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Doctoral Student Earns Graduate Fellowship from Idaho National Labs

Sohel Rana, a doctoral candidate in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Boise State, has been awarded a prestigious graduate fellowship sponsored by the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). Focused on the development of fiber-optic sensors which measure pressure, temperature, and deformation, Rana’s research explores in-pile sensing inside a nuclear reactor.

Part of the Fiber-Optics, Lasers, and Integrated-photonics Research (FLAIR) Laboratory at Boise State University, Rana collaborates with his advisor Dr. Harish Subbaraman and co-advisor Dr. Nirmala Kandadai from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) at Boise State University. Rana is the second student from the ECE department to have earned this fellowship.

In the early years of study, graduate fellows in this program will spend most of their time taking classes. That balance will shift in the later years of their doctoral programs, as they spend the majority of their time at INL conducting research. The typical graduate fellow program runs between three and five years. In exchange, fellows receive an award for tuition and fees during the last two years of their doctoral research, plus a $60,000 annual salary paid by INL for their work at the lab.

“This is the second year of our program and it has presented an excellent opportunity for everyone involved,” said Kelly Beierschmitt, INL’s deputy laboratory director for science and technology and chief research officer. “Students receive a quality education and invaluable research experience.”

INL is one of the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories. The laboratory performs work in each of DOE’s strategic goal areas: energy, national security, science, and environment. INL is the nation’s leading center for nuclear energy research and development. 

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