Five UMD Alumni Make Forbes 2018 "30 Under 30" List

Five University of Maryland alumni were recognized by Forbes Magazine as the world’s brightest young people for their “impressive, inspiring and enviable” achievements. Marian Cheng ’10, Natalya Gallo ’11, Tian Li M.S. ’15, Ph.D. ’16, Erik Martin ’16 and Jake Rozmaryn were named in Forbes’ 2018 “30 Under 30” lists for accomplishments that include the creation of transparent wood and new research developments in underwater ecosystems.

The lists profile young change-makers who are leading the way in their fields and show promise for the future. The “30 Under 30” lists cover 20 different industries and honorees are selected by a panel of judges from thousands of nominations. This year’s alumni join some of the most renowned authors, artists, athletes, and entrepreneurs from around the world, as well as UMD alumni who made the list in previous years.

UMD’s 2018 30 Under 30 winners include:

Marian Cheng ’10 made the Food and Drink list. Cheng and her sister Hannah opened Mimi Cheng’s Dumplings, a restaurant inspired by their mom’s Taiwanese dumplings, in New York’s East Village in 2014. They added a second location in Nolita last year.

Natalya Gallo ’11, now a Ph.D. candidate at the University of California, San Diego, was named to the Science list. Gallo studies the warming climate’s effect on ocean conditions, and how that will influence the health of fish and fisheries. Along with engineer collaborators, she’s developed new tools to study underwater ecosystems.

Tian Li M.S. ’15, Ph.D. ’16 made the Energy list for contributing to the creation of transparent wood. The see-through wood developed at UMD is stronger than traditional wood, as well as more energy-efficient and less expensive to manufacture than glass for windows.

Erik Martin ’16 was named to the Games list. Martin designs outreach programs for Unity Technologies, a video game development company. He was formerly a policy adviser for President Barack Obama’s Office of Science and Technology Policy; while there, Martin helped create the White House Education Game Jam, in which game developers, teachers, learning researchers and students came together to develop educational software.

Former Terp Jake Rozmaryn was named to the Energy list. Rozmaryn was the CEO and founder of Eco Branding, a public relations and marketing agency that focuses on clean-tech companies. He's now vice president of strategy and business development for the Antenna Group, a public relations and marketing agency dealing with energy, sustainability, emerging tech and life sciences.