Olatunji Godo Wins L-3 Scholarship

Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) senior Olatunji Godo has been awarded a 2010-2011 L-3 Undergraduate Scholarship. Clark School Corporate Partner L-3 Communications Corporation created the merit-based scholarships, funded by a $1 million gift through the University of Maryland's Great Expectations campaign, to support students majoring in materials science and engineering, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering, and aerospace engineering.

Godo, whose research interests include nanotechnology for applications in medicine, sustainable energy, and electronics, is a member of Fischell Department of Bioengineering professor Sameer Shah’s Neuromuscular Bioengineering Laboratory. Currently, he is part of a team developing a new method for the early diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alheimer's disease. The project, conducted in collaboration with Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering professor and chair Sheryl Ehrman's research group, uses high-resolution imaging to track nanoparticles as they travel along neuronal pathways, looking for the signs of impaired transport that could indicate the early stages of disease. Godo is responsible for the fabrication and characterization of the biocompatible iron nanoparticles used in the research.

Prior to his work with Shah and Ehrman, Godo was a member of MSE Professor Gottlieb Oehrlein's Laboratory for Plasma Processing of Materials, where he analyzed X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy data to investigate the changes in the surface chemistry of selected materials.

Godo says taking advantage of the Clark School's interdisciplinary strengths has provided him with unique research opportunities, and the support he has received from both engineering faculty and mentors at the Clark School's Center for Minorities in Science and Engineering (CMSE) has motivated him as a student.

Outside the lab and classroom, Godo is an enthusiastic educator. He mentors precollege students in a variety of science and engineering topics, including leading a team participating in SeaPerch, a national underwater robotics program for high school students funded by the Office of Naval Research and organized on campus by CMSE. In Spring 2011 he hosted nanotechnology workshops for middle school students at CMSE's Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Expo. Godo also tutors fellow university students in calculus and chemistry at the Athletics Department's Academic Support & Career Development Unit.

In addition to his L-3 scholarship, Godo is a four-semester recipient of the NSF-funded Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Scholarship Program (LSAMP) award. He is the third MSE student to win an L-3 Communications Corporation award; senior Eric Esptein and graduate student Keith Gregorczyk have also been honored.

Published March 15, 2011