NSF Research Fellowships Help Four Alumni Pursue Graduate Degrees

To call Brian Carey ’11 motivated is an understatement. The civil engineering and economics graduate is living in Trinidad and Tobago on a Fulbright Scholarship, where he is working at the Seismic Research Center at University of the West Indies to conduct a seismic assessment of the residential construction in Trinidad.

Carey is no stranger to high-level research. That’s one of the reasons he was awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship, which provides a $30,000 annual stipend for a maximum of three years. Recipients are selected based on overall abilities and accomplishments, as well as potential to contribute to strengthening the vitality of the United States science and engineering industries. Mechanical engineering graduate Alicia Clark ’11, civil engineering graduate Matthew Verbyla ’06, and Heidi Verheggen ’12 (Zionsville, Pa.), who just graduated with a B.S. in mathematics and an A.B. with a major in economics, also received fellowships.

“I hope my research can be successfully implemented to improve the infrastructure of Trinidad and Tobago against structural failures resulting from earthquakes,” says Carey, who plans to pursue master’s degrees in structural engineering and management science & engineering at Stanford University when his Fulbright work concludes.

Carey conducted EXCEL Scholars research with Anne Raich, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, on implementing a structural crack prediction model. He also did an independent study with Stephen Kurtz, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, competing on the regional and national levels with Lafayette’s Steel Bridge Team.

Carey also was an active member of Lafayette’s chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB), leading a team in the design of a 5,900-gallon reinforced concrete water storage tank as part of EWB’s ongoing work in the community of El Convento, Honduras. He served an externship with Turner Construction and internships with Pepco Holdings Inc., and R3M Engineering Inc.