Jefferson Cuadra

In 2010, I was awarded the NSF Louis Strokes Alliance for Minorities Participation Fellowship to do my graduate studies in the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Department at Drexel University.  The advantage of being funded provided me the fantastic opportunity to find a project of my interest.  In the Winter 2011 quarter, I started working under the supervision of Dr. Antonios Kontsos in the Theoretical Applied Mechanics Group (TAMG) in a project involving innovative computational and experimental procedures for newly developed composite materials.  I was fortunate to be awarded the 2012 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program to support my cherished ambition of pursuing a PhD degree.  This prestigious fellowship will allow me to explore new concepts and give me the opportunity to interact with fellow researchers and professionals in my field.  I would also like to use this experience and knowledge to motivate community members in their future educational endeavors through outreach activities.