Dr. Paz Y Puente had an illustrious academic record at UCF as an undergraduate and graduate student, highlighted by Order of Pegasus, Goldwater Scholarship, and Astronaut Scholarship. Since leaving UCF in 2012 with M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering (advisor Prof. Yongho Sohn), Ashley earned her Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from Northwestern University both as a Cabell Fellow and a National Science Foundation Research Fellow. After completing her Ph.D. in 2016, she was hired as an assistant professor in the Mechanical and Materials Engineering Department at the University of Cincinnati (UC). During her first year at UC, Ashley was awarded an NSF grant to support her research on gas-phase alloying and sintering of 3D-printed Ni-based scaffolds. Her career in 2022 began with a coveted NSF CAREER award for her proposal entitled “Controlling Vacancy Migration and Kirkendall Pore Formation: Understanding Compositional, Geometrical, and Thermal Influences”. In this work, she aims to fundamentally understand the different aspects that impact the diffusion-based phenomenon known as the Kirkendall effect to intentionally tailor porosity in metallic structures so it becomes advantageous. This project also involves a strong educational component including the development and expansion of a unique take on a “Materials Camp” based on Ashley’s experience as a high school participant and as a host student while she was a student at UCF.