2023-24 PCE Graduate Fellowship Recipients


Alexis Annmarie Throop



Originally from Edinboro, Pennsylvania, Alexis is a rising Mechanical Engineering PhD student in the John and Marcia Price College of Engineering. She completed her undergraduate degree at Duquesne University in Biomedical Engineering with minors in Mathematics and Biochemistry. During her time in undergrad, she was an active advocate for women in STEM, serving as the president of Duquesne’s Society of Women Engineers chapter. Alexis was also a recipient of the Clare Boothe Luce Scholarship Award for her final two years. Her research interests are in computational fluid dynamics and its applications to the cardiovascular system. She plans to pursue research under the guidance of Dr. Amir Arzani on developing patient-specific computer models to observe how blood flow affects stroke.

Nicholas Becker



I was recruited to the University of Utah from Las Vegas, Nevada to pursue a collegiate swimming career and higher education. Growing up in Nevada, I also had the opportunity to live in Texas, Missouri, Michigan, and Hawaii. This May I will be graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and a minor in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Utah. Since completing my career as a student-athlete, I have developed a strong passion for nuclear science, and I am ecstatic to continue my education at Utah in the Ph.D. program for Nuclear Engineering.

Bruce Brewer



I'm an incoming computer science PhD student. I'll be researching computational geometry with Haitao Wang. I graduated from USU with a BS in mathematics and previously from UVU with an AS in mathematics. I've done research in PDEs and fluid mechanics at USU and research in machine learning at NCSU.

Matthew DeHaan



Matthew DeHaan is a first-year graduate student from St. George, Utah. He attended the University of Utah for his undergraduate education, majoring with Honors in Chemical Engineering and minoring in Chemistry. Some of his undergraduate experiences included creating building models for the Salt Lake Valley area while focusing on energy optimization and electrification. He hopes to continue in this field by solving the problems of tomorrow as the world continues to combine traditional with renewable energies. Outside of school, he enjoys choir and piano music and loves to go camping with his spouse."

Indy Felling



Forest, or “Indy” as he is more commonly called, is a Ph.D. student studying in the materials science department of the University of Utah. Indy also received his bachelor’s degree in material science in the spring of 2023 from the University of Utah. He currently works in the universities Nuclear Pyrometallurgy laboratory as a research assistant. In his research, he works primarily with molten salt electrochemistry. During his undergraduate research, he specifically researched a sensor for detecting oxide ions in molten salts, and he presented that research in 2022 and 2023 at The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society conferences. He enjoys climbing, hiking, and playing D&D in his free time.

Nathan Hansen



Nate is set to graduate with a B.S. in Computer Engineering in the Spring of 2023. For his undergraduate honors thesis, he developed and implemented a robust Wi-Fi communication strategy for a bioimpedance diagnostic device. As a Ph.D. student, he plans to continue developing innovative bioimpedance diagnostic technology. He enjoys soaking in the breadth of academia, but he mainly finds fulfillment while working on projects that balance embedded system design and software engineering. Outside of the lab, Nate enjoys running, hiking, playing the piano, reading, and developing new skills.

Alex Ingold



Al Ingold is a first-year PhD student in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering at the University of Utah. With an Honors degree in Biomedical Engineering and an undergraduate research designation, his research focuses on advancing neuroscience through innovative technology. Al is developing a computational cannula-based microscope to image locations unreachable by conventional microscopes, such as deeper layers of the cortex. His notable achievements include publishing a paper on the use of the Utah Optrode Array for optogenetic stimulation. Al's work aims to revolutionize our understanding of the brain and contribute to advancements in neurological treatments.

Zaynah Javed



Raised in the Chicago suburbs, Zaynah Javed took a computer science course in high school and hated it. She never thought she'd come around to doing a PhD in it and having it become the field that she loved. Zaynah did her Bachelor's and Master's at University of California, Berkeley where she studied in the EECS department. At Berkeley, she had the chance to publish research in the areas of reinforcement and imitation learning, robotics, and AI safety. She also got the opportunity to teach across three courses as an undergrad, including classes on Artificial Intelligence and Statistics. Outside of school, Zaynah enjoys reading books about theoretical physics, traveling, and spending quality time with family and friends. She hopes to work at Utah on developing safe, human-compatible robots and algorithms.

Sonny Jones



Sonny Jones is a first-year Biomedical engineering Ph.D. student in NERVES lab, headed by Dr. Ashley Dalrymple. Sonny graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Utah. During his undergrad, he spent time performing research at the Center for Neural Interfaces on projects involving advanced neuroprosthesis control with machine learning. He developed an interest in machine learning and is continuing his education in the Data Science and Computation track. His current research focuses on using machine learning algorithms to predict transitions between gait types.

Brandon Kinghorn



I was born in Texas and lived in New Mexico, Missouri, Kansas and Montana but found my way to Utah where I graduated from BYU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Bioinformatics. I had intentions of going to medical school when I first started college but fell in love with technology and all the good it can do to help people. In my spare time I love playing sports, particularly Basketball and Soccer, and in the last 4 years have gotten heavily into rock climbing and canyoneering. I’m really excited to start contributing to the amazing world of engineering at the University of Utah!

Dallin Littlewood



Dallin Littlewood is a recent University of Utah alumnus who graduated with a combined Bachelor’s/Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering with multiple honors, including Magna Cum Laude. Dallin has gained extensive systems engineering experience while working with catalytic reactors and solid oxide fuel cells at a local clean technologies company, OxEon Energy. Dallin will be returning to the University of Utah to pursue a PhD in the department of Chemical Engineering, where he will be working with Dr. Tony Saad’s and Dr. James Sutherland’s research groups. It is anticipated that Dallin’s areas of research will encompass fast computational fluid dynamics solvers and reduced-order modeling of turbulent reacting flows.

Brooklyn Vargas



Brooklyn Vargas will pursue a PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Utah and will be conducting research with Dr. Andy Anderson in the Orthopaedic Research Laboratory. She obtained a B.S. at Colorado School of Mines with a major in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Biomechanical Engineering. Her hometown is Gypsum, CO, and she loves hiking, camping, and skiing! In her spare time, Brooklyn also plays the tenor saxophone and makes jewelry.

Adam Welker



Adam Welker is an incoming PhD student studying mechanical engineering. He graduated with a B.S. in mechanical engineering and a minor in computer science from Brigham Young University, where he worked as a research assistant studying unmanned aerial vehicles. He also participated in BYU’s mars rover team. At the University of Utah, Adam will be researching robotic actuators under the direction of Dr. Shad Roundy. On the weekends you can find him exploring a new trail on his mountain bike, or experimenting with a new recipe in his kitchen.