Patrick Smyth, a senior in mechanical engineering, received a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship providing $30,000 annually for three years and a $10,500 cost of education allowance. The fellowship program seeks to ensure the vitality and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce in the United States. Smyth works in mechanical engineering faculty member Robert Jackson’s Multiscale Tribology Laboratory studying cartilage located within various joints of the equine limb, with the goal of better understanding the mechanisms controlling the performance of healthy joints in horses and humans. Smyth is a member of the Honors College and the World Food Programme’s Committee of 19. Smyth will study mechanical engineering with an emphasis in tribology at Georgia Tech in the fall.

Biosystems engineering graduate student Daniel Mullenix was recognized by the National Engineers Week Foundation as one of its “New Faces of Engineering for 2011.” Mullenix was honored for his research combining precision agriculture, machine automation and alternative energy production, as well as his perseverance in educating students about biosystems engineering.

Nathan Warner, a biosystems engineering student who is also pursuing a minor in sustainability, has been selected as one of 80 recipients from 61 universities for a Morris K. and Stewart L. Udall Scholarship for Excellence in National Environmental Policy. Scholars were selected on the basis of commitment to careers in the environment, health care or tribal public policy; leadership potential and academic achievement. Warner is strongly committed to alleviating poverty and creating a sustainable environment. He is a member of the Honors College, the World Food Programme’s Committee of 19 and co-founder of the Auburn chapter of Engineers without Borders.

David Harris, chemical engineering senior, was awarded a Gates Cambridge scholarship, a full-cost award for graduate study and research at the University of Cambridge. The Gates Cambridge scholarship program is funded by Bill and Melinda Gates through the Gates Cambridge Trust. Each year, only 80-100 students throughout the world receive the scholarship. Harris, who graduated in May and held a 3.97 grade point average, will pursue a master’s degree in advanced chemical engineering. At Auburn, he also received the Goldwater Scholarship, a national award for science, technology, engineering and mathematics.