Ten students from the University of Florida’s Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering were selected to receive awards from the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) for their exemplary work and contributions to their departments. The NSF GRFP recognizes outstanding graduate students from across the country in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Recipients are identified as high-potential, early-career scientists and engineers.
Thiago Arnaud
Materials Science & Engineering
Thiago Arnaud is an undergraduate receiving his B.S. in Physics from Florida in Spring 2024. During his undergraduate career, he worked with Dr. Kyle C. Hartig in the MSE Nuclear Engineering Department and the OSN group to investigate single micron-class particle interactions with nano and femtosecond pulsed lasers for applications in nuclear security. In Fall 2024, Thiago will be enrolled in the Interdisciplinary Material Science program at Vanderbilt University to pursue a Ph.D. where he will investigate infrared photonics and their nanoscale thermal transport properties.
Edward A. Beck
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Eddie Beck, a Gainesville native, graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida this spring with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and minors in Mathematics and Music Performance. His research in the SYBORGS Lab involves the application of dynamical systems and control theory to synthetic biology, harnessing tools from mechanical engineering to design biomolecular and genetic systems that function like circuits and machines. Eddie will begin his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University in the fall to study systems and materials that exhibit mechanical intelligence. He plans to pursue a career in research and hopes to make a unique and positive impact by continuing to weave together diverse disciplines.
Alexander J. Benvenuti
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Alex Benvenuti started his Ph.D. in aerospace engineering under the advisement of Dr. Matthew Hale in the CORE lab in August 2022. He received his bachelor’s degree at UF in December 2021, having done his undergraduate research in the SYBORGS lab with Dr. Amor Menezes. He moved to the Georgia Institute of Technology School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in January 2024 along with Dr. Hale and the rest of the CORE lab. His current research focuses on privacy for decision-making systems. Specifically, by utilizing a technique known as differential privacy, he aims to develop control and optimization algorithms that perform well in practice while preserving the privacy of users’ sensitive data.
James Camp
Electrical & Computer Engineering
James Camp is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Ionospheric Radio Lab working under Dr. Robert Moore. His research is in the effects of global-scale events (such as Gamma-Ray Bursts of cosmic origin and the 2022 Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai Volcano Eruption) on the Earth’s ionosphere and radiation belts. His research benefits satellite systems, such as GPS, and other low-frequency radio signals, whose performance can degrade or improve when travelling through, or reflecting from, the ionosphere. James is a proud graduate of Iowa State University (2022), where his got his bachelor’s degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics.
Ann-Kareen Gedeus
Computer & Information Science & Engineering
Ann-Kareen is a Spring 2024 bachelor’s graduate with a degree in Computer Science. During her time as an undergraduate student at the University of Florida (UF), she worked in the Computing for Social Good Lab under Dr. Juan Gilbert and the SoundPad Lab under Dr. Kyla McMullen. Her research is focused on healthcare technology and accessible technology. Starting Fall 2024, she will begin her PhD in Information Science at Cornell University.
Amiya C. Gupta
Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Amiya Gupta received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UF and will be pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin in the fall. Her research centers around computational lower-limb biomechanics and places an emphasis on translational research with direct clinical applications. Throughout her undergraduate, she worked with Dr. Scott Banks to study clinical outcomes of total knee arthroplasty and the application of neural networks to diagnose equine stifle pathology. Her current project is a joint endeavor with UF’s Orthopedic Surgery department to develop a novel computational method to quantify spinal cord kinematics. Her doctoral studies with Dr. Josh Roth’s Biomechanical Advances in Medicine (BAM) Lab will focus on the use of an ultrasound-based bone-tracking algorithm to determine joint kinematics.
Madeline Howell
Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment
Madeline Howell is a San Francisco native and graduated from the University of Oregon with a bachelor’s in chemistry in 2023. She is now a Ph.D. student in the UF Chemistry Department and was awarded the NSF GRFP for environmental engineering. Her passion for environmental remediation inspired her NSF proposal to fabricate a highly sensitive and fast acting perchlorate sensor for accurate on-site detection. Currently, she is a member of the Evans Research Group and her graduate work involves the synthesis and manipulation of ultrathin 2D polymer films for liquid and gas phase separations.
Adam Hymel
Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment
Adam Hymel is an Environmental Engineering Sciences PhD in the Angelini Lab at UF’s Center for Coastal Solutions. Adam graduated Suma Cum Laude from the University of Louisiana with a B.S. in biology. After graduation, Adam worked as a field technician here at UF before becoming a PhD student. Today his work investigates deteriorating coastal wetlands and how to improve coastal restoration efforts which will directly benefit coastal communities in Florida and throughout the southeastern United States.
Atayliya Irving
Engineering Education
Atayliya Irving is a second-year PhD student at the University of Florida, currently pursuing a degree in Engineering Education. She is a member of the PRISEM Lab, where she is advised by Dr. Jeremy Waisome. Atayliya completed her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Jackson State University in the spring of 2022. Her passion for broadening participation in STEM+C has led her to this multidisciplinary space, investigating the trajectories of black women in computing. Through her work, Atayliya hopes to create more equitable and inclusive opportunities and pathways into STEM+C for marginalized groups.
Karen Siena Villancio-Wolter
Biomedical Engineering
Siena Villancio-Wolter graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering in May 2024. During her time at UF, she conducted research on powered exoskeletons, stroke rehabilitation, and portable gait analysis in the Human Neuromechanics Lab led by Dr. Daniel Ferris. She also interned at Hanger Clinic and Medtronic, volunteered at engineering outreach events, and was involved in UF Generational Relief in Prosthetics (GRiP). In Fall 2024, Siena will be attending the University of Washington to pursue a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering with a focus on assistive biorobotics research.