Class Notes

With their company Stride Tech, Timothy Visos-Ely (Engr), Humsini Acharya (Engr), Andrew Plum (MechEngr) and Max Watrous (Engr’20) won first place at last year’s New Venture Challenge at CU. Along with it came a $100,000 investment toward their invention, an accessory for walkers that could help prevent dangerous falls. 

Olivia Sage Novotny (Soc) has moved to a remote village of 6,000 in the Japanese countryside. She will be teaching English to local children.

Esmeralda Castillo-Cobian (EthnSt) began her first job this fall as the new seventh grade language arts teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Early College in Denver. Esmeralda previously interned at CU Boulder’s Latino History Project and was one of the School of Education’s outstanding graduates.

Claire Lamman (Astro, Phys) was named outstanding graduate of the CU College of Arts and Sciences this year. Next up — an astrophysics graduate fellowship at Harvard.

While a student, CU Boulder’s Collegiate Recovery Center helped Sean Okonsky (ChemBioEngr) with his addiction and depression. Sean graduated this spring and is now pursuing a PhD from Penn State in chemical engineering.

Army ROTC battalion commander Shane Smith (PolSci) completed his undergraduate studies this spring and is pursuing logistics officer training at Fort Lee, Va. After training he will be assigned to the16th Combat Aviation Regiment out of Fort Lewis, Wash.

Michelle Ray (EnvDes’19) joined the design firm SmithGroup in 2018 as a mixed-use specialist in the Phoenix office. In her position, she will co-lead the firm’s MixedUse Convergence team, which provides clients with “an adaptive framework to navigate the complex challenges and transformative opportunities facing development projects,” according to the firm’s website. Michelle is a founding member of the Women’s Leadership Group for the American Institute of Architects. She also co-founded Arizona Kids Build, an award-winning program teaching young students how the built environment affects human well-being, the environment and society.

Last year, Sydney Varma (Mgmt) of Denver contacted Helene Tournier (Mktg’07) — a business development specialist at Stinson LLP — on LinkedIn, asking for help and guidance breaking into the legal field. Her efforts paid off. In March, Sydney joined Stinson as a legal administrative assistant.

At 15 years old, Peyton Leggett Relkin (Mgmt’20) worked with racehorses and loved the lifestyle of being outside while traveling the country. While at CU, Peyton focused on entrepreneurship, which led her to co-create the app Nature’s Playbook with her mother. Today, Peyton and her husband live in a van with their young sons and travel the country. Relkin hopes that the Nature’s Playbook app — which serves as a space for nature lovers to upload photos, videos and information about the outdoors — becomes a tool for others to get outside and connect with nature.

Former editorial assistant for the Coloradan, Joshua Nelson (Jour’20) is the city government reporter for the Santa Maria Times in California’s central coast. His partner, Liezel Saldivar (EnvSt’22), graduated in May.

Josh Goldin (Fin’20) was recruited to play starting quarterback for the German Football League (GFL) team, the Saarland Hurricanes, leading them to the quarterfinals of the GFL playoffs and their best ever finish — second in their division. As a CU student, Josh joined the football program freshman year as a ball boy and a walk-on quarterback. He played as a holder in the 2018 season and called offensive plays his senior year.

After graduation, Megan Nyvold (StComm’20) moved to Miami, where she worked in the financial and startup industries. She now serves as head of media for Security Token Market. After developing a passion for cryptocurrency, blockchain technology and decentralized finance, she hopes to make the industry more welcoming to women.

Benjamin Sykora (Mgmt) has been invited to the 12th annual One Power Summit in Washington, D.C. Ben will join students from around the country advocating for worldwide access to immunizations. He has been the CU chapter lead of One since his sophomore year.

Goody Bag, a food tech startup co-founded by Eddy Connors (Mgmt’21), connects customers to local shops with unsold food at a discounted price of 50% off or more. Goody Bag aims to support the Boulder community by providing customers with great deals on quality food and reducing food waste. The idea originally won first place at CU’s Silicon Flatirons Startup Summer Pitch Competition in 2022 and officially launched as a platform in January.

Serena Ringer (StComm’21) is head of creator relations for Urth Naturals, a U.S.-based supplement company. Urth Naturals has formulated a blend of 10 functional mushrooms packed into berry and other flavored gummies.

Boulder’s Thuong (Katie) Nguyen (Psych’21) was one of five honorees awarded the 2021 National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) Volunteers Are the Foundation of Hospice Award. This award recognizes outstanding hospice volunteers across the country who have made significant contributions to hospice programs in the areas of care delivery, organizational support and teamwork. Katie began volunteering at TRU Community Care, a Colorado nonprofit healthcare organization, in August 2020 at the recommendation of a CU professor while completing her senior year of college. She is now studying nursing in New York.

Luis Granda (MMus) was named assistant director of donor and patron relations for the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra. Luis credits his certificate in arts administration from CU Boulder as preparation for this job.

Ryan Burbary (Acct, Fin’22) is owner of Velociti Tennis, a company that has developed the world’s first completely biodegradable and synthetic tennis string. Ryan also helps produce eco-friendly versions of tennis grips and other accessories. Velociti was founded in Boulder. 

On May 11, Rita Garson (DistSt’22) participated in CU Boulder’s spring commencement ceremony, which honored more than 9,500 students. Rita, who is 76 years old, was recognized as the university’s second-oldest graduate. She started her college career in the late 1960s, then took time off to raise her family and run a medical publishing business. She took classes on and off throughout the 2000s and worked with CU’s Continuing Education division to come up with a plan to finally obtain her degree. “Don’t give up. Finish it. Decide why it’s important to you, and then apply yourself,” she told CU Boulder Today this spring. “I did it for me … and I wanted my grandkids to be proud of me.”

Cynthia Lim (Comp Sci’22) graduated from CU Boulder in December at the age of 17 with magna cum laude distinction. After graduating, she explored 10 countries within Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe. She started college as a freshman at age 15 after graduating high school with her associate’s degree. At the age of 16, she took her first job as a software intern at Intel, where she worked for a year. She then interned at Apple this past summer as a software engineer in Austin, Texas. Now that she’s done traveling, she’s joined consulting firm McKinsey & Company as a business analyst.