MEMS Graduate Students Among Blue Devils Awarded NSF Fellowships

Before coming to Duke for graduate school, Yamamoto studied biomedical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, focusing primarily on medical robotics. His research is at the intersection of continuum robotics, medical optics, and surgery, diving into how we can use different surgical lasers to both improve both patient outcomes and surgical procedures. Yamamoto is currently working on small, snake-like surgical tools with lasers at the tip that can navigate through the human body.

He says the journey to finally landing a GRFP came down to betting on himself and his research. “I got rejected my first time applying,” he shared.

Undergraduates can apply for the fellowship every year they’re undergrads, but graduate students are only allowed to apply for it once. Yamamoto knew if he was going to put his best foot forward, he had to do so as strategically as possible. “I was going to apply last year—I literally had all the application materials prepared, but at the last minute I didn’t,” he said.

His aim was to create a stronger, more robust application if he only had one shot left, and the gamble paid off. Yamamoto secured a first author publication as a PhD student, meaning his name was the first to appear in the research as its lead investigator, and he added that to his growing resume. The move proved a critical success for him, as GRFP applications are reviewed by professors across the U.S., who leave feedback on them.

The most consistent piece of feedback he received? Having that first author publication.

“The first time I canceled my application, I grew in that moment. I told myself that I could do better, and I was really glad that it worked out,” Yamamoto shared.

A Roanoke, Virginia native, Sable’s academic interests led him to studying nuclear engineering and radiological science as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Now a second-year PhD student in the MEMS department, he studies energy materials using inelastic neutron scattering and molecular dynamics simulations.

The first in his family to even think of heading to graduate school, Sable says he had to really learn about the process on the fly. “I didn’t have any insider knowledge,” he said. “I really didn’t even decide to attend graduate school until the fall of my senior year, only a few months before the application deadlines.”

He appreciates the opportunities he had to blend his research interests in fields like machine learning with materials science, and it was only amplified by his background in nuclear engineering. Sable also credits the tenacity of his mother, who is an elementary school teacher. “I think she is one of the big reasons I ended up where I am today—she sort of instilled in me this curiosity and the urge to learn.”

Sable says he was always interested in renewable energy and that nuclear energy in particular seemed like a promising avenue. Now he studies energy materials, like batteries and solar panels, combined with an approach to molecular dynamic simulations to probe motions at the atomic scale.

“To have won a GRFP, it’s quite an opportunity, and I feel very blessed to have received one,” Sable said.

Search comes from Maryville, a small college town in the northwest corner of Missouri. From there, he went on to study mechanical engineering at the University of Missouri-Columbia. At Mizzou, he was especially drawn to material science and got into some 3D printing that led to a first author publication at the end of his undergraduate career.

He first learned about the GRFP from an undergraduate advisor, but once he was able to refine his research interests, he knew he had to take a shot at applying. “I decided to pass up on the first-year application and do it my second year to give me time to collect more results from my work at Duke,” Search said.

His aim was to make it as well thought out as it could be, and since he didn’t feel completely honed in on that the first time around, he took it to the drawing board to build a substantial application.

It was a working relationship with the local hospital that helped elevate his portfolio.

“One thing I felt that set it apart was that working relationship,” he said. “I was able to work closely with one of the surgeons and they were kind enough to provide a letter of recommendation.” These types of relationships in the field are crucial for students like Search trying to be standouts in a sea of competitive applicants.

His focus now is on the medical research he’s getting to conduct at the graduate level. “Now I’m working more with medical technology,” he shared. “And that means working on tissue identification, using electrical measurements, and ultimately implementing sensors onto surgical instruments.”

With the support of the fellowship, Search says he can now dive headlong into the research that has been leading him since his days as an undergraduate. “It’s all about making surgeon’s instruments smarter and safer, which increases efficiency and the overall quality of our healthcare system,” he shared.

Coble was a double major during his time as an undergraduate at the University of South Carolina, focusing on mechanical engineering and math. At Duke, he’ll be continuing his research in engineering but with particular attention to computational analytical math when he starts his PhD in the fall.

The GRFP had been on his mind early on, even as early as the summer of his sophomore year. Even though students can apply to the fellowship every year they are undergraduates, the competition grows each application cycle. So, putting your best work forward is always top of mind for students like Coble.

“I started thinking about it that summer and approached it more as I got closer to applying to graduate school,” he said. “And I used that time to start developing that story about myself as a researcher.” Coble said he was ecstatic when he received the news he’d been awarded a GRFP, especially considering he was just about to start his program at Duke.

“Honestly, I still thought I could have reworked my application more, for my standards, to have given me a better chance,” he shared. “But when I checked the status of it, I was completely shocked.”

Coble says he’s most excited to begin working with Wilkins Aquino, professor in MEMS, and to continue formulating and exploring new research ventures. Aquino’s research interests focus on computational mechanics, including finite element methods, computational inverse problems, and computational acoustics.