Ties between the Concordia and UCI engineering departments trace back to the start of the Concordia engineering program in 2021, propelling students into promising careers, including one engineering graduate, Tiffany Carrillo, who completed her master’s at UCI and now works for Boeing. 

Julia Foote Najera, junior, was a part of an eight-week summer research program supported by Concordia’s Valerosos y Curiosos program. Her work was in collaboration with UCI, which houses the vibrometry machine that the students used to collect data like vibration measurements. Foote Najera presented her research at the Biomedical Engineering Society conference in October. It “was an amazing experience,” she said. “I met many leaders in the biomedical field, learned about their research, and received advice about my own path and field.” 

Her research “focused on improving the reliability of a cartilage testing technique called vibrometry, which uses vibrations to study how cartilage responds to dynamic forces,” Foote Najera said. The team created an automated MATLAB code to process the data, making vibrometry faster and more reliable for future cartilage research.

“My classmate, Wyatt Madison, and I collaborated with Dr. Espinosa,” she added, “to continue her previous research.” Dr. Gabriela Espinosa, Director of Engineering at Concordia, also conducted research at UCI. “The group over at UCI that I was working with looked at trying to bioengineer tissue replacements that are more like the actual tissue that was there to begin with,” Foote Najera said. “Using my mechanics background and knowledge of cells and the proteins they make, we asked ourselves, ‘Are these tissues strong enough?’”

Tiffany Carrillo, a 2024 alum, also worked closely with Espinosa throughout her time at Concordia. “Dr. Espinosa has always been by my side…even though the program was very, very small, it was actually the beginning of something big,” Carrillo said. She added that the engineering program “is growing so much since when we started. I think it was only eight of us” at its beginning.

Carrillo’s first interaction with the UCI engineering department was participating in one of their racing car teams. This experience grew her fascination with mechanical engineering and Formula One. She completed her master’s degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering at UCI in 2025. “There were a lot of ups and downs, especially since it was a one-year master’s, which was very tough,” Carrillo said, “but the people I met during the program were now going to be my lifelong friends that I’m so grateful about.” 

Carrillo is now employed at Boeing, working on the F-15 jet, she said, “I never thought that I was going to be able to work for my first job with a fighter jet… It’s kind of crazy for me to think that I’m in charge of making sure that everything is correct, which is a lot, but it’s just the beginning of building up my career.”

Both Carrillo and Foote Najera expressed their gratitude for the engineering professors, especially Espinosa. She “guided me and also continued to push me to not give up,” Carrillo said. “Coming to CUI for engineering has been a rewarding journey. I was drawn to CUI because of the close connection professors have with students,” said Foote Najera. She added, “The sense of community in the engineering department is what truly keeps people engaged. My classmates and I work as a team, supporting each other through every class and building strong friendships.”

Students interested in research can get involved through the Concordia academic showcase or inquire about summer research opportunities. If engineering students are interested in Carrillo’s work at Boeing, they can find her on LinkedIn. She advises aspiring engineers to “always be persistent, resistant and have perseverance.”

Tags: STEM, alumnus

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