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Villanova Engineers Recognized with NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Villanova students recognized by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program

Both on and off the court, Villanovans continue to win on the national stage. This year, 11 eligible Villanova University students and alumni applied to the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program and seven were recognized—four as winners and three with honorable mentions. According to Michael T. Westrate, PhD, director of Villanova University’s Center for Research and Fellowships, this more than doubles the University’s previous NSF GRFP record. He adds, “The overall national success rate is 22–26 percent; our Villanova applicants achieved an impressive 63 percent success rate.”

The College of Engineering is proud to announce that two of the four University winners represent the Villanova Engineering community. They are alumnus Thomas Gill ’16 ME, a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University with a research focus on alternative energy; and graduating senior Stephanie Jones ’18, a double major in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Stephanie has also been awarded a GEM Fellowship to support her PhD studies in Computer Science at Northwestern University.

In addition, Joseph Schaadt ’17 ME received honorable mention. He served as a research assistant in the NanoHeat Laboratory at Stanford University and is currently a Fulbright Fellow and Swiss Government Excellence Scholar in the Laboratory of Heat and Mass Transfer at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. There he is researching electronics cooling and data centers using computation fluid dynamics software. In fall 2018 he will begin a PhD program at the University of California, Berkeley.

Drosdick Endowed Dean Gary A. Gabriele, PhD, expresses his immense pride in these awardees. “Thomas, Stephanie and Joseph are shining examples of the caliber of students that Villanova attracts and the quality of the educational experiences they have as undergraduates that leads them to even greater opportunities. We wish them much success!”