FY23 Online Annual Report - Flipbook - Page 9
Alejandra Almaraz ’24 uses sensitive instruments to analyze cellular and nuclear structures deep
in the Materials Sciences Building at Boise State University. The lab she collaborates with exposes
those structures to stresses like vibration and other chemicals. The end result could one day be a
drug or other treatment that makes it easier for humans to survive in the harshest environments.
“I’m helping develop the basis for potential pharmaceuticals for humans in space,” she said.
Almaraz is Idaho-born from Nampa. Her drive, intelligence and Boise State education are helping
her take the next step. She expects to graduate in the spring of 2024 with a bachelor’s degree
in engineering, but in the summer of 2022 she was a NASA intern in the Idaho Space Grant
Consortium program — a stepping stone on the way to a graduate degree, additional research and
eventually, she said, a career in the private sector.
Before and during her time at Boise State, Almaraz worked as a medical assistant, but when she
began pursuing engineering, she knew working in healthcare wasn’t for her. Scholarships, including
the Harriet and Tyler Lowrey Scholarship, the Idaho Opportunity Scholarship, the College of
Engineering Scholarship and the Thelma Brown Engineering Scholarship, helped her focus on her
studies. Admitted to the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program (also known
as the McNair Scholars Program), she is a promising student who will continue to receive strong
financial support as she pursues her studies and ambitions.
“I haven’t had to take out as many loans as I’ve had to in the past, which has been great. There are a
lot more opportunities for funding than there were previously, and it’s allowed me to put more focus
into my studies and incredible research opportunities,” she said.
What better path to quality of life
than through education. What better
place for such pursuit than Boise State
University. We are living examples and
are proud to help facilitate this process.
Tyler and Harriet ’98 Lowrey
Scholarship Donors
9 | 2021–2022 ANNUAL REPORT
