SERVE - Key Persons
Amirah Jones provides feedback to program participants based off of her experience as a dependent of two veteran parents. Currently, Jones is helping implement a top-notch mentor program for Veterans at the University of Tennessee. Along with this, she looks forward to assisting with prospective projects in SERVE.
Jones recently graduated with a bachelor's degree in exercise science as a student-athlete at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Currently, she is working toward her master's degree in kinesiology with a concentration in sport psychology and motor behavior at UT. Alongside SERVE, Jones works at the UT Medical Center Emergency Room and is an eVOLe mentor at the Thornton Athletics Student Life Center.
Job Titles:
- Program Lead
- Program Lead / Senior Director for Space and Defense Programs and Research Professor
Bruce LaMattina, the lead PI for SERVE, is the son of Army veteran, Joseph LaMattina. He is the Senior Director for Space and Defense Programs at the University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI), an internationally recognized graduate education and research institution located in Middle Tennessee adjacent to the U.S. Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Complex. Prior to accepting the UTSI appointment he served as the Associate Vice Chancellor for Strategic Research Initiatives from 2019 to February, 2021 at UT Knoxville.
Before joining the UT family, he served in the same position at The University of North Carolina. LaMattina has more than 25 years of experience spanning academia, government, and corporate research and defense. He is a creative leader with a strong background in strategic planning, resource management, tech transfer, and workforce development that unites partners from diverse backgrounds to form successful teams that advance research and development with maximum impact. He specializes in research and development, proposal development, teaching and advising, program manager, strategic planning, and more. His technical strengths include manufacturing, solid mechanics, composite materials, and computational modeling, and is an author of over 25 journal articles including two book chapters, one edited book, two journal special issues, numerous conference publications, and more than 25 invited talks.
LaMattina earned his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of North Carolina and his MS and BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Delaware.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant
- Graduate Research Assistant
Caleb Schuler is the graduate research assistant for SERVE. Schuler is a Navy veteran who served in Iraq and Kuwait in support of OEF/OIF. As a PhD candidate in the UT Department of Microbiology, Schuler's research in Associate Professor Jill Mikucki's lab focuses on extremophile microbiology in cold ecosystems as it relates to astrobiology and the search for life off Earth. As a veteran in STEM, Schuler looks forward to providing support as a mentor and leader to those veterans who look to take their military experiences and transfer them to the STEM fields.
Job Titles:
- Research Assistant
- Graduate Research Assistant
Carson McClelland is a graduate research assistant for SERVE. Carson spent 8 years as a Navy Corpsman before deciding to seek a career transition to Mechanical Engineering. As a graduate student at UNC Charlotte, in partnership with the Center of Freeform Optics, his research involves the manufacturability of silicon carbide as an optics material. With these experiences, Carson plans on providing the best guidance possible for Veteran students interested in seeking a similar transition to STEM.
Job Titles:
- Program Co - PI / Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte