April 26, 2019

Eight Drexel students and recent alumni received the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and four received Honorable Mentions. These students were selected from over 12,000 applicants nationwide.

We are so proud of these students, who have demonstrated exemplary commitment to their research. We also congratulate their faculty mentors who have given them guidance and support along the way.

Drexel's 2019 NSF Graduate Research Fellows are:

Christian Cabuslay
PhD student Biological Sciences
Drexel faculty mentor: Jacob Russell
Undergraduate Institution: University of California, Berkeley

Hasreet Gill
BS Biological Sciences ’14
Graduate Institution: Harvard Medical School

Mark Giovinazzi
BS Physics '18, Honors
Graduate Institution: University of Pennsylvania

Sergio Machaca
BS Mechanical Engineering '18, Honors
Graduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University

Daniel Mox
BS Mechanical Engineering ’15, Honors
Graduate Institution: University of Pennsylvania

Vaughn Shirey
BS Environmental Science ’17
Graduate Institution: Georgetown University

Matthew Shirley
PhD student Biomedical Engineering
Drexel faculty mentor: Margaret Wheatley
Undergraduate Institution: University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)

Matthew West
BS Materials Science and Engineering ’17, Honors
Graduate Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology

2019 NSF GRFP Honorable Mentions

Devon Eichfeld
BS/MS Mechanical Engineering '18, Honors
Graduate Institution: Penn State University

Rumaan Malhotra
BS Biological Sciences ’14
Graduate Institution: University of Michigan

Gabriel Plummer
BS/MS Materials Science and Engineering '18, Honors
Graduate Institution: Colorado School of Mines

Megan Quarmley
BS Psychology ’12
Graduate Institution: Temple University

Special thanks to the faculty, students, and alumni who participated in campus review and outreach during the summer and fall terms to help students strengthen their applications:

• Kyle Juretus, Drexel Fellowships Ambassador; PhD student Computer and Electrical Engineering
• Daniel King, Associate Professor, Chemistry
  
• Antonios Kontsos, Associate Professor, Director of Theoretical & Applied Mechanics Group, Mechanical Engineering & Mechanics
• Andres Kriete, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Associate Teaching Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science, and Health Systems
• Scott Lerner, Drexel Fellowships Ambassador; PhD student Electrical Engineering
• Steve May, Associate Professor and Graduate Advisor, Materials Science & Engineering
• Rick McCourt, Professor, Department of Biodiversity, Earth & Environmental Science; Associate Curator of Botany, Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
• Sean O'Donnell, Professor, Department of Biology/Biodiversity Earth & Environmental Science
• Matthew Parsons, Drexel Fellowships Ambassador; MS Physics '15
• Jacob Russell, Associate Professor, Department of Biology/Biodiversity Earth & Environmental Science
• Paco Sangiah, Drexel Fellowships Ambassador; PhD candidate Computer Engineering
• Aleksandra Sarcevic, Associate Professor of Information Science, College of Computing & Informatics
• Caroline Schauer, Associate Professor, Materials Science & Engineering
• Adrian Shieh, Associate Teaching Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
• Lily Walkover, Postdoctoral Fellow in Global Health, Department of Sociology

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) helps ensure the vitality of the human resource base of science and engineering in the United States and reinforces its diversity. 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 United States institutions.

As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers. The reputation of the GRFP follows recipients and often helps them become life-long leaders that contribute significantly to both scientific innovation and teaching. Past fellows include numerous Nobel Prize winners, U.S. Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, Google founder, Sergey Brin and Freakonomics co-author, Steven Levitt.

Fellows share in the prestige and opportunities that become available when they are selected. Fellows benefit from a three-year annual stipend of $34,000 along with a $12,000 cost of education allowance for tuition and fees (paid to the institution), opportunities for international research and professional development, and the freedom to conduct their own research at any accredited U.S. institution of graduate education they choose.

NSF Fellows are anticipated to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. These individuals are crucial to maintaining and advancing the nation's technological infrastructure and national security as well as contributing to the economic well-being of society at large.

For more information about the NSF GRFP, contact the Center for Scholar Development or visit nsfgrfp.org.