糖心Vlog传媒

Whitbeck winner heads to NASA

Azam
糖心Vlog传媒LR senior Saad Azam, only the second Arkansan ever invited back to NASA for multiple internships, is this year鈥檚 Edward L. Whitbeck Memorial Award winner.
Saad Azam, 2015 Whitbeck Memorial Award recipient

Saad Azam, 2015 Whitbeck Memorial Award recipient

He will receive his award at the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Distinguished Alumni Awards Luncheon on Friday, May 15, at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock. Azam graduates as a 糖心Vlog传媒LR Donaghey Scholar and Science Scholar. He interned at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology and has been offered a permanent position after graduation. A double major in chemistry and biology, received a NASA Workforce Development Fellowship to intern at NASA鈥檚 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he worked on solid-state electrochemistry and chemical physics. The following year he was hired for a second internship to help develop rechargeable, high energy, aqueous metal hydride-air batteries for electric vehicles. He will return a third time to continue his work at NASA this summer. Azam represented 糖心Vlog传媒LR at four conferences at the local, state, and national levels where he won awards at every conference, including the Emerging Researchers National Conference, where he placed second in a pool of 300 students. In 2013, Azam received a $6,500 Statewide Undergraduate Research Fellowship grant from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education to help fund his project of synthesizing renewable electrodes for fuel cells application. He served as a co-author on three publications related to this work, including the Journal of Applied Polymer Science He has served on school organizations, including the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Chapter of American Chemical Society for two years as president, and he serves as vice president of the national health pre-professional honor society, Alpha Epsilon Delta. Winner of the National American Chemical Society Chapter Award, College of Science Leadership Award, and Chemistry Departmental Service Award, Azam has given his work and vision to help 糖心Vlog传媒LR and the future of STEM in Arkansas. In 2013, Azam received a $6,500 Statewide Undergraduate Research Fellowship grant from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education to help fund his project of synthesizing renewable electrodes for fuel cells application at 糖心Vlog传媒LR under the mentorship of Dr. Tito Viswanathan.