The two students – Erin Askounis, studying materials science and engineering, and Salvador Badillo-Rios, studying aerospace engineering – are among four UCLA students and 180 nationwide to receive the fellowship. The fellowship pays for each student’s full tuition and academic fees for three years. Students also receive a stipend. The awards were announced by the American Society for Engineering and Education, which administers the fellowship program.
Erin Askounis
NDSEG Area: Materials science and engineering.
Sponsoring agency: Air Force Research Laboratory
Research interests: Synthesis of a polymer that will change its stiffness when exposed to ultraviolet light.
Faculty advisor: Qibing Pei
Lab: Soft Materials Research Laboratory
Askounis received her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Northeastern University.
Salvador Badillo-Rios
NDSEG Area: Aeronautical and astronautical engineering.
Research interests: Turbulent combustion model development for aero-propulsion applications.
Sponsoring agency: Army Research Office
Faculty advisor: Ann R. Karagozian
Lab: Energy & Propulsion Research Laboratory
Badillo Rios was a double major in mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering at the UC Irvine Henry Samueli School of Engineering.
The other UCLA NDSEG Fellowship awardees are: Macrina Cooper-White, for cognitive, neural, and behavioral sciences; and Rafal Dziedzic for chemistry. Both were sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory.