2024 News & Events

The group plus wives had a small gift exchange before everyone took off for the Winter Break. We also went out to dinner at The Spice Delight and had a few drinks at the High St. Hop House to welcome our newest member, Peyton. Punya clearly had a good time. Welp, another year at least of all boys in the group! 

Dr. Jana, Brandon and Natalie, the NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) coordinator, attended the national program mid-October to network and share insights with participants among the  NRT programs throughout the country. This conference celebrated the program's 10th anniversary, and R1 institutions like Yale, Princeton, and Harvard make up 67% (79/118) of the institutions winning awards, further demonstrating the distinction for UA to be a part of the program as an R2. In addition, we apparently have one of the highest participation rates of awardees in our program. A necessary building block of the program at any institution is the interdisciplinary nature of various subjects, and in UA's case, our program focuses on the combination of materials science, computer science, and data science & AI. 

Whether it be a line, an "x", or a "z" for Zippy, we were losers on this bingo night. Better luck next time Moni on getting that 50" TV, iPad, or deck of cards. But we had fun at the university's welcome-back event.

We loved the buffet at Saffron Patch in North Olmsted. Excellent choice and thanks for organizing, Moni! Some of us had three plates and a few lassi (might need to add a few extra miles to your next hike, Abdul).

First photo from left to right:

Abdul, Inji, Brandon, Moni, Aparna, Pratik, Punya, Luffy, Helen

Aparna Agrawal, a recent graduate of the group, is a co-founder of the start-up company Auxilium, which is designing improved wound-healing bandages. They recently received The Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund ($200k), which supports the research and licensing of new technologies. Keep up the great work!