Edward K. Rice Outstanding Student Awardees
Edward K. Rice Outstanding Doctoral Student
Haik Kalantarian MS ’13, PhD ’16
Haik Kalantarian completed his Ph.D. in the Department of Computer Science under the supervision of Professor Majid Sarrafzadeh. The focus of his research was the design of devices and algorithms for monitoring diet and medication adherence. Prior to this, he completed his M.S. in electrical engineering at UCLA and his B.S. in electrical engineering at the University of Washington. Kalantarian is a motion systems engineer at Apple.
Edward K. Rice Outstanding Master’s Student
Allison Yip ’14, MS ’16
Allison Yip studied bioengineering as a master’s student under the guidance of Professor Daniel T. Kamei. She worked on a project to develop a novel, point-of-care screening test that would rapidly determine if women in resource-poor settings are at risk for cervical cancer. Yip additionally helped her advisor obtain a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund this project. While at UCLA, Yip was also a highly-rated teaching assistant and a research mentor for undergraduate students in Kamei’s lab. She has been very productive in research, and is a co-author on one publication in the area of point-of-care diagnostics and two publications in the field of drug delivery. Yip is currently pursuing an M.D. at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
Edward K. Rice Outstanding Bachelor’s Student
Michael Wu ’16
Michael Wu received his B.S. in mechanical engineering from UCLA and was the Outstanding Bachelor of Science student at the school’s 2016 commencement. Under the guidance of Professor Ajit Mal, Wu was the project lead for a joint research effort between the Aerospace Corporation and UCLA to investigate impact damage on 3-D fiber reinforced foam core composite sandwich structures. As an Eagle Scout, he served on the executive board of Bruin Scouts, a UCLA organization that provides mentorship and outreach to local Scouting programs. Wu was also a member of Tau Beta Pi, where he tutored engineering students every week and provided interactive science lessons at a local elementary school. Wu currently attends UC Berkeley, where he is pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering, with a concentration in product design. After he completes his degree in May, he will begin full-time employment for the Space and Missile Systems Center at the Los Angeles Air Force Base.