Yi Cai (’11) received a Harrison Award from the University of Virginia to support summer research for her project titled “Agent-Based Model of Prostate Cancer for Radiation Therapy Dose Optimization.”

Jenny Han (’09) received a Harrison Award from the University of Virginia to support summer research for her project titled “Characterization of Visfatin at the Myoendothelial Junction.”

Blair Stocks (’09) received a Stull Family Award from the University of Virginia to support summer research for his project titled “Autologous Human Adipose Stromal Cells for the Healing of Chronic Diabetic Wounds.”

Jennifer Wilson (’10) was a Truman Scholar nominee.

Theresa E. Bankston (’12) was named a 2009–10 ARCS Scholar.

Ana Jamec (’09) and Eric Harshfield (’09) were published in the “International Journal for Service Learning in Engineering.” A Univen student they worked with and a community member from Venda, South Africa, were co-authors on the paper.

Kathryn Strobel (’10) received a Harrison Award from the University of Virginia to support summer research for her project titled “Clean Water for the World Through Bioremediation.”

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Tierney Foster-Wittig (’09) received the department Thompson Award for her outstanding service to ASCE and her academic performance. She will attend grad school at Duke in the fall after returning from her SEED project in India during the summer.

Computer Science

Sara Alspaugh (’09) received a National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship in computer science. She will study at the University of California, Berkeley.

Ross Gore (’07,’11) received a Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) award for his project titled “Understanding Unexpected Model Behavior.”

Shan Lin (’07,’11) received an SAIC award for the project titled “Reliable Communication in Wireless Sensor Networks.”

Mark Hanson is the director and co-founder of E*Society, a student-centric entrepreneurial ecosystem at U.Va.

Jiajing Wang (’09) won a U.Va. Award for Excellence in Scholarship in Science and Engineering.

William M. Jacobs (’09) received a Harrison Award from the University of Virginia to support summer research for his project titled “Simulation of Hypersonic Impact on Carbon Nanotube-Polymer Composite Coatings.” Jacobs also received a Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. The scholarship, valued at $7,500 a year for up to two years, is awarded to rising third- and fourth-year students pursuing degrees in science, mathematics and engineering.

Thomas Bliss (’05, ’11) was named a 2009–10 ARCS Scholar in support of his research on a biological framework for the development of an autonomous underwater vehicle with the characteristics of a manta ray.

Ian Czekala (’09) received a Harrison Award from the University of Virginia to support summer research for his project titled “Collaborative Engineering on a Universal Scale: The Atacama Large Millimeter Array.”

Todd Gerarden (’10) received a Harry S. Truman Scholarship in recognition of his exceptional leadership potential and commitment to a career in public service. He hopes to study in a joint degree program offered by Columbia University and the London School of Economics after his graduation from U.Va.

Rafat Mehdi (’09) received a Harrison Award from the University of Virginia to support summer research for her project titled “Modeling Spastic Muscle: Understanding the Underlying Mechanics and Morphological Changes of Muscle Spasticity.”

Jesse Quinlan (’09) was selected by the Sigma Gamma Tau Honor Society as the outstanding Aerospace graduating student in the mid-Atlantic Region.

School Highlights

The Board of Visitors approved Rice Hall as the name of the School of Engineering and Applied Science’s new information technology engineering building, in honor of its lead donors, Paul Rice, a 1975 graduate of the Engineering School, and his wife, Gina. The groundbreaking is scheduled for April 17, 2009.

U.Va. to Lead New $10 Million Center for Hypersonic Propulsion. A new center to develop the analytical tools needed to design the engines for a future hypersonic aircraft — one that could fly up to 12 times the speed of sound — is being established at the University of Virginia under a new $10 million grant from NASA and the U.S. Air Force.

Engineering School Links of Interest:

National Academy of Engineering Members

Professional Society Fellows

NSF Faculty Early CAREER Development Awards