Science and Engineering Scholarships and Fellowships Blog

“Fourteen University of Texas at Austin engineering students received the prestigious National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship for 2008″ (read more). Among the winners are Daniel Miller and Patrick Doody.

Doody and Miller are second year students at UT-Austin. Doody is focusing his master’s research on “defining a set of metrics to quantify the degree of inter- and intra-hour wind power variability and intermittency. Such metrics are expected to help grid planners and operators integrate and manage large wind power plants. He is a member of Assistant Professor Surya Santoso’s Laboratory for Advanced Studies in Electric Power and Integration of Renewable Energy Systems.”

Miller is pursing his doctorial degree in chemical engineering working with Drs. Benny Freeman, Donald Paul, and Andrew Ellington. His work focuses on enzymatically-active polymer membranes useful in water purification, pharmaceutical manufacture, and other separation processes.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) “has recently awarded Flordia State Univeristy-Panama City (FSU-PC) a $512,000 grant” that will provide two-year scholarships for “30 FSU-PC students enrolled in electrical, computer, civil, and environmental engineering.” Florida’s News Herald (7/21) noted that this is the first NSF grant FSU-PC has received. FSU-PC plans to award the first 10 scholarships in fall 2009 to students enrolling in engineering who show financial need.

Related Links: Higher Tuition for Engineering Students?

Joshua Atwood is a devoted traveler, he notes: “The world is too incredible to not be seen first-hand.” This love of traveling and the outdoors, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, and even skydiving, led him to his current research, Invasive Plant Ecology. He participated in an undergraduate study abroad program in New Zealand, where he examined successional changes in floral communities on landslide slopes. After graduating from Bowdin College, he was able to travel as an environmental educator and work with invasive plant managers in a variety of locations. The diversity of plant life and competitive strategies he encountered during this experience inspired him to pursue research at the graduate level.

He recommends K-12 students who might be interested in ecology or biology spend a lot of time outdoors, until they discover their specific passion. If they’re interested in studying a plant or an animal, it’s important that they learn about it first and see it in nature. He also recommends volunteering with someone who is doing research in your particular field.

Joshua is studying the evolution of competitive ability in invasive plant populations at the University of Rhode Island. Specifically, he is looking at adaptations in competitive traits associated with the invasion of island habitats characterized by low biotic pressure.

European 2008 Anita Borg Scholars

This scholarship program, originally established in the U.S. to honor the work of Anita Borg and to recognize outstanding young women scholars in computer science and related fields, expanded to Europe most recently. Nearly 300 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 31 countries applied for the award. Sixty-three finalists were selected; 20 women received a €5,000 scholarship for the 2008-2009 academic year. The remaining 43 finalists received a €1,000 award.

Related: Getting a PhD in Computer Science - Society of Women Engineers Scholarships - Sergey Brin, Google Co-Founder, NSF Graduate Research Fellow

UC Riverside Engineering Students Receive Research Funding

Lindsay Yee, a graduating senior who has done worked at CE-CERT’s Atmospheric Pollution Laboratory (APL), has won a highly competitive three-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship.
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“Lindsay has been a top researcher in our atmospheric processes lab for four years and is quite deserving of this national honor,” said Cocker, adding that he feels a special kinship with Yee because her career to date, closely parallels his – they won many of the same awards – including the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship – and he also chose to go to Caltech for graduate studies.

Yee served as president of the Riverside Student Section of the Society of Women Engineers in 2006-07. She also won a Ford Motor Co. Undergraduate Scholarship and first place in the Jim Guthrie Undergraduate Research Competition in 2007.

The Newton International Fellowship scheme will select the very best early stage post-doctoral researchers from all over the world, and offer support for two years at UK research institutions. The British Academy, The Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society are the sponsor of the fellowships.

The long-term aim of the fellowship is to build a global pool of research leaders and encourage long-term international collaboration with the UK.

The Fellowships cover the broad range of natural and social sciences, engineering and the humanities. 50 fellowships are awarded each year. They provide grants of £24,000 per annum to cover subsistence and £8,000 to cover research expenses, plus a one-off relocation allowance of £2,000. As part of the scheme, all Newton Fellows who remain in research will be granted a 10 year follow-up funding package worth £6,000 per annum.

Related: Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship Directory - Singapore Research Fellowship