CSULB BUILD Program

Congratulations to Gabriel Lopez, Y2 Scholar and senior Aerospace Engineering major on his recent publication! ✨📝

Gabriel published work done at his summer research internship with postdoc mentor Dr. Lei Yang. Check out his paper titled “Interface Reaction in Core-Shell Boron-FeF3: Direct Observation of Gas Release and Oxide Removal during Combustion” in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces.

Congratulations Gabriel!

Image Description:
Slide 1: Yellow background with a photo of BUILD scholar Gabriel Lopez. Text reads: Congratulations on your publication! Gabriel Lopez, BUILD Year 2 Scholar, Senior in Aerospace Engineering.

The last day to add or drop a class without approval is February 2nd at 10pm!

Dropped courses no longer count toward your attempted units for a given term and do not count toward the Undergraduate Withdrawal Limit.Dropping may affect your status as a full-time student, your tuition calculation, and your financial aid eligibility.

To drop a class:

Use self-service registration on MyCSULB Student Center before the end of the second week of instruction.
Courses dropped before the deadline to drop without a W will not appear on your transcript.

Welcome back!

Congratulations to two of our CSULB BUILD students, Wyatt Pierce and Austin Esparza, who received awards!

Congratulations to ✨Wyatt Pierce✨, CSULB BUILD Fellow and senior Molecular Cell Biology and Physiology major, on his recent presentation award at the 2025 Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) held in San Antonio, TX.🎉👏Wyatt presented his work titled “ Innate Immune Protein C1q Induces Autophagy in Macrophage Foam Cells “. This work was conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Deborah Fraser in the Biological Sciences Department at CSULB. Kudos Wyatt! Go BUILD and Go Beach!💛🖤

Congratulations to ✨Austin Esparza✨, CSULB BUILD Year 2 Scholar, who received the 2025 CDC Internship Essay Competition award for the College of Natural Science & Mathematics (CNSM). 🎉He was one of two selected from CNSM and the only Molecular Cell Biology and Physiology major. Austin would like to thank the CSULB Career Center for the recognition and scholarship. 💛🖤

Good luck on finals!

On July 17, CSULB BUILD trainees and McNair Scholars visited UC Irvine's Graduate Division !

Our students gained many insights into the graduate application process, graduate life at UCI, and the research culture on campus. Some highlights from the trip included:
• Connecting with UCI's Associate Dean of the Graduate Division
• Taking a tour of UCI's campus
• Connecting with CSULB BUILD & McNair alumni who are enrolled in graduate programs at UCI
• Visiting various research labs and
• Connecting with faculty/graduate students

We'd like to thank the team at UCI Graduate Division for hosting us as well as the CSULB BUILD & McNair alumni panelists and campus representatives for sharing their wisdom and time with us!✨💙💛

Eighth Annual BUILD Elevator Speech Contest🎤

Congratulations to our BUILD SURGE trainees for competing in our eighth annual BUILD Elevator Speech Contest! Scholars and Fellows shared about their ongoing faculty-mentored research in an Academic Talk and a Friends & Family Talk.

Presenters were judged by CSULB faculty and campus partners based on the Understanding, Delivery, and Timing of their speeches. First and second place winners were awarded in each category:

Academic Talk Winners:
🥇Paulina Nolasco (Y1 Scholar, mentored by Dr. Maricela Maldonado)
🥈Nikki Sternlieb (Fellow, mentored by Dr. Virginia Gray)

Friends & Family Talk Winners:
🥇Bianca Contreras (Y1 Scholar, mentored by Dr. Barbara Caplan)
🥈Cece Fanelli (Y1 Scholar, mentored by Dr. Briac Halbout)

Thank you to all our participants, judges, audience members, and event organizers! And thank you to the Office of Undergraduate Research Services for sponsoring this event!✨