Ten from MIT awarded 2020 Fulbright Fellowships

Ten MIT learners and the latest alumni are recipients of awards from the Fulbright U.S. University student Software. They will use their grants to carry out research, receive a graduate degree, or teach English abroad. This year’s Fulbright award winners are headed to Australia, Brazil, France, China, the Czech Republic, Germany, and Malaysia. 3 other MIT learners been given Fulbright awards, but declined them to go after other alternatives.

Sponsored by the U.S. Division of State, the Fulbright U.S. University student Software presents alternatives for American university student scholars in in excess of one hundred sixty nations around the world.

Anshula Gandhi ’19 graduated with a joint important in arithmetic and record by means of MIT’s science and humanities application. She went on to carry out research on automatic theorem proving at the Countrywide Autonomous University of Mexico in Mexico City, and explored how the human mind does arithmetic at MIT’s Heart for Brains, Minds, and Equipment. As a Fulbright university student at the Czech Republic’s Institute of Informatics, Robotics, and Cybernetics, Gandhi will merge arithmetic, laptop or computer science, and logic to generate algorithms for solving mathematical theorems. When in Prague, Gandhi anticipates checking out historic centers and understanding much more about Czech language, art, and literature.

Kedi Hu will graduate this thirty day period with double majors in chemical engineering and architecture. Passionate about sustainable development, she has labored on a number of educational and expert tasks addressing environmental difficulties, together with drinking water scarcity, pollution capture, and grid-scale vitality storage. For her Fulbright research grant at Tsinghua University in China, Hu ideas to produce biodegradable electrospun membranes for air filtration apps. Just after Fulbright, Hu will matriculate at Columbia University to go after a doctorate degree in chemical engineering, continuing research on grid-scale vitality storage to empower a a hundred per cent renewable planet.

Max Kessler is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering. He grew up on an island in Washington point out, wherever he grew to become fascinated by the northern clingfish, a smaller saltwater fish with a suction cup that attaches to wet and tough surfaces. Kessler will carry out research in the biology department at the University of Freiburg, Germany, to design a adaptable, clingfish-impressed suction cup for industrial production procedures. At MIT, Kessler intended and distributed custom made sleeping bags for Syrian refugees. In Germany, he hopes to continue supporting refugees by volunteering in the local community. He is also thrilled to hike, bicycle, and ski in the nearby Alps.

Talia Khan will graduate this spring with a bachelor of science in elements science and engineering and a 2nd bachelor of science in songs. For her Fulbright grant to Brazil, Khan will head to Manaus, Amazonas, in the Brazilian Amazon to research the elements attributes of Amazonian plants made use of by indigenous peoples. An MIT Emerson Fellow of Jazz Voice, Khan also appears to be like ahead to participating in alternatives to hear to and sing Brazilian songs. When she returns to the United States, she ideas to go after graduate scientific tests in the industry of inexperienced elements.

Ivy Li is a senior majoring in physics and literature. In Hamburg, Germany, Li will research at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY) to produce on line monitoring algorithms for prolonged-lived particle queries in the ATLAS experiment. With pursuits in equally the sciences and humanities, Li is also thrilled to attend readings and panel discussions hosted by the Literaturhaus Hamburg. As an undergraduate, Li has labored on facts-intensive research in X-ray astrophysics and on machine understanding tasks for ATLAS. Outside the house of physics, Li served as an arts editor for the MIT campus newspaper, The Tech, and shot aggressive rifle for the MIT varsity rifle workforce.

William Pinney will graduate this thirty day period with a bachelor of science in organic engineering. At MIT, he assisted in research on malaria in the laboratories of professors Harvey Lodish and Hidde Ploegh. As a Fulbright university student in Germany, Pinney will carry out research in the lab of Professor Brenda Schulman at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich. His task will concentration on the ubiquitination pathways of G-coupled protein receptors involved with allergy and bronchial asthma responses. Just after Fulbright, Pinney ideas on pursuing a PhD in organic engineering.

Booker Schelhaas is a senior from Colorado graduating with a bachelor of science in mechanical engineering and a minimal in Spanish. For his Fulbright grant, he will be going to São Paulo, Brazil, to do research on redesigning a rehabilitative exoskeleton. He also appears to be like ahead to understanding much more about Brazilian guitar variations and experiencing Brazilian fútbol firsthand. Just after completing his Fulbright application and returning to the United States, Schelhaas ideas on either going to graduate college or working in the medical machine industry.

Srimayi Tenali is a senior studying mechanical engineering and minoring in vitality scientific tests. A recipient of the Fulbright Anne Wexler Scholarship in General public Plan, she is headed to Australia to go after a master’s degree in sustainability. Tenali has served as vice president of the MIT Electrical power Club and director of the 2019 Electrical power Convention. She labored intently with the MIT Worldwide Science and Engineering Initiatives to produce courses in STEM schooling for refugee populations, and hopes to continue this outreach in Australia. She has also been a member of the South Asian Affiliation of Learners board, Baker Dwelling government board, the University student Advisory Team for Engineering, and Kappa Alpha Theta sorority.

Sandra “Sandy” Walter is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering with a minimal in songs. In Malaysia, she will teach English and aid soon after-college routines that endorse engineering and women of all ages in STEM. Walter has concentrated on engineering for improving medical technologies that are made use of in global useful resource-constrained configurations. She has taught for a lot of courses, together with the Women’s Engineering Software in mechanical engineering and the Edgerton Outreach Heart. She established the D-Lab University student Club, which makes engineering academic elements to empower deprived communities around the planet. Just after Fulbright, Walter will perform towards a graduate degree in engineering schooling within the MIT Division of Mechanical Engineering. 

Christien Williams will graduate this spring with a bachelor of science in laptop or computer science. At ENS Paris-Saclay in France, Williams will carry out research on laptop or computer eyesight, together with procedures in deep understanding and probabilistic examination, to contribute to an automatic Earth perception system. He will acquire his learn of engineering degree upon completion of this perform. At MIT, Williams was a captain and point guard for MIT’s varsity basketball workforce, a board member of Sloan Business Club, a counselor for the Freshman Leadership Software, and a member of Phi Beta Epsilon fraternity. Just after completing Fulbright, Williams will be part of Schmidt Futures as an affiliate product or service supervisor.

MIT learners interested in implementing for the next round of Fulbright awards should get in touch with Julia Mongo in Distinguished Fellowships within MIT Vocation Advising and Specialist Progress. Learners are also supported in the course of action by the Presidential Committee on Distinguished Fellowships.