U.S. Department of Energy Graduate Fellowships

The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Ohio State mechanical engineering graduate student Kathryn Gabet of Canton, Ohio, and economics and mechanical engineering ’10 alumnus John Hanson of Columbus, one of its newest graduate fellowships.

“The exceptionally talented students selected as graduate fellows are part of our nation’s next generation of scientific and technical leaders,” says U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “This investment in the training of scientists and engineers is part of the administration’s continued effort to ensure that America has the scientific and engineering workforce we need to secure our energy future and our continued economic competitiveness.”

As two of the 150 recipients awarded a fellowship in engineering, science or mathematics, Gabet and Hanson will receive three years of support in the form of tuition, living expenses, research materials and travel to research conferences or to energy department scientific user facilities.

“It’s really a grad student’s dream to be selected for a fellowship like this. Plus, it means that I’m not dependent on the department (mechanical and aerospace engineering) to allocate funding for the research I love doing,” says Gabet.

Gabet says her research interest lies in a detailed understanding of the basic physics behind cutting edge combustion system design and control. She is working under the supervision of mechanical and aerospace engineering Assistant Professor Jeffrey A. Sutton in the Turbulence and Combustion Research Laboratory and exploring turbulent combustion dynamics with state-of-the-art, high-speed laser diagnostics.

“My project involves directing short pulses of laser light into laboratory flames. By measuring how the flames absorb and re-emit the laser energy, I can calculate the temperature and chemical composition of the flame. These measurements will help describe the conditions occurring inside engines and will aid in the development of advanced engine technologies,” says Gabet.

“In order to gain the technical knowledge needed to be a leader in the field and assist in energy-policy decisions, I plan on pursuing my doctorate in mechanical engineering with an emphasis in energy, fluid mechanics and thermodynamics.”

Like Gabet, Hanson hopes that through his work as a researcher at a national lab or as a professor, he, too, can lead the nation toward a solution to the energy crisis.

During Hanson’s undergraduate career, he worked in the lab of Thomas Blue, professor of nuclear engineering, to investigate the potential use of fiber optics for applications in nuclear reactor instrumentation. By studying the performance of both traditional silica fibers and single-crystal sapphire fibers in a high temperature, high radiation environment, Hanson hopes to create an in-core sensor network that will allow researchers to measure important variables such as temperature more reliably and accurately.

This fall Hanson will continue his research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to advance nuclear power as an integral part of the solution to our nation’s energy challenges. Hanson is also interested in energy policy and spent a summer writing a policy paper for the American Nuclear Society in Washington, D.C.

Support for the fellowships Gabet and Hanson are receiving comes in part from $12.5 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.