Graduate School Newsblog

Tag: Finishing Fellowship

Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Spring 2019 Recipient – Jinlin Zhang

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Jinlin Zhang
Physics

I am a PhD candidate working with Dr. Jae Yong Suh and Dr. Yoke Khin Yap in the Physics Department. I joined Michigan Tech in summer of 2015 after finishing my master’s degree from Lanzhou University, China. My research interests lie in linear and nonlinear optical properties of low dimensional materials including novel metallic films and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), which are promising for applications in nanophotonic and nanoelectric devices. I do fabrication, characterization and simulation of these materials. I am also interested in building setups for detecting optical properties of materials. My long-term goal is to pursue an academic career in optical and materials physics, extending what I have learned from Michigan Tech. I am passionate about teaching as well and have more than three years of experience of PH1200 lab as an instructor in Michigan Tech.

I would like to thank Graduate School for granting me the Finishing Fellowship. It allows me time to write my dissertation, defend my thesis and graduate with a doctoral degree. Meanwhile, I am thankful for Dr. Jae Yong Suh and Dr. Yoke Khin Yap for their guidance, and the group members who have helped me during research work as well. I am also grateful to the department chair, Ravindra Pandey, and the Physics Department for their support.

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Fall 2018 Recipient – Long Zhang

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Long Zhang
Chemical Engineering

I am a Ph.D. student in Chemical Engineering Department, and this is my fourth year. My research focuses on the dephosphorization from iron ore, particularly goethitic iron ore. I have been working with Dr. Tim Eisele on this project since fall 2014. By applying both bacterial and chemical leaching methods, we are able to remove about 95% of the phosphorus from the ore making the ore successfully meet the industrial standard.

I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the Graduate School for the financial support, which allows me to focus entirely on the completion of my final dissertation. I also want to thank Dr. Eisele for his constant support throughout my entire graduate school studies.

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Fall 2018 Recipient -Sanaz Habibi

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Sanaz Habibi
Chemical Engineering

I joined Michigan Tech as a Ph.D. student in September 2014. Since January 2015, I have been working as a graduate research assistant at Medical micro-Device Engineering Research Lab. (M.D.-ERL). My research focuses on developing and optimizing reliable low-cost point of care tools for rapid and quantitative disease diagnosis.

I want to express my gratitude to Graduate School for providing me the Finishing Fellowship. This fellowship gave me the opportunity to put my entire focus on completing my dissertation. I would also like to thank my Ph.D. advisor Prof. Minerick for her constant support and encouragement.

 

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Fall 2018 Recipient – Jingyuan Wang

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Jingyuan Wang
Electrical Engineering

My research assistant position at Michigan Tech gives me an opportunity to not only work hard but also to work smart and efficiently towards my goals. I feel satisfaction and pride when helping and as a member of my research group. For my PhD research, I am working on demand response, optimal power flow, integration of distributed energy resources, improving computational performances on large-scale power grids with decentralized approaches, and developing Hardware-in-the-Loop simulation on large-scale transmission and distribution systems with Opal-RT, GAMS and Raspberry Pi server.

As a teaching assistant for two years in the past, I have learned that I should not only lead students and help them with problems, but also encourage and motivate them through open communication. By doing this, students show great enthusiasm for their study, which I find incredibly rewarding. Also, as a member of Society of Women Engineers (SWE), I communicate with female engineering alumni from Michigan Tech and learn a lot from them, such as how to balance life, work and family, and how to successfully deal with the issues that I will encounter as a female engineer in the future.
I would like to thank the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and the Graduate School for funding my academic endeavor. I would like to thank my PhD advisor, Dr. Sumit Paudyal, for supporting me in the past five years. I appreciated every single insightful discussion about my research with him and every single piece of suggestion that he ever gave me.
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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Fall 2018 Recipient – Priscilla Addison

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Priscilla Addison
Geological Engineering

My interest in engineering started in childish defiance of wanting to prove to majority of the people I came across that girls can be engineers too, and pretty great ones at that! But thankfully it ended up being something I enjoyed immensely. My personality is more logical than emotional, so in school I found myself gravitating towards the Math and Physics subjects because of the structure in them. I enjoy that these subjects can help give the breakdown of why and how most things work. During my undergrad, I majored in civil engineering but got more interested in the geotecthnical/geological aspect of the discipline because of the encompassing nature of this subfield. I like the fact that it puts me in the heart of basically everything of the built environment since geological engineering deals with virtually everything that touches the earth! In my current role as a PhD candidate, I have been developing predictive models to isolate locations in the western US that are vulnerable to debris flows occurrences after wildfires. A recent model has been able to predict 8 out of 10 of these disastrous locations, which is a great improvement on the 4 out of 10 that an earlier model was predicting a couple years ago. This makes me so happy because it is a great step towards mitigating/ preventing the devastations usually associated with these events.

Throughout my academic career, I have been so lucky to have met so many wonderful people, especially my advisor, Dr. Oommen, who has been nothing short of supportive through all the highs and lows of this wringer of a grad school journey. He truly is amazing! I am also very thankful to the Graduate School for this award of Finishing Fellowship which is making it possible for me to fully concentrate on writing my dissertation and defending it without worrying about finances anymore. Medaase— this means “thank you” in my native language, Twi.

 

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Fall 2018 Recipient – Huaguang Wang

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Huaguang Wang
Materials Science and Engineering

Huaguang WangMr. Huaguang Wang received his BS and MS degrees in Metallurgical Engineering from Central South University in China. Currently, he is pursuing her Ph.D. degree at MTU from Fall 2015 under the supervision of Dr. Bowen Li. His Ph.D. research focuses on nano-composite materials synthesis, mineral processing, and microwave technology. After the completion of his Ph.D., if an opportunity arises from his hometown university, he would be interested to take on a faculty position to perform research and teach. Secondary to that is to find R&D positions in the United States.
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Spring 2019 Finishing Fellowship Nominations Open

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Applications for spring 2019 finishing fellowships are being accepted and are due no later than 4pm, October 18, 2018 to Dr. Debra Charlesworth in the Graduate School. Materials emailed to gradschool@mtu.edu is preferred. Instructions on the application and evaluation process are found online.

Students are eligible if all of the following criteria are met:

  1. Must be a PhD student.
  2. Must expect to finish during the semester supported as a finishing fellow.
  3. Must have submitted no more than one previous application for a finishing fellowship.
  4. Must be eligible for or in Research Mode at the time of application.

Finishing Fellowships provide support to PhD candidates who are close to completing their degrees. These 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 and are also contributing to the attainment of goals outlined in The Michigan Tech Plan. The Graduate School anticipates funding up to ten fellowships with support ranging from $2000 to full support (stipend + tuition). Students who receive full support through a Finishing Fellowship may not accept any other employment. For example, students cannot be fully supported by a Finishing Fellowship and accept support as a GTA or GRA.

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Fall 2018 Recipient – Xin Yan

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Xin Yan
Chemistry

Xin YanI came to Michigan Tech in August 2012 and work in chemistry lab with my advisor, Dr. Lanrong Bi for 6 years. Before my graduate studies, I earned my bachelor’s degree in chemistry at the University of Science and Technology of China.

My current research focuses on designing of novel fluorescent probes which are used to label targeted lysosome and mitochondria. These probes can be used for facilitating early cancer diagnosis, cancer prevention and cancer therapy. Besides research projects, I also worked as a teaching assistant in several chemistry laboratories. These teaching experiences also benefits me a lot.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Graduate School for providing me with this financial support. This fellowship allows me to focus on my dissertation and complete my PhD degree on time. I am also grateful to my advisor and the chemistry department. I feel proud to be a student in Michigan Tech.

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Doctoral Finishing Fellowship Fall 2018 Recipient – Zhimin Song

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Zhimin Song
Environmental Engineering

Zhimin SongI came to Michigan Tech in Fall 2013 and got my Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering in 2017 with a GPA of 3.9. I started my Ph.D. under the direction of Dr. Paul Doskey in 2015, which focusing on the “diagenesis of organic matter in peat and porewater of a poor fen”. This program studies the seasonal variation of organic matters in the peatland. Peatlands, as unbalanced wetland ecosystems, contain approximately 30% of the global soil carbon. This large amount of carbon is so sensitive to variations in the climate system that it can serve as the indicator for climate changes. Understanding how the organic matter decomposition at different seasons is of great importance.

My study was conducted at an extensive poor fen peatland in Nestoria, Michigan, USA (46.34º N, 88.16º W). Our field sampling was conducted monthly at three different experimental plots and three different depth under the ground. We were able to track the organic matter decomposition through the year and see the effect of plant functional groups and sampling depths on the organic matter decomposition inside the peatland. These research experiences are invaluable to me as an international student from China.

I would like to thank my adviser Dr. Paul Doskey, my committee member Dr. Erik Lilleskov, and Dr. Evan Kane for their guidance and contributions to these projects. These works cannot be done without their unconditional support. I would also like to thank the Graduate School for granting this finishing fellowship. It really helped a lot reducing my financial burden and allows me to focus on writing my dissertation.

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