April 17, 2026

By Lauren Ferguson

Three ambitious engineering physics students from Ramapo College of New Jersey will be spending the summer conducting research, after being accepted into prestigious Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

“These are ten-week funded programs with everything paid, room and board, and a very generous stipend of about $8,000,” said Ramapo Professor of Physics Dr. Daniela Buna.

“I am telling this story to everybody who wants to hear … I am so proud of them and so proud of the work we get to do,” said Buna, who along with Professor of Physics Dr. Catalin Martin and Assistant Professor of Physics Dr. Caroline Brisson, works closely to teach and mentor engineering physics students.

The Engineering Physics program at Ramapo is designed for students who both enjoy and excel at physics, and are interested in how it relates to engineering. Scholars discover how to take on big challenges, such as developing clean energy solutions, enhancing medical technologies or improving communication systems.

According to the NSF, an REU site “typically involves a group of around 10 students who work on related research projects at a host institution.” Students work closely with faculty and other senior researchers to conduct authentic research, receive mentoring, build their knowledge and research skills and learn about educational and career pathways in STEM.

Engineering Physics Major Agnese Karen Gamarra ‘27, of Lincoln Park, NJ, was accepted into a biophysics REU program at the Catholic University of America, as well as an interactive biomaterials REU program at Syracuse University, which she will be attending.

Gamarra will be working on a research project called Modeling Intrinsically Disordered Proteins Using Block Polyampholytes. “I will be receiving training in soft matter physics and coarse-grained molecular dynamic simulations in order to study the different reasons that proteins become disordered,” Gamarra explained.

Masayasu Nitta ‘27, of Mahwah, NJ, was accepted into REU programs at Princeton University, the University of Delaware and Pennsylvania State University. The engineering physics major and mathematics minor will be attending the Penn State Sustainable Physics REU.

Fellow Engineering Physics Major and Mathematics Minor Eranda Serjani ‘27, of Pompton Lakes, NJ, is vice president of the  Engineering Physics Club, and will be taking part in the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter REU at the University of Pennsylvania.

Engineering Physics Major Eranda Serjani ‘27 will be participating in an NSF-funded REU at the University of Pennsylvania.

Last summer, Engineering Physics Club President Emily Markuske ‘26, of Leonia, NJ, participated in an REU at Penn State.

“I was there for over two months researching different 2D materials used in nanotechnology, such as the transistors in computer chips. I was working with a research team who were making different length transistors for computer chips and seeing which ones worked the best,” Markuske explained. “It was a great opportunity and that made me want to pursue research in materials science, specifically semiconductors and nanotechnology. This is why I applied for a masters in science for materials science and engineering.”

Markuske is graduating in May as an engineering physics major and mathematics minor and planning to go to graduate school. Professors Buna, Martin and Brisson all wrote her letters of recommendation. She has already been accepted into prestigious graduate programs at Stevens Institute of Technology and New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).

The small class sizes at Ramapo and relationships she formed with professors made all the difference for her. “The best thing at Ramapo for me is the small class sizes. Especially in physics classes, having only a few students including myself really helps my learning since there is a close connection formed between professor and student,” she said. “In addition, there is a mixture of hands-on classes and lecture classes, meaning I can learn the material in lecture and then apply my knowledge in a hands-on experiment the next day.”

Serjani and Nitta agree.

“We have a small set of very dedicated professors who really have the best intentions at heart. I’ve found so much support in these individual relationships, which foster a very tight-knit community across the program,” Serjani said.

“The small class sizes allows the professors and faculty to work closely with the students, which has given my peers and I various opportunities for research,” Nitta said.

Doctors Catalin Martin, Sandra Suarez, Daniela Buna and Caroline Brisson have supported Masayasu Nitta ‘27, Eranda Serjani ‘27 and other Engineering Physics students on their journeys to prestigious research positions.

In November, Nitta presented research at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society – Mid-Atlantic section at Penn State Harrisburg. Serjani recently presented at the 2026 American Physical Society Global Physics Summit in Denver, Colorado. And Nitta, Serjani, Gamarra and Chemistry Major Valeria Lopez ‘26 – all in Ramapo’s McNair Scholars program – recently presented research at 27th National McNair Scholars and Undergraduate Research Conference at the University of Maryland.

Buna said she was proud of the Roadrunners for “their willingness to go the extra mile, work hard and prove themselves.”