Three University of Pennsylvania Students Win Goldwater Scholarships

University of Pennsylvania students Elyse Chase, Kevin Chen and Jordan Doman have won Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, awarded annually to juniors and sophomores interested in careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering research.

They are among 300 sophomores and juniors selected. The scholarship will provide a maximum of $7,500 annually to fund as many as two years of undergraduate study.

Chase, from Winter Springs, Fla., is a junior in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, majoring in mechanical engineering and applied mechanics. She is a member of the Haptic Lab of Katherine J. Kuchenbecker, the Class of 1940 Bicentennial Endowed Term Chair Associate Professor in the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics and Computer and Information Science, focusing on implementation of touch feedback in the da Vinci robotic surgical system. Chase plans to pursue a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and subsequently conduct research in an academic setting.

Chen, a sophomore from Fremont, Calif., studying physics, biophysics and biochemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences, is a member of physiology Professor Yale Goldman’s lab in Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine, focusing on developing zero mode waveguides for studying single molecule dynamics. Chen plans to pursue a doctorate in biophysics and is broadly interested in applying tools from physics and engineering to problems in biology and biochemistry.

Jordan Doman, a junior from Monroeville, Pa., will earn both a bachelor’s in biochemistry and master’s in chemistry when she graduates next year. Her master’s thesis, under the direction of Ivan Dmochowski, professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, focuses on the synthesis of biosensors to be used in conjunction with a new kind of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging for the ultrasensitive detection of proteins implicated in cancer and other diseases. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in chemical biology.

Daniel Durham, a junior from Johnstown, Pa., studying materials science and engineering, received an honorable mention from the Goldwater committee.

More information about the scholarship is available at http://www.upenn.edu/curf/fellowships/fellowships-directory/barry-m-goldwater-scholarship.

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