Bill Hesse

I am currently a senior in MEM and will be graduating with a B.S. in June 2009. I will be attending MIT to do my graduate work in Mechanical Engineering. At Drexel I have worked with Professor Howard Pearlman and most recently Professor MinJun Kim. My undergraduate research has largely consisted of developing ways to integrate bacterial flagella into micro- and nanostructured devices. Winning these fellowships has certainly allowed me to have more freedom with my future graduate work. They can help immensely if it turns out the adviser with whom you want to work does not have funding for another student in the upcoming year. My biggest tip for students thinking about applying for these fellowships is to start writing the essays early and to build a network of faculty and students who have been though the application process in the past. The knowledge I gained from these resources was invaluable, and definitely a major factor in receiving these awards.