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Media Relations
Kansas State University
9 Anderson Hall
Manhattan, KS 66506
785-532-6415
media@k-state.edu

Information provided by K-State Media Relations, K-State's news service, may be reproduced without permission. The marks and names of Kansas State University are protected trademarks and may not be used in any commercial or private endeavor without the approval of the university.

Source: James Hohenbary, 785-532-6904, jimlth@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Cheryl May, 785-532-6415, may@k-state.edu

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

K-STATE STUDENTS RECEIVE NSF GRADUATE RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS

MANHATTAN -- One current and one recently graduated engineering student from Kansas State University have received National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships. Three K-State seniors also received honorable mentions.

This year, the National Science Foundation awarded 913 graduate research fellowships to students in science, technology, mathematics, computer science and engineering disciplines. They also gave 1,639 honorable mentions.

The fellowship awards a $30,000 stipend and a $10,500 cost-of-education allowance per year for three years of education, totaling about $120,000 over three years. NSF Fellows are expected to become knowledge experts who can contribute significantly to research, teaching and innovations in science and engineering.

Winners are Emily A. Voigt, McPherson, senior in chemical engineering with a minor in German, and David Thompson, formerly of Burlingame, a 2006 K-State summa cum laude graduate in electrical engineering with an emphasis in biomedical engineering and minors in physics and Japanese. Thompson is currently a graduate student at the University of Michigan. In 2006 while at K-State, he received an honorable mention for the Graduate Research Fellowship he won this year.

Named to receive honorable mention are seniors Amir Bahadori , Kansas City, Kan., who is majoring in mathematics and mechanical engineering; Amy Twite, Olathe, who is majoring in biochemistry, microbiology and chemistry; Lydia (Roberts) Barrigan, Pomona, senior in chemistry and biochemistry with a minor in biology. All plan to graduate from K-State in May.

At K-State, Voigt has done research in biofuels production under Keith Hohn and John Schlup, K-State chemical engineering professors. Last summer, she conducted research at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany on production of recombinant erythopoietin in moss cells. Voigt conducted undergraduate research at Pennsylvania State University on transgenic protein production in plant cells in summer 2005 and in 2006 on algae biofuels. She has been the editor and cataloguer for Tau Beta Pi, an engineering honor society, and secretary and public relations coordinator for Mentors for International Experiences.

Voigt is a member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Engineering Ambassadors, Society of Women Engineers, The Navigators and Women Mentoring Women. Voigt was a Clare Boothe Luce Scholar in 2005 and also has been a Putnam Scholar. She received a McDonald's Restaurant KRE scholarship, the Gordon and Joyce Goering Engineering Scholarship, a K-State Alumni Association license plate scholarship, Phillips Petroleum Company Chemical Engineering Scholarship and the Steyer Chemical Engineering Scholarship. Voigt studied abroad in Giessen, Germany, during summer 2006. A 2004 graduate of Smoky Valley High School in Lindsborg, Voigt is the daughter of Richard and Mary Voigt.

Thompson is attending graduate school at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was a Fulbright Fellow in Japan at Tohoku University in Sendai, where he improved his Japanese language proficiency and worked with a local hospital in support of an fMRI research project. At the University of Michigan, he is pursuing a master's and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering, focusing on neural prosthetics. Career plans are to conduct research and teach in a university setting. He was a 2005 Goldwater Scholar. A member of the College of Engineering honors program, he also received a Presidential Scholarship and James A. Branson Memorial Scholarship. Active with Powercat Masters Toastmasters, he served as secretary. He conducted undergraduate research under the supervision of Steve Warren in electrical engineering on improving the performance of a pulse oximeter unit. This work resulted in two conference publications, and the pulse oximeter has been used in a variety of settings including laboratory courses at K-State . He also worked with Tim Bolton, professor of physics on a simulation program to help measure neutrino oscillation. He is a 2001 graduate of Burlingame High School and Allen Community College, which he attended concurrently. Thompson is married to Amity I. Smith Thompson, formerly of Gardner, and is the son of David W. and Judith B. Thompson, Burlingame.

Amir Bahadori, Kansas City, Kan., a fifth year senior majoring in mechanical engineering with nuclear engineering option and mathematics, will be pursuing a master's degree in medical physics at the University of Florida. His research interest is heavy charged particle therapy. He worked with Akira Tokuhiro during summer 2006 on the repair of a FANUC robotic arm. Through his Senior Design class, he helped investigate the use of X-Ray Fluorescence to measure the thickness of a molybdenum-based thin-film coating for Honeywell KCP. Bahadori has been a reactor operator at K-State's TRIGA Mark II nuclear reactor since January 2005. He is a Department of Energy Nuclear Engineering/Health Physics, National Academy for Nuclear Training; American Nuclear Society scholarship recipient (2006-2008); and a K-State Putnam Scholar. He won a Leonard Fuller math scholarship, a Memorial scholarship, Parizo Family Scholarship, Hostinsky Scholarship, Opportunity Scholarship and an engineering scholarship. He also is a member of Alpha Nu Sigma, nuclear engineering honor society, and Tau Beta Pi, engineering honor society. Bahadori is a 2003 graduate of Sumner Academy of Arts & Science. He is the son of Naser and Michelle Bahadori, Kansas City, Kan.

Amy Twite, Olathe, senior in chemistry, biochemistry and microbiology, plans to attend the Scripps Research Institute Kellogg School of Science and Technology.

Twite plans to earn a Ph.D. in biological chemistry and conduct research and teach at a major university developing treatment agents for diseases. She participated in undergraduate research on "Characterizing New Perylene Diimides as Potential Cancer Therapy Treatment Molecules" under the supervision of Daniel Higgins, associate professor of chemistry. She has also interned for Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies. She is a 2006 Goldwater scholarship winner. She has received numerous honors and scholarships including a Kansas State University Foundation Scholarship, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Research Scholarship, June Sherrid Hull Basic Cancer Research Center Scholarship and King Memorial Scholarship. She was outreach coordinator for Alpha Chi Sigma chemistry fraternity, and a member of Students for Environmental Action and Alpha Epsilon Mu Microbiology Club. She has also worked as a general lab teaching assistant for General Chemistry and Chemistry I, as a tutor for Chemistry I and Chemistry II, and as a grader for Organic Chemistry II. She has received numerous honors and scholarships including a Kansas State University Foundation Scholarship, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Research Scholarship, June Sherrid Hull Basic Cancer Research Center Scholarship and King Memorial Scholarship. She also is president of Archery Club. A 2004 graduate of Olathe North High School, she is the daughter of Leslie Twite, Olathe, and Michael B. Twite, Kansas City, Mo.

Lydia (Roberts) Barrigan, Pomona, senior in chemistry and biochemistry with a minor in biology, will be pursuing a Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill starting next fall. Her current research project titles are "Mechanistic Studies of Disaggregation of Alzheimer's Oligomers and Protofibrils of Amyloid Beta Peptides" and "Design and Synthesis of Novel Laccase Inhibitors." She also participated in the University of Kansas Pharmaceutical Chemistry Department's Summer Undergraduate Research Program in 2006 on a project, "Adsorption of Ovalbumin to Charged Particles." At K-State she has received a Kansas State University Foundation Plus Scholarship and a Chemistry Department Scholarship. She received a Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research Undergraduate Research Award in 2006, 2007 and 2008. In 2007 she was the K-State Alumni Association Outstanding Senior in Academics Award Winner. She is a member of Alpha Chi Sigma Professional Chemistry Fraternity, which she served as president in 2006 and 2007. She is also a member of Phi Lambda Upsilon chemistry honorary and an alumni member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She was a teaching assistant for Chemistry I laboratory in 2006. She has been working in Professor Duy Hua's laboratory since January 2006. She was also selected as a National Institutes of Health K-INBRE Star Trainee 2007-2008. A 2003 graduate of Pomona High School, she is married to Patrick Barrigan, and is the daughter of Bill and Natalie Roberts, Pomona, Kan.