The Goldwater Scholarship Program supports undergraduates who 鈥渟how exceptional promise of becoming this nation鈥檚 next generation of research leaders鈥� in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The scholarships go toward tuition, room and board, fees and books up to $7,500 annually for one or two years.

The 2020 Goldwater Scholars from the UW are Keyan Gootkin, Parker Ruth and Karen Zhang.

• Gootkin, who is majoring in astronomy and physics, studies how massive stars end their lives and volunteers with the Theodor Jacobsen Observatory, the League of Astronomers, and the UW鈥檚 campus and mobile planetariums.
• Ruth is pursuing a double major in bioengineering and computer engineering, and studies computational tools to improve health care access. Ruth plans to pursue a doctoral degree in computer science.
• Zhang, who is studying both microbiology and biochemistry, is interested in 鈥渢he machineries of life at a molecular level and engineering them to perform novel tasks,鈥� and after graduation would like to obtain a doctoral degree in either bioinformatics or synthetic biology.

The 2020 Goldwater Scholars were selected from a pool of more than 5,000 undergraduate students nominated by 461 academic institutions. A majority of this year鈥檚 awardees, 287, are studying the natural sciences, while 59 are majoring in engineering and 50 are majoring in mathematics or computer science. Most say that they intend to pursue a doctoral degree.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by Congress in 1986 to honor Barry Goldwater, a five-term senator from Arizona and Air Force Reserve major general. Since 1989, the program has provided 9,047 scholarships totaling more than $71 million dollars.

Inspiring arts exploration: ArtsUW website redesigned with students in mind

Clara Orndorff, a pre-engineering undergraduate聽in the UW Honors Program, will travel with two fellow underwater roboticists to compete in Wednesday’s . She will be among more than 100 who will showcase their projects, perhaps even to President Barack Obama, at the sixth annual event launched by his administration. The science fair will be Wednesday, April 13 starting at 1 p.m. Eastern time (10 a.m. Pacific time).

Orndorff and her teammates were inspired to build their first remotely operated underwater vehicle in 2010 by UW oceanographers who volunteer with the Pacific Northwest Center. The students have built a new robot for each contest since, and UW researchers helped coach the three-person to an last year in Newfoundland, Canada. Hear the team its winning technology.

Orndorff, who plans to pursue mechanical engineering, said the team members were putting the final touches on their robot this week and hoping they will have a chance to show it off to President Obama. Teammates Nicholas Orndorff, a student at Ingraham High School, and Alex Miller, a student at Garfield High School, are also attending the event.

And it turns out the White House science fair is followed by an even bigger science shindig.

Thorsen Wehr, a UW freshman and pre-major in computer science, will speak Thursday as part of the lead-up to the nation’s largest public science festival, the . Wehr is among more than 30 student and professional speakers at the , taking place 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time April 14 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

Wehr’s will tell his own story, starting in the small town of Odessa, Washington, where his fascination with sound waves led him to publish his first in 2014. His talk will encourage middle- and high school students to get an early start on research.

Wehr in computer science at the 2015 Washington State Science & Engineering Fair. At the UW, he is supported by a Washington State Opportunity Scholarship. Wehr’s travel expenses to D.C. are covered by the Sigma Xi Society.

Before heading back Friday, Wehr will have a chance to check out the science festival being held through Sunday at the convention center, which will include more than 1,000 exhibitors and is expected to draw thousands of attendees 鈥� including actor Wil Wheaton from “The Big Bang Theory” and the band They Might Be Giants.

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Trinh Ha did a lot of talking about electrochromatic windows on Wednesday morning, but she didn’t mind.

“In fact I enjoyed it a lot,” said the incoming 天美影视传媒 freshman, headed for a major in engineering, as others gathered near. “It really shows how diverse the UW is, and all the stories you can find here.”

Ha was one of dozens of participants in the popular Summer Undergraduate Research Poster Session, held in two sessions throughout the morning in Mary Gates Hall. There, students from several summer research programs described and discussed their work with visitors. The place was packed with people.

Ha studied with the eight-week National Science Foundation’s Research Experience and Mentoring Program this summer, working under the guidance and mentorship of , a UW professor of mechanical engineering.

“The purpose of my research was how to maximize the contrast of the window, how to optimize the darkest state and the lightest state,” Ha said. Electrochromatic windows, which automatically adjust themselves as conditions warrant, are already in use in certain high-priced automobiles, she said, but the advances she worked on might make them less expensive and more accessible.

Her program was but one of many summer research groups whose students presented posters on Aug. 20. Also present were students with the , the Summer Research Program, and many more. The event was organized by the UW’s in collaboration with a number of UW summer research partners.

Electrochromatic windows were not the only topic, by far. Other posters in the crowded Mary Gates Hall commons illustrated work in bioengineering, genome sciences, chemistry, neurology, oceanography, pharmacology, physics, electrical engineering, rehabilitation medicine and many other topics.

The busy week for undergraduate researchers continued Thursday, when Amgen Scholars and students in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Exceptional Research Opportunities Program and Center for Selective C-H Functionalization presented and discussed their research in various Mary Gates Hall classrooms.

Arts and humanities will take a turn throughout Friday in the Allen Library Auditorium. There, 18 UW undergraduates, three faculty members and one graduate student will present the , from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

They will explore the theme “Native Modernities: Histories, Politics and Arts of Indigeneity” with lectures, discussions and individual research projects.

On Wednesday morning, Trinh Ha cheerfully kept talking as others stepped up to view her poster and learn about her work.

“It’s really interesting that the UW can bring us all together,” she said.

These projects and others will be described by more than 1,100 students selected to give 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Mary Gates Hall.

Now in its 17^th year, the symposium includes undergraduates from across all academic disciplines and all three UW campuses.

New this year is a “showcase” of visual arts and design giving students a chance to display work such as the design schematics and final plans behind an outdoor garden at Seattle’s Japanese Cultural and Community Center, a garden that should open to the public this June. The showcase will be 3 to 4:30 p.m. at Odegaard Undergraduate Library.

The symposium is organized by the Undergraduate Research Program, a part of Undergraduate Academic Affairs. During the year the program facilitates research experiences for UW undergraduates and, for the symposium, it helps students learn about writing abstracts, designing posters and prepping for talks.

“Students at the symposium have been guided by 800 faculty, post-doctoral researchers and graduate students,” said Janice DeCosmo, associate dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs.

This year’s recipients of mentoring awards will be recognized during the opening program with President Michael K. Young at 11 a.m. They are Sam Chung, endowed associate professor of information technology and systems, UW Tacoma; Mar铆a Elena Garc铆a, associate professor of comparative history of ideas; Merill Hille, professor of biology; Patricia Kramer, associate professor of anthropology; Robert Winglee, professor of Earth and space sciences; and Tracy Larson, graduate student in biology.

At the UW, more than 7,000 students participate in research and the Undergraduate Research Symposium is among the largest of its kind in the country. Through research experiences, students can develop subject-area knowledge, learn transferable skills and gain an entrepreneurial perspective that can prepare them well for careers, graduate school and their lives as citizens.

In conjunction with the symposium, another 38 undergraduates from UW and seven other universities will present research Friday at the 22^nd annual at Mary Gates Hall. The conference, co-sponsored by the UW Early Identification Program for Graduate Studies and the Graduate School’s Graduate Opportunities & Minority Achievement Program, also features a graduate recruitment fair Thursday and alumni and faculty panels Saturday.