The Cultivate Team

Learn about members of the Cultivate team and opportunities to join!


Current Members

Taiwo Feyijimi (tie-woah fay-ee-gee-me)

Taiwo Taiwo Feyijimi is a doctoral candidate at the University of Georgia. Taiwo research focuses on pushing the limits of engineering education by applying cutting-edge machine learning/deep learning or AI technologies to solving complex and complicated inter-and-multi-disciplinary STEM challenges in closely related fields of interest.

For his recent Master's thesis, Taiwo extracted competencies (i.e., Skills, Knowledge, Abilities otherwise known as Dispositions) from electrical and computer engineering job descriptions and from academic data sources such as course syllabi, course lecture notes and transcription from video lectures, etc. to examine the alignment and/or misalignment between the competencies requested by employers and those offered within academia. He earned his Bachelor’s in Physics Education from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, where he conducted research on the topic: “The Influence of Spatial Ability on Physics Students Learning Outcome in Senior Secondary Schools.” He hopes to transition after his master’s program and be a part of the EETI’s Ph.D. program. Taiwo is a member of ASEE. Taiwo is married to an adorable wife, Deborah, with a kid.

Similoluwa Ige (see-me-lo-luu-wa e-jee)

Similoluwa Similoluwa is a Master's student of Electrical Engineering, with a focus on engineering education. Recently, Similoluwa is examining the impact of reference sheets on students' anxiety and learning outcomes. Similoluwa completed her first degree in Physics from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. Her passion for both technical research and education drives her to explore interdisciplinary solutions that enhance learning experiences and bridge gaps in engineering education.

Aakash Patel (uh-kaash puh-tel)

Aakash Aakash Patel is a third year undergraduate engineering student at the University of Georgia. Aakash's research focuses on using AI techniques to analyze engineering education media. For Aakash's current CURO project, he is working on extracting competencies and skills recommended by electrical engineering industry professionals on YouTube using GPT prompting techniques. Using these results, he will compare existing data on electrical engineering job postings and analyze the differences between the two datasets. He hopes to publish this paper and continue work on analysis of other forms of media in the future. Aakash is an avid runner, and loves the outdoors.

Jake Czwork (jay-k chvoor-kah)

Jake Jake is a fourth year undergraduate electrical and computer engineering student at the University of Georgia. His work has focused on examining the mental health experiences of STEM graduate students.

Harish Vijayakumar (huh-reesh vee-jay-aa-koo-mr)

Hairsh Harish Vijayakumar is a second year engineering undergraduate student at the University of Georgia. His research focuses on exploring the world of engineering and engineering education to innovate and solve real-world challenges. Harish aims to grow by learning about modern technologies and gaining experience. He aspires to continue thriving in the ever-changing world of STEM and applying his knowledge to create solutions for the public. Throughout his childhood, Harish was fascinated with electronics. Over the years, he has worked on builds, repairs, and projects for various devices, including desktops and handheld technology, especially during the pandemic. These projects allowed him to realize how much technology impacts people's daily lives. Connecting with many individuals has helped him develop patience, adaptability, and problem-solving skills, Harish wants to use these experiences to work at a cutting-edge computer hardware company after attaining a Computer Engineering degree.

Past Members

Wylam DeSimone (why-lum dee-sa-moan)

Wylam Wylam DeSimone an electrical engineering student at Georgia Tech. Most of his projects focused on robotics with his favorites having a focus on music. Wylam was creating a robotic guitar with the Cultivate lab and specifically researching how to mimic human emotions through robotic musicians. Other than this main research goal Wylam has a fascination with experiential learning and using STEM to inspire art and vice versa. As you can imagine, Wylam love music and playing instruments, especially with others!

Finn (James) Morton (fin more-ton)

Finn Finn Morton is a third year electrical engineering major at the University of Georgia. Finn's focus was on helping low income high school students thrive in the field of engineering. He is interested in working with hardware and his community. His goal was to build connections in the field of electrical engineering where he can benefit society and bring others together. Finn used to be a competitive swimmer before starting research.

Parker Ferrer (par-k-r fur-rare)

Wylam Parker Ferrer is a second year engineering undergraduate student at the University of Georgia studying Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. He focuses on the improvement and optimization of electro-mechanical systems. Parker's research is on the development of a guitar-plucking mechanism to enable easier guitar playing by persons with physical disability. During this process, he is documenting and examining how the undertaking of a robotics project changes the experience and knowledge gained of an undergraduate student. In the future, Parker hopes to pursue a career in robotics and prosthetic development. Parker is part of a loving family of five.