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Two Rensselaer Students Selected as 2006 Barry M. Goldwater Scholars
Two Rensselaer students, Elizabeth DeLouise and Jeffrey
Martin, have been selected as 2006 Barry M. Goldwater Scholars
by the Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education
Foundation. The national award honors students pursuing careers
in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and
engineering.
Elizabeth DeLouise of Rockville Centre, N.Y., is a sophomore
with a dual major in computer and systems engineering and
psychology. She is a member of Mensa International and the
recipient of several awards, including most recently the Alpha
Omega Epsilon Engineering & Technical Science
Scholarship.
Through Rensselaer’s Minds & Machines Program — an
applied cognitive science undergraduate program in which
students explore the nature of reasoning, perception, memory,
and learning — DeLouise is working alongside other students and
faculty to develop robots that are as capable as humans. While
artificial intelligence research has progressed significantly
in recent years, scientists have yet to develop truly
intelligent machines that can navigate through the environment,
take input from their surroundings, and make decisions based on
this information. DeLouise says that many people perceive these
as “fantasy fields” that belong primarily to science fiction
movies, but she is committed to developing real-life
applications of these technologies that will help people in
their daily lives.
Jeffrey Martin of Boylston, Mass., is a sophomore with a
dual major in bioinformatics and molecular biology, and
biochemistry and biophysics. He is enrolled in the accelerated
bachelor’s of science/Ph.D. program, which enables students to
complete a bachelor’s degree and a doctoral degree in seven
years. He is the first recipient of the David T. Ryan Merit
Scholarship at Rensselaer and is a Rensselaer Medalist.
Martin is involved in an interdisciplinary research project
at Rensselaer — working with George Plopper, assistant
professor of biology, and Kristin Bennett, professor of
mathematical sciences — to develop a better understanding of
the mechanisms of adult stem cell differentiation.
Martin sees his role in the project as an interdisciplinary
bridge between the laboratory biologists and the mathematical
and computer science theoretical team. He is currently working
on using machine learning tools to design and test a predictive
modeling program to analyze the differentiation of adult stem
cells.
“Elizabeth DeLouise and Jeffrey Martin are outstanding,
dedicated, and highly motivated students who exemplify
excellence at Rensselaer,” said G.P. “Bud” Peterson, Rensselaer
provost. “Both have taken full advantage of the undergraduate
research opportunities at Rensselaer, and we are very happy to
see their accomplishments recognized with this prestigious
honor.”
DeLouise and Martin are two of 323 scholarship recipients
selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,081
mathematics, science, and engineering students nominated by the
faculties of colleges and universities nationwide, according to
the Goldwater Foundation. The Goldwater Scholarship provides
$7,500 per year for undergraduate study.
Published
April 24,
2006
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