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BIOE Senior Sulayman Khan Elected UMD SGA President

Sulayman Khan smiles in a light gray suit and purple tie, with Clark Hall in the background.

As a high school student, Sulayman Khan began conducting research in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BIOE) at the University of Maryland (UMD). Now a senior bioengineering major, Khan is bringing that experience in research, teaching, and community outreach to his newly elected role as president of UMD’s Student Government Association (SGA). 

Running on the Voice4All ticket, Khan received 836 votes in the university’s fall 2026 special election, winning nearly 45% of the votes cast for presidential candidates. Voice4All swept all three executive positions and won 15 of the 24 legislative seats up for election.

For Khan, the campaign grew from a desire to “show off” what UMD’s student community has to offer. He wants the SGA to serve not only as a source of funding for student organizations but also as a platform for their talents and accomplishments, connecting students with opportunities and helping campus communities learn from one another.

“I wanted to see all the clubs on campus have an outlet for representation, and have that representation highlighted and showcased at the highest level,” Khan said.

The idea took shape while Khan was sitting in the university’s Unity Center, where he noticed a lion dance team practicing. The team’s skill caught his attention, and he began thinking about how more students could experience performances and activities happening across campus, even if they did not have the time to join the organizations themselves.

He believes SGA could help close that gap by promoting student organizations and creating opportunities for them to share their work with a wider audience

“There are so many great things already happening on campus,” Khan said. “We don’t need to create new things. We just need to show what is happening, so that students know, ‘Oh, this exists. Let me go use it’.”

Khan said he wants to establish a clear way for students and student organizations to raise concerns through a form that will be prominently featured on the SGA website and its Linktree page. But he does not believe creating a form alone is enough, he said, noting that past forms tended to hear from the same students.

“It’s not really about the form. It’s about the asking,” Khan said. Calling out from a rooftop would not work, he added. “You have to be outside on the street, telling people, ‘If you need help, my office is open’.”

"There are so many great things already happening on campus. We don’t need to create new things. We just need to show what is happening, so that students know, ‘Oh, this exists. Let me go use it’."

-Sulayman Khan

 

Lab to Leadership

Khan conducted research in BIOE professor Steven Jay’s Lab, where he collaborated with Nicholas Pirolli, then a BIOE graduate student, on bacterial extracellular vesicles (BEVs), tiny particles released by bacteria that researchers are investigating for therapeutic purposes. The research contributed to Pirolli’s work developing BEV-based therapies, which later received Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) funding to advance a potential treatment for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Khan co-authored two studies from this research. The first, published in Biotechnology and Bioengineering in 2023, investigated a method for purifying BEVs to improve their purity and anti-inflammatory activity. In the second study, published in Advanced Science in 2025, researchers genetically engineered a bacterial strain to increase BEV production and evaluated the vesicles in preclinical research on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Khan helped test whether vesicles produced by the engineered strain demonstrated greater therapeutic activity than those from other strains.

This research earned Khan the University System of Maryland Board of Regents Student Excellence Scholarship in Academics and Research in 2025. He credits his time in the lab with providing opportunities to contribute to work with potential medical applications while learning from more experienced researchers.

Connecting With Students Across UMD

Khan said he now stops by club tables to ask what groups are working on. He met the vice president of the Black Engineering Society during a summer course on advanced transportation systems in Japan, which led some of the society’s members to consider applying to join his cabinet. He also struck up a conversation with members of the Filipino Cultural Association while they ran a concessions table at a football game. Those connections, he said, are how the SGA becomes more representative of the students it serves.

Sulayman Khan poses beside the Testudo mascot at a Clark School of Engineering event, with a branded backdrop and balloons.

His campus involvement has also centered on helping other students find opportunities to learn and participate. As an undergraduate teaching fellow for BIOE 121, he supported students learning foundational laboratory methods. As a ClarkLEADER, he helped incoming engineering students navigate the transition to college and learn about the resources available to them. 

Khan is also president of Science Competitions Advocating for Learning Equity (SCALE), a student organization that organizes science competitions for elementary and middle school students. Through the organization, he has worked to encourage young students’ interest in science and expand access to STEM opportunities.

As Khan begins his presidency, his priorities center on making student government more visible and approachable while advancing proposals that could affect students’ everyday experiences. Whether through stronger connections with student organizations, expanded access to resources or advocacy on affordability, he hopes the SGA can help more students feel represented in the university community.

Published October 27, 2026