Congratulations to chemical engineering senior, Wakana Kani, for being offered an NSF GRFP award! Congrats also to Adam Humpal, her PhD student mentor for his outstanding mentorship and support of Wakana’s growth as a researcher.

The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited United States institutions. The fellowship provides a three-year annual stipend as well as a cost of education allowance that is paid to the institution. NSF GRFs are selected based on their potential for scientific leadership and outreach to the broader community. This award is a testament to Wakana’s research creativity, persistence, work ethic, and consistently excellent performance in one of Mines’ most academically grueling programs (CBE).

Wakana is among an elite group of 1000 seniors and PhD students to have received this award. The NSF cut the number of GRFP awards was cut from 2400 in previous years to 1000 this year.  Wakana submitted a high-quality application that earned an award despite these lowered odds of success. Congrats to Wakana on her GRFP success! We are proud of you!