Four Harvey Mudd Students Receive 2021 Goldwater Scholarships

The most prestigious national award for undergraduate STEM researchers, Barry Goldwater奖学金, has been awarded to four Harvey Mudd College students: Tonatiuh Gonzalez, 22岁, 雅各布·凯尔伯，23岁, 22岁的汉娜·波特和22岁的安娜·索珀.

The 409 Goldwater Scholars were selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,256自然科学, engineering and mathematics students nominated by 438 academic institutions. All four of the HMC students who were nominated received a scholarship, 其中包括学费, fees, books, 食宿不超过7美元,每年500美元.

2021年HMC Goldwater奖学金

Tonatiuh Gonzalez, 22岁, 数学和计算生物学专业, 和艾略特·布什一起做研究, 谁研究微生物基因组进化. “Our research is about reconstructing the evolutionary history of bacteria and identifying events that may have given bacteria environmental or antibacterial resistance or increased virulence,冈萨雷斯说。, 谁打算追求M.D. or PhD in computational biology and conduct research in disease genomics. His career interests include cancer research and practicing medicine. In 2020, Gonzalez was named an HMC Outstanding Emerging Leader for demonstrating collaboration, integrity, 尊重和支持.

雅各布·凯尔伯，23岁, 化学专业, worked during summer 2020 with Katherine Van Heuvelen to develop new, environmentally friendly catalysts for important reactions. “The goal of my research was to computationally screen a catalyst for the detoxification of potentially carcinogenic industrial pollutants perchloroethylene and trichloroethylene,凯尔伯说。, who also worked with chemistry professors Hal Van Ryswyk (HMC) and Nathan C. Gianneschi(西北). “I was able to successfully find an iron-based catalyst and model its reaction with PCE and TCE.” With a goal of teaching at the university level, Kelber intends to pursue a PhD in chemistry and continue research in chemical science. “I would like to focus this research on finding ways to capture carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere and/or finding a sustainable method to deal with our plastic waste.”

汉娜·波特' 22, 化学专业, is working in both Hal Van Ryswyk’s chemistry lab and Tom Donnelly’s physics research group. “I have been involved in research involving quantum dot size determination via pulsed-field gradient NMR in Professor Van Ryswyk’s lab and developing an RF-plasma reactor for gas-phase graphene synthesis in Professor Donnelly’s lab,波特说。, who was awarded HMC’s Platt Prize for her academic accomplishments and contributions to the life of the College. This summer, she will investigate electron microscopy during a National Science Foundation research opportunity at Cornell University called PARADIM (Platform for the Accelerated Realization, Analysis, 和界面材料的发现), which is dedicated to the discovery and fabrication of materials with unprecedented properties that do not exist in nature. Upon graduation, Porter plans to obtain a PhD in physical chemistry or materials science. She is interested in conducting materials science research to investigate energy storage solutions and novel renewable energy sources to combat climate change.

Anna Soper ' 22， physics and math major and a member of Lori Bassman’s research team, is studying metal alloys and working on computationally simulating their compositions and structures. “My current research is in the field of computational materials science, where I am investigating the chemical and structural mechanisms by which the brittle sigma phase in a novel stainless steel substitute is destabilized by the addition of aluminum, 生成有用的, 塑性合金,索珀说. 与Bassman合作, physics professor Nicholas Breznay and Jonas Kaufman ’17, she has developed a model of the complex sigma phase that predicts the lattice sites that different atomic species preferentially occupy, allowing researchers to study local changes in bond lengths and charge distributions that may contribute to the destabilization of the sigma phase. This summer, Soper will do research in nonlinear photonics and optical computing at Caltech before applying to graduate school, 她会在那里攻读原子实验的博士学位吗, 分子与光学物理.

The Goldwater Scholarships are the result of a partnership with the Department of Defense National Defense Education Programs and Barry Goldwater奖学金 and Excellence in Education Foundation. The scholarship program honoring Senator Barry Goldwater was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, 自然科学和工程学. All Harvey Mudd sophomores and juniors are eligible to compete for the Goldwater Scholarship.