2005 University Co-op / George H. Mitchell Undergraduate Awards For Academic Excellence
Recipient of $20,000 Award:
Emily Barton
Senior, Chemistry
Nominated by Dr. Keith Stevenson for her invention of a new technique,
termed confined dewetting lithography (CDL), which shows promise
for patterning a variety of nano-sized components (spheres, particles,
rods) on a multitude of surfaces. Emily published her initial work
on CDL in the Materials Research Society Journal, and her invention
is already highly regarded by the scientific community. More recently
she has extended her CDL approach to technologically-relevant applications
important in the areas of microelectronics and chemical sensing.
This extension of her original invention has been submitted to
Chemistry of Materials, which could mean that she will graduate
with two peer-reviewed publications, a rare achievement for an
undergraduate.
Recipients of $5,000 Awards:
Kelly Framel
Senior, Human Ecology (Textiles & Apparel)
Nominated by Dr. Ardis Rewerts for her striking fashion designs,
which combine painting, merchandising, and design flair. Kelly
has worked with the Saatchi LA advertising agency in art buying
and print production, created Tide detergent ads for Proctor and
Gamble, and produced automobile commercials for Toyota. After winning
the 2004 Judge's Award for Visionary Excellence at the annual U.T.
Fashion Show she was accepted as an intern by Boudoir Queen Designs
of Austin, where she has risen to Artistic Director. The committee
appreciated Kelly's inventive designs, and the elegant and professional
presentation of her portfolio. She has already exceeded the accomplishments
of many established professionals.
Scott Lundy
Senior, Biomedical Engineering
Nominated by Dr. Christine Schmidt for his instrumental help in
designing an acellular nerve graft, which is non-immunogenic and
thus could be derived from cadaver tissue, avoiding the need for
two surgeries and loss of tissue from the patient. Scott has co-authored
two research papers published in Tissue Engineering, the top-ranked
journal in the biomaterials field. He has also served as the president
of the student chapter of the Biomedical Engineering Society, which
he helped create when The University's Biomedical Engineering Department
was formed three years ago.
Ian Pittman
Senior, Government
Nominated by Dr. Robert Moser for his solidly researched and persuasively
written honors thesis on gay marriage. Having shown how constitutional
rights were extended to women and African-Americans based on U.S.
Supreme Court rulings, he makes the interesting and creative argument
that court rulings against anti-sodomy laws have given gays and
lesbians "group rights" under the law. The implication
is that homosexuals have the same right to marriage as heterosexuals.
Ian's conclusions have not only shed light on an important debate
but have provided valuable insights into how social context can
influence the U. S. Supreme Court. Ian has thus managed to carry
out three tasks integral to good social science: identifying a
puzzle, articulating its theoretical and policy significance, and
offering an original and persuasive argument, a remarkable achievement
at the undergraduate level.
Recipients of $2,000 Awards:
Jonas Criscoe
Senior, Art & Art History
Nominated by Professor Timothy High for his innovative serigraphic
artwork, applying silkscreen to a new material-plexiglass. Jonas
has demonstrated great promise as a practicing artist, a university
educator, and a full-time studio professional. His serigraphs have
been shown in three prestigious national and international exhibitions.
They are featured in Contemporary American Serigraphs 2004- 2006
among the work of 18 of the finest silkscreen artists in the U.S.
The committee found in Jonas' work deft social commentary, and
beautifully executed color and design.
Varun Dhanuka
Graduate, Chemical Engineering
Nominated by Dr. Keith Johnston for his contributions to two major
published, co-authored articles on interface activity and interface
properties in surfactants and the water CO2 system. Varun has demonstrated
his work ethic, desire to learn, creativity, and maturity through
both his research and his close analysis of the underlying scientific
bases for the results received from his experiments. His research
will ultimately improve microelectronics processing, materials
synthesis, and enhanced oil recovery. It has spawned several fields
of study, which are now being pursued by four Ph.D. students. Dr.
Johnston has declared that in writing a recent proposal for the
National Academy of Engineering on water foams for enhanced oil
recovery he never could have done it without Varun's discovery
for the first time of concentrated CO2 in water foams.
Frank Farkash
Senior, School of Architecture
Nominated by Professor Dean Almy III for developing and implementing
a way of mapping latent characteristics embedded in urban landscapes.
Frank explored and codified the cultural and spatial characteristics
of the Finnish city of Turku, taking into account all possible
historical, environmental and social factors. Through his set of
interpretive mappings he formed the basis of a strategy for the
re-structuring of the city's historic prison grounds. The project
and resulting architectural design are themselves worthy of merit,
but the committee agreed with Professor Almy that Frank's rigorous
and innovative methodology is an even more impressive achievement,
which will go far in reshaping his field.
Amber Holloway
Senior, Plan II Honors
Nominated by Dr. Howard Miller for a creative essay on her religious
upbringing in the Pentecostal Church, which Professor Miller considers
the best pieces of student writing he has encountered in more than
three decades of teaching at UT. Amber's spiritual autobiography
about the religion which she ultimately rejected is told with respect,
affection, and a truly wonderful sense of humor. It is beautifully
crafted and remarkable in its honesty, and brilliantly illustrates
what the Humanities can do: teach people to examine and articulate
their lives critically but constructively. In addition to her skills
as a creative writer, Amber has served as the University's Ombudsman,
a testament to her extraordinary versatility.
Kalpana Manthhiram
Senior, Chemical Engineering Honors
Nominated by Dr. Grant Willson for her development of a hydrogel-based
biosensor technology. Kalpana has completed a remarkably sophisticated
undertaking for an undergraduate. Her research has the potential
to reduce the cost of manufacturing biosensor arrays by an order
of magnitude, which would make DNA analysis and gene mapping far
less troublesome and expensive. She has co-authored two papers
accepted by by refereed publications, and three conference proceedings.
She is also a well-rounded student, with interests in dance and
women's issues. The appearance of such a special and unusual student
as Kalpana on the academic scene is an extraordinary event.
