NJ Pathways Alumni Spotlight: Sebastian Mattio-Smith

Student Pursuing Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering 

Bergen Community College, Class of 2024

Bergen Community College alumnus Sebastian Mattio-Smith, ‘24, studied engineering and earned his associate degree in engineering science with the goal to mitigate and eliminate climate change and its effects.  

“The STEM Student Scholars is the best academic program at Bergen,” said Mattio-Smith. “It provides students with hands-on research experience and opportunities to develop their knowledge, skills, and abilities that will be essential in future job placement.”  

During his time in the STEM Student Scholar (3SP) program at Bergen, he served as a team member on the electric go kart development project with Richard Boada Maldonado (’23) and John Griffith (‘23). In summer 2023, the team earned national recognition as finalists for the Community College Innovation Challenge sponsored by the National Science Foundation and American Association of Community Colleges. The team engineered a fully functional one-seater electric go-kart prototype with a top speed of 40 mph and a driving time of approximately two hours at 80 percent power with an adult driver in the College’s STEM Student Research Center – the nation’s only one of its kind at a community college. 

Mattio-Smith has also completed a research internship where he worked as a student researcher at New Jersey Institute of Technology to develop a process to extract silicon from end-of-life solar panels and reuse them in lithium-ion battery applications. 

He credits “the incredible support system” he found in his peers and professors at Bergen. 

“I owe a lot of my success and connections to Dr. Ricatto,” said Mattio-Smith when discussing the “unwavering and constant support” of faculty mentor and professor PJ Ricatto, Ph.D. who served as his advisor for two research internships. Ricatto inspired Mattio-Smith to pursue chemical engineering. “I would also like to thank Dr. Joseph Sivo, professor of physics, for instilling in me a desire to settle for nothing less than my absolute best in my STEM coursework,” he said. 

Mattio-Smith graduated in May 2024 and plans to complete his bachelor’s of science degree in chemical engineering.