NJIT Students Continue Record-Breaking Rise in Prestigious Fellowships and Awards
Students at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) have again achieved an impressive amount of prestigious awards this year with 16 students earning nationally competitive scholarships and fellowships. Their achievement continues an NJIT run, with Highlanders amassing 47(and counting) of these awards in the past three years.
This year’s cohort continues NJIT’s growing momentum in prestigious fellowships and awards, with a record 75 applications from students and alumni across every college, including undergraduate students, graduate students, Albert Dorman Honors College scholars and students outside the Honors College.
As a result of increased support for student applications, NJIT’s prestigious fellowships and awards have grown substantially. For all years prior to 2015, there were 22 total prestigious fellowship recipients from NJIT. In the past five years, NJIT students have won 78 such awards.
“I want to acknowledge all of our applicants,” said Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs John A. Pelesko during the reception. “We’ve had a record year this year, 75 applications so far from every college, from undergraduate students, from graduate students, from alumni, from Honor students, and from students outside beyond this program.”
The increased achievements are not by chance. NJIT students have long had the ability, preparation and ambition to pursue these opportunities. Rather, the continued rise reflects the university’s expanding commitment — through the Albert Dorman Honors College, faculty mentorship and dedicated advising — to helping students identify, prepare for and complete some of the most demanding applications in higher education.
Honors College Dean Louis Hamilton said this year’s recipients are distinguished not only by their academic achievements, but by their willingness to pursue experiences beyond the classroom.
“What distinguishes all the recipients of these fellowships are two things,” said Hamilton. “One, they chose to pursue distinctive opportunities, and the Honors College and the university as a whole offers a huge range of those opportunities. So you’ll see today’s scholars embark themselves into research opportunities, into service opportunities, into the opportunities to study and travel internationally. That’s a distinctive experience, on top of their excellent NJIT education.”
Hamilton also emphasized that the application process itself is a formative experience for students.
“In addition, the application itself is a lot of work,” he said. “The payoff for most scholars is not the achievement of the award, but the work itself. I encourage all of you who have not yet applied for these to seek out those distinctive opportunities and put in the work to achieve them because a personal reward, whether you achieve the fellowship or not, is immense.”
This year’s cohort reflects one of NJIT’s most diverse fellowship classes in recent memory. Students were recognized for research in biology, biomedical engineering, chemical engineering, computer science, computer engineering, applied physics, pharmaceutical chemistry, biochemistry, cyberpsychology, human-computer interaction and other fields. Their opportunities range from international language study and research abroad to graduate research funding and nationally competitive undergraduate science scholarships.
Pelesko highlighted several examples during the reception, including KET-A Williams, a cyberpsychology student and Fulbright recipient who will conduct research in Jamaica examining the country’s sovereign large language model and how well it carries Jamaican cultural meaning; Ann Carlos, a human-computer interaction student and Boren recipient who will study in Taiwan; and Megan Konomi-Jovani, a biomedical engineering student who received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship and will pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at NJIT.
Paul Hoyt-O’Connor, director for Honors Advising and Prestigious Fellowships, said the value of these programs comes not only from their recognition, but from the transformative experiences they make possible.
“I think that’s especially the case with prestigious fellowships,” said Hoyt-O’Connor. “It’s a set of fellowship programs that have recognition. They have national and international reputations. People have heard about them. They’re especially competitive but potentially transformative because of the experience itself and, through them, meeting people who might become close friends and collaborators. They open up new possibilities and invite you to reimagine what your future might look like. In other words, they can change the course of your life, enabling you to contribute to the world in sizable ways.”
The link between the growing number of applicants and awardees and NJIT’s larger trajectory of success remains central to the university’s mission. Prestigious fellowships offer students access to research, global study, public service and professional development opportunities that build on NJIT’s hands-on, high-impact education.
Pelesko said that even for students who are not selected, the process of applying carries deep value.
“These programs are not reserved for a particular kind of student at NJIT,” Pelesko said. “They’re open to any student that’s willing to do the work.”
He added that the process asks students to define their goals with clarity and courage.
“To sit down and spend the time and do the work to articulate on paper what you want your life to be about … that’s the work of becoming somebody that can name their own goals clearly,” he said. “That’s really important work, and we’re proud of each and every one of you as well.”
The recipients, alternates and honorable mentions are listed below.
Boren Awards
Ann Carlos — Human-Computer Interaction
Ada Wong — Computer Science, alternate
Amgen Scholars Program
John Girgis — Computer Engineering, alternate
German Academic Exchange Service — DAAD Research Internship in Science and Engineering
John Girgis — Computer Engineering, alternate
Zoey Wen — Biology, alternate
Critical Language Scholarship
Priyanka Sunkara — Biochemistry
Fulbright U.S. Student Program
KET-A Williams — Cyberpsychology
Daniel Dmello — Computer Science, alternate
GEM Fellowship
Amiri Hayes — Mathematical Sciences
Gilman Scholarship
Nowshin Hoque — Computer Science
Salma Mohammed — Mechanical Engineering
Krishi Shah — Computer Science
Ishar Singh — Biology
Aya Tahhan — Architecture
Takia Tanjib — Information Technology
Dylan Toriello — Computer Science
Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship
Aditya Mahalingam — Biology
Arwa Ouali — Chemical Engineering
National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship
Melisa Bilgili — Chemical Engineering
Megan Konomi-Jovani — Biomedical Engineering
Danna Sanchez Hernandez — Biology, honorable mention
Anjeli Santillan — Biomedical Engineering, honorable mention
Hannah Suresh — Applied Physics, honorable mention
National Institutes of Health Intramural Research Training Award
Quentin Young — Pharmaceutical Chemistry