philosophy, politics and economics.

Outstanding Dissertation Award

Shankar Lalitha Sridhar

The Outstanding Dissertation Award is听awarded annually to one student whose dissertation is of extremely high quality and contributes significantly to our understanding of the subject matter.

This year鈥檚 winner is Shankar听听Lalitha Sridhar, who earned his PhD in mechanical engineering in August.

Shankar earned his bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in civil engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and then a master鈥檚 degree in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University before coming to CU Boulder.

While earning his PhD, he worked as a research assistant in Professor Franck Vernerey鈥檚 Soft Matter Mechanics Lab and as a teaching assistant. Shankar also served as president of the Prospectives of Soft Matter student club to bring together researchers, students and faculty to share expertise and collaborate around this topic.

Described as a meticulous and highly motivated researcher, Shankar earned recognition for his doctoral dissertation titled, 鈥淢echanics of transient networks: an interplay of dynamics and microstructure.鈥�

He now works as a postdoctoral research associate in the lab of Dr. Loren Hough in the Department of Physics at CU Boulder.

Read more about Shankar's research and accomplishments.

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