1 CCNY Senior, 8 Recent Graduates Win NSF Research Fellowships

Leading Award for Graduate Study in STEM Disciplines Awards up to $121,500 Over Three Years

Nine City College of New York students – eight recent graduates and a graduating senior – are recipients of 2012 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. The Fellowships are the most prestigious awards a graduate student in the STEM disciplines (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) can receive. They provide $121,500 over three years and are given to recognize and support exceptional students who have proposed graduate-level research projects in their fields.

“This is a tremendous achievement that these young researchers and their faculty mentors can rightfully be proud of,” said CCNY President Lisa S. Coico in congratulating them. “Their work reinforces City College’s reputation for excellence in undergraduate science and engineering training.”

Jaeseung Hahn, a graduating biomedical engineering major in CCNY’s Grove School of Engineering and Macaulay Honors College, proposed in his grant to develop a new type of branched gold nanoparticle or nanostar for use in cancer detection and treatment.  

“Growing branches makes nanobridged nanogap particles more efficient in theranostic applications,” he said. “This new complex will allow us to quantify the Raman signal produced by nanoparticles conjugated with Raman-active molecules and deliver more therapeutics to treat malignancies.”

After graduation, Mr. Hahn will carry out that goal as a PhD student in Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s joint program in medical engineering and medical physics. “I will be able to do research with virtually any faculty member at Harvard or MIT,” he added.

In addition to Mr. Hahn, recent CCNY graduates receiving 2012 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships are:

•  Deborah Opeyemi Ayeni, ’11, studying pharmacology and experimental pathology at Yale University.
•  Theresa Lynn Carranza-Fulmer, ’11, studying magnetospheric physics at University of Michigan.
•  Charlie Corredor, ’09, studying chemical engineering at University of Washington.
•  Zvi Hershel Fishman, ’10, studying neuroscience at Columbia University.
•  Christopher Donald Hue, ’08, studying biomedical engineering at Columbia University.
•  Jemilas Caplan Kester, ’10, studying microbiology at Harvard University.
•  Stephen Ma, ’11, studying chemical engineering at the University of Delaware.
•  Christie Anne Sukhdeo, ’11, who will study the roles of butterflies and birds in the ecology of coffee and cocoa cultivation at University of New Orleans.

Mr. Hahn, Mr. Hue and Mr. Ma were enrolled in the Macaulay Honors College at City College. Macaulay provides outstanding educational opportunities, advising and financial support, including a full-tuition merit scholarship, to students with top high school records and leadership potential.