Engineering Students Awarded Goldwater Fellowships

2025 Goldwater Scholars Calista Adler '26 and John Chin '27.

"It's tremendously exciting to have five Goldwater recipients for the third time in four years," says Christie Harner, assistant dean of faculty for fellowship advising. "The success of these students is a testament to the value of undergraduate research on campus and to the importance of ensuring research opportunities early in students' time at Dartmouth."

Named in honor of the late US Senator Barry Goldwater, the program aims to identify, encourage, and support college sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise of becoming the country’s next generation of research leaders in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics, according to the program's website.

The 2025–26 cohort were chosen from among 1,350 students across the US nominated by their academic institutions. Each Goldwater Scholar receives up to $7,500 per academic year. 

Calista Adler '26, who is majoring in biomedical engineering, has worked with Katie Hixon, an assistant professor of engineering and clinical assistant professor of orthopaedics, as a WISP Research Intern, undergraduate research assistant, and presidential scholar. She has also held summer and off-term research internships with Luis Hernandez-Nunez at Harvard University.

Adler plans to pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering, conduct regenerative medicine research in neural and cardiac tissue engineering, and teach at the university level. 

John Chin '27, who is majoring in math and engineering physics, is an undergraduate research assistant with Wesley Marrero, an assistant professor of engineering. He completed an internship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Center for Brains, Minds, and Machines.

Chin plans to pursue a PhD in biomedical engineering with a research focus in neuroengineering, and then "join or start a company that develops AI-powered devices to treat brain diseases," he says.