2 Engineering Graduate Students Receive 2024 National Defense Science and Engineering Fellowship

Ariya Olaee and Jason Wu of the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering have each received a 2024 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowship, one of the country’s most prestigious honors for graduate students in STEM fields. 

Olaee and Wu were among 162 science, technology, engineering and math awardees from across the country this year. The fellowship covers the awardees’ tuition and university fees for three years. Fellows also receive a monthly stipend of $3,600 and have access to additional funding for research and travel expenses. 

An aerospace engineering doctoral student, Olaee is advised by Mitchell Spearrin, an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Olaee’s research focuses on combining high-speed cameras with traditional laser-absorption spectroscopy methods to investigate high-temperature gas dynamics and imaging shockwave propagation. Findings from his research are essential for designing spacecraft heatshields intended for interplanetary missions. He received an M.S. in mechanical engineering from UCLA and a B.S. in the same field from UC Irvine.

During his undergraduate studies, Olaee was a member of the school’s Rocket Project, which first introduced him to propulsion engineering. He also participated in research with the school’s Aeronautics, Dynamics and Control Laboratory and National Fuel Cell Research Center. After a summer internship at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Ohio, Olaee said he knew he wanted to pursue aerospace engineering at an advanced level. 

Wu received the 2023 outstanding bachelor’s award from UCLA Samueli’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. He was a member of the department’s Fast Track to Success program and held summer internships with Rivian Automotive Inc. and Samsung Austin Semiconductor.

In the summer after his freshman year, Wu joined electrical and computer engineering professor Mani Srivastava’s Networked and Embedded Systems Laboratory, where he worked on digital twin technologies and remained with the lab as a graduate student. His current research focuses on multimodal sensor fusion, which combines data from multiple types of sensors to enable a more comprehensive understanding of a monitored environment.

Established in 1989, the NDSEG Fellowship Program aims to increase the number of U.S. citizens trained in science and engineering disciplines vital to national security.