Students advancing research in various fields, such as using crystals in batteries, plant genetics, 3D printing devices that convert energy, and organisms that can indicate oil contamination in the Arctic, have received competitive national scholarships at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP).
According to a UTEP press release, five recipients of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship received guidance throughout the application process from the university’s Office of Student Fellowships and Awards.
This office’s mission is to inform UTEP students and recent alums about nationally competitive scholarships for which they qualify and to provide support as they prepare their application materials.
Victoria Villagomez received the Goldwater Scholarship, which is awarded to sophomores and juniors engaged in undergraduate research and provides up to $7,500 annually for tuition and fees.
Villagomez, a senior studying environmental science focused on geology, devised a research project while working as a fellow at the University of Alaska last summer.
Her study aimed to investigate bio-indicators—organisms that can reveal oil contamination in the Arctic. After graduating in December 2025, Villagomez plans to pursue a Ph.D. in environmental science, concentrating on climate change.
Ana Aranzola won the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, which provides three years of funding for a research-based master’s degree or Ph.D. in an eligible STEM field.
Aranzola graduated from UTEP in December 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in mathematics. She was the university’s first-ever recipient of the Goldwater Scholarship and participated in 3D printing research in the College of Engineering.
She is an intern at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and will begin a doctoral program at Stanford University in the fall.
Her current research focuses on 3D printed actuators, devices that convert energy into force, with applications in biomedical systems, space structures, and innovative materials.
Stephanie Gonzalez, Hashel Orquiz, and Omar Salas also received the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
Gonzalez graduated from UTEP in May 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace and Aeronautical Engineering and is now pursuing a doctorate in aerospace engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
At UTEP, she received the aerospace and mechanical engineering department mentorship. She was awarded a Terry Scholarship in 2021, which provides funding and mentorship for outstanding students poised to become future leaders in Texas. Her research focuses on life support and low-gravity fluid systems in space.
Orquiz graduated from UTEP in May 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and is currently a post-baccalaureate researcher there.
Her research investigates plant genetics and how plant communities in the Arctic shift in response to environmental changes. This fall, she will begin a Ph.D. in conservation genomics at the University of California, Merced.
Salas graduated from UTEP in December 2024 with a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics. His research focused on developing crystals for use in batteries.
In the summer of 2024, Salas participated in a research program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in physics, continue his research on batteries, and eventually become a tenured professor at a university.
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