Meet our 2026 Cohort

Abhiram (Abhi) Gorle (he/him)
Hi, I'm Abhiram (Abhi), an incoming Ph.D. student in the Electrical Engineering department. My research hopes to use insights from information theory and communications to build reliable, efficient, and accessible intelligent systems. I care deeply about broadening access to technology and education for students faced with systemic barriers to pursuing STEM. Outside work, I have an eclectic mix of hobbies, from squash, tennis, and badminton to concerts, music/cinema rabbit holes, trivia, hiking, travel, and exploring new restaurants.

Andrew (AJ) Villaruel (he/him)
Hi! I’m AJ, and I’m an incoming Ph.D. student in the Baker Coastal Lab within the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. My research interests are broadly rooted in environmental fluid mechanics, with an emphasis on how we can use these fundamental physics to better inform equitable and sustainable development planning. More specifically, I’m excited to study nearshore transport processes and the interactions between turbulence, waves, currents, and sediment that shape coastal evolution in a changing climate. Through this work, I hope to translate insights from fluid mechanics into actionable knowledge for coastal community resilience. During undergrad, I’ve been involved in cultural, community, and engineering student group leadership. Outside of my work, I’m very into listening (to almost any genre, especially Indie Rock) and producing music as a bass player, playing video games competitively, binging TV shows, going on runs, and recently, teaching myself how to bake.

Daniel Ramos Mejía (he/him)
Hi, my name is Daniel Ramos Mejia, I am an incoming Ph.D. student in the Bioengineering Department. My research interests lie in engineering next-generation protein therapeutics for cancer immunotherapy applications. I am a NSF-GRFP fellow and for my outreach, I currently mentor first-gen, low-income undergraduate students at the community college and 4-year level with internship and scholarship application material along side professional development and reviewing their resumes. A fun fact about myself is that I have an identical twin who works in project management. I love to visit the beach, hike, play baseball, basketball, and pickle ball on my free time.

Edward Deleu (he/him)
I am an incoming Ph.D. student in the Materials Science department, and I previously completed my bachelor’s in electrical engineering at Princeton University. Broadly speaking, I am interested in the fundamental physics governing material behavior, particularly how phenomena emerge from the atomistic scale. I hope to leverage computational tools and atomistic simulations to develop new methods for predictive materials modeling. In my free time, I enjoy exploring museums and spending time outdoors – whether it be a leisurely bike ride, a spontaneous walk, or a hike.

Jiayin Chi (she/her)
Jiayin is an incoming Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University. Her research interests focus on optoelectronic materials and devices, with a current emphasis on perovskites, flexible electronics, and advanced characterization methods for functional materials. Outside the lab, she enjoys reading, photography, and exploring new places.

Mitchell Peterson (he/him)
I conduct research in medical device development within the Krishnan Lab. My work focuses on wearable, portable, and implantable systems designed to deliver real-time sensing and therapeutic capabilities, with an emphasis on low-latency, energy-efficient hardware for biomedical applications. I am actively involved in student leadership and community-building efforts at Stanford, including organizing large-scale campus events and supporting incoming transfer students. Outside of research, I enjoy weightlifting, snowboarding, drone piloting, go-kart racing, and exploring the Bay Area.

Munashe Chibinyani (he/him)
Munashe joins Stanford’s Mechanical Engineering department to advance the frontier of soft composites, soft robotics, and high-precision additive manufacturing. His research focuses on designing smart, programmable materials and structures that integrate mechanics and materials science to enable adaptive, high-performance systems. Outside of the lab, he dedicates himself to enhancing educational equity by creating AI-driven STEM content for secondary schools in Botswana. He enjoys watching football and baseball and is active on the softball field when not conducting research.

Ouriel Ndalamba (she/her)
Ouriel is an incoming Ph.D. student in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department. She is passionate about water treatment technologies, chemical purification processes, and transformation of waste to high value products. Her journey started at UMBC, where she obtained her B.S. in Chemical Engineering. She also worked on related projects at the University of Delaware and Stanford University through summer internships, and Princeton University while completing her MS in environmental engineering. Outside of research, she engages in various academic mentoring and engagement programs that support the next generation of leaders at both the national and international levels. Ouriel enjoys hiking and looks forward to exploring west coast trails.

Owen Anderson (he/him)
My home department is bioengineering, but I plan to have an incredibly interdisciplinary experience at Stanford. I am interested in the development of neural interfaces (particularly at the materials level) and look forward to continuing to explore this interest over the next few years. I like to lift, boulder, ski, hike, and play pickle ball

Sam Kipper (she/her)
Hello, my name Sam Kipper. I am excited to be joining the Stanford Community as a Ph.D. student in CEE. I am very interested in offshore wind energy and structural health monitoring. For fun, I enjoy roller skating, making ceramics, and drinking matcha lattes.

Yiming Tan (she/her)
I am a graduate student in Electrical Engineering, where my research focuses on device-circuit co-design for emerging memory technologies to shape next-generation systems. Mentoring has been a core part of my identity; I have deeply enjoyed serving as a mentor and witnessing my mentees’ growth. In my free time, you can find me traveling the world or meticulously drafting the itinerary for my next global adventure!