Drexel University College of Computing & Informatics (CCI) junior-year student Stefan Wagner, BS computer science and mathematics ’24, is the recipient of the prestigious 2023 Barry Goldwater Scholarship. The Goldwater recognizes excellence among undergraduate sophomores and juniors planning to pursue research careers in STEM. Four of the University’s five nominees have received the Goldwater Scholarship, a new record for Drexel.
Wagner, who is also a student in the Pennoni Honors College’s Honors Program, first got involved in research at the end of his freshman year, when he reached out to CCI Associate Professor Edward Kim, PhD regarding his interests, which led to his working on a deep learning music generation project throughout the summer of 2020. Throughout the rest of his time at Drexel, he has used the co-op system to his advantage to gain further research experience. Under the supervision of College of Engineering Associate Professor Anup Das, PhD, he conducted spiking neural network research, exploring new learning algorithms for recurrent SNNs. He was recently involved with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine conducting research in the area of digital pathology under Dr. Mark Zarella, trying to utilize AI for data filtering of Whole Slide Images. He intends to pursue a PhD in computer science centered around machine learning and cognitive modeling on a theoretical level.
The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 to serve as a living memorial to honor the lifetime work of Senator Barry Goldwater, who served his country for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years in the U.S. Senate. Over its 30-year history, Goldwater Scholarships have been awarded to thousands of undergraduates, many of whom have gone on to win other prestigious awards like the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Fellowship, Rhodes Scholarship, Churchill Scholarship and the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship that support our Scholars’ graduate school work. Learn more on the Goldwater Scholarship website.