Florida International University graduate wins American Society of Mechanical Engineers Award
March 13, 2024
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Former LM Fellow Olivia Bustillo was recognized with an award for best poster during a ceremony Tuesday at the Waste Management Symposia in Phoenix.
Bustillo won the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Award for a poster she presented during the 2023 Waste Management Symposia. The poster and paper, entitled “Interaction of Hydroxyapatite and Uranium in Groundwater at the Old Rifle Site to Facilitate Site Remediation,” was presented by Bustillo and Fellow Ravi Gudavalli and completed through their work with the Applied Research Center at Florida International University (FIU).
Bustillo began working under the LM fellowship as an undergraduate at FIU.
Bustillo credits her mentors at LM for helping her get the experience she needed for her future career. She helped LM teams with field work, groundwater and surface water sampling, and field inspections and planned and conducted experiments in LM’s Environmental Sciences Laboratory.
“It was really good to get the experience, so I could determine what I wanted to do in my future,” Bustillo said. “And it taught me that I love nuclear, which is something that I previously wasn’t even considering.”
Bustillo learned of the fellowship program through a friend of hers, who was also a fellow at the time. Bustillo applied for a fellowship, got into the lab, and started doing research. She said she realized how important nuclear was as a clean energy source for the future.
With LM, she started working with Site Manager Jalena Dayvault and then-Technical Director for Long-Term Stewardship David Shafer, who were her main two contacts for FIU. Dayvault was Bustillo’s mentor and helped her create her plans for her internship.
“She was great because she asked me what I was interested in. She didn’t just give me a plan and say here, you’re going to be doing this,” Bustillo said. “She said, ‘Hey what do you want to do? This is what we have.’ And she let me create my own internship plan and figure out what I wanted to do.”
Bustillo also worked a lot with LM Site Managers Bill Frazier and Angelita Denny, who were critical to her success, providing help for everything she did during field work and the internships, Bustillo said. LM Site Manager Darina Castillo was involved in Bustillo’s second internship. Later, Bustillo applied for a Presidential Management Fellowship.
“(LM Director) Carmelo Melendez told me to apply. He thought it would be a good opportunity for me. And Darina helped me put my application together, and she supported me with any questions I had through the process,” she said.
Castillo also attended various FIU induction ceremonies and judged posters for the fellows.
“The only reason I got my job was because I was at (Waste Management) through the fellowship,” Bustillo said.
One of the people Bustillo met during her work with contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) in Tennessee put her in touch with the president of the company, which led to UCOR hiring her after she graduated.
“It completely led me to where I am today,” Bustillo said. “Without my fellowship, who knows what would have happened?”