42 graduate students recognized for scholarship, teaching, outreach, mentoring

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State is recognizing 42 outstanding graduate students with awards that highlight their impact across the University, specifically in the areas of scholarship, teaching, outreach and mentoring. These students will be acknowledged at a special luncheon on April 15.

The annual recognition awards are sponsored by the Office of the President and administered by the Fox Graduate School. The awards include:

• Intercollege Graduate Student Outreach Achievement Award
• Graduate Student Service Award
• Ardeth and Norman Frisbey International Student Award
• Harold F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Awards
• AT&T Graduate Fellowship Award
• Harold K. Schilling Dean’s Graduate Scholarship
• Professional Master’s Excellence Award
• Graduate Student International Research Award
• Graduate Student Excellence in Mentoring Award
• Thomas and June Beaver Fund Award
• Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award
• Penn State Alumni Association Scholarship for Penn State Alumni in the Fox Graduate School
• Alumni Association Dissertation Award

Intercollege Graduate Student Outreach Achievement Award

Robert Witkowski

Robert Witkowski, a plant biology doctoral student, has emerged as both a leading young scholar in plant‑insect interactions and a dynamic science communicator who is furthering Penn State’s land-grant mission. His dissertation explores the molecular dialogue between plants and parasitic gall‑inducing insects — projects that are supported by competitive funding, including a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture Predoctoral Fellowship. Alongside his research productivity, demonstrated through award‑winning presentations, publications and invited talks, Witkowski has built an exceptional record of public engagement.

A dedicated educator, he has designed and led programs that make plant science accessible to audiences of all ages. His “Great Goldenrod Bug Hunt” at the Arboretum at Penn State introduces students in grades K-6 to community ecology through hands‑on exploration, while his “Botany 101” workshops for the Penn State Plant Institute teach foundational botanical skills to adult learners. Witkowski has also co-developed multi‑week ecology labs to teach high school students experimental design and the scientific method. Colleagues laud him as a talented communicator whose outreach advances plant literacy and the University's land-grant mission.

Graduate Student Service Award

Emma Steinebronn

Emma Steinebronn, a physics doctoral candidate, has made a transformative impact through her leadership, teaching and outreach. After the COVID-19 pandemic, she played a central role in rebuilding graduate community structures — reviving student organizations, co‑organizing department‑wide town halls and mentoring peers into sustained leadership roles.

Her signature achievement is PAW Pals, an elementary‑school STEM outreach program she founded in her first year of graduate school. Now 100 volunteers strong, PAW Pals delivers hands‑on science modules to Park Forest and Ferguson Township elementary schools, and has been featured by Penn State, the State College Area School District, and regional media. Children described the program as “the best STEM class ever,” with some sharing that it helped them see themselves as future scientists.

Steinebronn is also a celebrated educator. As instructor of record for "PHYS 211," she created a welcoming, high‑engagement classroom environment that earned perfect evaluations. Her research exemplifies excellence in scholarship paired with meaningful, sustained community impact.

Ardeth and Norman Frisbey International Student Award

Alejandra Armesto-Gómez

Alejandra Armesto Gomez, a dual-title doctoral student in education, development and community engagement (EDCE), and international agricultural development (INTAD), has dedicated her time aiming to ensure that policy and education frameworks translate into more just, lived realities. She has served as a facilitator and advocate, building spaces for dialogue that advance gender equity across institutions and communities.

Armesto-Gómez currently leads the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, and Water and Land delegation for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. In this role, she is co‑developing a youth‑led module designed to reduce food waste, as well as creating spaces with the academic delegation to discuss centering gender and territory. Her leadership also extends to the Rural Sociological Society, where she co‑chairs the Gender and Sexualities Research Interest Group. Currently, she also serves as the president and vice-president for the EDCE and INTAD graduate student associations, respectively.

Her research contributions span global contexts, including evaluating gendered participation in India’s Atal Bhujal Yojana water‑governance program. Additionally, as former coordinator of the Americas Water‑Energy‑Food Nexus Alliance, Armesto-Gómez convened collaborations across sectors and countries — demonstrating a deep commitment to equity‑focused scholarship and community engagement.

Harold F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Awards

Arezou Darvishi

Arezou Darvishi, a dual‑title doctoral student in French and Francophone studies, and women's, gender, and sexuality studies, is being recognized for her transformative, student‑centered approach to language education. Her love for multiculturalism and languages led her to start teaching English as a foreign language when she was 17. Since coming to Penn State, she has taught across the full French basic‑language sequence, from French 001 through 003, becoming the first master's student during their first year to earn the Department of French and Francophone Studies’ Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award. She has consistently received positive feedback from her supervisor, as well as exceptional SRTE scores, indicating her passion for teaching and fostering an inclusive environment for learning.

Darvishi blends rigorous task‑based language instruction with practices grounded in care and collectivism. She incorporates student‑selected music, multimodal grammar instruction and collaborative problem‑solving to create classrooms where all learners feel welcomed and capable. Students reported feeling comfortable making mistakes, supported in their linguistic growth and encouraged by her patience, clarity and empathy.

Faculty praised her mastery of departmental methods, student-centered classroom management, and detailed-oriented approach and professionalism. Her early appointment to teach a 200‑level course reflects her extraordinary promise as a foreign language educator whose dedication inspires confidence, curiosity and community.

Alejandro Giraldo

Alejo Giraldo, a paleobotany-focused doctoral candidate in geosciences, is being recognized for his exceptional contributions to teaching, mentorship and field-based learning. His work in "GEOSC 204: Geobiology," transformed the course’s instructional materials: He cataloged and databased more than 150 fossil specimens, redesigned or updated each lab handout with the latest scientific findings and built parallel make‑up labs using high-resolution 3D fossils from the "Digital Atlas of Ancient Life." These innovations ensured that all students, whether in-person or remote, could develop scientific observation skills.

Students consistently praise his clarity, patience and responsiveness, noting that his review sessions and detailed feedback strengthened their exam performance and confidence. Faculty highlight his leadership across the curriculum, including his instruction in "GEOSC 303: Earth History" labs and his co-leadership of a five‑day Denver Basin field trip that incorporated sedimentology, stratigraphy and biostratigraphy into experiential learning.

Whether mentoring undergraduates into research roles or cultivating curiosity at the lab bench, Giraldo models a teaching philosophy grounded in approachability, rigor and care.

Lynsey Medd

Lynsey Medd, a doctoral candidate in communication arts and sciences (CAS), is being recognized for a teaching portfolio that stands among the strongest in her department. She has taught or assisted in nearly every major area of the CAS curriculum, from public speaking and interpersonal communication, to theory, quantitative methods and communication technologies. Faculty describe her as the instructor they “hope to secure” because of her thoughtful pedagogy, reliability and deep care for students.

Seeing herself as a lifelong learner, Medd employs a teaching philosophy centered on relevance, engagement and consideration. Her research focuses on mindfulness and interpersonal communication, and those principles are on display when she interacts with her students. She uses open‑ended questions, hands‑on activities and real‑world applications to help students connect course concepts to their own communication challenges and relationships. To this end, Medd has created, employed and presented several lesson plans at regional, national and international communication conferences. Students described her classroom as welcoming, inclusive and transformative; many report using her lessons in their daily lives, from conflict conversations to supportive communication. Her academic feedback scores are consistently exceptional, and she received the department’s Kathryn DeBoer Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Madiha Noor

Madiha Noor, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction with a dual title in comparative international education, is being recognized for her exceptional impact on teacher preparation through a pedagogy rooted in relationships, reflection and community partnership. Across four consecutive semesters, Noor served as the primary instructor and supervisor for "CI-295A," a practicum that helps students turn observation into intentional, equity‑minded practice. Her professionalism, clear communication and deep respect for mentor teachers have strengthened ongoing collaborations across local early‑childhood settings.

Students have consistently described her courses as welcoming, inclusive and transformative for their future teaching. Academic feedback evaluations praise her practical feedback, thoughtfully designed assignments, hands-on classroom practices and guidance in responsive early‑childhood pedagogy. Drawing on more than a decade of experience in early‑childhood education, she also contributes to coursework in early literacy and play‑based learning and currently teaches a course on play as a young child’s educative process. Noor’s commitment to inclusive education extends beyond early childhood; her work with Upward Bound supports first‑generation high‑school students. Across her teaching, Noor models the belief that learning begins with feeling honored, seen and capable. Her work cultivates educators who lead with empathy, confidence and a deep commitment to community.

Paul Ruelos

Paul Ruelos, a doctoral candidate in kinesiology, is being recognized for exemplary teaching that blends innovation, mentorship and a deep commitment to fostering student professional growth. Across courses ranging from "Functional Anatomy and Biophysical Foundations" to "Neurobiology of Human Movement," he has designed engaging instructional experiences that connect anatomical and physiological concepts to real-world clinical practice. His techniques include integrating TopHat polling, cadaver-based learning, 3D models and structured peer‑teaching to foster collaboration and conceptual mastery.

Ruelos’ impact extends beyond the classroom through weekly review sessions, mock practicals and extensive office hours that provide individualized support. Faculty described him as exceptionally reliable, proactive and skilled at managing complex course operations, noting that his mentorship strengthens students’ academic and professional trajectories. Students consistently lauded his clarity, responsiveness, and encouragement — citing his teaching as transformative to their learning and confidence.

Kristin Schoenecker

Kristin Schoenecker, a doctoral candidate in geography, is being recognized for exemplary teaching that blends critical pedagogy, community-building and innovative design in large general‑education courses. As a teaching assistant for "GEOG 030N: Environment and Society in a Changing World," she led multiple weekly recitations that recreated the intimacy of a liberal‑arts seminar. Schoenecker redesigned activities to explore course concepts through interactive cartographic activities and media analysis. She also offered flexible office hours around major writing assignments. Faculty highlighted her exceptional organization, adaptability and deep commitment to student learning.

Students have consistently praised her recitations for “making the material click,” noting clear feedback, engaging discussions and a welcoming environment that encourages participation. Drawing on feminist teaching and political ecology, Schoenecker invites students to examine “wicked problems” across scales while valuing personal histories and diverse ways of knowing.

Her teaching cultivates analytical confidence, media literacy and a sense of agency — transforming general‑education geography into a personal and empowering experience.

Xiaozhen Song

Xiaozhen Song, a doctoral candidate in energy and mineral engineering, is being recognized for elevating hands‑on learning through exceptional preparation, mentorship and student‑centered instruction. In "MNG 331: Rock Mechanics" and "MNG 422: Mine Ventilation & Air Conditioning," he prepares days ahead by running each experiment himself, calculating expected results and refining procedures. This groundwork allows students to focus on understanding rather than troubleshooting, supported by clear safety briefings and careful instruction on instruments ranging from anemometers to manometers.

Students and faculty describe Song as approachable, patient and highly effective: an instructor who explains concepts step‑by‑step, connects theory to engineering practice and provides detailed, timely feedback. Many credit his guidance with success in internships, conference presentations and early industry experiences. Beyond laboratory teaching, Song supports AutoCAD‑based mine design and introduces students to CFD workflows, helping them see how simulation, design and experimentation fit together.

Through preparation, empathy and practical insight, Song aims to empower students to master technical skills and understand how engineering decisions safeguard people and operations underground.

Christine Ta

Christine Ta, a doctoral candidate in anthropology with a dual title in microbiome sciences, is being recognized for outstanding instruction that has shaped the learning experiences of hundreds of Penn State students. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes confidence‑building, collaborative problem-solving and an inclusive classroom environment where students feel safe asking questions and engaging deeply with challenging content.

Ta also served as both lead teaching assistant (TA) and lab coordinator for "BIOL 476: Advanced Anatomy," overseeing seven cadaver‑based lab sections, training 12 teaching assistants and managing the instructional infrastructure. She scaffolds complex concepts through Socratic questioning, gamified review sessions and linguistic breakdowns of anatomical terms, helping students connect material to meaning. In addition to her anatomy teaching experiences, she also provided laboratory instructions in "ANTH021: Introductory Biological Anthropology," broadening students' perspectives by considering the humanitarian implications of biology and anthropological research. Students consistently praised her clarity, enthusiasm and thoughtful support.

Beyond her own sections, Ta shapes lab culture across the course, modeling inclusive pedagogy, mentoring peers and fostering a community of confident, capable learners. Her excellence in teaching matches her growing research achievements, making her an exemplar of graduate education at Penn State.

Nusrat Tabassum

Nusrat Tabassum, a doctoral candidate in architecture, is being recognized for exceptional instructional leadership across design foundations, computational methods and advanced fabrication. Her teaching philosophy centers on connecting creative design thinking with real‑world problem solving through collaborative, iterative and hands‑on learning.

With more than four years of teaching experience at Penn State, she has played a central role in the course "Additive Manufacturing of Concrete Structures," guiding interdisciplinary cohorts through computational modeling, robotic 3D concrete printing, Grasshopper workflows and toolpath development. Her clarity, patience and individualized support help students navigate technically demanding material with confidence. In fall 2025, Tabassum expanded her impact to the "Basic Design" architecture course, supporting more than 130 second-year architectural engineering students as they developed core design skills. Faculty described her as empathetic, dedicated and consistently willing to go beyond expected hours, whether leading technical workshops, assisting with lab research, or mentoring new researchers at the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing.

Students credited Tabassum with transforming uncertainty into excitement, especially when entering advanced fabrication environments. Her multidisciplinary expertise and commitment to inclusive, supportive teaching make her an outstanding representative of graduate education at Penn State.

Ying Xiong

Ying Xiong, a doctoral candidate in applied linguistics, is being recognized for her outstanding contributions to teaching and student learning at Penn State. As instructor of record for eight sections of academic writing, with "English as a Second Language/ESL 15," and linguistics courses, such as "Applied Linguistics/APLNG 200" and "APLNG 220N, as well as co‑instructor of a doctoral seminar in sociolinguistics, "APLNG 582," she has demonstrated exceptional dedication to fostering inclusive, intellectually rigorous learning environments. Her teaching is grounded in inquiry‑based, identity‑affirming pedagogies that empower multilingual and international students to draw on their linguistic resources with confidence and purpose.

Xiong thoughtfully designs courses that blend rigorous academic writing, linguistic theory and critical reflection on lived experience. Students consistently laud her clarity, warmth and organization, describing her classroom as welcoming and intellectually engaging. Academic feedback evaluations have highlighted her empathy, responsiveness and talent for making complex concepts accessible.

Faculty commended her pedagogical creativity, expert facilitation of theory‑heavy content and leadership in supporting linguistically and culturally diverse learners. A recipient of the Superior Teaching and Research (STAR) Award through the College of the Liberal Arts, Xiong exemplifies inclusive, research‑informed teaching that prepares students to engage ethically and thoughtfully across differences.

AT&T Graduate Fellowship Award

Syed Md Mukit Rashid

Syed Md Mukit Rashid, a doctoral candidate in computer science and engineering, is being recognized for research that improves the security of everyday wireless technologies. His scholarship focuses on building automated testing frameworks that identify and help repair vulnerabilities in real-world implementations of 4G and 5G cellular networks, Bluetooth, Wi‑Fi and Internet of Things systems. Rather than relying on manual testing, Rashid integrates program analysis, model checking and machine learning to generate realistic communication sequences, learn device behavior from traces and detect when implementations violate critical security or privacy rules.

Using these methods, he and his collaborators have analyzed dozens of commercial devices and uncovered numerous previously unknown vulnerabilities — including flaws enabling tracking, denial‑of‑service attacks, privilege escalation and interception of communications. His research has resulted in multiple the industry-recognized common vulnerabilities and exposures, or CVEs, and substantial bug‑bounty recognition from industry partners.

Through the support of this fellowship, Rashid said he aims to advance AI‑driven vulnerability discovery and automated repair, helping ensure that future wireless systems are more trustworthy, resilient and secure.

Harold K. Schilling Dean’s Graduate Scholarship

Vaibhav Pal

Vaibhav Pal, a doctoral candidate in chemistry, is being recognized for breakthrough innovations that could bring curative therapies for Type 1 diabetes closer to reality. His research addresses three major challenges in islet transplantation — poor vascularization, immune rejection and limited scalability, by engineering micron‑sized, microporous biomaterials capable of supporting high‑density functional islets.

Pal developed an air‑assisted co‑axial microgel fabrication method that produces roughly 65,000 microgels per second while maintaining excellent cell viability, representing an important step toward clinically relevant and scalable constructs. He further introduced photocurable egg white microgels, a biomaterial derived from egg white that forms highly porous, binder‑free scaffolds promoting rapid vascular ingrowth and localized immune protection after surface modification.

By integrating these materials with aspiration‑assisted bioprinting, Pal precisely positions insulin‑producing islets within microgels to prevent aggregation and maintain function, an approach now being tested in diabetic mouse models. His publications, and leadership across the research community, underscore both scientific excellence and the translational promise of his research. Pal’s innovations advance regenerative medicine, reduce dependence on scarce donor organs, and help build a more sustainable and patient-centered future for diabetes care.

Professional Master's Excellence Award

Yasaman Ghaffarian

Yasaman Ghaffarian, who is pursuing a concurrent master of architecture and master of science in architecture, bridges architectural theory and practice through exceptional scholarly achievement, design vision and research contributions. Her capstone project, "Micro‑Urban Living: Adaptive Housing Solutions for Irregular Urban Lots," challenges conventional assumptions about what constitutes buildable land in dense global cities. By analyzing spatial, regulatory, and economic conditions in cities like Boston, Ghaffarian demonstrates how narrow, triangular, and residual parcels, typically dismissed as unusable, can support fully functional micro‑housing.

Drawing on precedents such as Takamitsu Azuma’s "Tower House" and Gordon Matta‑Clark’s "Fake Estates," she developed prototype housing models that maintained livability within 200–600 square feet through modular furniture, transformable interiors and reliance on surrounding urban amenities. Faculty commend the project for its rigor, originality, and exceptional graphic and analytical clarity.

Beyond her capstone project, Ghaffarian has contributed to research publications, international conference presentations and community‑engaged affordable‑housing initiatives. Her research and design proposal offers a replicable, globally transferable framework that positions architecture as both a critical lens and practical instrument for addressing urban housing shortages, and exemplifies the highest standards of professional architectural education.

Dhrupad Umesh Joshi

Dhrupad Umesh Joshi, a master’s student in cybersecurity analytics and operations, is being recognized for his research at the intersection of hands‑on defense training, applied artificial intelligence and experiential learning. His focus is on creating realistic, high‑pressure cybersecurity environments where students investigate live simulated intrusions, develop incident‑response intuition and build what a faculty mentor describes as “cyber muscle memory.” Unlike traditional static exercises, Joshi’s browser‑based laboratory platform incorporates evolving attacker behavior and polymorphic adversarial activity, helping learners think like analysts in a real security operations center. The platform is delivered through a browser-based architecture using v86, eliminating the need for dedicated infrastructure, local virtualization or high-performance systems, and making advanced cybersecurity training accessible at scale.

Joshi extended this research to an industry setting, where he designed a high‑fidelity digital twin for distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack mitigation. In prior experience, he led breach simulations and conducted penetration testing across web, API and infrastructure environments. His work integrates adversary emulation, network telemetry, metadata pipelines and automated agents, supporting industry-scale defense rehearsals and demonstrating immediate operational value.

He has also advanced accessible cybersecurity education through secure‑coding guidance, adaptive labs and an AI‑driven intelligent assistant praised for translating complex concepts into practical learning tools. Faculty commended his technical maturity and pedagogical insight, qualities that position him as a rising leader in cybersecurity training and workforce development.

Jasmeen Kaur Khosa

Jasmeen Khosa, a master’s student in forensic science, is being recognized for her contributions to a landmark research project that advances the accuracy and global utility of forensic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. She completed the final phase of sequencing and analyzing 10,000 complete human mitochondrial genomes, one of the largest projects of its kind. Using a validated, high‑throughput workflow that integrates long-read sequencing technology, she generated exceptionally high‑quality mitogenome — complete mitochondrial DNA information — sequences. She then applied advanced forensic bioinformatic tools to identify genetic variation and evaluate site-specific heteroplasmy — different mtDNA types in the same place — with high levels of confidence.

The resulting dataset, now being incorporated into an international database known as EMPOP, significantly expands global mitochondrial reference populations and improves the statistical interpretation of mtDNA evidence in criminal casework, missing persons investigations and disaster victim identification. Faculty noted that Khosa brings not only technical expertise but also a strong commitment to education and lab safety through her roles as a teaching assistant and laboratory biosafety officer. Together, these efforts reflect her dedication to advancing scientific excellence and upholding professional standards in forensic science.

Megan von Abo

Megan von Abo, a student in the integrated undergraduate-graduate biotechnology program, is being recognized for an exceptional research portfolio that bridges molecular biology, neuroscience and circadian science. Her culminating project investigates how variants of a specific “circadian clock gene,” known as "Per1," contribute differently to memory consolidation and rhythmic regulation. This question has significant implications for understanding cognitive decline and circadian disruption in aging and disease. By combining behavioral studies in animals with careful analysis of gene activity, she is producing some of the first evidence that these gene variants may play distinct roles in memory‑related brain circuits.

Faculty describe her as operating at the level of a third‑year doctoral student, leading independent experiments, mentoring peers and contributing to multiple manuscripts, including work published in Biology of Sex Differences. Beyond the lab, von Abo supports biotechnology teaching and holds leadership roles across campus.

Graduate Student International Research Award

Sanika Khadkikar

Sanika Khadkikar, a doctoral candidate in physics, is being recognized for her internationally collaborative research on some of the universe’s most extreme objects: neutron stars. These stars, so dense that a teaspoon of their matter would weigh more than a mountain, produce ripples in space‑time when they collide, known as gravitational waves. Sanika’s research focuses on developing new ways to decode these signals to better understand the fundamental physics at play inside neutron stars, including how the universe forges heavy elements such as gold and platinum.

Because gravitational wave science is inherently global, Sanika’s research spans multiple countries and scientific communities. She collaborates with teams at major research centers across Europe, including the University of Southampton in England; the National Centre for Scientific Research in France; the Gran Sasso Science Institute in Italy; the Max Planck Institute in Germany; and Utrecht University in the Netherlands. These groups are instrumental in planning and designing the next generation of gravitational wave observatories: vast, high‑precision instruments that will allow scientists to detect hundreds of thousands of cosmic events each year.

By working directly with international experts who are shaping these future observatories, Sanika is supporting researchers worldwide to accurately interpret the wealth of data these instruments will collect.

Graduate Student Excellence in Mentoring Award

Mia Sullivan

Mia Sullivan, a doctoral candidate in education, development and community engagement with a dual title in international agriculture and development, is being recognized for transformative mentorship that spans undergraduate researchers, preservice agricultural educators, international students and graduate peers. Her approach is rooted in relational, culturally responsive guidance and reflects 16 years of experience as an agricultural educator, and a deep commitment to supporting students’ academic progress, professional identity and personal well‑being.

As president of both the Education, Development and Community Engagement (EDCE) Graduate Student Association in 2025, and the International Agriculture and Development GSA in 2026, Sullivan has become a central resource for students navigating academic expectations, leadership roles and how to overcome common challenges of graduate school. Within the EDCE program, students affectionately call her “Grandma,” honoring the steadiness, care and perspective she brings to conversations about research, coursework, and career transitions.

Her efforts extend to national leadership as the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Graduate Student Representative and to teaching through the Global Orientation to Agriculture Learning (GOALs) program, where she supports learners in research engagement, global citizenship and agricultural career exploration. Faculty and peers alike cited her rare combination of intellectual rigor, emotional intelligence and inclusive leadership, and frequently seek out her guidance and mentorship.

Thomas and June Beaver Fund Award

Mohammadreza Shariatmadari

Mohammadreza Shariatmadari, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering, is being recognized for research that strengthens the sustainability and reliability of modern energy‑storage systems. While advanced battery‑management systems are standard in lithium‑ion technologies, they remain too costly for widely used but low‑cost chemistries, such as lead‑acid batteries. Shariatmadari addresses this gap by designing diagnostic algorithms capable of estimating battery health from minimal, low‑bandwidth data, which enables sophisticated monitoring on inexpensive hardware suitable for utility, micro‑mobility and backup‑power applications. His research extends to the development of intelligent, adaptive charging strategies that account for changing oxygen‑recombination efficiencies in aqueous chemistries, preventing under‑ and over‑charging, extending battery life and improving operational safety.

By enhancing the performance of more mature battery technologies with higher recycling rates, his research promotes a more circular and environmentally responsible energy ecosystem. These innovations reduce material demand, increase energy resilience and expand equitable access to clean, reliable storage solutions — supporting a fairer and more sustainable electrified future.

Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award

Mia Esoldo

Mia Esoldo, a master’s student in entomology, is addressing some of the most urgent questions in vector‑borne disease ecology. Her thesis investigates how native and regionally invasive tick species compete when feeding on the same white‑footed mouse hosts, as well as how white-footed mice respond through grooming defenses. These dynamics are increasingly important as factors, such as climate change, shift tick distributions and introduce new species into previously unaffected regions. Through tick infestation and behavioral tracking experiments, Esoldo is revealing how competitive tick feeding dynamics and host grooming shape tick survival.

Her research has already extended beyond her thesis. Esoldo managed a complex 1,200‑bird Good Clinical Practice poultry study that contributed to the development of a new ectoparasite control drug, earning exceptional praise from industry partners for her technical skill, communication and data management. With manuscripts in progress, national conference presentations and active Penn State Extension outreach, she is building a track record that blends rigorous science with public engagement. Esoldo’s research offers timely insights that strengthen animal health, ecosystem management and public‑health preparedness.

Nathan D. Manna

Nathan D. Manna, a master’s student in art history, fuses medievalism and queer theory to introduce the concept of “queer relics,” which describes how contemporary artists transform bodily traces, intimate objects and charged mementos into sacral objects that preserve memory, desire and devotion. Building off Catholic reliquary traditions, his work traces how queer artists appropriate and reconfigure sacred forms to produce new modes of memorialization and presence, building archives that register lives and losses often excluded from institutional histories. Going beyond the written thesis, Manna extends these ideas through practice-as-research, where his art practice acts as a laboratory embodying and putting theory into action. He currently is working on an installation that crystalizes the ideas of his thesis into a tangible form that can be viewed and experienced — a novel contribution to the field of art history. Manna’s thesis will be appearing in a special issue of the journal Different Visions in 2027.

His research has been extensively supported with competitive grants, including from the National Endowment for the Arts. He has been invited to present his research at prestigious venues, including the Clark Art Institute, and he is the recipient of the College of Arts and Architecture’s Creative Achievement Award and an Alumni Association Graduate Fellow scholarship through the Fox Graduate School.

Andres Mayorga Corleto

Andres Mayorga Corleto, a master’s student in rural sociology, is honored for exemplary research that reveals how Indigenous communities in El Salvador have preserved agrifood systems under generations of land dispossession, conflict and industrial agricultural expansion. Drawing on 34 in‑depth interviews and immersive fieldwork, his thesis traces how Indigenous peoples cultivated remote fields during the civil war, safeguarded ancestral seeds during exile in Honduras and reestablished their agriculture as a cornerstone of cultural identity after returning home. Today, these systems continue through high agrobiodiversity, lunar‑based planting, bartering networks and agroecological conservation.

Mayorga’s scholarship argues that Indigenous agriculture is not only a legacy of the past but a vital strategy for resilience, food sovereignty and climate adaptation. Faculty lauded his conceptual clarity, methodological rigor and rare maturity as a community‑engaged researcher. Building on his experience working with grassroots Indigenous organizations in El Salvador, his research with Miskitu, and small-scale fishing communities in the Gulf of Fonseca and the Moskitia in Honduras, Mayorga uses participatory research to help envision a pluriversal world in which peasants, fishers and Indigenous peoples can coexist in dignity and peace, exercising autonomy over how, where and when they design their agrifood systems.

Anika Rahnuma

Anika Rahnuma, a master’s student in electrical engineering, is being recognized for her impactful research on acoustic resonators that underpin reliable signal filtering in smartphones, Wi‑Fi systems, GPS receivers, and emerging 5G and 6G technologies. Her research bridges experimental rigor and computational insight. She performs detailed device measurements, extracts key performance parameters, and develops simulation‑based models to explain trends and guide improved resonator designs. As experimental and simulated results converge, her research deepens our understanding of the electromechanical behavior that enables cleaner communication signals, lower power use, and more robust sensing platforms.

Beyond her technical achievements, Rahnuma has also received competitive engineering scholarships for both research excellence and her leadership in the Graduate Women in Engineering student organization.

Deebak Tamilmani

Deebak Tamilmani, a master’s student in architecture, is honored for a thesis that stands at the forefront of AI‑assisted design. His research embeds large language models into the architectural drafting software Rhinoceros 3D, enabling users to generate and modify digital geometry through natural language, spoken or typed. By lowering the steep learning curve associated with traditional modeling interfaces, his system expands access for students, professionals and designers with disabilities.

Tamilmani developed two complementary technical pathways: fine‑tuning language models on Rhinoceros‑specific data to produce Python scripts for complex operations, and implementing tool‑calling mechanisms that allow the model to invoke predefined functions for simpler commands. His advisor describes the scholarship as potentially “radical” in reshaping how designers draw and collaborate.

Already recognized with a Rising Researcher Grant through Penn State’s Institute for Computational and Data Sciences, a provisional patent and multiple conference publications, Tamilmani pairs technical rigor with thoughtful mentorship of undergraduate students. His thesis demonstrates how AI can become an active collaborator in creative workflows, and it signals a promising future for equitable, intelligent design tools.

Penn State Alumni Association Scholarship for Penn State Alumni in the Fox Graduate School

Scout Bucks

Scout Bucks, a doctoral student in nuclear engineering, is being recognized for innovative research that strengthens the safety and performance of advanced nuclear reactors. His research focuses on sodium heat pipes, which are sealed, high‑temperature devices that passively transfer heat and are central to the design of next‑generation microreactors. By developing new techniques to characterize heat‑pipe behavior and map out their safe operating regimes, Bucks provides critical data needed to ensure reliability under extreme thermal conditions.

His experiments focus on designing and building high‑temperature test sections, integrating fiber‑optic and infrared diagnostics, and validating system behavior across a wide range of temperatures. This research advances reactor concepts that can deliver clean, stable power to remote communities, industrial facilities and other settings poorly served by traditional energy infrastructure.

With a 4.0 academic record, industry experience at Idaho National Laboratory and multiple conference awards, Bucks demonstrates both exceptional technical capability and a commitment to safe, sustainable nuclear energy.

Samantha Splendido

Samantha Splendido, a doctoral candidate in mechanical engineering, is being recognized for research that illuminates how engineering students’ experiences shape their identity development, career preparedness and long‑term persistence. Drawing on psychological and sociological frameworks, her scholarship investigates the factors such as belonging, well‑being and engineering identity that meaningfully influence whether students remain in engineering after completing their degrees. She has conducted studies with multiple unique populations, including U.S. National Science Foundation‑funded undergraduate researchers, online master’s students and industry professionals, to better understand how distinct pathways and learning environments shape students’ goals and development as engineers.

Beyond her research, Splendido brings her insights directly into practice. She serves as an instructor of record for a technical writing course in mechanical engineering and holds competitive teaching fellowships, earning a reputation as a thoughtful and effective educator. As president of the Graduate Women in Engineering student organization, she advocates for supportive, inclusive graduate experiences. Her efforts advance both scholarship and practice in engineering education, helping prepare the next generation of engineers for impactful and fulfilling careers.

Alumni Association Dissertation Award

Chad Brunswick

Chad Brunswick, a doctoral candidate in neuroscience, is helping to advance our fundamental understanding of how aging alters the brain’s ability to update existing memories. While remembering is often thought of solely as retrieving old information, the brain must constantly revise stored memories as new experiences occur. This process is crucial for learning, decision‑making and cognitive flexibility. His dissertation focuses on the neuronal representations that encode specific memories and how their reactivation is impaired in the aging brain. Using an integrative toolkit that includes genetic labeling, pharmacology and carefully designed behavioral interventions, Brunswick investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms that underlie successful memory updating and how these mechanisms change in the old brain. His research has demonstrated that restoring coordinated activity within these memory‑encoding representations can rescue updating deficits in older animals, revealing a promising therapeutic avenue.

Faculty described him as among the most innovative and capable scientists they have ever trained, praising his clarity of thought, creativity and independence. With multiple publications, national presentations and competitive fellowships, including a National Institutes of Health F31 fellowship, Brunswick is already making a significant impact on the field of aging and memory.

Satwik Kundu

Satwik Kundu, a doctoral candidate in computer science and engineering, is advancing quantum computing toward resilient and efficient deployment. His dissertation addresses two foundational challenges: protecting quantum machine‑learning models on shared cloud platforms and reducing the prohibitive cost and time required to train quantum algorithms. Related to security, Kundu identified new attack surfaces that include data poisoning, model theft and compiler reverse‑engineering, and he developed defenses that prevent intellectual‑property loss on untrusted quantum clouds. His framework obfuscates model outputs while preserving fidelity for authorized users and has already influenced ongoing work at top institutions.

To improve efficiency, Kundu created a predictive optimization system that reduces the number of costly quantum‑hardware calls, enabling training speeds up to three times faster. His research has resulted in more than 10 publications, a provisional patent, a Best Paper Award at IEEE International Symposium on Hardware Oriented Security and Trust (HOST) 2025, a premier hardware security conference, more than 230 citations, and $70,000 in IBM Quantum credits. Adopted by researchers at MIT, IBM and others, his research significantly accelerates progress toward practical quantum advantage in fields ranging from drug discovery to materials science.

Gasto Lyakurwa

Gasto Lyakurwa, a dual-title doctoral candidate in recreation, park and tourism management, and transdisciplinary research in environment and society, is being recognized for research that deepens understanding of how human‑wildlife coexistence emerges in communities living adjacent to Tanzania’s national parks. As agriculture, pastoralism and wildlife increasingly overlap, households face opportunities such as tourism income and substantial costs, including crop damage, livestock predation and risks to human safety. Drawing on dozens of interviews, comparative village surveys, and structural‑equation modeling, Lyakurwa’s dissertation analyzes how wildlife‑related benefits and burdens shape livelihood security, conservation attitudes and willingness to coexist.

His findings highlight the importance of equitable benefit‑sharing, strong community engagement and targeted support for households disproportionately affected by wildlife. Faculty commended his methodological rigor, community partnerships and policy relevance, noting that his research informs conservation agencies and local governments across East Africa. With publications in Land, Conservation Letters, and Wild, Lyakurwa’s research is contributing to designing socially just, context‑sensitive strategies that support both human well‑being and biodiversity conservation.

Breneil Malcolm

Breneil Malcolm, a doctoral candidate in learning, design and technology, is being recognized for a dissertation that offers a transformative rethinking of how trans — any non cis-gender identity, including transgender, nonbinary and gender conforming identities, with a focus on Black, Indigenous and people of color — people learn about gender and sexual identity through embodied practice. Centering bodybuilding as a cultural site of learning, their study explores how trans bodybuilders navigate sociopolitical narratives that frame their bodies as “inappropriate,” while simultaneously cultivating agency, community and joy through the disciplined sport of bodybuilding. Drawing from a dynamic co-constructed method of portraiture and auto theory, Malcolm positions their own experiences as a recreational power builder alongside those of their participants, generating a co‑constructed narrative and thematic analysis that advances new theoretical language, including the “coloniality of transness,” and expands methodological possibilities in the field.

Their findings offer important implications for activism, solidarity‑building and the design of inclusive learning and activity spaces. Faculty commended Malcolm’s research as rigorous, field‑shifting and deeply consequential for how educators, policymakers and institutions support trans people in sport and beyond.

Shreya Mathela

Shreya Mathela, a doctoral candidate in chemistry, is being recognized for research that brings consistency and predictability to materials long considered too fragile for large‑scale technologies. Her research focuses on transition‑metal dichalcogenides, which are atomically thin semiconductors whose properties are extremely sensitive to defects, dopants and their supporting substrates. Using ultrafast laser spectroscopy to observe energy flow on trillionth‑of‑a‑second timescales, Mathela mapped how these variables interact and identified clear “design rules” that determine when dopants clean electronic states and when they instead pair with defects to form harmful traps.

Her findings resolve longstanding discrepancies across laboratories and offer a framework that links atomic‑scale chemistry to device‑level performance. Advisors described her as an independent scientist whose research has guided multi‑group collaborations and informed materials growth efforts. By transforming 2D material engineering into a rational, predictable process, Mathela’s dissertation provides a roadmap for building reliable optoelectronics, data‑storage components, flexible devices and future quantum materials from atomically thin semiconductors.

Ioannis Mouratidis

Ioannis Mouratidis, a doctoral candidate in bioinformatics and genomics, is being recognized for research that pushes the boundaries of computational biology, genomic data science and AI‑enabled diagnostics. His dissertation introduces two novel categories of short DNA sequences: quasi‑primes, which uniquely distinguish one species from all others, and neomers, cancer‑specific sequences absent in healthy individuals. By developing algorithms to identify quasi‑primes across 45,000 genomes, Mouratidis uncovered sequence patterns linked to human brain development and disease, work published in Genome Research and tied to a major R01‑level grant from the National Institutes of Health.

His cancer‑detection research demonstrates that neomer‑based machine‑learning models can identify cancer and its type from a simple blood draw, opening pathways to noninvasive early diagnostics supported by a provisional patent and multiple cancer foundations. Mouratidis has also created multiple influential open‑access software programs, including kmerDB, ZSeeker and MAFcounter, that are now used globally.

His current research builds upon these computational methods to address the safety and security challenges that arise as AI becomes increasingly powerful in biology. With over 35 publications, numerous invited talks, and major grants influenced by his research, Mouratidis stands out as an exceptional researcher helping to shape the future of AI and the life sciences.

Kripa Neupane

Kripa Neupane, a doctoral candidate in forest resources, is recognized for a dissertation that provides one of the most comprehensive assessments to date, addressing the needs of stakeholders in Pennsylvania in the areas of forestry, climate policy and natural resource management, with a focus on equity, decision making and policy design. Her scholarship examines landowner perceptions of climate-smart forestry, barriers to carbon program participation and decision analysis of forest management tradeoffs between delayed harvests and harvested wood products. Through studies conducted across Pennsylvania and the eastern United States, Neupane shows that although many landowners care deeply about contributing to climate solutions, they often feel uncertain about how to adapt their forest management practices to address climate impacts, and existing programs do not always align with their values and management goals.

Her research has produced tangible impact: a peer education climate-smart forest legacy program, supporting women and underserved landowners during intergenerational land transfers; climate-smart forestry discussion groups; and nationally disseminated Penn State Extension programs that have reached more than 600 participants across 30 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, representing impact on more than five million acres of forestland. By linking lived experience with practical policy guidance, Neupane’s efforts are helping to shape fair, effective and scalable natural climate solutions.

Alexandra Nusawardhana

Alexandra Nusawardhana, a doctoral candidate in biomedical sciences, is being recognized for transformative research that advances our understanding of genomic instability and cancer treatment response. Her dissertation investigates the multifaceted role of the DNA repair nuclease EXO1, revealing how its activity promotes replication stress and double‑strand DNA breaks that sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy. Through genome‑wide CRISPR screens, molecular assays and computational analysis, she identified three distinct mechanisms by which EXO1 contributes to genome instability: expanding DNA gaps, degrading reversed DNA replication forks and discovering a novel synthetic lethal interaction with another cancer-associated gene.

These findings position EXO1 as both a promising biomarker for predicting chemotherapeutic response and a potential drug target for cancers that resist current treatments. Nusawardhana’s productivity and impact are widely recognized, with first‑author publications in Nature Communications and Nucleic Acids Research, a National Institutes of Health F31 fellowship and several research awards. Her research offers a path toward advancement of personalized medicine and targeted therapies in order to minimize severe side effects and chemotherapy resistance, which improve the quality of life for cancer patients and give them a better chance at positive outcomes overall.

Houman Riazi Jorshari

Houman Riazi Jorshari, a doctoral candidate in architecture, is being recognized for research that repositions Iranian architecture within global Cold War history. His dissertation examines how architecture operated as a medium of ideological negotiation in Cold War Iran, where American capitalism and Soviet socialism exerted competing pressures. Through the intertwined careers of architect‑theorist Noureddin Kianouri and feminist activist Maryam Firouz, both leading figures in the Iranian communist party of Tudeh, Riazi shows how debates on development, housing, gender and state power circulated across Tehran, Moscow and East Berlin.

Drawing on newly translated archival materials and extensive research across multiple international repositories, his scholarship challenges the portrayal of Iran as a peripheral Cold War site. Instead, he reveals Iran as an active participant in shaping and reshaping competing models of modernities. Faculty lauded his intellectual rigor, original contributions and leadership in teaching and scholarly communities, noting that his research is poised to influence future studies of Iranian architecture and political history.

Shio Sakon

Shio Sakon, a doctoral candidate in physics, is being recognized for transformative contributions that enhance how scientists detect and interpret ripples in spacetime. Working within a gravitational-wave search pipeline known as GstLAL, Sakon contributed to the development of a new method for generating template banks, which are simulated waveforms used to identify real gravitational‑wave signals. This reduced computational time from weeks to hours while maintaining state‑of‑the‑art performance. This innovation enabled faster tuning and the discovery of more than 250 significant events in the most recent LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA Collaboration’s observing run.

Her analyses helped explain several extraordinary detections, including record‑mass black‑hole mergers, and clarified why certain signals stand out in specialized searches. Sakon also leads work on sub‑solar‑mass systems, probing exotic compact‑object scenarios connected to dark‑matter theories, and contributed to population‑inference studies that revealed structures in the black‑hole mass spectrum.

Through advances spanning low‑latency detection, algorithm design and astrophysical interpretation, Sakon’s research ensures that gravitational‑wave astronomy remains fast, reliable and ready for multi‑messenger discovery in the years ahead.

Albert Suceava

Albert Suceava, a doctoral candidate in materials science and engineering, is being recognized for a transformative dissertation that bridges fundamental discovery and technological innovation. His research advances two critical fronts: developing high‑performance nonlinear, electro‑optic materials and creating new metrology tools that make optical measurements quantitative at the microscale.

Supported by Penn State’s Center for 3D Ferroelectric Microelectronics Manufacturing (3DFeM2), Suceava engineered ultra‑thin crystalline films that behave in remarkable ways when exposed to electricity. By carefully manipulating materials such as barium titanate and potassium niobate, he succeeded in stabilizing a rare “in‑between” crystal structure that doesn’t normally exist. In this state, the optical properties of these materials respond to electrical signals far more strongly than usual, especially at extremely low temperatures, where quantum technologies operate. His results set a new performance record for thin‑film electro‑optic materials, opening the door to more scalable and energy efficient switches for optical signals used in data centers and quantum computers. Suceava also created new measurement tools that help scientists map crystal structures within these materials, improving accuracy in ways that could benefit chip‑scale lasers, sensors and optical computers.

Faculty note that this body of work helped to secure a $2 million U.S. National Science Foundation award, alongside multiple publications, an invited talk and a patent disclosure. Together, Suceava’s contributions lay crucial groundwork for next‑generation integrated photonics and quantum technologies.

Esma Yerlikaya

Esma Yerlikaya, a doctoral candidate in biomedical sciences, is being recognized for research that redefines early‑stage intervention in diabetic retinopathy (DR). While current treatments focus on late vascular complications, Yerlikaya’s dissertation identifies the spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) as a potential driver of inflammation, vascular leakage and neural dysfunction in diabetic retinopathy. Her research shows that diabetes activates SYK abnormally early in disease progression, an insight that shifts the field’s understanding of how DR begins.

Using a specialized SYK‑knockout mouse model paired with human cell culture studies, Yerlikaya demonstrated that inhibiting SYK reduces pro-inflammatory cytokine production and preserves visual function. These findings position SYK as a promising therapeutic target for preventing blindness rather than merely managing late‑stage vascular damage. Her research excellence is reflected in multiple first‑author manuscripts, national presentations, and a prestigious National Institutes of Health F31 fellowship and marks her as a rising leader committed to improving outcomes for millions living with diabetes.

Cheyenne Zaremba

Cheyenne Zaremba, a doctoral candidate in communication arts and sciences, is being recognized for innovative research at the intersection of rhetoric, grief and public culture. Their dissertation investigates how, despite being designed as spaces of collective care, U.S. funerals often fall short in addressing disenfranchised grief, a form of grief that goes unspoken or unvalidated due to cultural, social or political barriers. Drawing on analyses of funeral media, interviews with funeral professionals and theoretical scholarship on rhetorical tools, Zaremba identified the “Grief Gap”: the mismatch between what bereaved people need and what funeral professionals, who typically lack clinical grief‑counseling training, are expected to provide.

Zaremba’s findings have significant implications for both scholarship and public life. Their calls for accessible grief education in schools, libraries and community spaces ensure more equitable and supportive mourning practices. Already invited to adapt portions of their dissertation for the National Funeral Directors Association, Zaremba is recognized as a transformative thinker whose scholarship will shape both academic and public conversations on death and bereavement.