BIRMINGHAM, AL — The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) will conduct graduation ceremonies at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 7. Ceremonies will be held at Bartow Arena, 617 South 13th Street. About half of the nearly 2,000 May graduates will take part in the ceremonies.

The commencement speaker, Jorge Ivan Nuñez, 23, a Birmingham resident and native of Colombia, will graduate Saturday with degrees in mechanical engineering and physics He is the son of Martha Sanchez and Rafael Nuñez. He is a member of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society and the Golden Key International Honor Society. In 2002, he was among an elite group of students selected from across the nation to participate as an intern in field-testing NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover.

Nuñez also has excelled as a community volunteer, working for the March of Dimes, the Mercedes Marathon, Birmingham International Festival, and as a translator for Children’s Hospital. After graduation, Nuñez plans to pursue his Ph.D. in planetary science. His ultimate goal is to teach at the university level and to be an astronaut and lead a mission to Mars.

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Image Size: 1,205 pixels by 1,629 pixels (4.0" by 5.4") Resolution: 300 dpi Format: JPEG (RGB) File Size: 1,288 KB Download Now! Caption: The commencement speaker will be Jorge Ivan Nuñez (pictured), 23, a Birmingham resident and native of Columbia, will graduate Saturday with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.