UW Bioengineering undergraduates Ian Andrews, Alice Bosma-Moody and Gina Hansen have received Goldwater Scholarship Awards for the 2015-16 academic year. Earlier this year, four BioE students were nominated for the prestigious scholarship program. All Goldwater Scholar nominees from the University of Washington in 2015 were from BioE.

260 scholarships have been awarded for the 2015–2016 academic year, selected from a field of 1,206 undergraduate sophomores and juniors from the United States. Nominees for the scholarship program are selected on the basis of academic merit from mathematics, science and engineering programs nationwide. Their scholarships will cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.

Below is specific information about each of BioE’s Goldwater Scholars.

Ian W. Andrews
Career Goals: Ph.D. in Bioengineering. Conduct research in the application of molecular diagnostic techniques to global health and teach at the university level.
Research Information: Barry Lutz Lab — Research focuses on the development of paper-based microfluidic tests for diagnosing acute and drug resistant HIV.

Alice C. Bosma-Moody (dual major in bioengineering and neurobiology)
Career Goal: M.D./Ph.D. in Neuro-Engineering. Conduct research in a clinical setting and teach at the post-graduate level.
Research Information: Chet Moritz Lab – The purpose of this project is to construct an automated system for the collection of behavioral data in the lab. Alice works with one other research scientist to automate a forelimb reaching task for rats with spinal cord injury.

Gina L. Hansen
Career Goal: Ph.D. in Bioengineering. Conduct translational research in biomedical industry for development of improved diagnostic approaches.
Research Information: Daniel Ratner Lab – A significant challenge in label-free biosensing is protein fouling. Non-specific adsorption can completely obstruct detection of a given biological analyte, ultimately limiting the sensitivity of the assay. Gina investigates.  zwitterionic polymer chains as a surface coating, resulting in a hydrated surface which resists protein fouling.
Research Assistant: John Delaney and Deborah Kelley – Installation and testing of secondary infrastructure for cabled network, including extension cables, secondary power nodes, and various long-term deep-sea instruments.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program is a federally endowed agency established by authorized by the United States Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry Goldwater, who served the United States for 56 years as a soldier and statesman, including 30 years of service in the U.S. Senate.. The Goldwater Scholarships is a national merit scholarship program that fosters and encourages excellence in science and mathematics. This program pays tribute to the leadership, courage and vision of Senator Goldwater. The program, as stated in its enabling legislation, is to alleviate the current and future shortage of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers and provide a continuing source of individuals to serve in academic study and research. Since its first award in 1989, the program has bestowed 7,428 scholarships worth approximately 48 million dollars.

Read more about the 2015-16 Goldwater Scholarships in the Goldwater Scholar Press Release

UW Today announces the three 2015-16 Goldwater Scholars from the Department of Bioengineering