Nearly two dozen UCLA Samueli School of Engineering students and alumni have received the National Science Foundation’s 2026 Graduate Research Fellowship. The awardees include nine members of the school’s Class of 2026, two of whom will continue their graduate education at UCLA Samueli.

Since 1952, the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program has funded more than 70,000 students pursuing full-time, research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The three-year fellowship includes a $37,000 annual stipend and an additional $16,000 for tuition and fees.

 7 UCLA Samueli Graduate Students

Fields listed indicate graduate degree programs being pursued.

Ian Grimm
Chemical Engineering (Ph.D.)

• Research Interests: Quantum-resolution insights in computationally large systems
• Faculty Advisor: Aditya Nandy, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering
• Undergraduate Institution: Princeton University (2025)

Wesley Luk 
Bioengineering (M.S.)

• Research Interests: Microfluidics and computational protein design for synthetic biology and cellular engineering
• Faculty Advisor: Dino Di Carlo, professor of bioengineering and mechanical and aerospace engineering
• Undergraduate Institution: UCLA (2026)

Raul Michael
Bioengineering (M.S.)

• Research Interests: Role of collagen VIII in regulating angiogenesis and vascular organoid development
• Faculty Advisor: Jeffrey Hsu, assistant professor of medicine and bioengineering
• Undergraduate Institution: San Jose State University (2025)

Hanh Nguyen
Bioengineering (M.S.)

• Research Interests: Biomaterial design for tissue engineering and controlled drug delivery
• Faculty Advisor: Nasim Annabi, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering
• Undergraduate Institution: UC Irvine (2025)

Imrie Ross
Chemical Engineering (Ph.D.)

• Research Interests: Operando spectroscopy using thermal and photo effects to develop highly active, stable catalysts
• Faculty Advisor: Steven Chavez, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering
• Undergraduate Institution: University of Georgia (2025)

Oliver Wang
Electrical Engineering (M.S.) 

• Research Interests: Machine learning for time series models, language models and cyber-physical systems
• Faculty Advisor: Mani Srivastava, professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science
• Undergraduate Institution: UCLA (2025)

Brian Ye
Mechanical Engineering (Ph.D.)

• Research Interests: Soft robotics, soft structure simulation and control, and tactile sensing
• Faculty Advisor: Khalid Jawed, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering
• Undergraduate Institution: UCLA (2026)

 7 UCLA Samueli Class of 2026 Members Pursuing Graduate Studies Elsewhere

Fields listed indicate majors for undergraduate degrees earned at UCLA Samueli.

Jason Chan
Computer Science

• Research Interests: Shared autonomy for intelligent robotic systems
• Faculty Advisor: Jonathan Kao, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science 
• Intended Graduate Institution: New York University

Ereni Delis
Mechanical Engineering

• Research Interests: Neuroprosthetic and rehabilitation systems to restore human movement and sensory function
• Faculty Advisor: Tyler Clites, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and bioengineering 
• Intended Graduate Institution: Stanford University

Nathan Le
Computer Science

• Research Interests: Healthcare AI
• Faculty Advisor: Rick Dale, professor of communication
• Intended Graduate Institution: To be determined. Currently a research assistant at Stanford University

Iris Sloan
Bioengineering

• Research Interests: Mechanobiology and computational modeling of force-regulated disease progression
• Faculty Advisor: Neil Lin, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and bioengineering 
• Intended Graduate Institution: Johns Hopkins University 

Sarah Taylor
Bioengineering

• Research Interests: Synthetic biology approaches for therapeutic design
• Faculty Advisor: Dino Di Carlo, professor of bioengineering and mechanical and aerospace engineering 
• Intended Graduate Institution: Boston University

Selena Yu
Computer Engineering

• Research Interests: Numerical modeling and observational methods to understand how coastal ocean dynamics impact marine ecosystems and coastal communities
• Faculty Advisor: Andrew Stewart, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences
• Intended Graduate Institution: Stanford University

Alvin Zhu
Computer Engineering

• Research Interests: Robot learning for dexterous manipulation and humanoid systems, integrating hardware, simulation and perception
• Faculty Advisor: Dennis Hong, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering
• Intended Graduate Institution: UC Berkeley

Eight UCLA Samueli graduates from previous years who received the NSF fellowship to pursue advanced degrees are: Vidhya Prabhu, University of Texas at Austin; Rachel Jiang, University of Chicago; Margaret Capetz, University of Washington; Arami Chang, Northwestern University; Vanessa Chen and Gary Song, Georgia Tech; Richik Haldar, UC Berkeley; and Payton Bechefsky, University of Pittsburgh.