News Article

Iowa State turns out three more winners of prestigious NSF graduate fellowships

 

Three of this year’s National Science Foundation (NSF) graduate fellowship winners have ties to Iowa State University.

Cory Kleinheksel, a senior in computer engineering; Joseph Miller, a PhD student in mechanical engineering; and Raathai Molian, a 2008 mechanical engineering graduate, were recently awarded fellowships through the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program, which funds three years of study—up to $121,500—in master’s or doctoral degrees focusing on research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. This year, 950 students nationwide received fellowship awards.

After he graduates with his bachelor’s degree this spring, Kleinheksel will continue his education at Iowa State and begin pursing his PhD in embedded and sensor systems.

“My proposed research is for a middleware system that emphasizes modular concepts for improved integration of sensor node data and high-level applications that would use the data,” he said.

Specifically, Kleinheksel will develop a system to improve precision farming by increasing information available to farmers so they can make informed decisions to reduce costs, increase production, and reduce the environmental impacts of farming. After graduate school, he plans to pursue a career as a professor.

Miller is a PhD student studying under Terrence Meyer, assistant professor of mechanical engineering. His research uses advanced laser diagnostic techniques to study combustion of complex flows, particularly to aid in the use of alternative fuels for clean power generation. The techniques Miller uses are non-intrusive, allowing him to simultaneously capture multiple variables within the combustion chamber itself, including temperature, fuel-air distribution, and pollutant concentrations.

He has been working with combustion and laser diagnostics since earning a Science, Mathematics, and Research for Transformation (SMART) scholarship from the Department of Defense during his senior year of his undergraduate studies. While working at the Combustion and Laser Diagnostics Research Complex for the United States Air Force Research Laboratory, Miller applied for and was awarded the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship in 2007. He earned his BS in mechanical engineering from Cedarville University in 2006.

“Throughout his career and academic experiences, Joe has developed the ability to think like a researcher,” Meyer said. “He looks for the part of our understanding that is missing and develops a systematic way to address it. His excellence in academics and research deserves to be recognized with this great honor.”

Molian will begin studying mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the fall of 2009. As an undergraduate student at Iowa State, she worked with Pranav Shrotriya, Virginia and William Binger Assistant Professor of mechanical engineering to study the mechanics of hybrid manufacturing technologies. She earned her BS in mechanical engineering from Iowa State in 2008 and is currently working in the marketing department at  Schneider Electric in Nashville, Tennessee.

At MIT, Molian plans to continue her research in the Laboratory for Manufacturing and Productivity, though she has yet to set her actual course of study. “The award offers me flexibility and independence in my research,” she said. “It provides me with a solid foundation to build upon as I earn my PhD.” 

Kleinheksel and Miller join three NSF fellows enrolled at Iowa State. They are Catie Brewer, chemical and biological engineering; Sasha Kemmet, electrical engineering; and Mike Steffen, computer engineering.

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