Marlena Alexander and Jocelyn Hess have been awarded prestigious Fulbright Program grants to pursue research abroad.
Alexander will be joining the group of Professor Michael Saliba, the director of the Institute for Photovoltaics at the University of Stuttgart in Germany. Hess will be researching recyclable polymers at the Luxembourg Institute of Science & Technology.
Alexander and Hess both graduated in May with bachelor’s degrees in materials science and engineering.
“Receiving this award feels like I have just summited a mountain. I have been striving for this award since my freshman year, when I first learned about it from a visiting URF lecture in Dr. Hahn Choo’s MSE 220 Seminar class,” Alexander said. “That class is when I set the goal to eventually receive a Fulbright, and ever since then I have been trying to build my resume and cultivate a competitive application. I am beyond excited to have actually been awarded a Fulbright in Germany, and I am so thrilled to gain the experience of researching there.”
Established in 1946, the Fulbright Program is the U.S. government’s premier international academic exchange program. Each year, it provides opportunities for exceptional Americans and participants from 160 countries and locations to study, teach, and conduct research abroad, advancing knowledge, science and industry through international exchange and collaboration.
The Fulbright adds to extensive list of awards and honors Alexander and Hess have both received while at UT.
In March, Alexander was one of two students from the Tickle College of Engineering to be named a Torchbearer — the university’s highest undergraduate student honor. In May, Hess was chosen as one of UT’s three Undergraduate Researchers of the Year and named MSE’s Outstanding Senior.
Alexander has balanced her academic and volunteer efforts at UT while serving as a staff sergeant in the Air National Guard. She spends one weekend each month and two weeks each year reporting for drills.
For her Fulbright in Stuttgart, Alexander will be researching how environmentally safer solvents affect the formation and performance of perovskite solar cells. Current manufacturing relies on toxic solvents, and her project aims to address this barrier by developing cleaner manufacturing methods that help make advanced solar technology both viable and responsible. The project builds directly on Alexander’s skills acquired during her undergraduate research experience at the Scintillation Materials Research Center at UT and her internship at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
“Growing up in Tennessee and serving in the Air National Guard has given me a firsthand understanding of communities that depend on traditional energy industries,” Alexander said. “That is a big part of why this research matters to me personally. I want to help develop solutions that make clean energy accessible and practical for communities like the ones I come from.”
After their Fulbright experience, Alexander and Hess will both begin her graduate studies at Northwestern University. Professor Mahshid Ahmadi said. “We are very proud of Marlena, and I am confident she will continue to thrive and make meaningful contributions at Stuttgart and Northwestern.”
Contact
Rhiannon Potkey ([email protected])