Kawamura awarded NSF grad fellowship

 

Mechanical engineering graduate student Malia Kawamura was recently awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. 

 

This NSF fellowship recognizes and supports graduate students who are working toward research-based masters and doctoral degrees. 

 

Kawamura does research in MechSE Professor Andrew Alleyne’s research group, focusing on how to rapidly develop information-driven energy systems. 

 

“Specifically, I am developing a modeling toolkit for chemical process systems that will allow different chemical plant designs to be tested,” she said. “To test how a chemical plant will behave, the model will be embedded in hardware and a controller is implemented as well.”

 

Kawamura wants to be able to create an accurate, user friendly tool to save money and time in the development process and improve system performance in an industry setting.  

 

She said the fellowship will help her reach her goals by giving her more academic and intellectual freedom. She will also be able to apply what she learns from modeling to a number of energy sectors. 

 

“The opportunity to expand my impact to other energy fields directly aligns with my goal of becoming a leader in the energy industry to improve society through advancements in sustainable energy use,” she said. 

 

Kawamura graduated from Colby College with bachelor’s degrees in physics and mathematical sciences., then graduated from a duel degree program at Dartmouth College with a bachelor of engineering degree with a mechanical engineering focus.

 

Outside of the lab and classroom, Kawamura keeps busy. She serves as the vice president of ENVISION, a new graduate student organization that exposes elementary and middle school students to fun STEM activities. She has also participated in DREAAM, which focuses on mentoring and supporting kindergarten boys. This spring she was also the coach of a first grade soccer team through the Champaign Park District.