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During the last 7 years, the DOE funded New Mexico (NM) One fellowships program at the University of New
Mexico has had a significant impact on the enrollment, retention, years to graduation, and the GPA of our students
in Nuclear Engineering. Our undergraduate enrollment close to 45 student currently, excluding freshmen, is an all
time high. The undergraduate semester fellowship is for the amount $1500 to those with 3.0 < GPA< 3.5 and
$1750 for those with an average GPA > 3.5. We currently have 9 juniors and seniors receiving undergraduate (UG)
NM One fellowships. This is in addition to 3 potential sophomores, bringing the total UG fellows for fall semester
2008 to twelve (12). All NM One UG fellows graduate within 3 years after completing freshmen year requirement,
with > 95% retention during the last 6 years and 100% retention during the last 3 years. The average GPA of our
graduating seniors in Nuclear Engineering during the last 3 years exceeded 3.2, including the NM One fellows.
Since the start of the DOE grant for the NM One fellowship program in October 2000, we provided fellowships to
thirty six (36) undergraduate students. During the last 5 years, percentage of graduating NM One fellows in
nuclear engineering from underrepresented minorities and women varied from 20% - 50%. In May 2003, the first
two UG NM One fellows graduated, and six each graduated in 2005, 2006, 2007 with a BS in Nuclear Engineering.
In May 2008, the six UG fellows graduated (3 female and 4 male) includes three Hispanic. The graduating class for
May 2009 has three NM One fellows; all female including one Hispanic. The average GPA of NM One
undergraduate fellows has averaged 3.4 or higher. All NM One graduates had either enrolled in graduate school
(e.g., MIT, North Carolina State, University of Wisconsin, Purdue University, and University of New Mexico) or have
taken a job with NRC, DOE, Industry, USA Navy, and DOE National Laboratories.
In addition to NM One UG fellowships, we have provided eight (8) graduate fellowships. Graduate fellowships
range from $1400 - $1600 per months for 12 months and are supplemented with other grants that pay additional
monthly stipend and cover tuition and health insurance cost. Four graduate fellows completed Ph.D. degrees and
one completed an MS degree in nuclear engineering and graduated in the period from 2006-2008, including three
completed their Ph.D. and graduated in August 2008. One Ph.D. graduate accepted a position with the DOE
Operation Office in Aiken South Carolina starting at end of August 2008, 2nd received a post-doctoral position with
the French CEA near Paris, and 3rd accepted a position with Los Alamos National Laboratory. The student who
completed his Ph.D. in August 2006 has taken an Assistant Professor position in Nuclear Engineering program at
the University of Missouri-Rolla. The student graduated with an MS degree in Nuclear Engineering in August 2007
has taken a technical analyst position with Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) in Albuquerque NM.
Currently, two more PhD. Candidates are receiving NM One graduate fellowships and expected to graduate in May
2010.
The track record of the DOE-funded NM One Fellowship program at the University of New Mexico since October
2000 is very impressive, making it among the most managed and successful education and fellowship programs in
the country.
Sincerely,
Mohamed S. El-Genk
Regents’ Professor of Chemical, Nuclear, and Mechanical Engineering
Director, ISNPS
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