Eight CICS Graduating Seniors Honored for Outstanding Undergraduate Achievements, Four Receive Lifetime Undergraduate Course Assistant Awards

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Eight graduating seniors have been chosen by the UMass Amherst Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS) to receive its 2025 Outstanding Undergraduate Achievement Awards, the college's highest honor given to undergraduates. This year's recipients, recognized for outstanding performance in the classroom and in the community, are Abby Tran, Angelika Ladia, Ishita Kakkar, Kaosisochukwu Nwosu, Luna Dziewietin, Mahika Arora, Paul Davis, and Ryan Bahlous-Boldi.

Additionally, August Huber, Carey Pope, Elena Li, and Zeina Zahoori have been honored with Lifetime Undergraduate Course Assistant Awards for their exceptional student leadership, support, and efforts to advance the college’s teaching mission.

The CICS community came together on Friday, April 25 to celebrate their accomplishments with the Undergraduate Achievement Awards Luncheon. “These students have gone beyond expectations—not only mastering their coursework, but also contributing to groundbreaking research, exceptional leadership, advancing diversity and inclusion, and computing for the common good,” said Dean Haas.

Outstanding Undergraduate Achievement Awards 

Abby Tran 
DEI Leadership 

Thanh Nhan “Abby” Tran is known for her tireless advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). As a Student Assistant in the DEI office, she played a pivotal role in the success of the (Our)Story interview series, which amplified underrepresented voices and fostered inclusive spaces. Abby also leveraged her technical skills to analyze and visualize success metrics using Python, providing data-driven insights that have helped college leadership refine and enhance diversity initiatives. Through her work, Abby has remained dedicated to ensuring that students from all backgrounds feel seen, supported, and valued.

Angelika Ladia 
Computing for the Common Good 

Angelika Ladia has demonstrated outstanding research capabilities through her honors thesis at the intersection of machine learning (ML), natural language processing (NLP), and legal studies. Her work focuses on developing virtual legal experts and judges that incorporate the life experiences of underserved communities, highlighting both the potential and the ethical challenges of artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal domain. Her research reflects a deep understanding of the dangers, biases, and pitfalls of machine learning systems, as well as innovative strategies to mitigate them. Through her thesis, Angelika has made a meaningful contribution to the responsible development of AI for social good.

Ishita Kakkar 
Academic/Research

Ishita Kakkar has built a strong foundation in empirical NLP research through prestigious positions at UMass Amherst, UC San Diego, Northeastern University, IBM Research, and MIT. As a research fellow at the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab during her senior year, Ishita has continued to make significant contributions to AI research. Beyond her technical accomplishments, Ishita is deeply committed to mentorship and community building; as a member of the Manning Undergraduate Student Impact Council (MUSIC), she led a pilot program connecting PhD students with undergraduates to help them navigate research opportunities and pursue research-oriented careers. 

Kaosisochukwu Nwosu 
Community Service 

Kaosisochukwu Nwosu has been described as “a driving force” in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion both within and beyond the university community. As a dedicated member of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) and Finance Chair for Fall 2024, he played a key role in expanding opportunities for underrepresented students in engineering. He co-led the creation of the Women in STEM series—a collaborative initiative with campus organizations that increased undergraduate women’s participation in engineering disciplines by 30%. His leadership in fundraising efforts also secured over $19,100, enablingenabled a record 46+ NSBE members to attend the annual convention in Chicago and supporting outreach efforts to local high schools. 

Luna Dziewietin 
Computing for the Common Good 

Luna Dziewietin has taken more ethics courses than any other computer science student, demonstrating a deep and consistent commitment to responsible computing. She has been an integral member of the Center for Data Science (CDS) since participating in the 2024 Data Science for the Common Good (DS4CG) summer program. Her contributions include designing and implementing user interfaces for a DS4CG project with Doctors Without Borders to improve medical data entry workflows with multimodal LLMs that support clinical staff. She is also contributing to data processing and evaluation pipelines for a song recommendation system CDS is developing for SingFit, a music therapy application. 

Mahika Arora 
Student Leadership 

Mahika Arora has demonstrated exceptional dedication to supporting her peers through nearly 200 student coaching sessions where she guided fellow students in job searching, interviewing, and networking. As a long-standing Undergraduate Course Assistant for multiple courses, she has played a key role in enhancing student learning. Beyond the classroom, Mahika has served on the e-board of FreshCICS helping first-year students build meaningful connections and as a Resident Assistant, providing ongoing support throughout the residential experience. She is also a founding e-board member of CICSoft, where she contributed to planning, logistics, content development, and promotion for the Mobile Application Development Club.

Paul Davis 
Student Leadership 

Paul Davis has made a lasting impact on the CICS community through his leadership, mentorship, and commitment to social good. As a long-time Undergraduate Course Assistant, he has consistently supported student learning with dedication. He also leads BUILD UMass, the college’s largest pro-bono software development club, where he has contributed to real-world applications—including a period-tracking app for underserved women in rural India, developed in collaboration with a PhD student in public health. Beyond his technical work, Paul is a visible and active role model within the LGBTQIA+ community at CICS and mentors international students through the UMass Stonewall Center, helping them navigate the unique challenges of being queer students. 

Ryan Bahlous-Boldi 
Academic/Research 

Ryan Bahlous-Boldi is recognized as “one of the most prolific undergraduate researchers in CICS.” As lead author on a journal paper and two conference papers, co-author of a book chapter, and first author on several workshop and poster presentations, he has contributed to projects across five different research groups. His leadership in Human-Computer Interaction research was further recognized when his team won the prestigious ProjectX ML Research Competition in 2023. Ryan has also received two major honors as an undergraduate: the Goldwater Scholarship and selection as a Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) Pioneer in 2025. 

Lifetime Undergraduate Course Assistant Awards

August Haber 

August Huber has served as an Undergraduate Course Assistant (UCA), Head UCA, and now UCA Coordinator, working on a variety of systems courses. As a Computer Science and Classics double major, August is a well-rounded individual who spent several semesters as a student worker at the Stonewall Center. Their nomination materials note their keen eye for justice, enthusiasm for teaching systems concepts, and how they consistently keep employee and student wellness at the forefront of their mind. One of their supervising faculty said “August is truly one of the best UCAs [they've] ever worked with,” citing their passion for the material as well as their self-motivation and the way they “led their fellow UCAs and TAs with such care and confidence.” 

Carey Pope 

After transferring to UMass Amherst, Carey Pope began the difficult undertaking of completing COMPSCI 220 in his first semester, where he was inspired by his UCAs to give back and help others by becoming a UCA himself. Carey then advanced to Head UCA for 220, becoming responsible for course organization and community building within the UCA team. Carey performed “admirably” in this role, “helping to shepherd other UCAs, as well as students, through difficult material and course logistics as a steady and empathetic leader.”  

Elena Li 

Elena Li has served as Head UCA for COMPSCI 250 since Fall 2023; during this time, she has become “somewhat of a legend” due to her strong dedication to making improvements to the course as well as supporting other UCAs—several of which expressed that they view Elena as a role model for her strong leadership skills. She is regularly recognized by faculty, TAs, and other UCAs as being “amazing,” “excellent,” and “outstanding” at her work. 

Zeina Zahoori 

Zeina Zahooir began her UCA tenure working on COMPSCI 119 in Fall 2022, before switching to COMPSCI 187 and then overseeing the transition to CICS 210 as Head UCA. She was praised for her competence, calmness, and kindness as well as her “peerless efficiency” in the three semesters she served in that role.