The NDSU College of Graduate and Interdisciplinary Studies has awarded five fellowships to outstanding students for spring semester.
The fellowships provide $2,500 per month plus $2,500 for travel and supplies. The money is a direct appropriation from the legislature to support the Doctoral Dissertation Awards program.
The five recipients were selected from 14 applications submitted in early December. They were chosen based on quality and clarity of their research summary, their academic and professional credentials and the impact that the award will have on their ability to graduate this spring or summer.
“These students are great examples of the quality of doctoral students here at NDSU,” said Benton Duncan, interim dean of the college and professor of mathematics. “I am impressed with their passion for their research and the high quality of the work they've done. These students are making contributions to research that will have direct and immediate impact on their research fields and in their communities. I congratulate them and their advisers on their tremendous energy and work.”
The five awardees include:
• Jackson Benda, a doctoral student studying coatings and polymeric materials
• Myungwoo Lee, a criminal justice doctoral student
• Theresa Elder, a doctoral student studying materials and nanotechnology
• Yuan Liu, a computer science doctoral student
• Tonoy Das, an environmental and conservation science doctoral student
Benda’s research is funded by the Office of Naval Research and focuses on novel coatings to control or prevent biofouling on ships and other marine applications. The objective is to develop a durable, non-toxic coating system to deal with such foulants as marine bacteria, green algae, barnacles and mussels. Benda is advised by Dean Webster, professor and chair of coating and polymeric materials.
Research by Lee involves an effective performance measurement system for modern police management. The work integrates the Balance Scorecard and Data Envelopment Analysis approaches and adopted the Dynamic-Network Slack-based Measure DEA model. A total of 31 police stations under the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency were chosen for conducting this case study. Lee’s adviser is Carol Archbold, professor of criminal justice.
Elder’s work involves modelling an adhesive system dictated by the factors of chemistry, surface area covered and stiffness. The research used different ratios of a dry adhesive called polydimethylsiloxane. The collected data helped determine a simple mathematical model for predicting the adhesion of a tape loop that only requires one additional measurement that can be taken with a ruler. Elder’s faculty adviser is Andrew Croll, associate professor of physics.
Liu’s research project is an algorithm that characterizes and predicts post-translation modification events in protein using artificial intelligence methods. The modification events are associated with diseases such as cancer, diabetes, dysmetabolic syndrome and neurological disorders. Liu is advised by Changhui Yan, professor of computer science.
Das is working to develop a new class of iron-based nanomaterials that can remove arsenic from drinking water. According to Das, arsenic in drinking water affects more than 200 million people around the world. The goal is to develop a point-of-use water treatment unit for home and small community use. Das’ adviser is Achintya Bezbaruah, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.
As a student-focused, land-grant, research institution, we serve our citizens.
