Electrical and Computer Engineering Doctoral Student Receives NASA Fellowship grant for $165,000
LUCERO FIERRO | October 31, 2018
Evren Atli, an electrical and computer engineering doctoral student was awarded a three-year fellowship grant worth $165,000 that will be used to develop models to estimate the size, composition and shape of orbital debris more accurately in order to reduce the risks they may pose to other space assets and missions.
Atli will be working with Jer Chyi (J.C.) Liou, Ph.D., program manager for the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) at the Johnson Space Center in Houston and Miguel Velez-Reyes, Ph.D., chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at The University of Texas at El Paso.
Atli completed an eight-month co-op internship at the Johnson Space Center earlier this year, where he decided to submit a proposal for the NASA fellowship. He was selected from a very high number of applicants from throughout the nation.
“I am extremely happy and grateful to be given such an opportunity,” Evren said. “I am very lucky to be working with Dr. Velez-Reyes and renowned NASA ODPO scientists such as Dr. Heather Cowardin and Dr. Phillip Anz-Meador at the NASA Johnson Space Center.”
Atli’s work and research will predominantly occur at UTEP with occasional traveling to the Johnson Space Center facilities to work and share his findings.
“I think Evren’s background and work as a graduate student is a good fit for the research project,” Velez-Reyes said. “Evren joined the ECE Ph.D. program in Fall 2017 and has been doing an excellent job. This is a great opportunity for him. We would like more UTEP students to take advantage of these type of opportunities.”