Michael Fernandez built his Honors experience from the ground up, starting with a stage for Club Theater in his freshman year. The following summer, undergraduate research at UH on the topic of structural health monitoring of buildings got him thinking about graduate school. As part of an independent study course taken through Honors, Michael researched barriers facing first-generation college students studying engineering and presented his work at the Frontiers in Engineering Education conference in October 2008. He also worked on wind turbine durability in China during the summer of 2008 through a grant from the National Science Foundation. Michael is a recipient of The Honors College's F.E.E.T. scholarship, was recognized as an Oustanding First-Year Honors Student, and also received an Areté Award for his contributions to Honors.

He graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in May 2009. After traveling to Germany and the Czech Republic in June 2009, he will head back to the states for grad school. Michael plans to pursue an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on medical robotics at Columbia University, where he is fully funded through their Presidential Fellowship.