Industrial and Systems Engineering’s Kang awarded National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship Program
April 23, 2024
Dongmin "Ethan" Kang
Dongmin "Ethan" Kang, a 2023 Mississippi State graduate and first-year doctoral student, is one of five industrial engineering National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program recipients this year.
"It is my utmost honor to receive this fellowship, and I am very humbled and excited for the rest of my PhD journey," Kang said. "No words can express my gratitude to everyone in my personal and professional network for helping me reach this career milestone. I want to thank my Ph.D. advisor Dr. Wenmeng Tian, and my undergraduate advisors, Dr. Reuben Burch and Dr. Haifeng Wang, for submitting my Fellowship application. All the support and encouragement I received is a testament to our values towards lifelong learning, integrity, and courage to pursue adventures greater than ourselves. I am exceptionally proud to be part of the ISE department and a Bulldog."
Kang also gave a special shout-out to his stepfather, Bruce Clinton Shuler, a 1981 Industrial & Systems Engineering Bulldog.
According to the foundation's website, this fellowship "recognizes outstanding prospective and current graduate students who have demonstrated the potential to be high achieving scientists and engineers early in their careers. It provides three years of financial support within a five-year fellowship period or until the fellow graduates, comprising a stipend of $37,000. The academic institution also receives a direct payment of $16,000 per year towards the fellow's cost of education.
Kang explained that his proposed research aims to advance the 3D Printing or Additive Manufacturing (AM) fields by creating multiple frameworks that manage large volumes of diverse AM process data.
"The funds will allow us to financially support the first three years of my doctorate and have the freedom to evaluate our frameworks with more process data collected from other types of 3D printing innovation," Kang said. "By the end of the fellowship, I aspire to have initial solutions published that help universities, research centers, and interested businesses reach their goals of implementing AM as a critical manufacturing process in their value chains. I hope this research makes AM accessible to more age groups, backgrounds and cultures."
As the oldest graduate fellowship of its kind, the GRFP has a long history of selecting recipients who achieve high levels of success in their future academic and professional careers. The program helps to ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the United States' scientific and engineering workforce. It aims to broaden the participation of the full spectrum of diverse talents in STEM. Kang is among the five MSU students previously awarded this honor.