Chen Awarded Northrop Grumman Graduate Fellowship in Engineering Education

Department of Mechanical Engineering graduate student Guang Chen has received the Northrop Grumman Graduate Fellowship in Engineering Education for the 2015-2016 academic year. The fellowship is awarded to engineering students pursing their doctoral degree and who are committed to a teaching career in engineering education.

Chen is a second year doctoral student at the University of Maryland. Under the guidance of her advisor, Assistant Professor Siddhartha Das, she is researching theoretical modeling of electrostatics and electrokinetic transport in polyelectrolyte (PE)-grafted nanochannels. She also works as a research assistant in Das' Soft Matter, Interfaces and Energy Laboratory (SMIEL).

"I would like to deliver my great appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Das, for his guidance and inspiration that lead me to achieve this" said Chen.

In addition to working in the SMIEL, Chen currently serves as a teaching assistant for the ENME361 Vibration class. On teaching, she said, "Inspired by my parents, I have always been passionate about a teaching career that will provide me the unique opportunity to guide and educate young minds towards developing a better society.”

When she finishes her doctoral education, Chen wants to pursue a postdoctoral program to broaden her outlook, gain more practical skill sets and expand her experience in research and teaching.

“The [Northrop Grumman] fellowship will help me a lot in traveling to conferences to present my research and build connections to several excellent educators and academicians," explained Chen. "It will in turn motivate me to focus on improving myself and becoming more mature in both research and teaching.”

Earlier this semester, Chen was selected as a finalist in the Clean Energy Education & Empowerment (C3E) Women in Clean Energy symposium presentation. She also received a Jacob K. Goldhaber Travel Grant over the summer, which provided financial support to present at the International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannel and Minichannels (ICNMM) in July.

Published November 19, 2015