2009 College Delegates

College of Applied Science and Technology
Nicolas Otamendi, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is graduating with a B.S. in mechanical engineering technology. As a freshman, Otamendi worked with Enrollment Management and Career Services to establish an exchange program with a leading technical university in Argentina. Fluent in Spanish, English and French, he spent his sophomore year studying in France. In his third year, he began a co-op in Canada where he and other co-op students developed a telecommunications product requiring software and hardware innovation. After just six months, the start-up was hiring permanent employees and is now being spun off as a separate corporation with Otamendi nominated to become its first CEO.

College of Liberal Arts
Christine Longo, of Utica, N.Y., will receive a B.A. in economics. She is the recipient of a RIT Presidential Scholarship and Nathaniel Rochester Society Scholarship as well as the Davis Leadership Award, Honors Program Crown Chapter Award and the Zeta Tau Alpha Financial Excellence Award. Longo is active in the Honors Program and the Zeta Tau Alpha fraternity, serving as treasurer and house manager. She currently works as a research assistant in the economics department and the IRS Office of Program Evaluation and Risk Analysis. She has integrated her studies with the work force through internships at the U.S. Department of Treasury, Office of Economic Policy, the IRS and a local brokerage firm.

E. Philip Saunders College of Business
Timothy Wallenhorst, of Forestville, N.Y., is completing a double major in finance and economics. He is a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society of Business Students and was involved in the creation of the College of Business Corporate Social Responsibility Statement. He currently serves as president of the Honors Program, business manager for Reporter magazine and acting president of the Off-Campus Apartment Student Association. Recognized as an Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar, Wallenhorst has also been active as a tutor for RIT Trio Support Services, a Buffalo Bills student leader intern, a member of the varsity crew and club soccer, director of programming for the Residence Hall Association and an Eagle Scout.

College of Science
Jillian Lund, from Oswego, N.Y. , will receive a B.S. in biotechnology. She is a recipient of the Barry M. Goldwater, Shumway, Nathaniel Rochester Society, RIT Presidential, New York State Board of Regents Academic, the Teamsters-Anheuser Busch, and Manjula R. Shah, M.D., and Ravindra F. Shah, M.D., scholarships. She has been named an RIT Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar and received an RIT Undergraduate Research Symposium oral presentation award along with a Research Scholars Summer Research Stipend and Rochester Academy of Science Research Grant. She is a member of the rock climbing club and the juggling club. Lund is applying to Ph.D. programs in the biosciences and hopes to become a professor at a research university.

E. Philip Saunders College of Business
Miguel Llano, from Rochester, will receive an MBA with a concentration in entrepreneurship. Llano enrolled in the fast-track accelerated program during which he served as president of the Graduate Management Association and a member of the Dean's Student Executive Board and the Student Affairs Committee. He is also a member of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs, New York chapter. He is currently the business development manager for a local company and has previously worked as a pension consultant and financial services representative in the Rochester area. He hopes that his graduate degree will provide him with the knowledge base and business acumen to one day start his own business.

National Technical Institute for the Deaf
Nathaly Mendez, from Woodbridge, Va., will receive an A.S. in business. A recipient of the Ohringer Scholarship as well as NTID Vice President and Dean Scholarship and NTID Merit Scholarship, Mendez has also been on the dean's list every quarter. She volunteers for the Big Brother/Big Sister Program through the NTID business studies department and is leading a group of seven students to establish an NTID Business Club. She currently works as an accounting tutor in the NTID Learning Center. Mendez is in the process of applying to the E. Philip Saunders College of Business and hopes to complete a B.S. in accounting by 2011.

B. Thomas Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences
Mehlam Kalverts will graduate with a B.S. in software engineering. He is the recipient of the Alfred Davis, Kathleen Keyes Memorial, RIT International Student and Nathaniel Rochester Society scholarships. A member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society and the Honors Program, Kalverts was also named an RIT Outstanding International Student in 2007. He represented the student body on the RIT Presidential Search Committee, was treasurer of Student Government and Global Union, and served as a resident advisor. He completed internships with Thompson Reuters and Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. Kalverts' plans include a graduate degree in information systems and an MBA as well as a start-up business in India.

American College of Management and Technology
Dragoslav Jozic, from Slavonski Brod, Croatia, is the delegate from RIT's American College of Management and Technology in Dubrovnik, Croatia. He will graduate with a B.S. in hospitality and service management. Jozic has been on the dean's list every quarter. His personal interest is in music (accordion, in particular) and his musical talent has resulted in several Croatian and European awards.

Kate Gleason College of Engineering
Ian Frank, a native of Santa Fe, N.M., will receive a B.S./M.S. in mechanical engineering. He is president of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honors Society and student representative on the Gleason College Honors Advocates Committee. Frank, an Outstanding Undergraduate Scholar, also served on the college's Ethics Committee and as chair of the Honors Program Activities Committee. Being fluent in Spanish helped when he volunteered to construct homes for the Mexico Mission trip. He is also a proud member of Engineers Without Borders and has experience as an undergraduate student researcher at Los Alamos National Laboratory and as an XCEL summer intern with Xerox Corp.

American University in Kosovo
Fiona Kelmendi, from Kosovo, will receive a B.S. in applied arts and science with a concentration in management and a minor in public policy from RIT's American University in Kosovo. She has also earned an A.A.S. from RIT. Kelmendi currently works at the Kosovo Media Institute as a public relations and marketing manager and worked with the Kosovar Stability Initiative on a project to increase literacy among women in Kosovo. She loves to travel, learn new languages and experience new cultures.

College of Imaging Arts and Sciences
Lauren Tracy, of Acton, Mass., will receive her B.F.A. in film. Tracy directs and edits her own films and has produced other director's film projects. Her films have been honored at Reel Ideas Studios Slamdance Festival, Christopher's Christian Group Scholarship Online Competition, the 24-Hour Film Competition at Lake Placid, and twice at both the RIT Film Honors Show and the Rochester High Falls International Film Festival. After a summer internship program at Avid Technology, Tracy assisted in the creation of the Avid editing class and continued to share her knowledge as a teaching assistant in the classroom. She currently works as a director and editor on RIT Sports Zone.