2019-20 MWC Scholars

Georgetown University Scholars

Graduate Scholars, $15,000 Award

Andrew W. Kelly

ARCS MWC Chapter Scholar

PhD Candidate, Chemistry
Research in supramolecular chemistry with a focus on binding interactions involving halogens and organometallic synthesis. Additional research involving catalysis for the synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant compounds.

Alyssa N. King

Danaher Corporation Scholar

PhD Candidate, Biology
Research using genetic tools to determine the role of the non-coding, regulatory RNA, RsaD in Staphylococcus virulence, specifically how RsaD contributes to the development of multicellular communities during infection.

Sean M. MacAvaney

MWC Endowment Scholar

PhD Candidate, Computer Science
Research using modern machine learning techniques to improve information retrieval systems, including systems that answer complex questions, systems that find relevant medical literature to support physicians, and systems that can identify those suffering from mental illnesses by analyzing social media activity to provide early support.

Daniel J. O’Brien

Forster Family Foundation Scholar

PhD Candidate, Physics
Research using micro-scale fabrication techniques to design and develop novel medical devices for biomarker sensing in non-invasively sampled human intestinal fluid.

The George Washington University Scholars

Graduate Scholars, $15,000 Award

Benjamin P. Bowman

Mars Foundation Scholar

PhD Candidate, Computer Engineering
Research in graph theory, machine learning, and applied cybersecurity, to develop new graph-based techniques for modeling knowledge derived from source code to detect vulnerabilities.

Monica M. Flores

ARCS MWC Scholar

PhD Candidate, Chemistry
Research in laser spectroscopy using ground-based measurement to obtain vertical profiles of atmospheric water vapor and temperature at varying altitudes in the troposphere and lower stratosphere.

Jeannette Rodriguez Gonzalez

McNichols Family Foundation Scholar

PhD Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
Research using optical mapping and optogenetic techniques to increase understanding of, and test novel treatment methods for, highly prevalent cardiac diseases like heart failure and myocardial infarction towards the ultimate goal of decreasing mortality from cardiac diseases.

John Hopkins University Scholars

Graduate Scholars, $15,000 Award

Avery E. Baumann

ARCS MWC Scholar

PhD Candidate, Chemistry
Research in development and characterization of safe, high energy density lithium-sulfur battery materials utilizing metal-organic frameworks.

Emily K. Lo

JCM Foundation Scholar

PhD Candidate, Biomedical Engineering
Research in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma to 1) characterize and computationally model the cell identity changes that occur due to transcriptional and epigenetic changes during cancer initiation, and to 2) identify novel biomarkers for early cancer detection.

Joshua E. Porterfield

Lynn Heebner Memorial Scholar

PhD Candidate, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Research in dendrimer based nanomedicine approaches to provide cell-specific systemically delivered treatments for prevention and attenuation of inflammation-based diseases of the back of the eye including age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma.

University of Maryland Scholars

Graduate Scholars, $15,000 Award

Undergraduate Scholars, $5,000 Award

Emily E. Fisler

ARCS MWC Scholar

PhD Candidate, Aerospace Engineering
Research of an emerging battery technology: lightweight lithium sulfur battery design, fabrication, and scale-up for application in electric takeoff and landing aircraft. Development of both a conceptual aircraft sizing program and predictive model for lithium sulfur battery behavior.

Elizabeth McFarland

Lockheed Martin Scholar

Undergraduate, Aerospace Engineering
Research in instrument testing and development, specifically in the characterization of LED arrays to perform microscopic spectroscopy for future landed planetary missions to other bodies, and in collision detection simulation for robotic satellite servicing.

Julia Mittelstadt

Lockheed Martin Scholar

Undergraduate, Aerospace Engineering
Research to understand the structural properties of swept-tip, composite blades in order to reduce vibration at high speeds for tiltrotor aircraft. Research specifically looks at reducing vibration in the wings of a V-22 Osprey. By reducing vibration at high speeds, the wing's stiffness can be lessened allowing the overall weight of the aircraft to decrease.

Laura A. Paquin

Lockheed Martin Scholar

PhD Candidate, Aerospace Engineering
Research in experimental hypersonics, involving the development, calibration, and application of temperature-sensitive paint to wind tunnel models to provide global maps of temperature and heat flux at high Mach numbers.

Elizabeth J. Paul

MWC Endowment Scholar

PhD Candidate, Physics
Research in applications of numerical optimization techniques to the design of electromagnetic coils and magnetic fields for magnetic confinement fusion devices. The goal is to obtain configurations with good confinement properties for the next generation of stellarator experiments.

Charis Smith

Lockheed Martin Scholar

Undergraduate, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Research in the electrical characterization of commercial IGBT power modules subjected to reliability testing to better detect and prevent catastrophic failure.

Michael J. Zuzak

Lockheed Martin Scholar

Undergraduate, Electrical Engineering
Research in securing custom integrated circuits against piracy, trojan insertion, and reverse engineering at the architectural levels.

University of Virginia Scholars

Graduate Scholars, $15,000 Award

Jean Sebastian Giudice Vilar

Beulah Bateman Memorial Scholar

PhD Candidate, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Research in traumatic brain injury using a combination of experimental and computational approaches, including performing experiments to quantify brain deformation during severe head rotation and creating sophisticated, patient-specific brain computational models that forge a link between brain mechanics and clinical outcomes.

Grayson C. Johnson

ARCS MWC Scholar

PhD Candidate, Chemistry
Research using colloidal synthesis techniques to develop well-defined nanomaterials and uses a combination of DFT and in-situ/in-operando spectroscopic techniques to study the design principles of effective catalysts for reactions such as CO reduction and CO₂ oxidation.

Jack Lanchantin

Florine Gompf Memorial Scholar

PhD Candidate, Computer Science
Research on deep learning models for predicting and understanding how proteins interact and bind to DNA in order to regulate gene expression.