Two Buckeye engineers named 2014 Goldwater Scholars
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For the 21st consecutive year, Ohio State students have been honored by the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, the most prestigious national award for undergraduate researchers in science, math and engineering.
“I’ve been on the Goldwater selection committee since about 2007 and we always have a very difficult time narrowing the field to four candidates from among the qualified students on campus,” said David Tomasko, associate dean for undergraduate education & student services in the College of Engineering. “This year, for the first time in as long as any of us on the committee could remember, three of our nominees already had contributed to peer-reviewed publications in their respective laboratories. Considering the time scale for getting published, this is quite simply remarkable. The college is enormously proud of both Joe and Katie for this well-deserved honor.”
This is the fourth consecutive year that all four students nominated by Ohio State—the maximum number an institution may nominate—have been distinguished in the highly competitive program.
“Receiving the Goldwater isn’t just a reflection on me, it’s a reflection on Ohio State in general,” Daehn said. “I’ve had great advisors, teachers and mentors who have helped me all along the way.”
Goldwater Scholars receive an award to cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500.
“I am extremely honored to have received the Goldwater Scholarship,” Gauthier said. “It will remove a lot of financial stress and will allow me to spend more time focusing on my course work and research.”
Since the award's inception in 1986, Ohio State has produced 48 Goldwater Scholars with 35 of the university’s last 36 nominees receiving recognition as a scholar or honorable mention.
Daehn, a junior honors student majoring in materials science engineering, has conducted research with Materials Science and Engineering Professors John Lippold and Boian Alexandrov in Ohio State’s Welding and Joining Metallurgy Group, investigating nickel-based superalloys used at GE Aviation. She spent last summer conducting research on polymer composites at the Friedrich Schiller Universität in Jena, Germany, through the DAAD Research Internships in Science & Engineering (RISE) program. She is also an officer in Ohio State’s chapter of Engineers for a Sustainable World and a member of the Honors Collegium. Daehn plans to pursue a PhD in materials science and become a professor at a research institution developing sustainable materials and manufacturing and recycling processes.
Nationwide, 283 scholarships and 249 Honorable Mentions were awarded to sophomores and juniors on the basis of academic merit from a field of more than 1,000 mathematics, science and engineering students who were nominated by universities.
A complete list of Goldwater Scholars and Honorable Mentions, arranged by state of residence, is available on the Goldwater website.
