Nebraska Engineering grad students earn Woollam Fellowships

The UNL College of Engineering has announced the winners of the 2009 J.A. Woollam Graduate Fellowships. This year's four recipients are: Jonathan Hein, who studies engineering mechanics; and Chad Kamler, Bahar Laderian, and Craig Zulke, who are electrical engineering students. 

Woollam Fellowships are funded through the generosity of John A. Woollam, the George Holmes Distinguished Professor in the UNL Department of Electrical Engineering. Woollam also founded Lincoln's J.A. Woollam Company, which specializes in spectroscopic ellipsometry. 

Nebraska Engineering professors nominate outstanding students for the Woollam Fellowship. This year's recipients gain $3,000 for UNL tuition in the coming academic year.

Bahar Laderian was born in Lincoln and has also lived in Tehran, Iran. At Lincoln East High School, she was inspired by competing on a Science Olympiad team, which encouraged her to pursue engineering. At UNL, she is studying chemistry, biology and electrical engineering, and plans to graduate in May 2009 and pursue her master's degree in electrical engineering. Her goal is to design medical equipment that enhances treatment for hospital patients.

Chad Kamler received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in December 2001. After working for two years in private industry, he returned to UNL for an M.S. degree, which he completed in May 2006. As a teaching assistant, he realized his love of teaching and decided to pursue a Ph.D. In his current research with Dr. Rod Soukup, he studies a material with potential to improve the cost effectiveness of thin film photovoltaic technology.

Jonathan Hein is pursuing a master's degree in engineering mechanics. As an undergraduate, his experiences in Nebraska Engineering's study abroad program in Brazil, and a co-op placement, motivated him for graduate work in the experimental, computational and theoretical aspects of mechanics. With Dr. Mehrdad Negahban as his adviser, Hein is involved in several research projects that include studying mechanical effects of osteoporosis, blast wave mitigation research for the Army Research Lab, and characterization of polymers including polycarbonate and Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS).

Craig Zulke grew up in Neligh, Nebraska and earned his bachelor of science in electrical engineering at UNL. This included two years as a UCARE student with Dr. Dennis Alexander, on a project that created all-optical communication devices using nanoparticles. Now pursuing a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, he continues to work with Dr. Alexander, researching the effects of femtosecond laser ablation of surfaces to increase electrodes' area and develop a competitive ultracapacitor.