September 8, 2025

Each year, STAR Scholars are invited to nominate mentors who have gone above and beyond for the Outstanding Mentor of the Year award. This year, two faculty mentors were selected from the nominees to receive recognition for their outstanding mentorship. Congratulations to both of our Outstanding Mentors, and thank you for guiding and supporting our STAR Scholars!

Wei-Heng Shih, PhD, is a Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and leads the Sensor and Functional Materials Group along with Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Wan Y. Shih, PhD. This summer, Dr. Shih mentored STAR Scholar Gara De Alarcon Adamczyk, a biomedical engineering major. Gara's project studied gene therapy, specifically biocompatible, nontoxic ZnSe aqueous quantum dots for gene delivery.

In her nomination letter, Gara wrote, “Dr. Wei-Heng Shih goes above and beyond to create opportunities for his students to succeed. He gave [me] the chance, as [a] freshman undergraduate, to present my research at a major manufacturing conference in Pennsylvania, an opportunity very few undergraduates get to experience. By opening doors like this one, he shows this commitment to preparing students to succeed beyond the lab and share their work with the broader scientific community.”

Gara added, “Through his encouragement, Dr. Wei- Heng Shih helped me to unlock a version of myself that is confident, determined and not afraid to speak up with ideas. He created an environment where students not only grow as researchers, but also as people.” This term, Gara is embarking on a co-op at Harvard Medical School focusing on biomaterials and drug delivery, and plans to continue working with Dr. Shih in the Sensor and Functional Materials Group.

Niharika Sravan, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Physics whose research uses machine learning methods to solve problems in astronomy. This summer, Dr. Sravan mentored two STAR Scholars: Tobias Safie, a physics, economics, and mathematics major, and Ashni Kumar, a data science major. Tobias' STAR project studied physics-informed neural networks for options pricing in stochastic markets, while Ashni's research focused on optimizing deep learning models on field-programmable gate arrays, a type of hardware circuit, using the Python tool hls4ml.

Both students highlighted Dr. Sravan's encouragement and support for their growth. Ashni wrote, “When I faced challenges, she never let me feel stuck. Instead, she worked with me to find a way forward and encouraged me to maintain the persistence needed to keep progressing.” Tobias added, “What makes her mentorship exceptional is the way she balances rigor with encouragement: she challenges me every day to be a better student, a more curious researcher, and to one day become an expert at the things I find interesting.”

Both students noted Dr. Sravan's investment in their futures beyond STAR. Ashni wrote that Dr. Sravan helped her prepare for co-op interviews and shared advice on possible career paths and pursuing graduate school. Tobias shared, "Her mentorship helped me fall in love with being a scientist."