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Siwak, Malinowski Receive Scholar Awards

Ph.D. students Nathan Siwak and Kate Malinowski received Advancing Science in America scholar awards at a ceremony sponsored by the Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Foundation on Oct. 21 at George Washington University.

The ARCS Foundation provides scholarships to academically outstanding students pursuing degrees in science, medicine and engineering. Scholars are selected by representatives of the 52 U.S. academic institutions that the foundation supports, based on strict criteria and recommendations from departmental advisers and faculty.

Doctoral students from the University of Maryland, University of Virginia, John Hopkins University and Georgetown University were also honored at the ceremony. Siwak, an advisee of Prof. Reza Ghodssi (ECE/ISR), and Malinowski of Fischell Department of Bioengineering, were among five University of Maryland students to be selected.

Siwak's research focuses on homeland security chemical sensing applications using indium phosphide MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) optical switches. The goal of the project is to produce sensor systems that are highly sensitive and small. Siwak conducts his research in Prof. Ghodssi's MEMS Sensors and Actuators Lab. This was Siwak's second ARCS Foundation award.

Malinowski conducts her research at the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. Her research is focused on improving radiation therapy outcomes by developing partial-least-squares-based methods for non-invasively localizing tumors that move with each breath.

For more information about the 2010-2011 ARCS Scholarship recipients, visit the ARCS website.

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