Jan 24 2013
Each year, Clarkson University is permitted to nominate up to four outstanding undergraduates for the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. Nominees must intend to pursue research careers in science, math or engineering.
Nanotechnology Researchers Nominated for Goldwater Scholarship" />Yarong Lin, Pinguang Yang, and Nicole Traphagen
Clarkson’s Goldwater Scholarship Committee received a record number of outstanding submissions this year and has announced four nominees for 2013.
Kyle Z. Hancock of Essex Junction, Vt., was home schooled and is a junior majoring in chemical engineering and a member of the Honors Program. After freshman year, he began summer research with Prof. Ross Taylor on mathematical modeling of binary chemical mixtures. He also completed a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates in experimental physics at Cornell last summer. His Goldwater application is based on developing new materials for high temperature superconductivity. He hopes to pursue a Ph.D. in nanotechnology and plans to be a researcher and professor. He is presently studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark, and traveling Europe during any free time.
Yarong Lin of Flushing, N.Y., a graduate of Manhattan Comprehensive Day & Night High School, is a junior, double majoring in chemical engineering and applied mathematics & statistics. She is a member of the Honors Program and has conducted research at Clarkson University with Prof. Sitaraman Krishnan on the calorimetric determination of degree of hydration of zwitterionic polymers. She completed a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates on Modulation of Graphene at Columbia University. She has also completed a research & development internship at Procter & Gamble, where she worked on the whitening of the dental products, and an engineering co-op, also at P&G, in dentifrice processing. She proposes to do research into electronic properties of large grain size nitrogen doped monolayer graphene under the mentorship of Prof. Abhay Pasupathy at Columbia University. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical engineering and conduct nano-material research in an industrial R&D department.
Nicole A. Traphagen of Wayland, N.Y., a graduate of Wayland-Cohocton High School, is a junior studying biomolecular science. She is a member of the Honors Program and has conducted research at Clarkson University with Prof. Devon Shipp on drug release using cross-linked polyanhydrides. She completed a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates at Carnegie Mellon University, where she studied Delta-Notch signaling in sea cucumber embryos. She proposes developing a model for predicting the drug release properties of different polymers. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in molecular biology and become a research scientist working on cancer biology.
Pinguang Yang of Brooklyn, N.Y., a graduate of Manhattan Comprehensive Night & Day High School, is a junior double majoring in biomolecular science and applied mathematics & statistics and is a member of the Honors Program. Before his freshman year he participated in summer research under the mentorship of Professor Artem Melman, and has completed a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates in developmental biology at Weill Cornell and an REU in Immunology at Sloan Kettering Institute. He is working with Prof. Craig Woodworth and proposes to investigate the susceptibility of cervical transformation zone to HPV-16. He plans to obtain an M.D. in oncology and a Ph.D. in cancer research, and pursue a career as a medical research scientist.
The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program will announce up to 300 winners of the Goldwater Scholarships by April 2013.
The Goldwater Scholarship is the most prestigious award in the United States given to undergraduates studying the sciences. Only 282 scholarships were awarded for the 2012-2013 academic year.
No college or university in New York state has had more Goldwater Scholars in the past three years than Clarkson University. Of more than 4,000 institutions nationwide, Clarkson is in the top one percent for the number of Goldwater Scholars in the past five years.
Twenty-seven Clarkson University students have received this highly coveted award since the scholarships were first awarded in 1989. Last year was the 13th consecutive year that Clarkson Honors Program students have received Goldwaters.
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation is a federally endowed agency established in 1986. The scholarship program honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering.
Clarkson University launches leaders into the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as a CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. Located just outside the Adirondack Park in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university for undergraduates with select graduate programs in signature areas of academic excellence directed toward the world’s pressing issues. Through 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, sciences and health sciences, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.