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Education  ::  Student Opportunities

FREEDM Systems Center Graduate Fellowship

The FREEDM Systems Center Graduate Fellowship is established to facilitate new avenues for increasing the participation of underrepresented students in engineering disciplines and related engineering fields, and in turn enhance the development of the U.S. engineering workforce in accordance with the America COMPETES act and Engineer 2020 report of the National Academy of Engineering.

2008 Graduate Fellowship Award Recipients

Chris Zimmer

Chris Zimmer
Fellowship Amount: $5,000 one time payment

Ruben Nelson

Ruben Nelson
Fellowship Amount: $5,000 one time payment


Eligibility: The applicants must be United States citizens or nationals, or permanent resident aliens of the United States. He or she must be enrolled in the first year Ph.D. degree program in one of the FREEDM Systems Center campuses (NCSU, FSU, FAMU, ASU and MST) and advised by one of the Center faculty.

Application Procedure: Application is by nomination from the student's advisor. Application material must be collected by the advisor to include:


  1. A nomination letter from the advisor;
  2. A one page proposal from the student to articulate the form and nature of the student's involvement in the Center's research program;
  3. A brief biographical sketch of the candidate student

The nominating faculty must submit the above materials to Center's Education Program Director, Dr. Leda Lunardi for the application to be considered. Dr. Lunardi will make recommendations to Center Director who will make the final award offer.

Application Deadline: All applications are due at the beginning of the fall semester of each academic school year.

American Association of Blacks in Energy Award

The American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE) is a professional organization of primarily African-Americans from the energy industry. Through its scholarship and student aid programs, AABE annually identifies eligible minority high school students to receive scholarships to attend a college/university and major in an energy-related field such as science and math. AABE believes increasing the number of African-Americans and other underrepresented minorities (Hispanic and Native-Americans) in various energy-related fields will help America enhance its competitiveness in the world market.

The FREEDM Systems Center offers an AABE Student Award was that promotes, recognizes, and supports undergraduate minority students majoring in engineering within the FREEDM Systems Center's multi-disciplinary fields of interest. Last year the Center awarded two exceptional students with an AABE scholarship in the amount of $1,500 each.

2008 AABE Award Recipients

James Hill

James Hill

William Credle

William Credle

Lamar Hill

Lamar Hill


International Student Exchange

The FREEDM Systems Center has partnered with E.ON Energy Research at the RWTH Aachen University in Aachen, Germany and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland, whose goals and resources complement the FREEDM Systems Center. International study provides global research opportunities that enrich the students' educational experience and also support the exchange of scientific and technical information among the Center partners.

Each year the FREEDM Systems Center will select qualified students to spend three months conducting research at E. ON Energy Research at the RWTH Aachen University and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. Roundtrip airfare and a cost of living allowance will be included in the award.

International Exchange is open to students with a research background in Power Electronics. Students interested in studying abroad must submit the following documents to the Education Director at their university:

  1. Recommendation from thesis advisor or a faculty member
  2. A one-page Curriculum Vitae or Resume
  3. Academic Records with GPA (major and Minor)
  4. A one-page Personal Statement that explains the students research interests and all current projects at the ERC

The 2010 FREEDM Annual Conference and NSF Site Visit will be held May 18-20 at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida!