Editors’ Note: This feature appears as it was published in the winter 2019 edition of UT Dallas Magazine. Titles or faculty members listed may have changed since that time.
Melanie Bowler BS’16 received a 2018 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.
Melanie Bowler BS’16 is accustomed to being part of a team where everyone pushes in the same direction to cross the line.
Her drive is both metaphorical and literal. The electronic materials researcher from the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, who was chosen for a prestigious federal fellowship, was also a three-year member of the UT Dallas women’s rugby team.
Bowler is one of five students who are attending or have graduated from UT Dallas chosen this year for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program. The program provides three years of financial support for a student’s graduate studies.
The physics master’s student works in the laboratory of Dr. Jason Slinker, associate professor of physics. Bowler’s research concerns light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs), which may serve as an alternative to light-emitting diodes (LEDs). She’s refining the efficiency and stability of LECs with ionic transition-metal complexes.
“These are highly efficient, low-cost, lightweight devices that have applications in passive signage or even as flexible, wearable lighting,” Bowler said. While completing her undergraduate degree, Bowler took up rugby, which she was first attracted to while in high school in New York, but never got to play until becoming a Comet.
“Rugby demands an additional level of trust in your teammates and a different level of physicality,” she said. “I really enjoy the challenge, the competition, and I’ve made some of the most amazing friends. These girls have literally taken hits for me.”
Karthik Hullahalli BS’17, Mai Thuan Huynh BS’16, Stephanie Matijevic BS’16 and Jesse Grant BS’18 also received 2018 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships.
