CCB Graduate Student Awarded Department of Energy Fellowship

Malia Wenny, a first year CCB doctoral candidate, earned a competitive Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF). The fellowship is awarded to less than 5 percent of applicants each year.

Wenny, from Galena, Illinois, received her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Haverford College. She graduated magna cum laude, with High Honors in Chemistry. And, in only two years, she has already garnered prestigious awards for her work: 

American Institute of Chemists Award, 2017 American Chemical Society Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry, 2017 American Chemical Society Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry, 2016 Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Award, 2015-2016  

In a "What They Learned" Haverford blog post, Wenny describes her thesis research, which married two impactful fields: artificial intelligence and solar energy. She used machine learning to analyze organohalide perovskites, compounds capable of converting sunlight into electricity. Computers, armed with the adaptable computational methods, identified patterns and narrowed in on the "best" organohalide perovskite. 

Moving forward, Wenny expects that robotics combined with a machine-learning model, could lead researchers to new and better compounds for use in solar cells and, as Wenny states, "change the field of photovoltaics!"

 

About the DOE CSGF

The DOE CSGF, administered by the Krell Institute of Ames, Iowa, is funded by the DOE’s Office of Science and the National Nuclear Security Administration. Each year, the program grants fellowships to support doctoral students whose education and research focus on using high-performance computers to solve complex science and engineering problems of national importance. Since it was launched in 1991, the DOE CSGF has supported 436 students at more than 65 universities. 

DOE CSGF students receive full tuition and fees plus an annual stipend and academic allowance, renewable for up to four years. In return, recipients must complete courses in a scientific or engineering discipline plus computer science and applied mathematics. They also must do a three-month research practicum at one of 21 DOE laboratories or sites across the country.

Adapted from the Krell Institute press release from September 18, 2017