Four ISU students were awarded Goldwater Scholarships last month. This is one of the most prestigious scholarships awarded to students working toward careers in any of the four STEM fields: science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Applying is a two step process. Universities are only allowed to nominate four students, so students first compete to be nominated. The winners are then competing against over 1000 students nationally for a limited number of scholarships.

This is the first year that all four of Iowa State’s nominees have won a Goldwater Scholarship. The winners were Jacob Harry, senior in aerospace engineering, Thomas Knief, senior in physics, William Lindemann, senior in materials engineering and mathematics and Rachel Philiph, senior in materials engineering. They were all surprised and excited to find out they had won.

“I immediately called everyone,” Knief said. “I called my mentors, my friends, and my family and told them all the news. It was the most exciting news I’ve gotten in a long time.”

Harry worked at the Asteroid Deflection Research Center on campus. His contribution to their research helped him write a winning essay.

“It was a very nice surprise [to find out I’d won,]” Harry said. “I consider myself very fortunate. I’m very grateful.”

This summer, Harry will be heading to Alabama for an internship with NASA. Following that he will go on to graduate school.

Last summer Kneif was part of a team at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. His work there building multi-channel plate arrays in the physics department is what led to his award he said.

“Winning the Goldwater was a great honor,” Kneif said. “I’m really happy to bring that honor to Iowa State. I’m happy that my work reflects well on the university and all the professors that have really helped me to get here.”

Kneif plans to attend graduate school, and hopes to work at a national laboratory or an academic institution like Iowa State.

Lindemann has been working at the Ames Lab for the last two and a half years. His essays about his work there helped him secure the scholarship he said.

“I recognize that this is something that has come to me because I’ve worked really hard, but also because a lot of people have helped me,” Lindemann said. “Mostly I’m just grateful to them [for helping me].”

Lindemann also plans to attend graduate school. He is interested in ceramics and hopes to pursue that as the leader of a research group or a professor at a university.

Philiph has been working on research in the materials engineering department here at Iowa State since the spring semester of her freshman year. In addition to this she also took part in a research experience for undergrads last summer at MIT. Together these experiences led to her winning the scholarship she said.

“I was pretty shocked, [to find out I’d won]” Philiph said. “It really meant a lot to me that they saw this potential in me.”

Philiph is in the process of choosing a graduate school and is still deciding on a career. She said after school she could see herself conducting research in a national lab or researching and teaching as a professor at a university.

The Goldwater Scholarships are also a big deal for Iowa State. Because universities can only nominate up to four students, it is rare for all four nominees to win Harry said.

“It’s very hard to do.” Harry said. “It just shows that we can compete with whoever. Iowa State is an incredible institution.”