Bourns doctoral students earn research awards

One is harnessing the power of yeast. Another is profiling maliciousness. A third is using electromagnetic levitation to create new metal alloys.

Sci-fi characters? No. Award-winning doctoral students? Yes!

They're three doctoral candidates from UC Riverside's Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering, and they've each been awarded a $15,000 fellowship from the Koerner Family Foundation, or KFF, to help them pursue their research.

The program aims to help the United States train and retain engineers to remain globally competitive in all types of engineering. Awardees must be U.S. citizens who have successfully passed their doctoral candidacy exams. They must also express an interest in a research career within academia, engineering, or the U.S. government.

"The mission of the Koerner Family Foundation is to promote graduate engineering research and development with contributions to graduate students of engineering institutions where we can make an impact," said Michael Koerner, KFF president. "We are happy to support UCR's students, who are doing outstanding work in a wide variety of technical fields."

UCR's 2024-25 Koerner Family Foundation Fellowship Awardees

Ben Treves | Doctoral candidate in computer science | Class of 2025

Current research: My work revolves around profiling malicious online users and tracking them across platforms by analyzing the content they post. The goal is to develop methods and tools that can assist the proper authorities in finding hackers, scammers, and other bad people on the internet. In addition, I hope to use my work to bring awareness to some of the potential privacy risks involved with posting content in online environments, so that people can stay safe while interacting on the internet.

The fellowship: Working on this topic with my supervisor, Professor Michalis Faloutsos, made me realize that there are still massive research gaps in our understanding of online environments. While I cannot hope to bridge those gaps entirely, my ultimate goal is to have even a small impact in making online environments safer to interact on.

When I learned that I won the fellowship, I felt a huge wave of excitement, followed by relief and satisfaction from the knowledge that I can continue pursuing my research.

Post-graduation plans: I aim to continue research in the industry, although I am fairly open to new opportunities, so nothing is set in stone.

Eva Ottum, Doctoral candidate in chemical and environmental engineering | Class of 2026

Current research: I research yeast, which is commonly associated with bread, beer, and wine, but can be engineered to produce a wide range of products. For example, before 1980, insulin for diabetics came from pigs and cows. Scientists then engineered yeast to produce human insulin, which is safer and more affordable. Now yeast supplies 50% of the world's insulin. Yeast is also used to produce food ingredients like heme in Impossible Foods, detergents for soap, and biofuels for cars and airplanes. However, the yeast we currently use lacks adaptability and resilience. I study unconventional yeast species-underexplored but uniquely advantageous strains-and have cataloged over 300 varieties based on growth and resilience. The high-performance strains can grow on food waste like banana peels and corn husks. They can also grow fast, which translates to faster production of the desired product. By harnessing the power of these next-generation yeasts, we can make production more sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective, unlocking new possibilities for a wide range of industries.

The fellowship: In one of my first research experiences, I had an experience that rendered me speechless. I recall eagerly preparing for my first day as an intern at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. I found the right building, double-checked the conference room, and entered, excited to meet the other interns, only to find out I was the only female in the room. I had never fully understood the gender gap in science until I realized I was the only female in the entire program. There are many reasons why females may not apply for STEM opportunities, such as lack of encouragement, role models, implicit bias, and more. I realized I needed to challenge the underrepresentation of women in STEM by applying for opportunities no matter how out of reach they felt. This mindset has driven me to achieve recognition, including winning the NSF GRFP, Plants3D Fellowship, EBRC Industry Intern, and the second-place winner of the 2024 Grad Slam Finals.

I felt deeply encouraged to find out I won. While a Ph.D. is already challenging, the past two years have been personally difficult with the loss of a close friend to suicide and my father to COVID complications. Winning this award reminded me that I am still on the right path and making meaningful progress.

Post-graduation plans: I'm not sure what my plans are after I graduate, but I'm really grateful to my mentor Dr. Ian Wheeldon for encouraging us to explore different career paths. He partners with biotech companies, so we have the chance to learn about industry. He also gave me the opportunity to research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which provided insights into research with the Department of Energy. Because of him I feel like I have a well-rounded perspective of industry, government, and academic research.

Brittney Terry | Doctoral candidate in electrical engineering | Class of 2025

Current research: I am a Ph.D. candidate in electrical engineering, specializing in the interdisciplinary study of High Entropy Alloys (HEAs). My research involves utilizing advanced techniques like electromagnetic levitation (EML) and arc melting (AM) to fabricate and analyze HEAs. I am focused on uncovering structural limitations and improving mechanical properties, with the goal of making these materials suitable for a wide range of applications, such as aerospace.

The fellowship: The Koerner Family Foundation Fellowship resonates deeply with my research values, particularly its focus on engineering ingenuity and innovation. These are qualities I strive to incorporate into my own work as I aim to contribute to the advancement of materials science and engineering in ways that benefit society.

I was incredibly honored and grateful to be selected for such a prestigious fellowship. It is inspiring to be recognized alongside the esteemed scholars of the Koerner Family Foundation who have made such impactful contributions to technology and innovation. I look forward to carrying on that legacy.

Post-graduation plans: Upon graduation, I plan to pursue a career in research, focusing on High Entropy Alloys and their applications. My goal is to contribute to the advancement of material science, specifically in the development of innovative, high-performance materials that can have a transformative impact on various industries.

Since its establishment in 2001, the KFF program has awarded approximately 250 fellowships to doctoral students nationwide, with two Highlanders awarded in 2023-24.

"We are very appreciative of the Koerner Family Foundation for providing financial support to our outstanding graduate students," said BCOE's associate dean of research Matt Barth. "I know that these graduate fellowship funds go a long way in terms of supporting the students' research needs, allowing them to expand on their innovative research topics."

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