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Two
Rose-Hulman Students Named Goldwater Scholars For Excellence in Math &
Science Education
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| Goldwater Scholars: Sophomores Angela
Smiley (left) and Amelia "Mae" Huehls spend time in a
laboratory on the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology campus
after learning about being named a 2005 Goldwater Scholar. |
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology sophomores Angela
Smiley and Amelia "Mae" Huehls are among the 320 students recently
awarded prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships for excellence and
academic merit in mathematics, science and engineering. The scholarship
is the premiere undergraduate award in these fields.
This marks the second straight year that a Rose-Hulman
student has received such national recognition, and the college joins
Harvard University, Stanford University, Princeton University and
California Institute of Technology among the colleges having multiple
recipients this year.
Goldwater Scholars were selected from a field of 1,091
nominees by faculty members at U.S. colleges and universities. The one-
and two-year scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books,
and room and board, up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.
Virtually all of this year's Goldwater Scholars intend
to obtain a Ph.D. as their degree objective.
"Angela Smiley and Mae Huehls exemplify the academic
excellence our students are achieving with the guidance of our
outstanding faculty," stated Rose-Hulman President John J. Midgley.
"They have taken advantage of the unique opportunities provided to our
undergraduate students to become high-achievers. The Goldwater
Scholarships will help Angela and Mae achieve their ambitious career
goals in applied biology and computer science. I can't wait to learn
about their achievements in the future."
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Angela Smiley |
Smiley, from Kokomo, is striving to earn bachelor's
degrees in three academic areas at Rose-Hulman: computer science,
mathematics and physics. She also plans to earn a master's degree in
electrical and computer engineering at the college, before earning a
Ph.D. in computer science, specializing in artificial and simulated
intelligence, and becoming a college professor. She hopes to become a
pioneer in the field of AI/SI as a researcher, developing techniques for
the design and creation of AIs and SIs versatile and powerful enough to
accomplish feats which had previously been impossible or required a
large investment of human time and tedious effort.
On campus, Smiley has helped develop educational
applets, supported by the National Science Foundation, for use in a
geometric modeling mathematics course (MA323); has been a member of
Rose-Hulman's College Bowl team; has been a member of the college's
programming team in the International Collegiate Programming
Competition; is a staff writer for the student newspaper, The Rose
Thorn; was named Most Outstanding Junior in last fall's Mathematical
Association of America Tri-State Mathematics Competition (based on level
of mathematics studying in college); and has been named the Mathematics
Department's Most Outstanding Freshman (2004).
And, Smiley maintains a 3.9 grade point average.
"Angela is committed to applying her remarkable talents
to pushing toward the frontiers of scientific knowledge and
technological development," stated Salman Azhar, associate professor of
computer science and software engineering, in a letter of
recommendation. "Her goals have moved past the status of idle dreams,
and she pursues them in a disciplined fashion."
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Amelia Huehls |
Huehls, from Indianapolis, is majoring in applied
biology and hopes to become a college researcher in the field of
immunology. Her career goals are personal. She has an allergy to dairy
products. Though it was known since her infancy that she was allergic to
dairy, as a child she was able to tolerate consuming some dairy products
with only moderate discomfort. At the age of 12, she began to suffer
from increasingly severe reactions to dairy, and 16 years old she was
unable to consume anything containing as much as a trace amount of
dairy. The allergy profoundly altered her diet and lifestyle, and she
has been unable to obtain answers as to why her allergy progressed the
way it did at the time that it did.
"Recognizing my interest in this area and realizing how
enticed I am by the questions surrounding allergy development and their
progression in some and disappearance in others solidified my
determination to pursue a career in science of immunology," she stated
in an essay that was part of her Goldwater scholarship application.
Alicia Cecil, assistant professor of applied biology,
stated in a letter of recommendation about Huehls: "It is somewhat
unusual to have a student with such focus and drive to make discoveries
in a scientific field at her level of study. I believe her level of
desire and focus, combined with her intellect, will lead to important
discoveries in the field of immunology."
At Rose-Hulman, Huehls is vice master alchemist of the
Alpha Chi Sigma professional chemistry fraternity, was secretary of the
Alpha Lambda Delta Freshman Honor Society (2003-04), and is a member of
the Residence Hall Association.
She also maintains a 4.0 grade point average.
The Goldwater Scholarship program, honoring former
Senator Barry M. Goldwater, was designed to foster and encourage
outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the
natural sciences, and engineering. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been
awarded 58 Rhodes Scholarships, 72 Marshall Awards, and numerous other
distinguished fellowships.
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