UNF graduate student bridges automotive passion and biomedical breakthroughs

A decimated car slumped in the middle of the backyard - twisted frame, parts ripped off, paint scorched. As her father moved around the wreck with quiet confidence, Sayyada Harry patiently watched him rebuild the vehicle piece by piece.

Those core memories of helping her father breathe new life into old, battered machines would fuel a lifelong passion for engineering.

It was her time at the University of North Florida that would connect her with faculty, staff, tools and opportunities to pursue that passion. She earned her mechanical engineering bachelor's in May 2025 and continued at UNF as part of an accelerated bachelor's-to-master's program.

Today, Harry is doing an internship with her dream company - Mercedes-Benz - while also finishing important research on a life-saving cooling method for newborns with specific brain injuries.

She graduates in May with her master's degree in mechanical engineering, fueled with determination for the future.

The road to UNF

Harry immigrated with her family from Trinidad and Tobago to the United States when she was eight. She knew she wanted to study automotive engineering, but life in New York City was fast and demanding. As a first-generation college student, she worked multiple jobs while taking classes part-time.

In 2019, she married her husband and moved to Arizona where he was stationed in the Navy. She balanced a new life in a new state while pushing forward academically and finished her associates degree in 2022.

When her husband got transferred to Jacksonville, they made a pact that she would set her focus on finishing her engineering degree. She enrolled at UNF.

"UNF has been a blessing to me," she said. "After experiencing colleges in New York and Arizona, UNF felt so special. It gave me the chance to explore so many different fields of engineering and gain real-world industry experience in ways I never would have imagined."

One of those fields was biomedical engineering research.

During her undergraduate program, Harry began research that she continued in her master's thesis on a life-saving cooling method for newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), a dangerous brain injury caused by lack of oxygen at birth. Her research focuses on engineering a flexible silicone-based heat pipe designed to evenly cool infants and protect the brain from damage.

"It has been wonderful watching Sayyada grow as a professional from the beginning of the heat pipe project, to lead author on the research paper, and now continuing to help write and file the patent," said Dr. Chris Oshman, UNF mechanical engineering associate professor. "Throughout working with her, she has consistently been curious, a strong learner and professional. She is an excellent engineer."

She presented her published research at the ASME conference in 2024 and co-presented another paper in 2025.

"My thesis advisor Dr. Oshman really saw something in me and pushed me to achieve a lot outside of my comfort zone," said Harry. "I'm so grateful for his guidance and advice."

Cruising into engineering

She also participated in UNF Robotics Club as the lead mechanical engineer. Her team won first place in the STEM Engagement Category at NASA's 2024 Lunabotics Challenge for their moon-mining robot design. She even traveled to India in March 2025 for a study-abroad program blending business and engineering.

Through her various engineering experiences in robotics and biomedicine as well as international travel, she learned a lot about herself and grew more determined to make a future in automotive engineering.

That focus led her to the UNF Career Fair in February 2025, where she approached the Mercedes-Benz booth with her senior design class project in hand. Her class project had been sponsored by the company, giving her a glimpse into their world.

"My husband and I are German car enthusiasts and share a passion for rebuilding engines, so working for Mercedes was my ultimate dream," said Harry.

She spoke directly to the hiring manager at the booth and shared her ideas, vision and the hard work she had poured into her senior project.

Harry has been interning in vehicle compliance analytics at Mercedes-Benz since last fall. She works with several safety engineers who evaluate vehicle safety issues through testing and engineering analysis. Harry assists with prepping documents that report, manage and address issues found to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

She would love to eventually work fulltime as an engineer at Mercedes-Benz.

"It all started with automotive," said Harry. "To actually get back on that groove after so many years and see it come full circle from my father's backyard to the Mercedes Benz showroom is just so fulfilling."