11/7/2024 Lilli Bresnahan 5 min read
Written by Lilli Bresnahan
The Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign remains successful in earning National Science Foundation awards and honorable mentions.
The Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) recognizes graduate students who display potential in making a valuable impact in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. The fellowship program lasts five years, and if awarded, includes three years of financial support and an annual stipend of $37,000.
“The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program is to help ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States,” according to the NSF website.
The NSF GRFP is the country’s oldest fellowship program, begun in 1952, that supports STEM graduate students.
“The Graduate Research Fellowships are highly competitive, with annual acceptance rates of about 14% from among more than 12,000 applicants,” according to the Council on Undergraduate Research.
Between 2016 to 2024, Materials Research Laboratory and Electrical & Computer Engineering students Connor Bailey, Josh Perozek, Ryan Grady, Dennis Rich, Jarod Meyer, and Anna Miller received NSF Awards.
In 2016, Connor Bailey received an NSF GRFP award for his research in Materials Research, Electronic materials while pursuing his Bachelor’s degree at U of I.
In 2017, Josh Perozek received an honorable mention from NSF and in 2019, he received an award for a fellowship in electrical and electronic engineering.
Perozek turned down the fellowship in 2019 because he was also offered a National Defense Science and Engineering (NDSEG) fellowship, which he accepted.
Perozek applied for the NSF fellowship because of the prestige and network of individuals that the award offers you.
“My research at UIUC focused around semiconductors, specifically characterization of gallium nitride wafers,” Perozek said.
At Massachusetts Institute of Technology, his research has centered on a new type of gallium nitride transistor, the vertical finFET. He’s contributing in the design and fabrication of the finFet for high frequency power amplifiers.
Similarly, in 2017, Ryan Grady received an NSF GRFP award for electrical and electronic engineering.
In 2021, Dennis Rich was awarded a fellowship for his work in electrical and electronic engineering.
While working closely with professor Can Bayram at Illinois, he investigated methods to control stress in silicon and other materials to create thin films. This research was built upon his earlier experiences of carbon nanotube synthesis with professor Neelesh Patankar at Northwestern University and molecular fluid dynamics studies of nanoporous surfaces with professor Venkat Chandrasekhar and Dr. Paul Jones at NU.
“The fellowship has had a significant impact on my studies and research,” Rich said. “It has provided me with financial support and the freedom to pursue more ambitious and risky research directions. It has also opened doors to networking opportunities and collaborations with other NSF fellows and researchers in my field.”
This fellowship has also been useful in improving his academic profile, which has been valuable in securing additional funding and research opportunities. The esteem of the award has aided his collaborations with other researchers and recognition among the science community.
Rich emphasizes the importance of mentorship in his journey. Bayram was instrumental in helping Rich’s development as a researcher, and his guidance was critical for the NSF GRFP application and future research.
“Currently, as a PhD student at Stanford working with Prof. Subhasish Mitra on cooling solutions for 3D computer chips, I continue to build on the foundation that my earlier research experiences and the NSF fellowship have provided,” Rich said.
In 2022, Jarod Meyer received an honorable mention for his work in Materials Research, Photonic Materials.
And most recently, in 2024, Anna Miller received an honorable mention for optical engineering. Miller said applying to the NSF GRFP is fairly standard for first and second-year PhD students in engineering. Funding is a problem that most researchers can relate to, and the NSF GRFP can make a big difference, according to Miller.
“The fellowship is highly competitive, but the funding you receive if you are successful can help so much in research,” Miller said.
Her research focuses on the development of optical sensors for various applications, but right now specifically, with an emphasis on environmental monitoring. Although focusing on the environment, the sensing principle of the research is applicable to other applications as well, such as biosensors.
“We want to create low-cost, small footprint platforms that use light to detect things like gas concentrations, the presence of biomolecules, seismic waves, etc.,” Miller said.
Miller felt that despite not receiving any funding, the honorable mention was helpful in organizing her research direction, and found the constructive feedback useful.
“There was some disappointment in not receiving the fellowship, and, if I'm being honest, an extra twinge from feeling so close!” Miller said. “I recognize how competitive the award is, and I am encouraged by the honorable mention.”
In 2024, Grainger College of Engineering affiliated students earned even more awards: Elisa Krause in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Kira J. Martin in Materials Research- Electronic Materials, Braden T. Moore and Nataly Rose Panczyk in Nuclear Engineering, Maria Joaquina Noriega Gimenez in Environmental Engineering, Eric Roman and Kartik Nagpal in Mechanical Engineering, Megan Zhou in Biomedical Engineering, Karim Al Zahabi in Chemical Engineering, Elyse Jones and Alexandra Nicole Leeming in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering, and Yug Rau in Computer Engineering.