15 Georgia Tech Ph.D. students awarded fellowships to propel STEM research

October 28, 2022

ARCS Foundation Atlanta awarded a total of $120,000 to 15 Ph.D. students who show exceptional promise of making a significant contribution to the worldwide advancement of science and technology. Eight first-year ARCS Scholars will join seven returning scholars who were recognized as outstanding doctoral students. 

Faculty may nominate candidates pursuing doctoral studies for the prestigious fellowship. The Graduate Education Fellowships Selection Committee, established by the Vice Provost for Graduate and Postdoctoral Education, reviews the candidates for final selection. 

This year, twelve scholars will receive $7,500 per year and three will receive the Global Impact Award of $10,000 per year. The Foundation grants the Global Impact Awards to students working on research problems having a broader global context or addressing global issues.

A scholars award ceremony will be held in November at Georgia Tech to honor the Atlanta chapter’s recipients.  

Congratulations to the following Georgia Tech 2022-23 ARCS Scholars: 

•    Noam Altman-Kurosaki is a first-year ARCS Scholar who received the Herz Global Impact Award. Altman-Kurosaki is a Ph.D. candidate in biology with a research interest in understanding the processes that drive coral reef decline and recovery. 

•    Nolan Barrett is a second-year ARCS Scholar. Barrett is a Ph.D. candidate in ocean science and engineering with a research interest in marine natural products chemistry and chemical ecology. 

•    Kenneth De Jesús-Morales is a second-year ARCS Scholar. Jesús-Morales is a Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering with a research interest in optimizing a bio-printed aortic heart valve model capable of regeneration and repair for the pediatric population. 

•    Anjana Dissanayaka is a first-year ARCS Scholar. Dissanayaka is a Ph.D. student in biomedical with a research interest in leveraging and applying microfluidic techniques to develop low-cost diagnostic devices. 

•    Hannah Holmes is a third-year ARCS Scholar. Holmes is a Ph.D. candidate in chemical and biomolecular engineering with a research interest in improving the efficiency of CO2 capture technologies using solid adsorbents in structured contractors. 

•    Tawfik Hussein is a first-year ARCS Scholar. Hussein is a Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering with a research interest in simulating computationally the mechanical changes in the heart of patients with heart failure to help predict early stages of heart failure. 

•    KC Jacobson is a first-year ARCS Scholar who received the Herz Global Impact Award. Jacobson is a Ph.D. student in bioengineering with a research interest in the neural mechanisms of impaired sensory processing in a human-relevant mouse model of autism spectrum disorder.       

•    Kantwon Rogers is a third-year ARCS Scholar. Rogers is a Ph.D. student in computer science with a research interest in artificial intelligence and robotics with a focus on investigating the influences that prosocial deception has on human-robot interaction. 

•    Christopher Roper is a second-year ARCS Scholar. Roper is a Ph.D. student in aerospace engineering with a research interest in plasma instabilities in high-speed plasma dynamics sources for propulsion.  

•    Cassandra Shriver is a first-year ARCS Scholar. Shriver is a Ph.D. student in quantitative biosciences in biological sciences with a research interest in comparative biomechanics, specifically mammalian climbing mechanics with an emphasis on conservation applications. 

•    Kevin Shu is a second-year ARCS Scholar. Shu is a Ph.D. student in algorithms, combinatorics, and optimization with a research interest in applying ideas from pure math, in particular algebraic geometry, to solve optimization problems more efficiently. 

•    Eudorah Vital is a first-year ARCS Scholar. Vital is a Ph.D. student in biomedical engineering with a research interest in understanding the biophysical processes that underlie blood diseases/disorders and developing point-of-care diagnostics for them. 

•    Tony Wang is a third-year ARCS Scholar. Wang is a Ph.D. student in electrical and computer engineering with a research interest in developing micro-robots to perform neurosurgery. 

•    Naoki Yokoyama is a first-year ARCS Scholar. Yokoyama is a Ph.D. student in robotics in electrical and computer engineering with a research interest in training virtual robots within realistic simulators using deep reinforcement learning and deploying them on robots in the real world. 

•    Nathan Zavanelli is a first-year ARCS Scholar who received the Imlay Foundation Global Impact Award. Zavanelli is a Ph.D. student in bioengineering in mechanical engineering with a research interest in studying soft, skin-like electronics and sensors for wearable healthcare. 

The ARCS fellowship is made possible each year by way of fundraising and the continued generous support of the ARCS-Atlanta Foundation. 

The mission of the ARCS Foundation is to advance science and technology in the United States by providing financial rewards to academically outstanding U.S. citizens studying to complete degrees in science, engineering, and medical research. 

Since its inception in 1992, the ARCS Foundation Atlanta has awarded more than $4.5 million to over 400 science scholars at Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Morehouse College, and the University of Georgia. 
 
For more information about the 2022-23 ARCS Atlanta Scholars, please visit www.atlanta.arcsfoundation.org/scholars/current-scholars-4. 

 

For More Information Contact

Sara Franc
Communications Officer
Graduate and Postdoctoral Education