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| * Graduate Research Fellowship Program |
October 6, 2009
19 Purdue graduate students receive NSF fellowships
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Understanding what influences students to pursue engineering is just one of the topics that will be studied, thanks to the National Science Foundation graduate research fellowships that were awarded to 19 Purdue University graduate students.The students, who represent areas of engineering, geosciences, life sciences, chemistry, physics and astronomy, and mathematical sciences, will receive three years of support for graduate study so they can focus on research related to their master's or doctoral degrees.
Michele Strutz, a doctoral student in engineering education who worked as an engineer for 13 years, will dedicate her fellowship to assessing what factors influence students to study engineering and capitalizing on those influences to prompt other students to pursue engineering.
"It's anticipated that more than 1.6 million engineering jobs will be available in the United States in 2014," said Strutz, 51. "We need to understand the skills and traits of talented engineers in order to help 5th- and 6th-grade children self-assess their strengths that may encourage them to pursue engineering. We also need to understand the obstacles, because we don't want to discount the students who couldn't afford a chemistry set or who don't have a library of books in their house. These under-identified students may have the potential and capabilities to pursue engineering study and career."
The National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program is the country's oldest graduate fellowship program that directly supports graduate students in various STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields who are pursuing research-based graduate degrees. This year, more than 1,200 fellowships were awarded in the United States based on the availability of funds.
The 2009 Graduate Research Fellowship winners are:
* Jace Jawn Bauer, geosciences
* Jamie L. Brugnano, bioengineering and biomedical engineering
* Jacob R. Carley, geosciences
* Ashley Nicole Chin-Baarstad, life sciences
* Rebecca Kathryn Fega, chemistry
* Julie N. Kadrmas, bioengineering and biomedical engineering (chemical engineering)
* Rebecca Anne Logsdon, natural resource engineering
* Jennifer Amanda Mallory, mechanical engineering
* Abraham John Olson, physics and astronomy
* Serena Mary Pearce, bioengineering and biomedical
* Benjamin Richard James Schwedler, geosciences
* Cara Tatyana Smith, mechanical engineering
* Dorothy Sarah Stamps, geosciences
* Michele Louise Strutz, engineering education
* William Scott Van Dyke, bioengineering and biomedical
* Gwendolyn Renae Voskuilen, computer engineering
* James Emmanuel Weigandt, mathematical sciences
* Don West, mechanical engineering
* Sannah Phi Ziama, physics and astronomy
Writer: Amy Patterson Neubert, 765-494-9723, apatterson@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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