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Tag: Finishing Fellowship

Finishing Fellowship – Spring 2025 – Yifu Deng

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Yifu Deng, PhD in Computer Science, 2025

I started my Ph.D. program in the summer of 2019 under the guidance of Dr. Jianhui Yue in the Computer Science Department at Michigan Technological University. My research focuses on near memory acceleration for Approximate Nearest Neighbor (ANN) search.

ANN search finds approximate nearest points in high-dimensional spaces, offering a balance between accuracy and speed. It’s widely used in fields like image retrieval and recommendation systems. Our work has centered on designing new hardware components and circuits to enable large-scale computations within memory, reducing the overhead of CPU-memory data transfers. We also implemented optimization techniques to further accelerate the search process. These contributions have significant implications for ANN research work, enhancing both performance and efficiency.

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the Graduate School and the Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel for awarding me the Doctoral Finishing Fellowship. I am honored to receive this recognition, which inspires me to continue pursuing excellence in my Ph.D. studies and future endeavors. Special sincere thanks go to my advisor, Dr. Jianhui Yue, and the Department Chair, Dr. Zhenlin Wang, and everyone in the College of Computing, for their motivation, guidance, and support throughout my Ph.D. period, I deeply appreciate their encouragement.

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Finishing Fellowship – Spring 2025 – Karlee Westrem

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Karlee Westrem, PhD in Mathematical Sciences, 2025

I came to Michigan Tech to pursue my doctorate in discrete mathematics. I have greatly enjoyed studying theoretical mathematics and continuously growing in my role as an educator. I am grateful to my advisor, David Hemmer, for his encouragement and support throughout my research work in combinatorial representation theory. Part of my work is combinatorially computing the first non-zero Schaper layer for the Specht module in prime characteristic. I also have work in partition theory, where I published a paper with my advisor on palindrome partitions and relations to the Calkin-Wilf tree. Additionally, I have studied symmetric functions, where I prove an identity between an alternating sum of power sum symmetric functions and a product of monomial symmetric functions. This work leads to applications of characters of the symmetric group.
I look back and cherish my time in graduate student government, serving as a department representative, treasurer, and president. I am thankful for the guidance given to me by the Graduate School, especially Dr. Cantrell, Dr. Deb Charlesworth, and Jacque Smith.
I have been a teaching instructor in the mathematics department. I am grateful to the department for allowing me to teach an upper level mathematics course, Introduction to Abstract Algebra. I was awarded the Outstanding GTI in the mathematics department and the Dean’s Award for Graduate Teaching Instruction. I appreciate my teaching mentors for their mentorship and support.
I look forward to the future of staying in academia, serving students through teaching and service, and pursuing my research interests. I am appreciative to the Graduate School and the Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel for the Doctoral Finishing Fellowship.

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Finishing Fellowship – Spring 2025 – Abel Reyes-Angulo

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Abel Reyes-Angulo, PhD in Computational Science and Engineering, 2025

I began my Ph.D. journey at Michigan Technological University in Fall 2021 in the Computational Science and Engineering program, under the guidance of Dr. Sidike Paheding and more recently co-advising by Dr. Guy Hembroff. My time at Michigan Tech has been incredibly enriching, allowing me to dive deep into my passion for artificial intelligence, particularly in the fields of biomedical image segmentation and computer vision. My research focuses on developing AI-driven solutions for early disease detection, aiming to enhance healthcare outcomes through advanced deep learning techniques.

One of the most rewarding aspects of my work has been developing innovative deep learning models like UPEN++ and MarsLS-Net, which contribute to advancements in biomedical and planetary image segmentation. Presenting my research at top-tier conferences such as CVPR and MICCAI has been both exciting and humbling, providing opportunities to engage with and learn from the broader research community.

I’m incredibly grateful to my advisors, Dr. Paheding and Dr. Hembroff, for their unwavering support and mentorship. Their guidance has been instrumental in shaping my research and academic growth. I also want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Applied Computing Department and Chair Dr. Dan Fuhrmann for their continuous encouragement. Additionally, I’m grateful to my committee members, Dr. Dukka KC and Dr. Laura Brown, for their valuable insights and support.

Receiving the Doctoral Finishing Fellowship is a true honor, and I sincerely thank the Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel and the Dean for this recognition. This fellowship allows me to dedicate myself fully to completing my dissertation and preparing for the next steps in my career.

I’m also thankful to my peers and colleagues at Michigan Tech. The collaborative and supportive environment here has made my doctoral journey both productive and enjoyable. I look forward to contributing further to the field of AI and making a positive impact on healthcare through my research.

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Finishing Fellowship – Spring 2025 – Meiling Zhou

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Meiling Zhou, PhD in Statistics, 2025

I am truly honored and deeply grateful to receive the Finishing Fellowship Award from the Graduate School and the Graduate Dean’s Advisory Panel. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to the Department of Mathematical Sciences and my advisor, Prof. Kui Zhang, for their steadfast support throughout my doctoral journey.
My journey at Michigan Tech began in 2020, where I had the privilege of working under Prof. Kui Zhang in Statistical Genetics research. I am deeply appreciative of Prof. Zhang’s guidance and mentorship, which have been instrumental in shaping my academic path, fueling my research interests, and refining my critical thinking skills. My research focuses on developing novel statistical methods and creating efficient computational and bioinformatics tools to solve scientific problems in the biomedical research fields. In 2024, under the guidance of Prof. Kui Zhang on my initial project, I had the honor of receiving a prestigious $3,000, 12-month grant from the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation. This funding supports my development of novel statistical methods for Type I diabetes research and recognizes my commitment to advancing genetic research, particularly in identifying genetic variants linked to diabetes.
In addition to my research experience at MTU, my teaching achievements are highlighted by the MTU Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award I received in 2023 and I was also being identified as one of only 80 instructors who received an exceptional “Average of 7 Dimensions” student evaluation score for Fall Semester 2023. Score was in the top 10% of similarly sized sections university-wide. The interactions and communications with my students are quite enjoyable and Engaging with my students has been a rewarding experience for both them and me. To encourage my students’ enthusiasm for learning Statistics, we worked together to write insightful statistical poems and design creative homework and projects that applied statistical concepts.

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Finishing Fellowship- Spring 2025- Kendall Belopavlovich

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Kendall Belopavlovich, PhD in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture

I’ve been a Husky since 2014, when I started at Michigan Tech as an undecided undergraduate major. Upon finding my way in my first year to the Communication, Culture, and Media program I knew I found a place where I truly fit in. Since then, I’ve been interested in research and was told by several of my faculty mentors that I’d be a good fit for graduate school. I’m so grateful to those folks for introducing me to the idea, because that’s exactly what I wanted! I started my Rhetoric, Theory, and Culture degree in 2020 and have been honored to do the work I’m passionate about.

My dissertation, ““The Animated Frontier: Fluctuations of Power Across Time and Space in Flows of U.S. and Japanese Animated Media“, is a critique of the historical and contemporary relationship between the U.S., Japan, and their marginalized Others through the lens of animation. In addition to this project, I’ve been able to publish several journal articles and book chapters on various critiques of animation, related to queer studies and Indigenous studies. I currently serve as the Indigenous Studies area chair for the Midwest Popular Culture Association conference. I have also had the privilege of working with folks in the CFRES college on projects related to sustainability ethics. In all of the work I’ve done thus far in my degree, I’m grateful for the support, guidance, and mentorship I’ve received from countless people.

I especially want to thank my advisor, Stefka Hristova. Without her support, encouragement, and kindness, I don’t think I’d be able to finish this work. In addition, I’d like to thank my committee, my cohort, and my research partners for their motivation, guidance, and collaboration. Finally, I’d like to thank the Graduate School for their generous fellowship, and for believing in my work. I’m so grateful for this opportunity to finish my degree!

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Finishing Fellowship- Spring 2025- Junyao Yang

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Junyao Yang, PhD in Computer Science

I began my academic journey at Michigan Technological University in the fall of 2016, starting with majors in Computer Engineering and Mathematics. Over the years of my undergraduate studies, I found myself increasingly drawn to the area of computer systems optimization. My first experience with computer science research came in 2019 under the guidance of Professor Zhenlin Wang, focusing on LRU cache modeling. This pivotal experience deepened my interest in computer memory systems and ultimately led me to pursue a Ph.D. in Computer Science in fall of 2021, continuing under the mentorship of Professor Wang. My research focuses on the modeling and optimization of software caching systems, motivated by the challenges posed by diverse and variable software caching workloads and the critical need for efficient use of memory to reduce resource costs. The optimization involves developing dynamic cache configuration strategies that adapt in real-time to these changing workloads, thereby improving resource allocation across caching clusters to minimize waste and maximize system performance.、

I am honored to receive the Finishing Fellowship and would like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Graduate School and the Graduate Dean Awards Advisory Panel. I also want to thank my advisor, Prof. Zhenlin Wang, for his invaluable guidance and support throughout my graduate studies. 

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Finishing Fellowship – Spring 2025 – Larissa Juip

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Larissa Juip, PhD in Industrial Heritage and Archaeology

Larissa began her PhD in the Social Sciences’ Industrial Heritage and Archaeology program in 2019. She is of mixed settler and Onondaga heritage. Her research is informed by the Two Row Wampum belt research partnership principles and utilizes Indigenous storywork to elevate the past and present connections to iron mining within Indigenous and Descendant communities around Minnesota’s ‘Iron Range’. Larissa has worked on various projects elevating Indigenous knowledge in environmental education with Project Learning Tree and with Voyageurs National Park and their non-profit partner, Voyageurs Conservancy, including a National Park Foundation funded Tribal Co-Stewardship initiative. She has been an educator with the Gidakiimanaaniwigamig Ojibwe youth STEAM, language and culture camp on the Fond du Lac Reservation since 2017. In 2023, she was awarded an ACLS/Mellon Dissertation Innovation Fellowship in recognition of her novel approach to research. Larissa has also served in a volunteer position on the Project Learning Tree Education Operating Committee since 2022 and is a member of the Native Emerging Professionals Network within the Association of Tribal Archives, Libraries and Museums. In 2020 she married her partner, James, and in 2021 they welcomed their daughter, Awéha, who often accompanies her on research trips and at conference presentations.

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Finishing Fellowship- Spring 2025- Yogita M Warkhade

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Yogita M Warkhade, PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

I am Yogita Warkhade, a final-year PhD student in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Michigan Technological University. Originally from Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, India, I have always been passionate about exploring the molecular mechanisms underlying environmental processes. My doctoral research focuses on understanding the diversity and distribution of hydrocarbon-degrading genes in microbial communities from unique ecosystems such as the Mediterranean and Caspian Seas and the Great Lakes. This work has significant implications for advancing our understanding of microbial evolution and bioremediation in aquatic environments.

I am deeply honored to have received scholarships from the Tribal Development Department of Maharashtra, India, which have provided invaluable support for my academic pursuits. Additionally, I have presented my research at international conferences, including the IAGLR 2023 conference in Toronto, Canada, which further fueled my dedication to bridging the gap between environmental microbiology and practical applications.

Receiving the Finishing Fellowship is a tremendous honor and marks a pivotal milestone in my academic journey. This fellowship enables me to focus on completing my dissertation, which I aim to defend in mid-April 2025. Looking ahead, I aspire to contribute to the field through postdoctoral research and eventually take on a leadership role as a research scientist or faculty member.

I am deeply grateful for the guidance and support of my advisor, Dr. Stephen Techtmann, and my committee members, whose mentorship has been invaluable throughout my PhD journey. This fellowship recognizes my work and motivates me to finish strong and make meaningful contributions to science and society.

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Summer 2025 Finishing Fellowship Nominations Open

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Applications for Summer 2025 finishing fellowships are being accepted and are due no later than 4pm on March 5, 2025 to the Graduate School. Please email applications to gradschool@mtu.edu.

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 candidacy (tuition charged at Research Mode rate) at the time of application.
  5. Must not hold a final oral examination (“defense”) prior to the start of the award semester.

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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Finishing Fellowship – Fall 2024 – Ashwin Karthik Purushothaman

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I began my Ph.D. program in Fall 2019 under the guidance of Dr. Youngchul Ra in the Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics (MEEM) department at Michigan Technological University. My research focuses on evaluating the potential of low-carbon, highly reactive gasoline fuels as a future alternative fuel for conventional internal combustion engines. Utilizing the in-house computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool, I performed numerical simulations to gain critical insights into fuel spray characteristics, fuel-air mixing behavior and ignition properties. This foundational work provided strong correlations with experimental data, enabling an assessment of these fuels suitability for multi-mode engine operations.
Building on these findings, I advanced my research by exploring the use of a low-carbon oxygenated synthetic fuel in a 6-stroke engine configuration. Through comprehensive engine simulation studies, I investigated key parameters for optimizing engine performance while striving to meet stringent emission targets. These efforts have offered valuable insights into the potential of synthetic fuels for creating more sustainable internal combustion engines.
I am deeply honored to receive the Doctoral Finishing Fellowship and I sincerely thank the Graduate School and the Dean’s Advisory Panel for this recognition. I also want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to my advisor, Dr. Youngchul Ra, for his unwavering support, guidance and mentorship throughout my master’s and doctoral journey. His insights and encouragement have been invaluable in shaping my research and academic growth.

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