By Flynn Espe

Twelve students from the Washington State University system have received the 2025-26 Power & Energy Society (PES) , making WSU the top institutional producer of PES scholars for this award year.

The PES Scholarship Plus is presented on behalf of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and can award students up to $10,000 over a three-year period. The scholarship is given to high-achieving undergraduate students majoring in an IEEE-designated field of study who are pursuing careers in power and energy.

The 12 WSU students, who hail from three system campuses, comprised almost a third of the 38 total PES scholars chosen from colleges and universities in IEEE’s Western U.S.A. region, a cluster that includes 12 states. The students are:

• Katelyn Albertin, ���سԹ�
• Gianni Avilan Losee, WSU Vancouver
• Gerrit Bruland, WSU Pullman
• Hugo Contreras, ���سԹ�
• Jacob Culligan, ���سԹ�
• Daniel Gapper, WSU Pullman
• David Hysjulien, ���سԹ�
• Jesus Miranda, ���سԹ�
• Miguel Palomino, ���سԹ�
• Jessica Pantoja-Garcia, WSU Vancouver
• Tarang Teredesai, WSU Pullman
• Manuella Tossa, ���سԹ�

Bruland and Tossa are both two-time recipients.

To qualify for the scholarship, students must be considering a career in electric power and energy engineering, having earned a minimum number of academic credits within those areas of study. Applicants are evaluated by way of grades, achievements, work experiences, and volunteer activities. Selection is also based on the quality of the institution’s academic programs and curriculum related to power and energy engineering.

Palomino, a first-time recipient majoring in electrical engineering with minors in computer science and mathematics, found out about the PES scholarship through his academic advisor. He says he’s currently interested in working on energy systems that are healthier for the environment, noting that emerging technologies like ChatGPT and other large language models have proven to be heavily energy dependent.

As a student intern at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) since 2023, Palomino has contributed to research projects involving high-voltage systems analysis for an experimental time projection chamber, the creation of an automatic cooling system, and more.

“My second project at PNNL, I created a standalone digital display system for a pressure transducer,” Palomino said. “For this, I had to integrate a microcontroller, analog-to-digital converter, and a digital display screen. This system required me to create a voltage divider to scale down the input signal to prevent any damage to the components.”

After earning his associate’s degree from Columbia Basin College, Palomino transferred to ���سԹ� as a part of the Bridges Program and expects to graduate with his bachelor’s in electrical engineering in the spring of 2027.

“I feel honored to be recognized by IEEE,” he said. “It is encouraging to know that others have faith in me and are willing to give me that support which I greatly need.”

Pantoja-Garcia, who transferred from Clark College to WSU Vancouver in 2023, said she became interested in the field thanks to power-related projects and classes, as well as her participation in the PNW Hydro Think Tank Competition. At WSU Vancouver, it was her Intro to Power and Energy Systems course and two key electives — Renewable Energy Conversion Systems and Introduction to Solar Cells — that further cemented her enthusiasm.

“Both of these electives stood out to me from other electrical engineering classes I have taken because they involved learning with a project-based approach,” Pantoja-Garcia said. “As a student, I have found that when I am tasked with projects instead of problem sets, I feel more involved and a sense of ownership over my education.”

Outside of the classroom, Pantoja-Garcia took part in two four-month electrical engineering internships with Burns & McDonnell — an architecture, engineering, and construction firm. She recently joined the company as a full-time assistant substation engineer after graduating in December with a bachelor’s in electrical engineering.

“I spent most of my time working on substation projects,” Pantoja-Garcia said. “In my application, I described how my internship allowed me to take on projects that directly affected our electric grid and that it taught me the importance of making safe and smart design choices.”

The PES Scholarship Plus program grew sharply over the past year, increasing from 84 PES scholars in 2024 to 244 in 2025. The jump was driven in part by expanded eligibility, which now includes majors such as computer science, technical communications, education, and more. WSU students outpaced that growth, rising from two scholars last year to 12 this year.

According to Noel Schulz, inaugural director of the ���سԹ� and Bob Ferguson endowed professor, who joined the IEEE board of directors in 2024, it’s a promising sign for the trajectory of WSU’s programs.

“This is a significant accomplishment for the entire WSU system,” Schulz said. “It’s encouraging to see that our students are excelling not only in the labs and classrooms on campus but also being recognized by professional societies like IEEE PES.�� The WSU system continues to be a strong program in electrical power education and research. It’s a true testament to our incredible engineering faculty and curriculum that WSU is producing so many talented and committed students.”

By Flynn Espe

A new method for identifying types of plastics, built on advanced spectral imaging and machine learning, could make recycling more efficient and reduce landfill waste, according to a new study involving Washington State University researchers.

The method, in the journal Resources, Conservation and Recycling, offers the promise of a sorting system that is more accurate in distinguishing and separating different types of plastics on conveyer belts, which is crucial for producing high-quality recycled materials.

Maria Paula Garcia-Tovar, a Ph.D. materials science and engineering student at WSU Pullman, served as lead author. Macy Christianson (’22 BS Comp. Sci., ’24 MS Comp. Sci.), a ���سԹ� alumnae now working at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL); Luis de la Torre, associate professor of computer science at ���سԹ�; and John Miller, emeritus associate professor of computer science at ���سԹ�, were among the co-authors, alongside other colleagues from PNNL and the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez.

Spectral imaging builds upon the principles of spectroscopy — a technique for observing how light interacts with matter across different wavelengths. Using specialized cameras with spectroscopic sensors, spectral imaging machines detect and record spectral data for each pixel of an image. Analysis of that data can, in turn, identify the chemical composition or other properties of the materials. Hyperspectral imaging, which requires more sophisticated camera equipment than traditional spectral imaging, offers a higher level of resolution, providing a full spectrum at each pixel.

“It’s like a regular color image, which has red, green, and blue, but a hyperspectral image has a whole wavelength band — sometimes 3,000 wavelengths,” Miller said.

For this study, the research team sought to investigate the feasibility of plastic identification in a simulation using hyperspectral imaging technology and convolutional neural networks (CNNs), a deep-learning artificial intelligence model often lauded for its ability to process complex image data. By training their CNN model on image data sets derived from two types of vibrational spectroscopies, the researchers determined both to be highly accurate in identifying six chemically distinct plastic types — with one model achieving 100% accuracy.

Although some recycling facilities have begun implementing hyperspectral imaging for plastic classification, most still rely on older, less accurate technologies such as near‑infrared sensors and RGB cameras. These systems are used during the sorting stage, after plastic loads have been screened for metal or other non‑plastic contaminants. Sensors mounted over fast‑moving conveyor belts capture and identify the plastics as they move past, and precision‑targeting air jets separate individual items by type.

Accurate sorting is important because different plastics have distinct chemical compositions and require specific processing conditions, including different melting temperatures. When plastics are improperly sorted, the quality of recycled materials can suffer, sometimes resulting in discarded batches that end up in landfills or incinerators.

Garcia-Tovar said the plastic samples used in the study were recovered from a recycling center in Puerto Rico, which made successful identification of the materials more challenging but also more reflective of real-world conditions.

“These plastics are real plastics, so they had some environmental degradations,” Garcia-Tovar said, adding that some samples were even discolored from additives, making them harder to identify with older technologies. “But the model was successful.”

Garcia-Tovar, who is originally from Colombia and has a background in industrial engineering, was initially recruited to the project while pursuing her master’s degree at the University of Puerto Rico–Mayagüez, working under the guidance of co-author Samuel P. Hernández-Rivera. She collected the samples and provided infrared spectral imaging data using equipment at her university. She then brought the samples to PNNL, where she worked as a research intern during the summer of 2024, using the lab’s high-end imaging equipment to obtain the rest of the hyperspectral images for the machine learning experiment.

According to Miller, who worked on the machine learning framework, there were certain essential functions that had to be implemented for the experiment to work. One of the first tasks, he said, was getting the image analysis software to isolate and identify each plastic item within each spectral image.

“One of the weird things is that the conveyor belt is also plastic, so you have to distinguish the [recycled] plastic from the conveyor belt as well,” Miller said.

Another challenge Miller pointed to was optimizing the computational process so that it matched the speed of a fast-moving conveyer belt. A potential future step, he said, would be to test the imaging framework on a physical conveyor system.

Garcia-Tovar, for whom this is her first published paper as lead author, said she decided to further her education at WSU based on her positive PNNL internship experience. She says another paper from her PNNL internship is forthcoming — this one dealing with microplastics.

“I am very happy to continue studying at this university,” she said. “This experience has been really amazing.”

By Flynn Espe

Washington State University Tri-Cities student Roxie Bates remembers coming to New Coug Orientation last fall feeling somewhat anxious about starting her college career.

“What if I don’t do this one thing and then it ruins everything?” she recalls thinking. “I was very nervous.”

Though she’d been on campus at least once before, it was a much different environment than the one she’d recently graduated from at Chiawana High School in Pasco. More than that, as a first-year student in the ���سԹ� Teaching Bridge Program, Bates still had practical questions about how she would be balancing her time between taking classes and working part-time as a paraeducator — one of the main features of her elementary education program.

Fortunately, Bates says, most of her day-one jitters were quickly calmed when she went into a scheduled group meeting with Lisandra Farías, her assigned mentor in a brand-new Student Success Peer Mentors program aimed at helping new ���سԹ� students settle in during their first semester on campus. Farías introduced herself to the group as a senior elementary education major.

“She kind of explained everything, like, ‘I’ve been through it. This is what it’s going to look like, and if you have any questions, I’m here,” Bates says. “It was a lot more reassuring.”

From there, Bates stayed in frequent contact with Farías throughout the semester, using a special text messaging platform.

“I would say we talked about one to two times a week. And it would often just be a quick check-in, like, ‘Hey, how’s everything going? Do you have any questions?’” Bates says.

Bates and her fellow new Cougs weren’t the only ones going through the peer mentorship process for the first time. This being the pilot year for the program, it was a learning experience for everyone — students and staff included.

“The point is to help new students, both first-years and transfers, successfully transition to life at ���سԹ� by offering guidance, support, and a friendly connection to the campus community,” says Evelyn Martinez-Ostrom, ���سԹ�’ director of student engagement and leadership.

She says the program emerged from a series of director-level meetings the year prior in which campus leaders from the Office of Academic and Student Affairs looked closely at an industry study on student success in higher education. In evaluating the , which identified the “Big Six” college experiences linked to lifelong preparedness, the group latched on to two key indicators. One was a correlation between successful outcomes for students who were highly active in extracurricular activities and organizations. A second indicator was having a mentor to inspire and encourage the student.

“It was really broadly stated as somebody that has their back on campus, and an overwhelming number of examples cited a peer as that mentor,” Martinez-Ostrom says. “So the combination of those two things, having a peer mentor and having involvement in co-curricular activities, is what we centered this idea of a peer mentor program around.”

Getting the program up and running required a major effort from multiple ���سԹ� departments, including the Office of Admissions and Office of Academic Engagement. Funding for the first year of the program was provided by a generous outside sponsorship from Battelle, with additional contributions from the ���سԹ� College of Arts and Sciences and TRIO Student Support Services.

By the time fall 2025 orientation arrived, Martinez-Ostrom’s office had assembled and trained a team of 14 ���سԹ� upperclassmen as peer mentors — selecting candidates through a competitive hiring process that also sought to bring in a mixed representation of undergraduate majors.

Peer mentor Devin Simpson, who graduated last December as a digital technology and culture major, says he decided to apply to the campus position having previously worked as a student outreach ambassador for the ���سԹ� GEAR UP program.

“I was interested in it because I had experience interacting with students,” he says. “I thought, ‘Oh, that could translate well into the Student Success Peer Mentors position.’”

For his orientation meet-and-greet session, Simpson prepared a few simple games and ice-breaker activities to help people get to know one another.

“I had them talk about themselves and why they enrolled at WSU,” Simpson says. “They were meeting for the first time, so obviously nerves were going to be a little bit high. But the more I talked to them and the more activities and games we did, the more comfortable they got.”

Throughout the fall, Simpson and his fellow mentors regularly reached out to their assigned students via group and personalized texts, informing students about academic deadlines and resources while encouraging them to participate in upcoming social events. The new students, meanwhile, were also free to contact their mentors with questions and requests.

One peer mentor guided a new student through the process of starting a campus club for the education students, Martinez-Ostrom says. Sometimes the requests were more urgent.

“At one point we had a peer mentor who was off-campus, and one of their mentees had messaged them, ‘Hey, I have an exam today. I forgot my calculator. Can you help me with this?’” Martinez-Ostrom says. “The peer mentor contacted me, ‘I need to help my mentee. Are you on campus? Can you find a calculator for her?’ I said, ‘Yes, send her to our office.’ And we had a TI-89 waiting for her.”

To celebrate the completion of the first semester of the program, the Office of Student Engagement and Leadership hosted a special “Cheers for Peers” event in the Student Union Building last December. While there, each of the 14 mentors had a chance to stand up and share about their experience.

Peer mentor Alyssa Perez, a senior viticulture and enology major, said being in the program taught her valuable lessons about leadership.

“Real leadership often looks like stepping back. You have to listen first, ask questions, and create a space for someone else’s voice to be heard,” Perez told the group. “I also learned that small moments matter more than we think. A quick check-in, a high five in the hallway, or a ‘You’ve got this!’ at just the right time — those interactions can be the thing that keeps someone going.”

For questions about applying to the peer mentor program for fall 2026, email Martinez-Ostrom at evelynmtz@wsu.edu.

By Flynn Espe

Seven students from Washington State University Tri-Cities are bringing their collective passion for community service beyond the confines of the Richland campus. As members of the newly relaunched Mid-Columbia Rotaract Club, they’re on a mission to give back to the region through a range of charitable activities, including an upcoming bowling fundraiser event.

“We hope to better the community in any way possible,” says ���سԹ� sophomore Romeo Ross, currently serving as the Rotaract chapter president.

are official sub-organizations of Rotary International chapters, aimed at cultivating leadership and service-minded professionalism among young adults, ages 18–30. The Mid-Columbia Rotaract Club is sponsored by Columbia Center Rotary, based in Kennewick.

Ross says he became involved in getting the Rotaract chapter up and running in late 2025 when Rotary member and ���سԹ� donor Phil Ohl (’87 BS Mat. Sci. & Eng., ’92 MEM) pitched the idea to him. Although the Mid-Columbia Rotaract club had been active in years past, the group had effectively dissolved during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving no one left from the chapter’s former membership to carry the mission forward.

“(Phil) gave me a little bit of insight as to what they had done in the past,” Ross says. “The pitch was, ‘This is really big for our community, and we’re looking for someone to revitalize this and serve in this way.’”

Despite his already busy schedule, including serving as vice president for the Associate Students of ���سԹ�, Ross says he agreed immediately.

“I love humanitarian work. I love service projects,” Ross says. “So I said, ‘Of course, I would love to.’”

His first task was to recruit other new members for the chapter who would be just as committed to community service and engaging with people. Fortunately, he didn’t have to look far. As of now, ���سԹ� undergraduate students comprise more than three quarters of the group’s nine-person leadership team, which includes Diedre Cady, freshman; Xavier Cox, sophomore; Felix Galvan, junior; Harleen Kaur, freshman; Anas Mohamed, sophomore; and Nate Sibaja, sophomore.

Despite the heavy representation of ���سԹ� students, Ross says the makeup of the group is diverse in other ways, with three members hailing from other countries.

“Every individual on the team speaks at least another language,” Ross says, citing Italian, Japanese, and Twi as three languages currently represented. “The team is so multifaceted.”

Rotaract members are focusing their efforts on fundraising support for the Prescott School District, which serves approximately 225 children in rural Walla Walla County and has been facing potential dissolution due to financial distress.

Ross says the decision to focus on helping the district was made during the club’s inaugural meeting on Jan. 15, after each new member brought in three ideas for potential service projects and causes. Cox, who grew up in the town of Prescott, was the one who brought the issue to the group’s attention.

“We came to a consensus that this was the most time-sensitive project,” Ross says. “It was a unanimous vote.”

For Ohl, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from WSU and currently serves as managing director for the Tri-Cities Angel Alliance, getting young people involved in community service has been a driving passion. He praised the new Rotaract team for getting up and running so quickly.

“Romeo and the new members of Mid-Columbia Rotaract embody the Rotary motto, ‘Service above self,’” Ohl says. “All the members are passionate about our Tri-Cities and surrounding area communities, and I’m excited to get to work with them. The fact the group is Coug-centered is a great bonus.”

The group’s first planned outreach activity is a bowling night fundraiser event from 9:30-11:30 p.m. on March 19 at Atomic Bowl in Richland. All proceeds go to the Prescott School District.

For more information on upcoming events, you can follow Mid-Columbia Rotaract Club on . Ross says his team is still on the lookout for new members who exhibit ambition, compassion, and optimism.

“It’s an amazing opportunity, especially if individuals are interested in community service and leadership,” Ross says.

By Flynn Espe

In this third year as a Cougar, Eric Mayo-Gutierrez can already say that Washington State University has taken him places. For starters, he’s been a student at three different WSU campuses, spanning both sides of the Evergreen State.

But that’s just the beginning for this first-generation mechanical engineering major from Moses Lake, Washington, who now has his sights set on a scholarship-funded trip later this summer to Tokyo, Japan. That’s where he plans to take part in an engineering internship through the Council on International Educational Exchange’s Summer Global Internship program.

To make the trip possible, Mayo-Gutierrez applied to and recently received the Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship, a federal program that helps fund educational travel experiences for undergraduate students facing financial hardship.

“I’m a recipient of the Pell Grant, so thankfully I had the opportunity to receive this,” Mayo-Gutierrez says. “It helps students be able to explore opportunities that they might not have been able to due to financial circumstances.”

The Gilman scholarship program has to work and study overseas as they take part in all manner of travel experiences — learning about food and culture in Spain and Portugal, researching , and , to name a few. In 2025, there were 14 WSU students who received a Gilman scholarship, including one from ���سԹ�.

Although Mayo-Gutierrez has yet to be matched with an employer for his overseas internship, he looks forward to seeing and experiencing all that Tokyo has to offer when he gets there this summer.

“Not a lot of students have this opportunity,” Mayo-Guiterrez says. “I’m just thankful.”

Mayo-Gutierrez began his bachelor’s degree studies at WSU Vancouver in the fall of 2023 before transferring to WSU Pullman the next semester. He then made one final move, beginning his sophomore year at ���سԹ�, where he’s since taken part in several extracurricular jobs as a peer mentor, biology and chemistry lab prep assistant, undergraduate research assistant, and mechanical and electrical engineering intern at Grant County P.U.D. He previously earned his associate degree and welding certificate from Big Bend Community College.

He says his long-term career goal is to become a mechanical or robotics engineer working on biomedical devices — bonus points if he can live and work internationally. Through engineering innovation, he says, he hopes to advance new technologies and solutions that will increase access and lower costs for patients.

For current students interested in applying for a , WSU will be hosting a Gilman Scholarship Workshop Series on Zoom this February.

As any parent can attest, raising young children is demanding and unpredictable. Adding work or school into the mix can be a lot to juggle, especially when childcare plans can fall through at a moment’s notice.

That’s where a new Washington State University Tri-Cities campus resource aims to help. Dubbed the “Coug Family Corner” and located in the Learning Commons area of the Consolidated Information Center, it’s a room where student parents and caregivers can bring their children or young relatives to campus on a short-term basis while attending to their studies at the same time. Furnished and stocked with a wide assortment of kid-friendly books, games and activities on one side of the room, the other half includes a conference-style table intended for student work and—if necessary—small group meetings.

The newly renovated space launched at the beginning of the fall semester and is available on a first-come, first-served basis to any student who needs it. To use the Coug Family Corner, students simply need to sign a check-in form, noting their agreement to a brief list of guidelines, which includes a requirement that student caregivers must remain with their children at all times.

“It’s a great resource for student parents or anyone who needs to watch a younger sibling,” Cristal Sternfeld, a junior pursuing a bachelor of science in nursing, says. “It’s safe, comfortable and gives you the chance to get homework done while keeping your child close by.”

As the parent of a 2-year-old daughter, Sternfeld says she has used the space a few times this semester already.

“One time I came to campus just to pick up a book and brought my daughter with me. Since I had an assignment due that day, I decided to stop by the family corner,” she says. “It ended up being the perfect spot. I was able to finish my assignment, and my daughter stayed busy and happy playing in the space.”

According to Evelyn Martinez-Ostrom, ���سԹ�’ director of student engagement and leadership, that’s precisely the kind of scenario university leadership had in mind when creating the Coug Family Corner this past summer.

“What if we created a space on campus where students could bring their children in unexpected situations?” Martinez-Ostrom says. “Say your childcare fell through but you still need to come to campus. Maybe this can be a way to get your work done, even if your kid happens to be with you.”

Martinez-Ostrom says the Coug Family Corner was spearheaded by a special committee on which she served with other ���سԹ� department representatives—including staff from the Office of Advancement and Facilities Services Department. That committee had been tasked by the Advisory Council Tri-Cities with exploring new ideas for bringing childcare support to campus.

“We’re kind of in a childcare desert out here,” Martinez-Ostrom, who also became a first-time mom around the time of the group’s formation, says. “We talked about what was realistic for us.”

Ultimately, the committee landed on the idea for Coug Family Corner and identified an underutilized location in the Learning Commons that had previously housed the Learning Glass, a room used primarily for online instruction during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Funding for the room’s renovation, including supplies and furniture, came from the College of Nursing’s social work program.

Now that the space is open, Martinez-Ostrom says she hopes to spread the word about Coug Family Corner not only to students, but also to student-facing staff and faculty who might be able to use the space as an alternative meeting location when students are accompanied by their children.

“It’s important to have an understanding from everyone on campus about this resource so that they can know how to accommodate that student in need,” Martinez-Ostrom says. “That’s really step one to being a more family-friendly institution for our students.”

As more students begin to take advantage of the resource, Martinez-Ostrom says she welcomes any feedback that will help make Coug Family Corner more useful and accommodating to more people.

For her part, Sternfeld says she appreciates having a family-friendly space on campus where she can go when the need arises. “It makes being a student parent feel more supported, and it helps reduce some of the stress of balancing school and childcare,” she says.

By Angela Sams

CHIȘINĂU, Moldova — During a recent trip to Moldova, Washington State University students toured medieval ruins, a monastery, and subterranean caves where monks hid from enemies while protecting wine, a historically symbolic and religious product in the eastern European country.

“Learning about Moldova really opened my eyes to how they value their wine as a livelihood and culture,” said Julie Hilland, a graduate student in WSU’s��. “It was inspiring to converse with people about their historical and agricultural challenges, from medieval to modern times, and how it has shaped their wine heritage and traditions. They want to celebrate this with the world.”

Supported by the����and a U.S. State Department-funded grant received by the Technical University of Moldova (TUM), the trip built on a 2024 partnership established by the two universities. The WSU visitors, which also included staff and faculty, received an overview of TUM’s academic programs, collaborated with TUM faculty and students, and toured the university’s facilities, including recently remodeled labs.

As one of the two WSU graduate students on the trip, Hilland shared the grape smoke exposure research taking place in Associate Professor Tom Collins’ lab at the��.

“I was honored to present,” said Hilland, who is pursuing a PhD in horticulture. “This trip was a really exciting opportunity. I wanted to learn about Moldovan wine production and see the winemakers’ artistry and passion for their product. I also wanted to understand their challenges and successes and how those compare to the U.S.”

The trip solidified WSU undergraduate Cecilia Sevier’s desire to work abroad after graduation.

“One reason I’m drawn to this industry is because it’s very internationally collaborative,” said Sevier, a senior V&E major. “This trip proved that. It was an amazing chance to connect with winemakers outside of the U.S. and see what students in Moldova are learning and what they want to do with their education.”

Throughout the weeklong visit, the group sampled Moldovan wine varietals including Fetească albă, akin to a muscat or muscadine; Fetească regală, similar to a Pinot noir; and Viorica, a dry, citrusy orange wine that pairs well with the local cuisine.

“I was thrilled to return this year, this time with both undergraduate and graduate students, to engage in hands-on learning opportunities that foster global collaboration, experiential education, and cross-cultural understanding between WSU and Moldovan wine scientists, educators, and producers,” said V&E Department Chair Jean Dodson Peterson.

The itinerary included stops at the Cricova and Asconi wineries, where the group learned how the country’s wine industry supports its citizens. The group also learned more about local history during a day trip to Old Orhei.

“Winemaking isn’t just a business for Moldovan people,” Sevier said. “It’s part of their tradition and culture. It was really inspiring to be part of that, even for just a short while.”

Sevier was especially struck by the humbleness of the Moldovan winemakers.

“Moldova has one of the oldest wine industries in the world, and the winemakers never seemed to be bragging or trying to prove something,” she said. “They were so excited to share their wines and hear which ones we preferred and why. The community aspect of wine is at the center of everything they do.”

As the trip ended, the students attended the Moldovan Wine Festival, a lively cultural celebration that included wine tasting, crafts, music, and other activities.

“Experiencing the level of enthusiasm the Moldovan people have for their wine was galvanic!” Hilland said. “From historical events to modern research, Moldova is the perfect balance of production and artistry.”

Both Hilland and Sevier hope the connections they established with TUM faculty and students during the trip will remain as they pursue future careers in the wine industry.

“This trip made the world feel smaller in a good way, and it changed my perspective on wine as a whole,” Sevier said. “It made me feel like a student of the world, rather than just one university. I now feel so much more ready to be a part of this industry when I graduate.”

By Flynn Espe

Three undergraduate Washington State University students traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, last month to take part in the conference. For four days at the World Health Organization headquarters, the trio joined more than 400 high school and college student delegates from approximately 40 countries in a series of simulations focused on diplomacy and consensus building.

The WSU students who participated were Bhargav Iyer, a senior biology major from WSU Pullman; Zoe Pfeifer, a senior biology major from ���سԹ�; and Romeo Ross, a sophomore social sciences major from ���سԹ�. Anna Plemons, associate vice chancellor for academic and student affairs for ���سԹ�, also traveled as the group’s faculty advisor. The trip was partially funded thanks to a donor contribution to the ���سԹ� Dynamic Student Engagement Fund, as well as the Phil and June Lighty Student Leadership Development Fund.

Like a Model United Nations summit, in which each student takes on the role of ambassador for a UN nation, the Global Model WHO conference had student delegates serving as mock representatives for a WHO member country. Daily simulation sessions were divided across six committees, each tackling a different global health topic. All three WSU delegates took part in the committee titled “Equity and Integration to Prevent and Control Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs).”

“Before arriving, we had to write a position paper,” Pfeifer, who represented the Philippines, said. “It required intensive research to figure out your positions, find the rates of diseases, or NCDs, and just familiarize yourself with your country.”

Through several rounds of dialogue and debate, students advocated for draft resolution language changes that would best advance the policy needs of their respective nations. While some portions of the simulations had students negotiating with one another in smaller regional groups, other segments were dedicated to open-forum discussion, in which any delegate was free to raise their country flag to make a statement.

“As soon as you press the mic, there are multiple cameras around the room and it all pans on you,” Ross, who represented the Dominican Republic and also served as a plenary speaker at the conference, said. “I definitely improved in my public speaking and the nerves I had prior to that.”

At the end of the conference, Iyer received a Diplomacy Award for exemplary representation on behalf of his assigned country, Panama.

“I’m incredibly grateful to receive this award and am proud to represent WSU in this international space,” Iyer said. “My biggest takeaway from this trip was reassurance in the fact that we can solve so many pressing issues by coming together and working on them. Intentional collaboration and effective communication are key pillars to passing meaningful policy, and despite the many cultural and linguistic barriers, I was impressed with the work that students did at this conference.”

According to WHO, noncommunicable diseases—such as cancers, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and cardiovascular diseases—killed at least 43 million people in 2021. Additionally, roughly 73 percent of NCD deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.

“For the country I represented, NCDs contributed to 68 percent of the deaths in that country, so it’s a big issue,” Pfeifer said.

To set the stage for the proceedings, the opening sessions took place inside the WHO executive boardroom. That’s where students heard directly from world health leaders and were reminded of the many historic health causes—from decreasing worldwide polio outbreaks to combating COVID-19—that had been championed within that very space.

“When they started, they told us, ‘This is the room where the smallpox problem got solved,’” Pfeifer said. “It was like, ‘Holy cow!’”

“This is a building that I’ve seen on TV,” Ross echoed. “It’s something that I really did appreciate, especially being in that room with so much history and significance. It was a surreal feeling.”

As someone with a strong interest in international law and humanitarian work, Ross said he had long wanted to gain firsthand UN experience, either through a student internship or other opportunity. After hearing about the Global Model WHO conference over the summer, it was he who first brought the opportunity to Plemons’ attention.

Plemons, in turn, instigated the conversations among ���سԹ� staff and faculty that led to the trip being greenlit and funded as an official WSU activity. She also arranged to offer and teach a one-credit UNIV 490 Global Leadership Experience course this semester, with the goal of giving Pfeifer and Ross the space and academic resources to participate in the Geneva event.

“It was very evident to me that there is real value in these kinds of experiences, and I am excited about WSU continuing to get students into the spaces where this kind of deep, contextualized learning and intercultural exchange is happening,” Plemons said, noting that WSU was one of just four American universities—and the only public university—to send students to the conference.

Outside of the simulations, students also got to take part in nightly cultural exchange activities involving food, language and dance. The WSU students said they enjoyed the opportunity to meet and engage with students from around the world, including from countries that have had tense or strained diplomatic relations with the United States.

“Having conversations with individuals from those countries, you get to see they’re some of the nicest people,” Ross said.

“Everyone there was on the same level,” Pfeifer said. “It was so interesting to bridge that gap of everything we’ve been taught in school about certain countries or certain cultures and just see it for yourself.”

In addition to exploring Geneva, the three WSU students also used their free time to visit Annecy, France, and Bern, Switzerland. Global Model WHO is an annual event organized by the World Federation of United Nations Associations. This year’s conference took place Oct. 28–31.

Check out this conference recap from !

By Flynn Espe

When Washington State University Tri-Cities student Jeff Wilson looks back on his 21-year career in the U.S. Navy, there’s no shortage of memorable places and experiences that spring to mind.

“I was turning wrenches on airplanes and going out to sea, watching the sunset—then working all night, looking at the stars and watching the sunrise again,” he says. “It was wonderful.”

Wilson enlisted in May 2001. His military service took him to both coasts of the continental United States—including in Virginia, California and Florida—and twice to Japan. His first job was servicing fixed-wing aircraft, working on hydraulics and metalcraft for the E-2C Hawkeye and C-2A Greyhound, before moving on to helicopters. After serving for a few years as a recruiter in his home state of Washington, he returned to the world of aircraft, directing flight deck operations and supervising others in daily maintenance. At one point during his first station in Japan, having achieved the rank of chief petty officer, Wilson oversaw 34 enlisted sailors.

“I made the rules, took their input and tried to have fun and make it as family-ish as we could,” Wilson says. “There were a bunch of administrative skills that that I picked up along the way as far as organization goes, meeting deadlines and that kind of thing—being able to work with anybody from anywhere, with any kind of background.”

By the time he retired in 2022, Wilson says he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do next, only that he was eager to try out something new. Taking advantage of his GI Bill education benefits, he eventually chose ���سԹ� to pursue his bachelor’s degree and the surrounding community as a new place to settle with his wife and two young boys, hoping to be close to his extended family as well.

“We drove over here from Pensacola and then lived in my sister’s friend’s basement for a few weeks while we looked for a place to live,” Wilson says.

Today, Wilson is on track to graduate this spring with not one, but two undergraduate degrees from ���سԹ�. His first major, a B.A. in Social Sciences, was completed in 2024.

“I had a focus on anthropology, history and psychology, and that was fun because I got to write in a lot of different styles,” he says of his first two years as a Social Sciences major. “I just had a really good time researching and writing papers.”

With some education benefits remaining after his first graduation, Wilson wasn’t ready to move on from WSU just yet. Not wanting to enter a master’s program, however, he instead opted for a second major in Digital Technology and Culture (DTC).

“One of the UCORE classes I took was a DTC class with Assistant Professor Phillip Mudd, and it was using Photoshop and Illustrator,” Wilson says. “I had a whole lot of fun doing that.”

Designed for students who want to explore a wide range of creative media and storytelling formats, the Digital Technology and Culture major gives students extensive hands-on experience in areas such as web and graphic design, 3D animation and more.

“We’re really getting familiar with the Adobe Suite,” he says. “I’ve learned a lot of about myself and just how hard it is to create something.”

For one recent assignment, Wilson and his classmates each designed and built their own version of a Rube Goldberg machine, in which the machine’s purpose revolves around a playfully overcomplicated—as opposed to practical—outcome. Determined not to spend money on his device, Wilson used random tools from his home garage, including at least one component that harkens back to his naval roots.

“I have an 18-inch marlinspike, which is a tool that the boatswain’s mates used to tie knots and big lines for ships,” he says. “I have a sign that says, ‘Will it work?’ And then if it works, the sign flops down and says, ‘Yup.’ Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t.”

One of Wilson’s favorite projects as a Cougar combined history and visual art when he worked under the guidance of ���سԹ� Assistant Professor Robert Franklin, assistant director of the Hanford History Project, to create an archive celebrating the work of the late visionary artist James Acord. For that project, Wilson received funding through the ���سԹ� Summer Scholars program to document and preserve Acord’s sculptures and creative techniques, which often incorporated the use of radioactive materials to highlight the dangers of nuclear waste storage.

“He was the only [private individual] to get certified by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to handle and possess radioactive materials,” Wilson says. “He was his own radiation safety officer. And he developed a way to extract the radioactive material out of Fiestaware, which were these old plates from the ’40s.”

Looking ahead, Wilson says he’s still open to many potential career paths. Drawing from his managerial experience as a Navy chief and his current academic projects in digital design, for example, Wilson says he could see himself as a project manager for a creative team.

Regardless of where his journey leads next, Wilson credits his time at ���سԹ� for providing a smooth transition from military to civilian life. For now, you can still often find him working at the Veteran’s Center, a campus space where he enjoys lounging, studying, and interacting with students from all walks of life.

“Some folks are veterans. Some folks would never join the military. And we all get along,” Wilson says with a smile. “It’s been a good couple of years of just interacting with the professors and the students and meeting people.”

For the third year in a row, more students are choosing to pursue degrees at Washington State University Tri-Cities. The campus achieved an overall headcount increase of 8.1%, rising from 1,489 students last fall to 1,609 this year.

First-year enrollment grew by 11.1%, marking the third consecutive year of double-digit growth in that group. First-time graduate students more than doubled, and total undergraduate enrollment increased 8.1% compared with last fall.

“An 8.1% increase in overall enrollment and another record-breaking number of first-year students indicates that students and families understand the benefits of a ���سԹ� education,” said Sandra Haynes, chancellor of ���سԹ�. “We are proud to be a campus where students can pursue excellent academic programs in a supportive, close-knit community.”

Overall enrollment across the WSU system remained nearly flat year over year, declining less than 1% from 25,685 students in fall 2024 to 25,477 this fall.

Jamie Owens, campus director of admissions, attributed the growth in part to her team’s efforts to strengthen outreach to local high schools and transfer students by providing accessible information.

“I am once again thrilled to welcome our largest first-year student class ever. Achieving a third consecutive year of double-digit growth is a testament to the incredible dedication of our admission counselors. They work hard to deliver a personalized experience, helping students realize the opportunities and support ���سԹ� has to offer.

“These results are achieved by spending time in high schools, welcoming prospective students at on-campus events, and sending countless emails, text messages and phone calls. We genuinely care that our students and their families feel confident in their college decision and work to ensure they understand how to maximize financial aid,” Owens said.

According to Owens, initiatives such as application workshops and “Instant Decision Days” at regional high schools and community colleges helped boost the number of first-year students.

Affordability, a small-campus environment, a low student-to-faculty ratio, and the ability to leverage WSU partnerships locally, nationally and internationally also make ���سԹ� an attractive option for area students. Many pair their coursework with internships and other real-world experiences, giving them opportunities to graduate career-ready.

“Our enrollment growth not only strengthens ���سԹ�, but contributes to the vitality of the Tri-Cities region by preparing the next generation of professionals and leaders,” Haynes said.

Kate McAteer, vice chancellor for academic and student affairs, noted that an accompanying upward trend in the first-time, first-year retention rate reflects the confidence students have in campus supports, both inside and outside the classroom.

“Our approach to ensuring all campus employees see themselves as educators is critical to student success,” McAteer said. “As more students choose our campus, we are excited to expand opportunities that prepare them to lead and succeed in the years ahead.”