UA Engineering Students Selected for NASA Scholarships

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Alabama Space Grant Consortium awarded seven undergraduate scholarships and one graduate fellowship to students at The University of Alabama.

Suzanne Kornegay, a graduate student in metallurgical and materials engineering from Oneonta, earned a $37,000 graduate fellowship for her dissertation titled “Revealing the role of the Ternary Additions in Nitinol Shape Memory Phase Stability.”

Dr. Gregory Thompson, a professor of metallurgical and materials engineering, is Kornegay’s adviser.

One of 52 national space grant consortia, the Alabama Space Grant Consortium, or ASGC, offers one graduate fellowship and multiple undergraduate scholarships to students at the University each year. The Alabama Space Grant Consortium is a NASA-funded organization.

Undergraduate applicants are selected based on their academic qualifications, career goals and an assessment of their motivation toward an aerospace or space science career. Graduate students are evaluated based on a proposed research program or plan of study relevant to NASA’s aerospace science and technology program in addition to academic qualifications and motivation toward an aerospace or space science career.

“The purpose of the ASGC is to inspire students across the state to consider aerospace and space science related careers,” said Dr. John Baker, professor and department head for aerospace engineering and mechanics. “This is especially important for Alabama given that the aerospace industry is one of the primary driving forces of Alabama’s economy.”

Undergraduate ASGC award recipients include:

• Elizabeth Anne Bowman, a junior in aerospace engineering from Scottsboro
• Alexis Brooke Cornelison, a senior in mechanical engineering from Fairhope
• David Thomas Gronstal, a senior in aerospace engineering from Belmont, North Carolina
• Eric Stephen McVay, a senior studying aerospace engineering and physics from Tuscaloosa
• Joseph Drake Olmstead, a junior in aerospace engineering from Gulf Shores
• Kellen Christian Schroeter, a senior in aerospace engineering from Ft. Wayne, Indiana
• Dylan Thomas Stapp, a senior majoring in both in aerospace engineering and astrophysics from Northport
• Matthew Lamar Warren, a senior majoring in both in aerospace engineering and physics from Pensacola, Florida

In 1837, The University of Alabama became one of the first five universities in the nation to offer engineering classes. Today, UA’s fully accredited College of Engineering has more than 4,500 students and more than 120 faculty. In the last eight years, students in the College have been named USA Today All-USA College Academic Team members, Goldwater, Hollings, Portz, Mitchell and Truman scholars.