Hello everyone! My name is Maximus, and I’m an undergraduate studying chemical engineering. I completed my associates degree in 2025 and my bachelors degree is still in progress, I hope to continue my education after but in the meantime I want to learn as much as possible from my time here. In my free time I enjoy playing chess, working out, cycling, and learning new things. I am very competitive and enjoy the process of getting better at new games or skills. I’m also passionate about environmental issues, particularly renewable energy and how it fits into the bigger picture of city infrastructure.

I grew up around a lot of farming and people who relied on the environment which inspired me to work towards protecting it and ensuring that its around for people to enjoy in the years to come. My long term goals are in energy and reducing environmental harm through cleaner energy. I was born in Juárez, Mexico, and moved to rural New Mexico by the time I started kindergarten. I love where I’m from, Veguita is a very small town where everyone knows everyone. This made me very connected to the environment and land, which made me care about the future of it. It has only one main road and one option for transportation this made something that I love learning about cities because they are so different from the place around me; to me the intricate ways transportation works and how interconnected everything is in cities is amazing.

Bike riding with family was the activity I enjoyed the most when I was younger, both my parents were big fans and their enjoyment transferred to me. Cycling is something that I do mainly as a fun hobby now by myself, but also has many benefits as it serves as a low-impact tool for personal health. This makes it great for older adults seeking to maintain mobility, endurance, and independence. Expanding cycling access to older demographics in New Mexico can lead to healthier aging both mentally and physically while having a much better impact on the land enjoyed during the activity.

I am excited to be part of the RUTA-HC lab working towards cycling accessibility to groups that have not been prominently represented in cycling. I feel that the people of New Mexico often do not engage with any other form of transportation other then automotives which is a missed opportunity as New Mexico stands out to me in its effort of alternative options. We have the rail runner, many free buses, and areas with designated bicycling infrastructure. Exploring different forms of transportation with research on the interaction between cycling with a large underrepresented portion of the population is what I am hoping to be able to research as part of this lab.