UW Bioengineering welcomes current B.S. Bioengineering student Julio Pineda into his new role as undergraduate peer advisor.
Julio, a junior, joined Lael Wentland, a senior, to serve on the department’s peer advising team in autumn quarter 2015. Lael became a peer advisor for the department in 2014. Read more about Lael.
The role of the peer advisors is to help prospective students gain an inside perspective on the UW Bioengineering undergraduate student experience. Peer advisors can answer questions about applying, course scheduling, curriculum and life as a student in the department.
As an aspiring bioengineer, Julio hopes to develop novel drugs and therapeutic agents. Julio is currently researching in Professor Suzie Pun’s lab, where he is learning about drug delivery systems, and how to utilize drug-carrying peptides to target tumor-associated macrophages to treat tumors.
Julio’s interest in bioengineering began in high school when he learned about the complexity of proteins. “I was amazed how cells were able to create this molecular machinery from simple building blocks,” he says. “I thought if I understood this process myself, I could create my own proteins.”
When Julio started his undergraduate study, he saw that bioengineering provided the perfect opportunity for him to pursue his interest in biology and medicine. “Even with my diverse interests in STEM, I cannot see myself in any other engineering major,” he says. “I want to use the different skills I have learned in my classes to create medical solutions.”
In his role as peer advisor, Julio is excited to educate other students about bioengineering, and inspire them to pursue the major. Before becoming a peer advisor, he tutored students in UW’s introductory courses and taught an introductory pre-calculus course for incoming students. From these experiences, he found that he enjoyed helping and mentoring students. “I wanted to continue these mentorship and advising roles,” he explains. “I thought being a peer advisor was the natural next step.”
When not in class, researching in the lab or advising other students, Julio enjoys photography, playing video games and watching anime.
Both peer advisors look forward to working with and helping new students discover UW Bioengineering in the coming year. Contact the peer advisors via our online contact form.