McKelvey Engineering students, alumni win NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Prestigious program supports graduate students with high potential to impact scientific innovation

Channing Suhl 

Two graduate students and four alumni in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis have been offered a highly competitive National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship.

The NSF will award 2,500 Graduate Research Fellowships for the 2026-2027 academic year to outstanding graduate students across the U.S. who are pursuing research-based degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). As one of the nation's most prestigious fellowship programs, it provides three years of financial support, over five years, to graduate students who have demonstrated potential for significant achievements in research.

Offer recipients were selected from a highly competitive pool of nearly 14,000 applicants nationwide, representing all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, based on their intellectual merit and broader impacts, including their potential to contribute to scientific innovation.

Current McKelvey Engineering students receiving fellowships include:

  • Anna Frischmon, who earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota in 2024 and is a doctoral student in mechanical engineering.
  • Jonathan Powles, who earned a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University in 2020 and is a doctoral student in mechanical engineering. 

Alumni recipients include:

  • Seth Ack, who earned a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering in 2025 and is a doctoral student at University of Colorado-Boulder.
  • Jonathan Fascetti, who earned a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering in 2025 and is a doctoral student at Rice University.
  • Myles (Max) Miller, who earned a bachelor’s in biomedical engineering in 2025 and will begin doctoral studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in fall 2026.
  • Vi Nguyen, who earned bachelors in cognitive neuroscience and computer science in 2025 and is a doctoral student at UC Berkeley – UCSF.

Olivia Jones, who earned a bachelor’s at Clemson University in 2025 and will begin doctoral studies in biomedical engineering at WashU in fall 2026, also received a fellowship. 

Alumna Miranda Holloway, who earned a bachelor’s in electrical engineering in 2025 and is a doctoral student at The Ohio State University, received an honorable mention.

Click on the topics below for more stories in those areas

Back to News