Spring 2025 Engineering Commencement Program
GRADUATE STUDENT SPEAKER
Nick Schwartz
Nick Schwartz graduated with a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering in Fall 2024. Working with Professors Tim Koeth and Carlos Romero-Talamás, and collaborators from the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Schwartz contributed to the 20-foot-long Centrifugal Mirror Fusion Experiment, CMFX, which creates energy based on the centrifugal mirror approach, one of the simplest fusion concepts.
Schwartz has received recognition and awards for his work as a graduate student, including the Marshall and ARCS MWC Scholarship, a 2nd prize Dean’s Doctoral Research Award, and the prestigious Charles A. Caramello Distinguished Dissertation Award. As the winner of the UMD-wide 3-Minute Thesis competition, he is passionate about effective and accessible science communication.
Currently, Schwartz works at the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center as a postdoctoral associate, developing novel diagnostics for fusion energy. His interest in fusion energy stems from his love for nature, which manifests in two of his favorite hobbies: woodworking and snowboarding. At home, he enjoys cooking with Cristina, his wife, and telling Moss, his dog, that he’s a good boy.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SPEAKER
Marie Pejcic
Marie Pejcic is graduating with a B.S. in civil engineering, specifically the geotechnical and structural engineering track, and is a certified Engineer-in-Training. For her capstone project, she led an interdisciplinary team in partnership with World Wildlife Fund, designing an off-grid healthcare clinic for the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Salonga National Park—a remote, roadless expanse of protected rainforest larger than the state of Maryland.
While at UMD, Marie completed graduate-level design projects under Yunfeng Zhang, including a five-story mass timber housing development in SeattleMarie also served as a laboratory teaching fellow, and participated in student chapters of the American Society of Civil Engineers and the Structural Engineering Institute.
Marie is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional and holds certification in Net-Zero Energy Design from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. Through engineering and architecture internships at Structura Inc., Whiting Turner, and Symmetry First Architects, she contributed to the design and structural analysis for LEED-certified buildings.
Passionate about interdisciplinary collaboration and using engineering to develop sustainable, real-world solutions, Marie will continue her studies in the Netherlands at the Technical University of Eindhoven, where she plans to pursue a master’s and doctorate in structural engineering.
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