The National Science Foundation has awarded a $600,000 grant to Brian Edwards, associate professor in chemical and biomedical engineering, to increase the number of “underrepresented ... graduates in the Science and Engineering fields (at the University of Tennessee),” Edwards said.
Women, minorities, people with disabilities and first generation college students all receive special consideration. The scholarship gives East Tennessee students first priority, with other Tennesseans receiving the remaining scholarships. Except under “exceptional circumstances,” out-of-state students will not be given the scholarship, Edwards said.
The designation of “underrepresented groups” is made by the National Science Foundation. With this classification, the emphasis of the scholarships is “merit, diversity and financial need,” Edwards said.
The scholarship will begin funding this school year.
“The scholarships will be distributed to members of the target group, up to $5,000 (per year), who meet the criteria for the program. These include: majors in chemical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science or industrial and information engineering at UTK, maintain(ing) a GPA of 3.0 or better and mak(ing) continuous progress toward degree attainment,” Edwards said.
“Qualified students must submit an application package, including transcripts, references and personal statements, to be considered for the program.”
Along with Edwards, the principal investigators of the project include associate professor Denise Jackson of industrial and information engineering; assistant professor Jayne Wu of electrical engineering; assistant professor David Straight of computer science; associate professor David Keffer of chemical and biomolecular engineering; Walter Odom, director of engineering co-op; and James Pippin, director of the engineering diversity programs.
Jackson, Wu, Straight and Keffer all look over research and scholarships in their respective departments, Edwards said. Pippin heads minority programs in the college, and Odom confirms assignments of student co-ops and internships for those receiving scholarships. The group applied for the grant with data collected by everyone involved.

“It’s good that it is engineering specific because there are so many scholarships for arts and sciences majors. It is nice to be singled out for scholarships like this,” said Lee West, a sophomore majoring in biomedical engineering. “If it is engineering specific, you have a higher percentage chance (of receiving the scholarship) than out of the entire school.”
According to its Web site, the National Science Foundation receives 40,000 applications for grants each year and accepts only 11,000 of them. The National Science Foundation works with more than 2,000 colleges, universities and other research organizations. It provides funding for research in most fields of science and engineering.
“We are very grateful to be recommended for funding under this important program. The chances of funding for this program typically run about 15-20 percent, so we are very happy to be successful,” Edwards said. “We will try to make the most of this opportunity to expand the diversity and intercultural programs at UTK.”