Chris Bartel, Jacob Clary and Alex Roman, seniors in chemical engineering, as well as Zack Coker, a 2013 graduate in software engineering, have been named 2014 graduate research fellows by the National Science Foundation. Alex Wolff, a senior in aerospace engineering, received an honorable mention.

The students, who were recognized for their demonstrated potential to be high-achieving scientists and engineers, have been performing long-term – defined as greater than two years – undergraduate research while being partnered with faculty members. Bartel is under the direction of Mark Byrne, Daniel F. and Josephine Breeden associate professor of chemical engineering; Clary is working with Elizabeth Lipke, assistant professor of chemical engineering; and Roman is supervised by Ram Gupta, Woltosz professor of chemical engineering. Coker worked under the direction of Munawar Hafiz, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering

The $100,000 fellowships will support three years of graduate study for each student. “This is a very competitive fellowship,” said Dean Christopher B. Roberts. “These awards will assist our students who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.”

In addition, Andrew Hightaian, a student in chemical engineering, has been honored with the 2014 Susan Stacy Entrenkin Yates award for most outstanding junior at Auburn University. This award is sponsored by Auburn’s chapter of Phi Kappa Phi and was established by 1933 pharmacy graduate S. Blake Yates in honor of his mother. Hightaian is the fourth engineering student in the past 10 years to win this award.

“Our students represent the highest caliber and quality in the nation,” Roberts said. “These recognitions are well-deserved, and we are excited for these students to continue expanding their research and their impact on the future.”