Buckeye engineers receive prestigious NSF fellowships

Ten Buckeye engineers have been awarded a 2020 Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation (NSF) following a national competition. The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes and supports graduate students who show immense promise as researchers and leaders in science and engineering.

The Ohio State University College of Engineering is represented by seven current graduate students and three alumni. The following awardees were selected from more than 12,000 applicants:

Graduate Students:

• Brian Block, mechanical engineering, is optimizing the control of the engine thermal system of a heavy duty truck in order to reduce fuel consumption.
• Paul Cuillier, materials science and engineering, is focusing on understanding how to engineer ambient-stable solid-state electrolytes to reduce battery fabrication and recycling costs and enable next-generation chemistries.
• Dustin Goetz, mechanical engineering, is focusing on controlling non-Newtonian fluids using acoustic actuation for applications in soft robotics.
• Thomas Porter, chemical engineering, is engineering fluorescent nanoparticles called quantum dots for super-resolution imaging applications. The goal is to be able to use these probes to visualize or “see” biological processes occurring at the subcellular level within living organisms.
• Keoni Sanny, civil engineering, has been modeling the structural performance of corroding steel lattice transmission towers during hurricanes.
• Garrett Tatum, civil engineering, aims to quantify the effects of fungal decay on the mechanical properties of structural wood members to help make homes stronger and safer in the face of repeat hurricane events.
• Catrina Wilson, materials science and engineering, is currently synthesizing and studying solid electrolyte-electrode interfaces through a multi-modal x-ray and electron characterization suite.

Alumni:

• Jonathon Blank, mechanical engineering, now attending University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Vasiliki Kolliopoulos, chemical engineering, now attending University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Rachel Teater, mechanical engineering, now attending Vanderbilt University

GRFP is a critical program in NSF's overall strategy to develop a globally engaged workforce necessary to ensure the nation's leadership in advancing science and engineering research and innovation. It provides three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period— $34,000 annual stipend and $12,000 cost-of-education allowance to the graduate institution. That support is for graduate study that leads to a research-based master's or doctoral degree in a STEM field.