Shira Mandel '05, who last year won a Barry Goldwater Scholarship, is adding to her collection, thanks to aerogels.
A doctoral student in chemical engineering at Stanford University, she has just been awarded a prestigious National Science Foundation Fellowship, which provides $30,000 per year plus tuition for three years.
Her proposed research essay for the NSF application was “Aerogels as Insulation for the Preservation of Organs During Transport and Storage.”
Mandel was a three-year member of Union's Aerogel Team. Last year, she researched the chemical precursors of aerogels and how altering them can change the properties of the ultra-light matrix materials that make excellent insulators. Her senior project involved a process to make aerogels out of aluminum.
“When I found out that I had received the NSF fellowship I was very excited,” said the Hamden, Conn., native. “By having my own funding, I will have the opportunity to choose from a wider range of projects for my Ph.D. research.”
Mandel has finished her pre-qualifying exam and is awaiting her assignment to an advisor. She is interested in materials research, hoping to get into a group that focuses on polymers.
At Union, she was a leader of Hillel; a campus tour guide; and a member of Pi Tau Sigma, the mechanical engineering honor society, and Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society.
The College's Aerogel Team, directed by Prof. Ann Anderson of mechanical engineering, and Prof. Mary Carroll of chemistry, has been focused on finding improvements in the manufacturing process and on characterizing the properties of the aerogels produced. They have applied for a patent on a process they call a “Fast Supercritical Extraction Technique for Simplified Aerogel Fabrication.” The lab is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation.