Science and Engineering Scholarships and Fellowships Blog

The National Science Foundation’s Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant has been awarded to Marquette University.The grant, worth $899,514, was awarded in order to train 24 graduate students to become K-12 teachers in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).

Funding for the program began June 1 with scholarships intending to be awarded between 2010 and 2014. Students can also benefit from the program by receiving their engineering degree and teaching certificate after 5 years, as opposed to the traditional 6 or 6.5 years.

Barbara Silver-Thorn, associate professor of biomedical engineering and director of the Marquette Noyce Scholarship Program, is very excited about the opportunities offered to her students.

“This is an opportunity to get STEM majors in high-need schools and make their students aware of valuable engineering, science and math career opportunities,” explains Silver-Thorn.

According to Marquette officials, this program will allow up to three years of scholarships: $10,000 for the student’s first year, $12,000 for the second year, and $14,000 for the third year. As a result of receiving funding from the program, students are expected to work two years in a high-need school for every year they accept funding from the program.

Related: Colorado State University Scientists Receive NSF Grant

The National Science Foundation has awarded scientists at Colorado State University a $2.7 million grant. This grant is meant to assist graduate students in their research to “test new theories about how cells behave using advanced engineering methods in microelectronics and electrochemistry.” The project will be lead by Tom Chen and Stuart Tobet.

As part of the grant, graduate students at Colorado State University will share their knowledge with K-12 teachers in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields (STEM). Michael A. De Miranda, professor in the College of Applied Human Sciences and co-principal investigator for the grant, has been assigned the task of training these STEM K-12 teachers.

“The grant is intended to take that impact beyond higher education classrooms into the community to be shared with K-12 teachers and industry leaders,” explains De Miranda. “We are using this money to train graduate students to not only conduct the research but obtain transferable skills such as leadership, ethics and communication.”

By encouraging the graduate students at Colorado State to work with K-12 teachers on this grant, it will improve the communication between different people within the science community and increase the number of students entering into STEM related fields in the future.

The International Desalination Association (IDA) recently announced its 2009 Fellowship winners, Hiroshi Iwahori and Kourosh Mohammadi. Iwahori and Mohammadi will spend 6 to 8 weeks in Saudi Arabia working with the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC).

Hiroshi Iwahori is currently a Senior Consultant in the Membrane Division of Nitto Denko Corporation in Japan. Iwahori has spent over 35 years researching membrane separation technology in both the United States and Japan. For the past 16 years, Iwahori has presented technical papers on RO and UF membrane separation at every IDA World Congress.

Kourosh Mohammadi is a Associate Professor at Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran, Iran. He also is the Head of the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Water Engineering Research Institute. Mohammadi is currently a member of the IDA, the editorial board of the Journal of Applied Sciences Research, the International Association of Hydrogeologists, the Iranian Water Resources Association and the Iranian Hydraulic Association.

Iwahori and Mohammadi received the fellowship based on the specific selection criteria by the IDA. This included “professional achievements, relevant experience in the field of desalination and water reuse, and the potential to make a significant contribution to desalination and water reuse in particular, and to the field of water and waste water in general.”

Siemens PLM Software has recently donated $150 million in grants to Howard University in Washington, D.C. The goal of the grants is to strengthen the university’s engineering department by providing “engineering software and student and instructor training and specialized certification programs.” The donation by Siemens is the largest amount Howard University has ever received and will benefit both PLM engineers and technologists.

Sarah Khasawinah, a recent graduate from Bryn Mawr College, has been awarded the 2009 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Khasawinah completed both a A.B. and a M.A. from Bryn Mawr.

Khasawinah has also participated in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship program and founded The Solidarity Project. The Solidarity Project was founded to create a $10,000 scholarship fund at Virginia Tech in memory of each of the 32 victims from the shootings in 2007.

Khasawinah will use her award to pursue her graduate studies at John Hopkins University in biostatistics.

Three Iowa State University students received awards from the 2009 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). They were Cory Kleinheksel, Joseph Miller and Raathai Molian.

Cory Kleinheksel will be graduating with his BS in Computer Engineering this semester and will begin pursuing his PhD in embedded and sensor systems in the fall. Kleinheksel explains, “My proposed research is for a middleware system that emphasizes modular concepts for improved integration of sensor node data and high-level applications that would use the data.”

Joseph Miller is currently pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering. His advisor, Terrence Meyer, is thrilled about Miller’s achievements throughout his academic career. Meyer exclaims, “Throughout his career and academic experiences, Joe has developed the ability to think like a researcher. He looks for the part of our understanding that is missing and develops a systematic way to address it. His excellence in academics and research deserves to be recognized with this great honor.” While pursuing his undergraduate degree, Miller was also a recipient of Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship. He later on achieved the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship in 2007.

Raathai Molian graduated with her BS in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State in 2008 and will be attending the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall to continue her studies in Mechanical Engineering. Molian has yet to specify a research plan, however she will continue her research in the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity at MIT. Molian explained, “The award offers me flexibility and independence in my research. It provides me with a solid foundation to build upon as I earn my PhD.”

Mary Katherine Watson, a graduate student at Clemson University, received an award from the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Watson intends to use the funding to further her research in the field of Biosystems Engineering.

Watson exclaims, “I am excited to have received an NSF graduate fellowship and I am confident that undergraduate and graduate research in Biosystems Engineering at Clemson University has prepared me to continue my graduate education.”

Watson will continue her research in Fall 2009 while pursuing a PhD in Environmental Engineering at Georgia Tech.

On May 19, the honorable mentions and additional awards were announced for the 2009 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Non-awardees and other awardees were notified of their results via email in early April.

The GRFP is intended for students pursuing research-focused Master’s and PhD degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields. Applicants must have completed no more than 12 months of graduate study throughout their entire graduate career, including both Masters and PhD programs. Applicants must be US citizens, US nationals, or permanent resident aliens, and must be proposing to carry out a research-focused Master’s or PhD program in an NSF supported field.

The application for the 2010 GRFP will open in August 2009 with a deadline in November 2009. Please visit www.nsfgrfp.org for more information.

Sarah Latshaw, a graduate student at the College of Charleston, received this year’s Graduate Research Fellowship. Latshaw’s field of study is Environmental Studies and is currently researching “Restoration of Maritime Habitats on the Barrier Island Using The Painted Bunting (Passerina Ciris) as a Flagship Species”.

Latshaw received her bachelor’s in Wildlife Biology from the Warnell School of Forest Resources at the University of Georgia and has a significant background in the areas of wildlife biology and environmental education. Latshaw is currently working under her advisor, Dr. Paul Nolan, on Kiawah Island. She continues to lead environmental tours, scheduling school trips to learn about the local wildlife, and maintain a nature program’s monthly newsletter.

Laura Beasman is a student at John Hopkin’s Institute for NanoBioTechnology. A recipient of both the IGERT grant and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, Beasman is currently working in a lab whose research will hopefully lead to treatments and a cure for blood vessel disorders.

Beasman has also accepted an offer from the NSF International Research Experience for Students (IRES). She will work on a short term project in Belgium with one of the top research labs for nanoelectronics and nanotechnology.

“The ultimate goal is to direct the cells to become blood vessels,” Beasman says. Part of their initial success in this project was simply getting the HA, which is a large sugar molecule, to stay where she put it on the surface. Recently, Beasman has started working with adult stem cells. Her work is co-advised by Kathleen Stebe, John Hopkins research professor, INBT affiliate and IGERT program director.

For more information on Laura Beasman and her work at the John Hopkin’s Institute for NanoBioTechnology, please visit http://inbt.jhu.edu/igert-student-profile-laura-beasman/2009/04/22