Seven Pigman College of Engineering students, alumni earn NSF Graduate Research Fellowships

Seven of the twelve University of Kentucky students and recent graduates that were awarded 2026 U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships were from the Stanley and Karen Pigman College of Engineering. 

The National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program, the country’s oldest graduate fellowship program directly supporting graduate students, recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in NSF-supported STEM disciplines who are pursuing research-based master’s and doctoral degrees at accredited US institutions.

The five-year fellowship includes three years of financial support, including an annual stipend of $34,000 and a cost of education allowance of $12,000 to the institution.

This program is one of several scholarship opportunities UK’s Office of Nationally Competitive Awards assists students in researching and applying for.

In 2026, the NSF awarded 2,500 fellowships.

The five Pigman College of Engineering students receiving fellowships are:

• Mattie Katherine Brock, a chemical engineering doctoral student from Frankfort, Kentucky
• Grant Michael Fischer, a senior electrical engineering student from Crescent Springs, Kentucky
• Spencer Michael Goode-Kulchar, a senior electrical engineering student from Richmond, Kentucky
• Aaron Lin, a senior computer science student from Lexington
• Jenna Money, a mechanical engineering doctoral student from Shepherdsville, Kentucky

The two Pigman College of Engineering alumni awarded fellowships are:

• Anna Baur, a 2025 biomedical engineering graduate from Columbia, Illinois, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in biomedical engineering at Northwestern University
• Gabriel Martin Suarez, a 2025 materials engineering and physics graduate from Danville, Kentucky, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in physics at Syracuse University

Since 1952, the Graduate Research Fellowship Program has been a critical part of developing a globally engaged workforce necessary to ensure the nation's leadership in advancing science and engineering research and innovation.

To learn more about applying for the Graduate Research Fellowship Program and other scholarship opportunities, visit the Nationally Competitive Awards website.

Learn more about the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program online.