Biomedical engineering research, study abroad trips and non-profit launches were among the dozens of topics that UT San Antonio students presented at this year’s Roadrunner Experience Showcase.
More than 50 undergraduate and graduate students participated last fall in the annual showcase, sharing their stories with an audience of local industry partners, faculty, staff and peers.
The top three presenters also took home a combined $7,000 in scholarship money.
The annual showcase is co-hosted by the university’s Najim Center for Innovation and Career Advancement and the Office of Undergraduate Research.
The event provides students with an opportunity to show how such experiential learning opportunities have shaped their path at UT San Antonio and made an impact on their personal and professional growth.
In addition to helping students build confidence and hone their public speaking and presentation skills, the showcase also awards scholarships to the top presenters each year.
“This year was a full-circle moment, because many of our presenters were once recipients of Najim scholarships designed to financially empower students to participate in experiential learning,” said Rachael Miller, director of experiential learning at the Najim Center.
“Now, they returned to share their journeys, and three more students walked away with scholarships to continue designing their futures through experience,” Miller added. “This is what lifelong learning looks like — confidence, community and curiosity in action.”
Since 2022, the Najim Center has awarded nearly $70,000 to showcase participants. This year’s winners included Michael Mauricio, Zeina Hijazi and Edgar Zamorano.
A PhD candidate in the Culture, Language and Literacy program, Mauricio earned the top prize of $3,500. Mauricio’s presentation detailed his experience with the Najim Center’s Global Summer Institute during summer 2025.
In the program, he worked with other UT San Antonio students to help solve real-world business challenges, concluding with a week-long opportunity to work with Yahoo in New York City.
Hijazi, a junior in the UT San Antonio Top Scholar program studying biomedical engineering, was awarded second place and $2,000 for presenting her summer research experience at Rice University.
Working in the lab of Matteo Pasquali, Hijazi helped design a wearable medical device that stimulates the muscles of patients who are paralyzed to aid in treatment.
A senior marketing major, Zamorano earned the third-place prize of $1,500. Zamorano created a nonprofit organization, Operation Taco, that provides hot meals to local first responders at no charge.
Inspired to help after the devastating July 2025 flooding in the Texas Hill Country, he began making breakfast tacos in his kitchen for first responders on their way to work. The nonprofit has grown significantly in the months since, and now provides food for first responders in Kerrville, Boerne, San Antonio and the surrounding areas.
Watch this video to learn more.
