Mississippi State University biological engineering major Jennifer A. Woodfield of Birmingham, Ala., is receiving a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship worth $96,000 over three years.
"She is the only student from Mississippi State to receive this award and one of only two from universities in Mississippi," said department head Jerome A. Gilbert, noting Woodfield's selection marked the fourth consecutive year an MSU biological engineering student has been chosen for the $32,000-a-year fellowship.
"It is a highly competitive award and Jenn's success, and that of previous students from our program, affirms the high caliber of the students we attract and the quality of instruction in our program," Gilbert added.
Woodfield, a 22-year-old senior and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Woodfield [1146 Saddlebrook Rd. 35210] will graduate May 10. She then plans to pursue a master's degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
"My dad, a mechanical engineer, helped get me interested in engineering, but I also thought that I may someday want to go to medical school, so I decided to major in biological engineering," said Woodfield, noting she would like to pursue a research interest in the area of tissue engineering.
"I plan to work on a project at UAB that studies wound healing and tissue regeneration in pressure ulcer patients," she said.
MSU's biological engineering department has developed a reputation for providing its majors with hands-on training and opportunities to better prepare them for careers in biomedical engineering, medicine, environmental engineering, and agriculture and natural resources. Faculty members regularly involve undergraduate and graduate students in a range of multi-disciplinary projects.
