Features

See below for a collection of stories and spotlights featuring my work, my students’ successes, and the communities I contribute to

2026

TechFest Dayton 2026

TechFest Dayton 2026 was amazing with over 2,500 attendees across the two days; below is a news clip about the event on local news.

2025

UAlbany PhD Student Receives Federal National Defense Scholarship

UAlbany News Center article featuring Olivia Benaoumeur, an U.S. Department of Defense SMART scholarship recipent and one of Kara’s mentees

Department of the Air Force (DAF) LEGACY Good News Story

2024 & 2025 LEGACY intern, Isaiah Goble, was featured in the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Educational Outreach Office’s (WPAFB E.O.) May 2025 newsletter for his successful presentation at the AIAA Dayton-Cincinnati Aerospce Sciences Symposium in March 2025

TechFest Dayton 2025

TechFest Dayton 2025 was a great success with 2,200+ attendees across the two days. Below is news coverage of the event itself and advertisement beforehand

2024

Tau Beta Pi AFIT Chapter Welcomes Newest Members

The Ohio Eta chapter at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) added 11 new members during their 2024 Fall Initiation

Inspiring Tomorrow’s Innovators Through STEM Outreach

An AFIT professor, Dr. Jose Camberos, and Ph.D. student, Ms. Kara Combs, team-up for multiple K-12 STEM outreach collaborations through the Wright Scholars Research Assistantship Program and WPAFB Job Shadow Day. The article was originally featured on the AFIT News page, which was later referenced and cross-posted to the AFIT ENgineer Newsletter and Wright-Patterson AFB News site, respectively.

2023

Dayton Inno Under 25

Name one of five Inno(vators) under 25 in the Dayton region in 2023

TechFest Dayton 2023

TechFest Dayton 2023 is back in-person for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

2022

Wright State University Spotlight & Recruitment Videos

Featured in a Wright State University (WSU) Career Services Spotlight and recruitment videos for the College of Engineering & Computer Science (CECS) and the Department of Biomedical, Industrial and Human Factors Engineering (BIE)

2021

Notable Fall 2021 Wright State University Graduates

Featured as one of three “notable” students graduating in Wright State University’s (WSU) Fall 2021 commencement ceremony

Tau Beta Pi Trifecta

Awarded the “trifecta” of Tau Beta Pi student awards and honors: an undergraduate scholarship (2019), a graduate fellowship (2021), and a Laureate (2021)

Tau Beta Pi Laureate Award

Named one of four Laureates, which is given annually up to five Tau Bates who have excelled in areas beyond their technical majors (specifically for service)

Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers James W. Barany Student Award for Excellence

The Institute of Industrial and Systens Engineers (IISE) Barany Award recognizes undergraduate students who have brought distinction to industrial engineering at their universities

Technology First Award of Excellence

Member of business students team awarded Technology First’s 2021 Award of Exellence for a group project that predicted pet adoption speeds

Tau Beta Pi Harold M. King Fellowship

Selected for the Tau Beta Pi Harold M. King Fellowship (2021 - 2022) which is given to a “recipient whose participation in his/her technical society is judged worthy of special mention” (<8.5% selection rate among applicants)

Order of the Engineer

Nearly 70 engineering and computer science students took part in an induction ceremony for the Order of the Engineer and the Pledge of the Computing Professional

Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers Undergraduate Technical Paper Competition

Member of engineering team who won the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) Undergraduate Technical Paper Competion at the Great Lakes Regional Conference for our paper on redesigning a dental facility layout. The paper later won 2nd Place in the Global Finals at the 2021 IISE Annual Meeting.

Spaced Out Doc’s Blog: Meet Tau Bate, Kara

Featured in one of Dr. Michaelyn Thomas’s posts in her Spaced Out Doc blog

2017

16 Dayton-area valedictorians you should know

Named one of 16 Dayton-area valeditorians you should know in 2017; later featured in separate Wright State University Newsroom article