MAY 12, 2021 — Helping the underserved is a driving passion one UTSA student plans to accelerate after her graduation this month.
Cecilia Flores is a first-generation college student majoring in biomedical engineering. She also happens to be a Texas College of Business Hall of Fame Scholar finalist. She earned this distinction by co-founding Making Every Customer Matter, or MECM Medical, a company whose mission is to increase the quality of life for underserved and overlooked populations affected by disease, health conditions and disorders.
Cecilia grew up in a low-income neighborhood in the east Texas town of Quitman. She saw her parents struggle with how to care for her brother, who handles hardships from spina bifida. After transferring from the University of St. Thomas in Houston to UTSA, Cecilia became interested in leveraging her biomedical engineering education into a business opportunity to increase driver safety.
Due to the pandemic, Cecilia noted commercial drivers were working nearly three times their usual shifts and having difficulty maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Through her senior design program, Cecilia and her MECM Medical teammates, created a unique device to help keep commercial drivers awake during their shifts.
Once fatigue is detected in the driver, the device flashes a bright red LED light and sends a message to a dispatcher, who will call the driver to advise them to take a break before driving again.
“There are so many things going on in the news right now with people making bad calls,” Cecilia said. “Sometimes you need help and that’s why we wanted to include that human component of having someone call you to have that conversation and help you make a good call.”
The team developed a machine-learning algorithm that takes various physiological inputs from the driver and triggers the alert when certain inputs are reached.
By participating in UTSA’s 2019 Rowdy Tank competition, Cecilia’s company received $1,500 in funding and a key business advisor. Now, MECM Medical is set to pitch the device soon, and Cecilia is considering taking it to the market.
Cecilia greatly appreciates the support and encouragement she received from the UTSA faculty.
“My biomedical engineering professors are wonderful,” Cecilia said. “If I had gone to another university, I might not have experienced genuine care for myself. As a person, you know, they care about me.”
Before attending UTSA, she was anxious about going into the real world, but her professors validated her experience and encouraged her to keep going. Cecilia credits them for helping her identify talents she had and then motivating her to develop them at UTSA.
“I am incredibly grateful for that, and I’m incredibly grateful to be humbled because I think I needed that.”
After graduation, Cecilia is looking for opportunities to continue developing MECM’s camera alert system. However, she remains committed to a long-term career focused on underserved communities, particularly through healthcare.
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Join the PEACE Center and Wellbeing Services for Denim Day, a day of learning about the importance of consent and why we wear denim on the last Wednesday of the month each April during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Stop by our Denim Day display to take a photo in front of our Denim Wall, spin the "Is It Consent?" Wheel, and get a Concha or goodie.
Student Union Window Lounge, Main CampusLearn to use Zotero®, a citation manager that can help you store and organize citations you find during your research. Zotero can generate bibliographies in various styles, insert in-text citations and allow you to share sources with collaborators.
Virtual EventThis event will acknowledge graduating seniors from the McNair Scholars program at UTSA before inducting the new cohort of scholars into the program.
North Paseo Building (NPB 5.140), Main CampusAt this memorable celebration, UTSA graduates will be introduced one-by-one to cross the stage and accept their doctoral degrees.
Arts Building Recital Hall, Main CampusRoadrunner Walk is an event for graduating students to have a memorable walk on campus to celebrate an important milestone and their achievements. Graduates will walk along the Paseo while being celebrated by the UTSA community, friends, and family members.
Student Union Paseo, Main CampusCelebrate the accomplishments of College of Education and Human Development, College for Health, Community and Policy, College of Sciences and University College.
Alamodome, 100 Montana St.Celebrate the accomplishments of Alvarez College of Business, College of Liberal and Fine Arts and Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design.
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