Engineering grad students earn fellowship honors

Nebraska Engineering was well-represented with three among the 28 recipients of prestigious fellowships for UNL's graduate students. 

• Jason Ong, a Ph.D. student in chemical engineering, earned an Othmer Fellowship. Ong is from Tangkak, Johore, Malaysia. 
• Xiaokang Shen, a Ph.D. student in electrical engineering, won a Presidential Fellowship. Shen is from Jiang Su province in China.
• Samuel Saunders, a Ph.D. student in civil engineering, received an Othmer Fellowship. Saunders is from Charlottesville, Va.

Othmer Fellowships assist in recruiting exceptional scholars who are seeking a terminal degree. Recipients are awarded an assistantship at the highest level offered by their department, plus an additional $7,500 for three years, given continued excellent progress toward the degree. 

Presidential Fellowships are for outstanding doctoral students in the last year of their program. Recipients receive a stipend of $24,000 and agree not to work so they can concentrate on completion of their degree.

UNL reports nearly 3,800 graduate students and only 12 percent of fellowship applicants receive these awards. For more information, see the UNL news release.