Gabriella Green, Alex Sabella, and Matthew Heinrich were recently announced as First in Class for the Stevens Institute of Technology Class of 2016. All three students will be graduating with a perfect 4.0 GPA come May 25.
Gabriella Green will be graduating at the top of her class with her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and a minor in public policy. As engineering-savvy as she may be, Green says she was not planning on attending Stevens upon the end of her high school career. Already intent on attending art school with a full-ride, Gabi decided to apply to Stevens two weeks before the application was due. “I said to myself, ‘I can go to art school for sculpture or I can go make a lot of money and major in biomedical engineering’” says Green. She applied only to local schools as she knew she was going to be paying for her education.
During her undergraduate career, Ms. Green had a very active role on Stevens campus, serving as Founder and Scholarship Vice President for Sigma Delta Tau Sorority, as founder and president of the Commuter Student Union, as Vice President of Alpha Eta Mu Beta National Biomedical Engineering Honor Society, as Chess Club treasurer, and as Distribution Manager of RedShift Literary Magazine. She also is a brother of the Alpha Phi Omega Service Fraternity, a peer mentor, and a member of the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society. Green also took part in the Cooperative Education program, working several semesters at BD and Zimmer Biomet.
Green took advantage of the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research while at Stevens. She worked under Dr. Xiaojun Yu and investigated nerve regeneration, ultimately publishing her work in the Journal of the Peripheral Nervous System. She also worked under the supervision of Dr. Arthur Ritter, Dr. Svetlana Sukhishvili, and Dr. Vicki Hazelwood for, as Green says, the sole reason of “learning more.”
Upon graduation, Gabi will be working at Integra Life Sciences, the number one artificial skin manufacturer where she will be a part of a 3-year rotational associates’ program.
She attributes her success to hard work, her mother and late father, and the people she met at Stevens. “They were a really good support system while I was here at Stevens,” says Green.
Alex Sabella will be graduating at the top of his class for the second time in his career, as he formerly graduated as Valedictorian from his Long Island high school.
Rather than travel to Boston to attend MIT, Sabella chose Stevens for its exceptional views, closeness to home, and educational opportunities. “My guidance counselor told me about Stevens,” says Sabella. “I didn’t know how good of a school it was.”
Sabella entered Stevens as a Chemical Biology student, but was introduced to the world of computers and software and had a shift in mindset. “In high school, we had never really done anything computer related in high school. I went to more of a ‘humanities’ high school,” says Sabella. After taking Introduction to Programming and assuming the role as Programmer for the D1 Robot project, Sabella made his first switch to Chemical Engineering. However, after considering his options, he eventually made a change to Computer Engineering and that it where he remained.
While an undergraduate, Sabella assumed the position of lead-guitarist for the Stevens Christian Fellowship. “I guess it’s not an official leadership position, but I have been playing for them for 3 years and I plan to continue playing for the next year,” says Sabella. In addition to his musical endeavors, Sabella has been a Teaching Assistant for a Microprocessor class. “[These] labs are TA led and because I’ve been there the longest, I lead the labs,” says Sabella.
Sabella will be graduating with his degree in Computer Engineering and will finishing up his Master’s Degree for the 4+1 program this coming fall in Systems Engineering. During his undergraduate years, Sabella took part in the Scholar’s Program and was able to take advantage of summer research opportunities. In his sophomore summer, Sabella worked on Virtual Hoboken Project, a simulation of the city designed to aid in urban and emergency planning purposes. The following summer, he was able to continue to develop his start-up company, named Savizar as a way to incorporate Sabella and his co-founders’ last names. As an idea that spurred from a special topics course, Savizar seeks to provide tools that make it searching for patent searches easier, particularly for patent attorneys. Sabella is excited to know that external parties are now interested in his team’s product.
Over the summer, Sabella will be working as an intern at Harris Corporation, an American communications company, defense contractor and IT service provider. “The ideal plan is for the startup to make enough money by next Spring [so] I can work full time for it,” says Sabella.
Sabella thanks his parents for being supportive during his educational career. He also notes the long-lasting friendships he has made over the past 4 years, particularly his friendship to Luka Magera who asked him to be his best man at his wedding.
Matthew Heinrich of Hendersonville, Tennessee attributes his presence at Stevens to his tennis coach, Steve Gachko. “He convinced me to visit the school and I realized on my visit that there would be many opportunities to succeed.”
Heinrich has not only had an impressive academic career, but has also proved to be a dominating force on the tennis court. Since joining the tennis team in his freshman year, Heinrich has claimed an All-American title three times, is the school’s all-time leader in wins, and is now ranked in the Top 25 nationally in Division III tennis.
“As of right now, my proudest accomplishment is probably helping build the tennis program at Stevens,” says Heinrich. “On my visit, the team was having open tryouts to fill starting spots. Now, we have grown into one of the best teams in the country.”
In addition to his success in the classroom and on tennis court, Heinrich was very active on campus, serving as a brother of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity and as Residential Assistant for three years. He also was a member of the Stevens Christian Fellowship, an active member of Hoboken Grace (the local church located on Hudson Street), and the founder of the Stevens chapter of Athletes in Action, an organization that aims to fosters the intersection between faith and athleticism.
Heinrich will be graduating at the top of the class with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and plans to pursue his Ph.D in the Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering department at Princeton University. “I will likely be doing research in mechanical and electrical techniques for neurological treatment,” says Heinrich.
Looking back on his undergraduate career, Heinrich reflects fondly on the many professors who have helped him over the past 4 years. “[Dr. Frank Fisher] has been an amazing advisor and professor over the last 4 years,” says Heinrich. He also recalls Professor Billah and Professor Ryan’s “amazing” teaching abilities. He also thanks Dr. Manu Sebastian Mannoor. “[He] mentored me this past year in navigating my future career and [has encouraged] me in my faith,” says Heinrich. He looks to continue collaborating with Professor Mannoor while conducting his research at Princeton.
Heinrich notes that his successful is attributed to “prayer, for real though.”
The Undergraduate Commencement Ceremony will take place at the Meadowlands Expo Center in Secaucus, New Jersey on Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 3 p.m.
A live stream of the ceremony will be made available on the Stevens website.
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