Good as Gold

Science and Technology @ UCSB

One aspires to an academic and research career focused on atomic resolution imaging; the other is aiming for a doctorate in materials science. Together, they have made UC Santa Barbara, the only UC campus to have multiple winners of the prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
Dolev Bluvstein and Shelby Shankel, both undergraduate students in UCSB’s College of Creative Studies have been named 2017 Barry Goldwater Scholars. UCSB engineering student Michael Abramovitch received an honorable mention from the Barry Goldwater Scholarship & Excellence in Education Foundation. 

Established by Congress in 1986 to honor Senator Barry Goldwater, the scholarships are designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Bluvstein and Shankel are among 240 sophomores and juniors nationwide to receive scholarships, selected from a field of 1,286. Of the total number of awardees, six hail from the University of California, with UCSB the only campus to have multiple winners. 

“I am so happy to congratulate Dolev and Shelby as recipients of the 2017 Goldwater Scholarship,” said Kathy Folz, interim dean of the College of Creative Studies (CCS). “These students have brought distinction to UCSB and to CCS. Their accomplishments are truly amazing and I look forward to their continued success, in and out of the research lab. I also wish to congratulate both students’ research mentors, who provide the opportunities and dedicated professional guidance for these young research-scholars.”

The scholarship is an important first step toward academic and professional success, providing crucial support to ambitious young scholars. 

“The scholarship will help me save money for graduate school, where I hope to continue studying condensed matter,” said Bluvstein, a sophomore physics major who works in professor Ania Jayich’s experimental condensed matter group. “The Goldwater scholarship is an important milestone in my young research career and a great honor.”

Criteria for Goldwater Scholarships include a nominated student’s area of ...

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