Armour College of Engineering Assistant Professor Mehdi Modares was awarded funding by the Department of Energy for his proposal entitled: Stochastic Finite Element Modeling for Consideration of Uncertainties in Core Restraint Load Pad Contact. The award is in the form of a three-year fellowship that will support one student’s tuition and stipend.

The student receiving the fellowship is Grace Duchaj, a fourth year co-terminal student currently working towards her BS in Civil Engineering and MEng in Structural Engineering. Upon completion of her Master’s, she will begin her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering at Armour supported under this fellowship.

The award was made through the Integrated University Program and is intended to support students in nuclear energy-related engineering and science programs at universities across the country. The graduate fellowships also include funding toward a summer internship at a U.S. national laboratory or other approved facility to strengthen the ties between students and the Department’s nuclear energy research programs.