Two undergraduates from Georgia Tech’s College of Engineering have been named 2011 Goldwater Scholars. Allison Del Giorno, a sophomore majoring in electrical engineering and minoring in biomedical engineering, and Chun Yong, a junior biomedical engineering student, were awarded Goldwater Scholarships for the 2011-2012 academic year. Del Giorno will also receive the scholarship for her senior year.  Each scholarship covers eligible expenses for undergraduate tuition, fees, books, and room and board, up to a maximum of $7,500 annually.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation awarded a total of 275 scholarships to undergraduate sophomores and juniors from the United States. The purpose of the foundation is to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields.

Del Giorno, a Georgia Tech President’s Scholar, has held a National Institutes of Health Intramural Research Training Award at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and another at the National Institute of Bioengineering and Biomedical Imaging.  She received a Northrop Grumman Engineering Scholarship upon entering Georgia Tech.  Del Giorno is studying electrical engineering approaches to the nervous system, specifically investigating the spatiotemporal electrical properties of neurons that control respiration. Once finished with her undergraduate studies, Del Giorno plans to pursue a doctorate in computational neuroscience to conduct neuroscience research focused on fundamental discoveries for clinical applications.  

Another Goldwater Scholar, Yong has received many accolades during his time at Georgia Tech. He was honored as a 2010 Petit Research Scholar and also won several President’s Undergraduate Research Awards. Yong participated in the National Science Foundation’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates and held a Russ Bell Undergraduate Research Scholarship. This summer, he will be attending the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., for the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships program. Yong is co-founder of a new Biomedical Research and Opportunities Society, executive vice president of the American Medical Student Association and a member of the Biomedical Engineering Society and the National Society of Collegiate Scholars.

In addition to Del Giorno and Yong, Georgia Tech’s Katy Hammersmith, a biomedical engineering sophomore, and Jason Frieman, an aerospace engineering junior, received Honorable Mention from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program.