BLACKSBURG, Va., April 29, 2004 – The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded graduate studies fellowships to six Virginia Tech seniors, five in the College of Engineering and one in the College of Science. Each fellowship provides three years of funding, including a tuition supplement and a stipend of $30,000 per year.
The students are Beverly Beasley, of Stuart, Va.; Andrew Graham, of Vienna, W.Va.; Dustin Grissom, of Simpsonville, S.C.; Anthony Narkawicz, of Chuckey, Tenn.; Christopher Saldana, of Springfield, Va.; and Emily Sarver, of Richmond, Va.
NSF graduate fellows are selected on academic merit, proven ability to conduct research and future academic and research goals.
Beasley, an aerospace engineering major in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech plans to use her NSF fellowship to pursue a doctorate in aerospace engineering at the University of Maryland at College Park.
Graham, a mechanical engineering major in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, will attend Stanford University to work on a master's degree and then a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.
Dustin Grissom, an aerospace engineering major in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, plans to remain at the university for graduate studies in the same field.
Narkawicz, a mathematics major in the College of Science at Virginia Tech, plans to attend Duke University and use his fellowship to pursue a doctorate in mathematics.
Saldana, an industrial engineering major in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, plans to work as a summer intern in Mexico with the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience. He plans to enter graduate school at Purdue University and use his NSF fellowship to work on a Ph.D. in industrial engineering.
Emily Sarver, a mining and minerals engineering major in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech, also selected as the Virginia Tech College of Engineering's Outstanding Senior for 2003-2004, plans to remain at the university and use her NSF fellowship to pursue a doctorate in mining and minerals engineering.
The College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is internationally recognized for its excellence in 14 engineering disciplines and computer science. The college's 5,600 undergraduates benefit from an innovative curriculum that provides a "hands-on, minds-on" approach to engineering education, complementing classroom instruction with two unique design-and-build facilities and a strong Cooperative Education Program. With more than 50 research centers and numerous laboratories, the college offers its 2,000 graduate students opportunities in advanced fields of study such as biomedical engineering, state-of-the-art microelectronics, and nanotechnology.
Founded in 1872 as a land-grant college, Virginia Tech has grown to become the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Today, Virginia Tech's eight colleges are dedicated to putting knowledge to work through teaching, research, and outreach activities and to fulfilling its vision to be among the top 30 research universities in the nation. At its 2,600-acre main campus located in Blacksburg and other campus centers in Northern Virginia, Southwest Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Roanoke, Virginia Tech enrolls more than 28,000 full- and part-time undergraduate and graduate students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries in 180 academic degree programs.