Three CEE students won prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowships this year. They are Artin Laleian, Jill McClary and Samuel Rivera. Three others won Honorable Mention: Anahid Behrouzi, William Hunnicutt and Hanting Wang.
A record 43 students were awarded NSF fellowships for graduate study at the University of Illinois this year, the most in one year since the program was established in 1952. Of those, 34 are current U of I students, a 100 percent increase from last year.
Artin Laleian (BS 10) is a graduate student pursuing his M.S. degree. His research will examine common simplifications employed in numerical models of the subsurface environment. By removing or reducing these simplifications, existing models can be made more accurate, he said.
Samuel Rivera is a graduate student working toward his master’s degree. His research focuses on using text mining of news articles to monitor sustainability indicators so municipalities can gather the most current information on the impact of their green initiatives.
Jill McClary is a graduating senior who plans to attend Stanford University in the fall. Her research will be focused on the development of more effective sensors for common drinking water pathogens, such as viruses, for use in water quality field testing.
NSF received more than 13,000 applications for the 2013 competition and made 2,000 award offers. The program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master's and doctoral degrees at accredited U.S. institutions. Fellows receive three years of support, including a $30,000 annual stipend, $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the institution, international research and professional development opportunities and access to the XSEDE Supercomputer.