February 3, 2020

Congratulations to Drexel's nominees for the 2020 Goldwater Scholarship – Ashley Bishop, Hunter Heidenreich, Nickolas Giardetti, and Sarah Andrieux!

The Goldwater Scholarship recognizes undergraduates in science, math, and engineering fields planning to pursue research careers and with the potential to be leaders in their fields. The scholarship provides funding for their final year or two of undergraduate study. These students were selected to represent Drexel University in the national Goldwater Scholarship competition. We wish them the best of luck!

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Ashley Bishop (BS/MS Biomedical Engineering ’22, Honors) is a pre-junior biomedical engineering student concentrating in neuro-engineering with an interest in brain-computer interactions (BCI). Ashley started her undergraduate research career in Drexel’s iSTAR program researching the integration of BCIs with speech imagery at the Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar (SSN) College of Engineering in Chennai, India under Dr. A. Kavitha. During her first co-op, she participated in research on assistive technology for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis under Dr. Heinman-Patterson at the Temple University School of Medicine. Before leaving for her current co-op, she worked with the Cognitive Neuroengineering and Wellbeing Laboratory (CogNeW) lead by Dr. John Medaglia, helping parse MEP data that resulted from rTMS. For her current co-op, she is working with the Cognitive Neuroengineering and Quantitative Experimental Research (CONQUER) Collaborative and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) on integrating and synchronizing real-time data from physiological devices for adaptive training. After graduation, Ashley plans to pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, focusing on neuro-engineering.

Hunter Heidenreich (BS Computer Science ‘21) is a junior computer science student minoring in mathematics. Hunter began his research career through Drexel’s STAR program, working in the Expressive and Creative Interaction Technologies (ExCITe) Center on machine learning and robotics under Dr. Youngmoo Kim. This experience lead to research interest in machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and optimization. Currently, Hunter works under Dr. Johnson on HSpiral (a compiler for efficient signal transform algorithms) and Dr. Williams on projects centered around language and semantics. Hunter intends to pursue a PhD in computer science centered around machine learning, NLP, and computational social science.

Nickolas Giardetti (BS Physics ‘21) is a fourth year physics student minoring in business administration. Nick began research in the STAR Scholars Program with Professor Steve McMillan in the physics department’s computational astrophysics group. He worked on numerical methods programming that simulated the structure of young star clusters. For his first co-op, Nick continued computational work, participating in a project for the mathematics department. The research co-op investigated simulated water waves, and resulted in a publication to Mathematics in Engineering in April 2019. For his second co-op, Nick contributed to research at Drexel’s C. & J. Nyheim Plasma Institute, and is currently pursuing a position with Lockheed Martin. Upon graduation, Nick would like to participate in the Fulbright Student Program, partaking in an independent project overseas. Thereafter, he plans to pursue a PhD in physics or applied mathematics, with the goal of using scientific knowledge to practically improve society.

Sarah Andrieux (BS Mechanical Engineering ‘21) is a junior mechanical engineering student with a minor in green energy and sustainability. Sarah started her undergraduate research experiences in one of Drexel’s engineering design courses studying thermoelectric components such as Peltier tiles to maximize heat input and electrical output to charge handheld devices. She continued working with thermodynamic-related technology when she participated in Drexel’s STAR Scholars Program under Dr. Irina Ciobanescu-Husanu in the Engineering Technology Department, where she designed and constructed an apparatus that visually demonstrated the First Law of Thermodynamics and generated a curriculum based on this device to be used in an academic setting. With this project, Sarah presented her research and apparatus in two symposiums, won several awards, and had her work published in the 2018 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Journal. Following graduation, she intends to work in the industry for at least a year before she returns to academia to pursue a PhD in Mechanical Engineering, allowing her to connect real-world experience to her studies. Sarah would like to become a researcher in the field of green technology and possibly build her own research company in this industry. Outside of research, she enjoys cooking and participates in several of Drexel’s intramural volleyball teams, Drexel’s Society of Women Engineers, and Drexel’s LSAMP, which is a NSF-funded organization that supports minorities in STEM.

• Paul Brandt-Rauf, Dean and Distinguished University Professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems
• Dave Goldberg, Associate Department Head for Undergraduate Studies and Professor, Physics, College of Arts and Sciences
  
• Jaya Mohan, Director, Office of Undergraduate Research, Pennoni Honors College

We would like to send an additional thanks to those faculty members who participated in anonymous application review, providing written feedback to the candidates.

The Goldwater Scholarship was established by Congress in 1986, with the goal of recognizing the nation's top undergraduates in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math fields. The purpose of the Foundation is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields.

For more information about the Goldwater Scholarship, please contact Leah Gates, Director of the Center for Scholar Development, at lhg33@drexel.edu.