Graduate School Newsblog

Category: News

Interesting stories about and for our students.

Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Spring 2018 – Gorkem Asilioglu

Published

Gorkem Asilioglu
Computer Science

gorkem-headshot I came to Michigan Tech in Fall 2011 to work on my PhD in Computer Science. Even prior to my arrival at Tech, I had been working on computer architecture research. With guidance from my advisor, Dr. Soner Onder, I focused my efforts toward dynamic dependency collapsing. At Tech, I had the opportunity to work on many interesting research problems in defining and exploiting dependent parallelism in code as well as publish my design and results in the top conference in my field (ISCA). In addition to working on research, I had the opportunity to serve Michigan Tech and the Computer Science Department’s teaching mission by instructing a number of classes.
The finishing fellowship allows me to focus completely on completing my dissertation during this semester. This award would not have been possible without my advisor, the Computer Science Department and the Graduate School.
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Portage Health Foundation Spring 2018 – Ashok Khanal

Published

Ashok Khanal
Chemistry

I received my Master’s degree in organic chemistry from Nepal. The final touch that shaped my interest in organic chemistry came after studying different iconic organic reactions and synthesis that had pushed the limit of human endeavors to synthesize molecules to catch up with the escalating need of drug, and brought new avenues in the field of chemistry. I began my PhD at Michigan Tech in Jan 2012. I published different papers in peer-reviewed journal.  My research focuses on stepwise solid phase synthesis of PEGs and measurement of mechanical force of single covalent bond.

The Portage Health Foundation fellowship helps me to write my dissertation. I would like to thank my advisor, Graduate School and Portage Health Foundation for the achievement.

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Portage Health Foundation Spring 2018 – Shanshan Hou

Published

Shanshan Hou
Chemistry
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I came from China in January 2013, and joined Dr. Lanrong Bi’s group in the Department of Chemistry at Michigan Tech. My research focuses on the design and synthesis of fluorescent dyes. These fluorescent dyes could target and label the organelles, thus shining light on cell’s inner workings. When these dyes work, we can see a glowing image of the organelle, thus helping us to detect unhealthy cells. My ultimate goal is to see our probes becoming commercially available at affordable price, improving health of countless people and benefiting the society.

Thanks to the Portage Health Fellowship, I will be able to focus on my research so that I could expect to graduate sooner. I want to give my sincere thanks to Portage Health Foundation and Graduate School. I am also thankful to my advisor and alumni donors for this fellowship.

 

 

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Spring 2018 Finishing Fellowship Recipients

Published

The Graduate School is pleased to announce the awarding of Finishing Fellowships for doctoral candidates. Fellowships are available through the generosity of alumni and friends of the University. They are intended to recognize outstanding PhD candidates who are in need of financial support to finish their degrees.

(listed by nominating department)

Spring 2018 Recipients

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Jeffrey Kiiskila

Biological Sciences
Andrew Chapp

Chemistry
Gemechis Dereje Degaga
Ashok Khanal
Shanshan Hou

Computer Science
Gorkem Asilioglu
Zhaoxiang Jin

Electrical Engineering
Aref Majdara
Husam Sweidan
Chaofeng Wang

Forest Science
John Henderson

Geophysics
Marine Foucher

Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Kishan Bellur
Meng Tang
Le Zhao
Xiucheng Zhu
Saeedeh Ziaeefard

Physics

Meghnath Jaishi
Dolendra Karki
Mingxiao Ye

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Fall 2017 Finishing Fellowship Recipients

Published

The Graduate School is pleased to announce the awarding of Finishing Fellowships for doctoral candidates. Fellowships are available through the generosity of alumni and friends of the University. They are intended to recognize outstanding PhD candidates who are in need of financial support to finish their degrees.

(listed by nominating department)

Fall 2017 Recipients

Atmospheric Sciences
Pei Hou

Biological Sciences
Kavitha Satish Kumar

Chemical Engineering
Rui Shi

Civil and Environmental Engineering
Ting Bao
Amaneh Eslami Kenarsari
Shuaicheng Guo

Electrical Engineering
Navid Pourramzan Gandji
Xu Zhang

Materials Science and Engineering
Liang Chang

Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Brandon Jackson

Physics
Shiva Bhandari
Teresa Wilson

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Portage Health Foundation Fall 2017 Kevin Sunderland

Published

Kevin Sunderland
Biomedical Engineering

Kevin Sunderland            The sciences have been an interest of mine ever since my high-school years, but it was studying how the human body functions (and its numerous dysfunctions) that I found the most fascinating. This interest might be contributed to my (rather unfortunate) exposure to a variety of health problems that have impacted a number of my family and friends over the years. While people close to me have suffered from a variety of health concerns, but it was having to watch a family member struggle with neurological damage that I found the hardest to deal with. It wasn’t just how neurological damage can forever change a person, but it was also seeing how much the person’s family and friends also suffer when these conditions strike a loved one.

I pursued a degree in biology in college, and knew that after my undergraduate education I wanted to focus on health research. I was fortunate enough after college to begin working alongside a multidisciplinary research group that brought together talent from clinicians, nurse scientists, and engineers to study a variety of complex health issues. It was during this time that I was able to see just how much advances in technology lead the way in researching medical conditions and impacting the next generation of health. This drove me to pursue my graduate education and research in a place where I could combine my academic interests in health with current advances in technology. I have been lucky enough to find such an ideal place with the community here at Michigan Tech. 

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowships Fall 2017 Teresa Wilson

Published

Teresa Wilson
Physics

Teresa WilsonBefore entering graduate school, I earned my BA in Mathematics at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA and taught middle and high school STEM classes at an all-girls school in Post Falls, ID. I began my graduate studies here at Michigan Tech in Fall 2012. I am currently a PhD Candidate in Physics working with Dr. Robert Nemiroff. I research and develop new methods to predict sunrise and sunset times, specifically looking at how to better implement atmospheric refraction into the currently used sunrise/set algorithms. During my studies at Michigan Tech, I have been able to create a collaboration with the Astronomical Applications Department at the US Naval Observatory with the help of Dr. Jennifer Bartlett, their Software Division Chief. This collaboration has led to three successful summers of research on the development of a new sunrise/set algorithm at their facilities in Washington, DC as part of the Naval Research Enterprise Internship Program.

Michigan Tech has provided me an environment in which I was able to take the initiative to follow my research interests and create an outside network to achieve my goals. I am grateful to the Graduate School and the Dean’s Advisory Panel for providing me with the support of the Finishing Fellowship. This fellowship allows me the opportunity to focus on writing my dissertation and complete it in a timely manner.

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Portage Health Foundation Fall 2017 Ashok Khanal

Published

Ashok Khanal
Chemistry
Ashok Khanal

I received my Master degree in organic chemistry from Nepal. The final touch that shaped my interest in organic chemistry came after studying different iconic organic reactions and synthesis that had pushed the limit of human endeavors to synthesize molecules to catch up with the escalating need for the drug, and brought new avenues in the field of chemistry. I began my PhD at Michigan Tech in Jan 2012. I published different papers in peer-reviewed journal.  My research focuses on stepwise solid phase synthesis of PEGs and measurement of mechanical force of single covalent bond.

This Portage Health Foundation fellowship helps me to write my dissertation. I would like to thank my advisor, graduate school and Portage Health Foundation for the achievement.

Continue Reading →

Portage Health Foundation Fall 2017 Wenkai Jia

Published

Wenkai Jia
Biomedical Engineering
Wenkai Kia

My name is Wenkai (Vicky) Jia, and I am from a seaside city located in northeast China. My interests are in biology and chemistry and I chose Bio-functional Materials as my undergraduate major in Beijing University of Chemical Technology. I joined Dr. Feng Zhao’s lab in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and kept working in the area of tissue engineering from 2015. My current research is applying stem cells as regenerative medicine to treat lymphedema and investigating the mechanism underneath. We anticipate that stem cell therapy could cure lymphedema and it would perform better and be more promising than conventional treatments.

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