2020-21 Scholarship and Fellowship Winners

The Thornton Tomasetti Foundation (TTF) has awarded six college students — Martha Hughes, Kennedy Stephens, Eden Wong, Zhao Chen, Jackson Wang, and Moriah Hughes — with scholarships and research fellowships for the 2020-21 academic year.

9th Annual National Scholarship

Martha Hughes, Stephens and Wong are the recipients of the TTF National Scholarship. Each will receive $10,000 to pursue graduate studies in building engineering, design or technology.

Students were nominated by a dean or department chair and submissions were reviewed by a jury comprising Thornton Tomasetti’s Co-CEO Peter DiMaggio, President R. Wayne Stocks, Principal Robert Sinn, Associate Principal Theresa Curtis, and Senior Associate Michelle Olender. Winners were chosen based on academic achievements and an interest in the integration of engineering and architecture.

Martha Hughes received a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering in May 2020 from University of Texas at Austin. She will attend the structural engineering graduate program at Columbia University this fall. During her undergraduate career, Hughes received multiple honors, including the Provost Award and Presidential Scholarship, and was an Honor’s Day College Scholar, awarded to the top 20% of the university’s engineering students.

Stephens graduated from Oklahoma State University in May 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering. In the fall, she will attend the University of Texas at Austin to pursue a master’s degree in structural engineering with a focus on steel structures and the behavior of long span steel structures. Stephens was an officer of the Architectural Engineering Institute student chapter at OSU and a member of several student committees associated with the School of Architecture.

Wong earned a bachelor’s degree in structural engineering with a focus on civil structures from the University of California San Diego in May 2020. She plans to pursue a master’s degree structural engineering at UC Berkeley this fall. While at UC San Diego, Wong was active in the American Society of Civil Engineers’ student chapter and led its concrete canoe team to a second-place finish in the region, the best results in the school’s history.

4th Annual Student Innovation Fellowship

As recipients of the Student Innovation Fellowship, Chen and Wang will each receive $5,000 to fund a research project that furthers innovation in structural engineering and applied mechanics. Students were nominated by a dean or department chair and submissions were reviewed by a jury comprising Thornton Tomasetti Senior Principal Elisabeth Malsch, Principal Liling Cao, Vice President Andrew Blasetti, and Project Engineer Dongming Feng.

Chenis a Ph.D. student in Northeastern University’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from Southeast University. Chen will use the fellowship to further his research in the efficient seismic meta-modeling of highly nonlinear structures with scarce data.

Wang is pursuing a Ph.D. in civil and environmental engineering at Princeton University. His research involves “kinetic umbrellas.” The adaptable “aquatecture” can be used as a hard countermeasure against storm surge flooding while also serving as an umbrella when not in use. Wang received a bachelor’s degree in structural engineering from the University of Auckland and a master’s degree in civil engineering at the University of Sydney.

2nd Annual Technical Literacy Fellowship

Moriah Hughes is the recipient of the TTF Technical Literacy Fellowship and will receive $5,000 to pursue research in building engineering design or technology. Submissions were reviewed by Thornton Tomasetti Senior Consultant Raymond Daddazio and Senior Principal Elisabeth Malsch, and James Glanz, a reporter on the investigations desk at The New York Times.

Hughes is pursuing a master’s degree in civil engineering with a structural concentration at Princeton University. She will use the fellowship to fund her graduate research project, which seeks to engage the general public in the structural design process for a building through a virtual tour/informational modeling (VR/IM) environment. Hughes holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with a structural concentration from LeTourneau University.

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About The Thornton Tomasetti Foundation

The Thornton Tomasetti Foundation, a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization established in February 2008, is focused on funding fellowships, scholarships and internships for undergraduate students and those planning to pursue graduate studies in building engineering, design or technology. It also provides financial support for individuals and organizations pursuing philanthropic activities related to building engineering, design or technology. Key elements of the program are college scholarships, traveling internships and grants to and partnerships with nonprofit organizations.

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