Scholarships will fund diverse research projects at top U.S. universities and abroad

Fourteen UC Irvine affiliates - 11 undergraduates, two alumni and one graduate student - won 15 of the nation's most competitive academic awards this year. The scholarships will support these exceptional students' advanced work in diverse disciplines - from cultural studies in Ecuador to nanotechnology research - at top-ranked research universities.

The awards include one Fulbright Fellowship, one Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship, two Donald A. Strauss Scholarships, two Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships, one Gates Cambridge Scholarship, seven National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships and one National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship. The seven NSF fellows in one year is a record for UCI, and three of this year's NSF fellows were previous Goldwater scholarship winners.

"We congratulate all the students who have been awarded scholarships and fellowships and we take pride in their accomplishments and bright futures," said Sharon V. Salinger, professor of history and dean of undergraduate education. "The wide range of interests represented by these students reflects the exceptional range and diverse intellectual environment UCI offers its undergraduates."

U.S. Fulbright Program: Tim Martin, Martin Vega The U.S. Fulbright Program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, is the largest international exchange program in the nation and provides funding for graduate students and professors to study abroad and teach in more than 150 countries. Created to foster mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, the Fulbright program has funded more than 250,000 scholars around the globe since its establishment in 1946.

. Tim Martin, a senior women's studies and comparative literature double major, will use his Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship grant to spend a year in South Korea teaching English in a secondary school. A science tutor at the Learning and Academic Resource Center, Martin gained interest in East Asian popular culture after spending a summer in South Korea through UCI's Education Abroad Program. After this yearlong immersion, Martin plans to conduct graduate research on the transnational spread of Korean pop culture. He is from Huntington Beach, Calif.

. Martin Vega, who graduated cum laude from UCI in 2005 with a B.A. in comparative literature, will receive a Fulbright grant to complete a yearlong research and study project in Ecuador. His project - "Cultural, Geographic and Historical Factors of Ecuadorian Regionalism" - will focus on how literature, film and cartography influenced the formation of Ecuador's national identity. He will take classes in Quito at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito and conduct research at the National Archives and the Military Geographical Institute of Ecuador. After completing his Fulbright project, Vega will pursue a doctorate in Spanish at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Vega is from Indio, Calif.

Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship: Satoru Emori, Allison Zemek The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Program awards more than 300 scholarships annually to college students with outstanding potential who intend to pursue careers in the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering. The scholarship covers costs up to $7,500 a year.

. Satoru Emori, a junior majoring in materials science engineering (a discipline that studies the relationship between the structure of a material and its properties) is interested in researching how the world works at a small scale through the study of nanostructured materials. He plans to pursue a doctorate and investigate how nanometer-sized particles and wires can serve as building blocks for more efficient electronic devices and catalysts. Emori tutors other undergraduates in physics and is a peer mentor in the Campuswide Honors Program. Born in Nagoya, Japan, he is from Torrance, Calif.

. Allison Zemek, a sophomore biomedical engineering major, plans to pursue a medical degree and doctorate focusing on the design and development of medical devices and equipment used for head and neck surgery. Zemek currently conducts research on effective treatments for reshaping cartilage at the Beckman Laser Institute. She enjoys Capoeira (Brazilian martial arts) and is president of the Archery Club. Zemek is from Laguna Niguel, Calif.

Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship:
The Donald A. Strauss Public Service Scholarship Foundation was established in 1997 as a tribute to the late Don Strauss of Newport Beach and annually awards at least 14 California college juniors $10,000 scholarships to fund public-service projects the students perform during their senior year. Recipients are chosen for their commitment to public service and leadership potential.

. Luis Lara, a junior economics major, won the Strauss scholarship and will lead the Dreams of Education Program, which helps socio-economically disadvantaged children in Santa Ana attend college. He will work with volunteers from UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton and Santa Ana College to offer in-school and after-school mentoring and tutoring programs, arrange college tours and provide parents with information about the college admissions process. Lara plans to improve the program by building ties with other community organizations. After transferring from a community college to UCI this year, Lara founded a campus organization to help transfer students with the often difficult transition from two-year colleges. In 2004 he founded The Little School Program, a community-based English literacy program for recent immigrants. Born in Mexico, Lara is a resident of Anaheim, Calif.

. Trinh My Luu, a junior double majoring in comparative literature and Asian American studies, won the Strauss scholarship for her project entitled "Reconstituting community in contemporary Vietnam: From provincial limits to global perspectives." Luu will travel to Vietnam to help improve conditions in a small village outside of Hue, where she lived for nine years as a child. She plans to help repair the village's dilapidated school, create a library, and train teachers and students to use computers and use the Internet. Luu hopes that these projects will help stimulate the children's academic and intellectual interests, as well as connect the village to the broader national and international community. A resident of Buena Park, Luu plans to pursue graduate studies in comparative literature and education.

Gates Cambridge Scholarship: Mukul Kumar The Gates Cambridge Scholarship goes to approximately 100 students worldwide for graduate study at Cambridge University in England. Scholars are selected for exceptional academic achievement and promise and for demonstrating a creative approach to defining and solving problems.

. Mukul Kumar, a senior history major, will pursue a master of philosophy in land economy at Cambridge. He wants to understand the challenge of urban slums and land management within the fields of economics, geography, law, and environmental policy. At UCI he has been involved in the Humanities Honors Program and International Center for Writing and Translation. Kumar plans to pursue a doctorate in urban geography and become a city planner and development practitioner, with a focus on social change. He is a former Truman Scholar and Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, and spent a year studying in India at Delhi University. Kumar is from Irvine, Calif.

National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship: Danielle Issa, Jenny Ouyang, Jung Park, Michael Thompson, Joy Trujillo, Matthew Whiteside, Vicky Zhou The National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Program provides stipends for outstanding students at or near the beginning of their graduate studies in science or engineering. The fellowship provides support for three years of graduate study. Winners are chosen for their potential to contribute to research, teaching, and innovations in science and engineering. The seven fellowships awarded to UC Irvine affiliates are the most the campus has received in one year.

. Danielle Issa, a senior mechanical engineering major, will use the NSF fellowship to fund her doctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology beginning this fall. A previous Goldwater scholarship recipient, Issa's research interests are in mechanics and materials, and specifically the response of solid bodies to applied loads, body forces or thermal loads. She has conducted research at the Beckman Laser Institute and at several other research units on campus. Issa is from Riverside, Calif.

. Jenny Ouyang, a senior double majoring in biological sciences and French, will attend Princeton University in the fall to pursue a doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology. An avid bird watcher, Ouyang found her niche researching their behavior and is currently finishing research on patterns of parental care among zebra finches. A previous Goldwater scholarship winner, Jenny plans to become a research professor. Ouyang is from Atascadero, Calif.

. Jung Park graduated from UC Irvine in 2006 with a B.S. in electrical engineering, and now is pursuing a doctorate in electrical engineering at UC San Diego. His research is focused in nanophotonics and subwavelength optics. While at UCI, Park was involved in nanoscience research through the Undergraduate Research and Opportunities Program, the Henry Samueli School of Engineering Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program, and the SAGE Scholars Program. Born in South Korea, Park is from Glendale, Calif.

. Michael Thompson, a senior chemistry major, will continue studying chemistry when he begins pursuing a doctorate at Stanford University this fall. He is interested in the field of nanoscience because of the potential to improve existing technologies. Thompson became interested in the subject after reading a research paper written by chemistry professor Reg Penner his freshman year, and has worked with Penner since then. He is from Orange, Calif.

. Joy Trujillo, a senior majoring in chemical engineering, will pursue a doctorate in materials science at UCLA. Her research interest is in characterizing ceramic composite systems by using scanning electron microscopy to analyze grain boundaries and grain sizes. A community college transfer, Trujillo had a difficult time deciding among a math, physics or chemistry major and found that chemical engineering was a happy medium. She is also involved with the engineering honor society Tau Beta Pi. Trujillo is from Palmdale, Calif.

. Matthew Whiteside will use the NSF fellowship to fund the next three years as a doctoral candidate in UC Irvine's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Whiteside graduated from Arkansas State University in 2005 with a major in chemistry. His current research involves tracking and quantifying amino acids in their natural systems using quantum dots, which are nanoscale semiconductors that fluoresce in different colors depending on their size. Whiteside has presented his research findings for major scientific associations, including the American Geophysical Union and American Chemical Society. He is from Jonesboro, Ark.

. Vicky Zhou, a senior biochemistry and molecular biology and dance double major, will pursue a doctorate in biological and biomedical sciences at Harvard Medical School beginning this fall. Zhou's research interests are in gene regulation and specifically epigenomics. She was a previous Goldwater scholarship winner, and named to the "USA Today" All-USA College Academic Second Team, and co-founded Inter-Generational Outreach, a service club that connects college students with senior citizens. Zhou is from Mission Viejo, Calif.

National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship: Vicky Zhou
The National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense, is designed to increase the number and quality of U.S. citizens trained in science and engineering fields of military importance. The fellowship provides students over $30,000 a year for three years to fund graduate studies.

. Vicky Zhou, previously mentioned as a recipient of the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, has also been awarded this fellowship.

About the University of California, Irvine: The University of California, Irvine is a top-ranked university dedicated to research, scholarship and community service. Founded in 1965, UCI is among the fastest-growing University of California campuses, with more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 1,800 faculty members. The second-largest employer in dynamic Orange County, UCI contributes an annual economic impact of $3.7 billion. For more UCI news, visit www.today.uci.edu.

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