On May 12, Stephanie Chin received an Institute-wide Freshman Award for Distinguished Achievement in Research for her UROP work on the use of nano cement additives for sustainability of built environment, conducted under the supervision of Professor Oral Buyukozturk and Research Scientist Dr. Kunal Kupwade-Patil. As part of her UROP work, Chin travelled in January with Buyukozturk’s group to Kuwait and presented results of her in-situ experiments using nano-additives to characterize the cement matrix and structure at various length scales. Professor Buyukozturk said, “We are very happy to have identified Stephanie as an undergraduate researcher in our group, and particularly pleased that as a result of this experience she has designated CEE as her major. This is the second year in a row that our group received this prestigious undergraduate research award.”