USABE

Meet The Board

Ricky Wang-Polendo

Ricardo Wang-Polendo (he/him) is a current VIPER junior from Roseville, Minnesota studying Bioengineering and Biology. He is interested in biotechnology and medical devices. During his free time, you can find him playing club Ultimate Frisbee at Penn or practicing piano somewhere on campus.

Alfredo Velazquez Vazquez

Vice President
valfredo@upenn.edu

Alfredo Velazquez Vazquez (he/him/his), is from Fort Worth, Texas. He is a senior studying bioengineering where he hope to integrate engineering principles with biological concepts to create innovations that are useful to society. He enjoys listening to various types of music, and watching K-dramas in his spare time.

Evelyn Yu

Ambassador
evelynyu@seas.upenn.edu

Evelyn Yu (she/her/hers) is a junior from Berwyn, PA studying computer science. She is an active member of SWE and WiCS. She is interested in low-level systems and programming language design. She also enjoys design and visual arts. In her free time, she enjoys trying new foods and exploring bookstores.

Makayla Cheng

Ambassador
mcheng15@seas.upenn.edu

Makayla Cheng (she/her/hers) is a junior from Los Angeles, California studying Bioengineering. She is interested in the field of biotechnology, medical devices, and robotics. Makayla is also actively involved in Access Engineering, SWE, and Engineers Without Borders. In her free time, Makayla enjoys reading books, crocheting, trying new foods, and listening to music. Makayla is excited to meet new members and engineers during this upcoming year!

Chantal van Dongeren

Ambassador
cvandong@seas.upenn.edu

Chantal van Dongeren (she/her/hers) is a sophomore from Bucks County, Pennsylvania studying Bioengineering. Outside of USABE, she is involved with research at Penn Medicine, working at a startup through Penn Health-Tech, Penn Women’s Club Soccer, and serving as Advocacy Co-Director for the Society of Women Engineers. In her free time, she likes weightlifting, trying new restaurants in Philadelphia, playing sports, and listening to music.

Elo Esalomi

Ambassador
eloe@seas.upenn.edu

Elo (she/her/hers) is a sophomore studying Computer Science from London, England. She is interested in AI governance and policy. In her free time, she enjoys playing the piano in both solo and ensemble settings, watching tennis and reading French literature.

McKenzie Tebo

Ambassador
mtebo@seas.upenn.edu

McKenzie Tebo (she/her/hers) is a sophomore from Baltimore, Maryland studying Bioengineering. She is interested in the fields of immunoengineering and cell/tissue engineering, and passionate about solving health inequities. She dances, plays the viola, and also loves making ceramics. In her free time, she loves to travel, listen to music, and spend time with her friends. Fun fact -- she's Cameroonian-American!

Wesley Leeroy

First-Year Ambassador
wleeroy@seas.upenn.edu

Hey everyone, my name's Wesley Leeroy and I'm majoring in AI (Class of 2029)! I'm from Gaithersburg, Maryland. During my free time, I like swimming competitively, going to the gym, sprinting barefoot in the grass, watching the NBA, learning cardistry, and folding origami.

Catherine Suo

First-Year Ambassador
cathysuo@seas.upenn.edu

Catherine Suo (she/her) is a freshman from Hong Kong studying Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She is passionate about research in materials science and healthcare. Outside of USABE, she is involved with the Education Committee in the Alternative Protein Project, the Outreach Committee in SWE, and marketing at TEDxPenn. In her free time, she enjoys playing the cello, spending time with friends, and shopping.

Busra Coskun

Liaison
bcoskun@seas.upenn.edu

Busra Coskun (she/her/hers) is a sophomore from the Philly suburbs studying computer science with an interest in computational biology and bioinformatics. Beyond USABE, she participates in WiCs and conducts research on statistical learning methods. In her free time, she enjoys reading and practicing new henna designs.

Lily Parsels

Liaison
lparsels@seas.upenn.edu

Lily Parsels (she/her/hers) is a sophmore from McLean, Virginia studying Bioengineering. She is interested in the fields of biotechnology, medical devices, and robotics. Lily is also actively involved in research at CHOP and a few clubs on campus like ADAPT, SWE, Engineers Without Borders, and the club volleyball team! In her free time, Lily enjoys trying new restaurants and watching movies.

Viktor Wittner

Liaison
viktorw@seas.upenn.edu

Viktor Wittner (he/him/his) is a junior from Casa Grande, AZ studying computer science. He is interested in data science, specifically the field of computational social science. Outside of USABE, he is a part of The Daily Pennsylvanian and works as a CIS1100 TA. In his free time, he enjoys going to concerts, discovering new artists, thrifting, and watching movies.