What does the first decade after graduation really look like?
For these alumni, it’s a proving ground.
Meet the alums chasing big ideas, pivoting when it counts, and stepping into roles that challenge both themselves and the industries around them. Learn more about the recipients at two separate "Ten Talk" virtual events, hosted by the Young Alumni Council on May 11 and June 24.
Meet the 10 Under 10
Lucas Traina ’23 | Yunyun “Winnie” Gu ’19 M.Ed.’21 | Matthew Gunton ’22 | Kendall Prime ’22 | Nazli Guleryuz ’17 | Omogolo Pikinini ’25 | Tanairy Ortiz ’19 | Aisha Abdulkarimu ’20 | Karina Chen ’24 | Jordan Wood ’22
Lucas Traina ’23
Business, Economics, and Management
Traina started his first company at just 15 years old. To him, it only made sense — at a size 14, he couldn’t find shoes that fit him and assumed others faced the same problem. So he built a platform that scoured 75 different websites, surfacing both new and used options in one place. Within two years, he scaled the business and sold it to an industry giant.
That pattern has continued at a much larger scale. Today, Traina is the founder of ARBOai, an enterprise AI strategy and execution firm serving defense, financial services, and industrial organizations globally, with offices in San Francisco, New York, Dubai, and Sweden. Through deep AI audits and transformation programs, his team identifies and captures measurable opportunities across automation, analytics, and operations, often generating millions in profit uplift per engagement.
During his time at Lehigh, Traina played on the men’s basketball team and became deeply involved with the Lehigh Ventures Lab. He launched several companies, including Seltic Beverages, and executed successful exits.
Balancing multiple businesses, Division I athletics, and a full academic course, Traina used early mornings and late nights to handle it all and even graduated a year early.
From founding ARBOai to writing his first book to leading acquisitions like Renlar, Traina continues to build and scale platforms that prioritize execution over theory. He is focused on creating systems that drive impact.
Currently based in San Francisco, Traina operates at the intersection of AI, M&A, and SpaceTech — building companies, advising on transactions, and investing in emerging technologies. His work today focuses on helping organizations move from theoretical AI adoption to measurable financial outcomes, particularly in complex and regulated environments.
Yunyun “Winnie” Gu ’19 M.Ed.’21
Art, Architecture, and Elementary Education
Culture, connection, and belonging have long shaped Gu’s life, guiding both her personal journey and creative work in meaningful ways.
Growing up in China, Japan, and Singapore, Gu developed a global perspective early on. When a Lehigh admissions counselor visited her high school, she soon found herself stepping into a new chapter.
Even before arriving on campus, Gu began building connections.
A member of LU Diplomats — who would later become her partner — reached out, introducing her to a network of globally minded peers. Once at Lehigh, she expanded that vision. She helped found Voices, a student organization dedicated to bridging the gap between domestic and international populations while showcasing their creativity. From pitching the concept to recruiting members, she turned an abstract idea into something tangible and lasting.
For her senior capstone, Gu once again pushed boundaries. She became the first student to propose a digital project, using a web comic to explore her multicultural identity. What began as a personal project evolved into something much larger.
By the end of Gu’s senior year, her comic series had attracted more than 12,000 followers on Instagram, and it has continued to grow. In addition to her independent work on ThirdCultureChinese, Gu contributes to the Panda Cub Chinese Heritage Program, helping create short-form content designed to reconnect Chinese American and diaspora audiences with their heritage, one accessible lesson at a time.
As a graphics and art design operator at Siemens, Gu blends her artistic and technical skills. She translates complex engineering drawings into clear, visual graphics for building managers, using her knowledge of architecture to interpret floor plans and map systems within internal software. She continues to create comics and tutors online each week.
Matthew Gunton ’22
Computer Science and Business
From spending $30,000 on cheese as treasurer of University Productions to co-founding an AI compiler company, Gunton has never been afraid to take risks.
His curiosity about the future started early. When he read Brave New World in high school, it opened his mind to the possibilities — and potential consequences — of emerging technology. Years later, when ChatGPT was released, that same sense of urgency returned. To Gunton, it felt like society had reached a fork in the road.
Realizing this era in history would be defined by AI, he wanted to be at the forefront and help shape what came next. He took his passion with him to Lehigh, inspired in part by the legacy of his grandfather, former College of Arts and Sciences dean and emeritus faculty member James D. Gunton.
Gunton co-founded Luminal, an AI company that optimizes models’ performance and returns stronger, faster outputs to the user.
He and his co-founders believed they had built something meaningful, but they needed capital. After applying to an early-stage startup program, they found themselves stuck in a waiting game. Rather than sit still, they made a bold move: They released their technology publicly to test demand.
Within 12 hours, they secured nearly $5 million in letters of intent.
That momentum spoke for itself. Soon after, they were accepted into the program. Ten days later, Gunton and his co-founders packed up their lives and moved from Austin to San Francisco.
Despite the success, Gunton is quick to point out that entrepreneurship isn’t glamorous. It requires resilience and “a high pain tolerance.” Instead of dwelling on uncertainty, he focuses on what he can control, stays curious, and continually pushes himself to learn.
Outside work, slow mornings with his chief “barketing” officer, Tilly, a loyal pug mix, help him reset. Whether he’s out on a run, playing poker, or exploring tea tastings in Chinatown, he makes space to keep his mind sharp and open.
Kendall Prime ’22
Political Science and Film Studies
Storytelling sits at the heart of everything that Prime does. Like any strong journalist, they bring precision, ambition, and a deep commitment to the collective good.
Prime describes themself as “hungry for opportunities,” and they’ve lived that mindset at every turn.
Fresh out of college, they joined Crooked Media, a Los Angeles-based political media company founded by former Barack Obama staffers, as a content and production intern. From there, they moved into radio as a production assistant at CBS’s KCBS station and then into broadcast as the weekend assignment editor at KRON4 News. Each step expanded their perspective and impact.
With a background in political science, Prime approaches their work with a critical eye, examining emerging technology, the steaming race, and the evolving relationship between newsrooms and the communities they serve. For Prime, journalism isn’t just about reporting. It’s about connection.
They understand how news can shape how communities see themselves and others. What happens to neighbors can affect entire cities and states, and that through line is what keeps Prime grounded in their work.
Beyond delivering timely news, Prime prioritizes uplifting stories that reflect a range of voices. A self-proclaimed “tangential thinker,” they appreciate how different perspectives intersect and how they ultimately circle back to a shared human experience.
“I have to keep fighting the good fight,” they said. “Being able to give news is what I live for.”
Prime also seeks inspiration in nature, culture, and literature. Hiking is one of their favorite pastimes, sometimes taking them as far as Mount Shasta’s summit, a stratovolcano in the Cascade Range.
Nazli Guleryuz ’17
Mechanical Engineering
When Guleryuz was nine years old, she saw the car that changed everything: a bright red Ferrari. The next day, she spent her entire lunch period in the school library, devouring everything she could about Formula 1, hypercars, and supercars. What began as curiosity quickly became obsession. For years, she filled journals with sketches and ideas, determined to one day build the cars she admired.
That determination led her to Lehigh, where she later worked with professor Terry Hart ’68 H’88 as her advisor. She had referenced his work in her application, and his guidance helped shape her path in high-performance automotive engineering.
After graduating, Guleryuz began her career at auto manufacturer Ford Otosan, where she built a foundation in systems engineering, validation, and development processes. She later joined luxury car manufacturer Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus as a product engineer and gradually took on broader responsibilities across the program.
Today, Guleryuz is the principal engineer for the company’s Glickenhaus 004 program, a high-performance hypercar. Her role spans development, validation, manufacturing, and final assembly. The work sits at the intersection of road cars and motorsport, with the broader program connected to endurance racing events such as the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.
Growing up, Guleryuz saw few women in engineering roles within motorsports. Being part of that shift today is something she values.
Outside her primary role, Guleryuz is interested in additive manufacturing and often designs and builds components herself, both for automotive applications and everyday use. She also continues to focus on high-performance engineering within the hypercar space.
One of the most meaningful moments of her career came from seeing a car she led from development through final assembly become a completed vehicle. Watching Christian von Koenigsegg drive that car was a particularly memorable experience. She also recalls the significance of seeing her name on a Glickenhaus car that competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and attending the race in person as part of the team. These moments reflect the level of ownership required to bring a vehicle from concept to reality.
Looking ahead, Guleryuz is focused on taking on increasingly complex hypercar and racing programs and engineering challenges while advancing further within performance vehicle development at the highest level.
Omogolo Pikinini ’25
Philosophy and Engineering
Pikinini likes to say that Lehigh found him, rather than the other way around.
After receiving a scholarship from the government of Botswana, he had the opportunity to attend nearly any university in the world. The scale of that choice was both exciting and intimidating. He met hundreds of college representatives, but the Lehigh ambassador stood out. More than anyone else, they made him feel like a person and not a number.
That sense of belonging drew him to the Lee Iacocca Institute for Global Leadership, where he worked each summer. Through that experience, he discovered an affinity for the institute’s mission, particularly its focus on leadership development and service.
As graduation approached, Pikinini found himself unsure of what came next. One fateful text changed everything, and he was encouraged to apply for a program manager position at the institute. While it wasn’t what he had studied, his Lehigh education had given him the confidence to trust that he could learn quickly and rise to the challenge.
Just six months into the role, Pikinini was helping prepare for the 2024 Mandela Washington Fellowship cohort. In a short amount of time, he learned how to write grant proposals, plan events, and build a comprehensive curriculum. Not only did he succeed, but the curriculum and programming model he developed were later adopted by several other colleges.
Now, just a year into the role, Pikinini is pursuing his master of science in management at Lehigh while continuing to grow in his career.
His personal philosophy is woven throughout his story: Say yes to opportunities, even when they begin as challenges. As a fan of theatre, he sees life as a grand stage. People may learn their lines as they go, but no one is born with a predefined role. To him, there is something freeing about that kind of improvisation.
If life is a stage, Pikinini intends for his story to be an epic.
Outside his work, he is a musician and helps organize a music festival in Etsha, a small village in the Okavango Delta. He’s working on a documentary tentatively titled Becoming the River, which chronicles the migration of the Hambukushu people from the highlands of Zambia to Botswana. Over the past three years, he’s combed through archives at universities around the world, searching for more information about a people whose history has rarely been documented.
Tanairy Ortiz ’19
Global Studies
Ortiz has always been drawn to history, culture, and language. She’s made the most of every opportunity to explore them.
At Lehigh, she immersed herself in campus life, joining a wide range of organizations, including the Center for Gender Equity, Feminist Alliance, UNICEF, Community Service, Latin Dance Club, and JM Entertainment. If there was something new to be learned, Ortiz was there.
Just three weeks after graduation, she took that curiosity abroad, heading to China with the Peace Corps. What was intended to be a two-year experience was cut short after nine months due to the pandemic. Undeterred, she quickly secured a six-month teaching contract in Korea while continuing to apply for new opportunities.
Ortiz landed a role with the Smithsonian American Art Museum, where she works as a curatorial management support specialist, helping process procurement requests.
One exhibition that deeply resonated with her was The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture, which examined sculpture through the lens of racial identity. For Ortiz, it reinforced the importance of her work and the impact museums can have on how people see themselves and others.
Her mission is clear: to open doors for Latino communities in museum spaces where they have historically been underrepresented. She recognizes that the formality of many museum environments can feel intimidating, even unwelcoming. Through her work, she hopes to help create spaces where everyone feels safe and included.
Outside work, Ortiz enjoys exploring Washington, D.C., with her Boston terrier, Henny, whom she adopted while living in Korea. She also hosts Bob Ross-inspired painting nights with friends, a creative outlet that reflects her love of art and connection.
She is also pursuing a master’s degree in cultural heritage management, further expanding her ability to make an impact in the field.
Aisha Abdulkarimu ’20
Biology
As a first-generation college student whose parents immigrated from Nigeria, Abdulkarimu has approached every step of her journey with focus and determination.
Now a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in bioengineering at the University of Maryland, she studies lymphatics and drug delivery systems — work that sits at the intersection of biology and innovation. With a strong foundation in cellular physiology, she is tackling complex questions about how the body functions at both microscopic and systemic levels.
The lymphatic system plays a critical role in immune function, particularly in how cells move throughout the body. Yet many of its mechanisms remain poorly understood.
Abdulkarimu’s research focuses on uncovering how solutes enter lymphatic vessels under normal conditions. Establishing that baseline could help identify new therapeutic targets and, ultimately, lead to breakthroughs in treating disease.
In the lab, she also serves as a mentor to undergraduate students, many of whom are encountering research for the first time. She often shares a quote from Miley Cyrus that resonates with her: “Legends get scared too; it’s legendary to be afraid and do it anyway.” It’s a reminder that growth requires stepping into the unknown.
That mindset has guided her throughout her journey. She embraces challenges, asks questions, and continually pushes herself to improve. Her curiosity is deeply personal, too. It was sparked in part by her younger brother’s asthma, which first drew her toward science and a desire to make a difference.
Karina Chen ’24
Business Information Systems
Chen’s career has been shaped by the steady pursuit of clarity: an instinct to understand not just how technology works, but how it comes together.
At Lehigh, that meant allowing her path to evolve. She began in computer science before ultimately finding her calling in business information systems, where her focus shifted from writing code to connecting ideas. Rather than focusing on a single function, she became interested in how different pieces — technical, strategic, and human — fit together. Over time, that perspective gave her confidence in navigating complexity and moving forward even when the path ahead wasn’t fully defined.
Her technical experiences across AT&T, HP, and Cisco reinforced that instinct. Working in different environments, she learned to become someone who could step in, organize what felt unclear, and help move things forward. During her time interning with Microsoft, that realization became more concrete, as she saw early-stage innovation in the making.
After graduating early, Chen returned to Microsoft full time. Today, she is a technical program manager in the Discovery and Quantum Computing division, contributing to a fast-evolving area of research and development with the potential to transform industries ranging from health care to advanced materials and AI. Her work sits at the center of leading programs, driving cross-functional alignment and ensuring that breakthrough technology is delivered safely and responsibly.
Having been on the receiving end of mentorship and access-building programs, Chen now pays that forward, supporting women in tech and the AAPI community through mentorship and advocacy. She also contributes to community-building efforts through her leadership in Microsoft Asians of New York, helping create spaces where others feel supported and empowered to grow.
Jordan Wood ’22
Business and Economics
When Wood’s childhood friend, JT Cooley ’22, joined a wrestling team at age six, he was frustrated they couldn’t spend as much time together. A year later, he joined the team himself, and he never looked back.
By the time he graduated high school, Wood ranked among the top 25 wrestlers in the nation, drawing attention from programs across the country. Lehigh was the place that felt like home.
During his time at the university, Wood built an exceptional record: a five-time Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association champion and five-time National Collegiate Athletic Association qualifier. He qualified for the 2021 Olympic Trials and placed second at the Last Chance Olympic Trials Qualifier.
After graduation, Wood signed with the Lehigh Valley Wrestling Club, but a back injury during his first year sidelined him. While recovering, he leaned into another passion through Lehigh’s Flight45 athletics leadership development program. There, he gained experience in leadership consulting and education, working with individuals and teams.
As he returned to competition, his role at Flight45 expanded. He now serves as assistant director for athletics leadership development and sports performance, balancing that work with his continued involvement in wrestling. Together, those roles allow him to make a lasting impact on Lehigh athletics.
“I love being able to stay involved and help students realize their true potential as I’m trying to realize my own,” he says.
At the end of April, Wood will compete in the United States Open, with his sights set on qualifying for the 2026 World Team. Looking ahead, he hopes to compete on the Olympic stage in 2028.
